Your commercial news round-up: Thames Water, shop prices, Telegram, disposable vapes

Reading time: four minutes

Thames Water is warning that it may not survive unless it’s allowed to increase water bills by almost 60% over five years and the British Retail Consortium reports that shop prices in the UK have fallen for the first time in nearly three years. Meanwhile, Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has been charged for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app, and vape manufacturers in the UK are adapting their products to avoid a legislative crackdown on single-use devices. Read the full commercial news round-up below.

• Thames Water has issued a warning that it’ll not survive unless it’s allowed to increase water bills by almost 60% over a five-year period. The company demanded the bill hike after the regulator Ofwat proposed a cap on water bill rises. Earlier this summer, Ofwat suggested an average £19 a year ceiling on water bill increases, but the water industry has argued that this increase wasn’t enough to raise sufficient investment to prevent issues such as sewage spills. Thames Water, which is struggling with a £15.2 billion debt and can only fund its operations until the end of May next year, initially requested a 44% increase in bills but Ofwat proposed a 23% rise. The water company has now proposed a 59% increase, which would take the average annual water bill to £638 per customer by 2030 (the current average water bill is around £443). The CEO of Thames Water, Chris Weston, said the increased bills would fund new infrastructure and service improvements, and “make up for years of focus on keeping bills low”. Weston also said Ofwat’s 23% bill increase proposal is “neither financeable nor investible” and would hinder the company’s recovery.
   
• Shop prices in the UK have fallen for the first time in nearly three years, according to research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The 0.3% decrease in prices in August, the lowest rate since October 2021, was driven by non-food goods, such as clothing and furniture, along with retailers offering discounts following a difficult summer impacted by poor weather and cost-of-living pressures. Meanwhile, food prices kept increasing, although the rate of growth has slowed. The CEO of the BRC, Helen Dickinson, warned that while households may be “happy” with falling prices, “the outlook for commodity prices remains uncertain” and we can expect to “see renewed inflationary pressures over the next year”. Dickinson explained that this is “due to the impact of climate change on harvests domestically and globally, as well as rising geopolitical tensions”.
   
• The CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been charged by the French judiciary for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app. The charges include failing to act against the spread of sexual images of minors and other alleged violations on the messaging app. Durov was granted release on a €5 million bail and the condition that he must report to a police station twice a week and remain in France. The arrest has raised questions about the criminal liability of the Telegram app, which has around one billion users, and sparked a debate on free speech and government censorship. Telegram stated that it abides by EU laws and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving”. The statement also claimed that Durov “has nothing to hide” but the app has been monitored by law enforcement agencies worldwide due to its alleged use by terrorist organisations, drug traffickers and far-right extremist groups. In 2018, Russia tried to ban Telegram but later removed all restrictions after the country’s authorities announced that Durov had agreed to help combat terrorism and extremism.
   
• Experts have warned that redesigned vape products aimed at avoiding a legislative crackdown on single-use devices may not significantly reduce the environmental impact of e-cigarette waste. Following the UK government’s ban on disposable vapes, set to take effect in April 2025, manufacturers have been adapting their products. The popular brands Elfbar and Lost Mary, which account for more than half of the UK's disposable vape sales, have launched reusable versions with replaceable pods and rechargeable batteries. While these newer vapes will potentially reduce battery waste, critics argue that they could lead to more pod waste. They suggest that consumers may continue to treat the products as disposable due to their low cost and the lack of recycling services. Not-for-profit organisation Material Focus found that more than 90% of vape manufacturers and retailers appeared to neglect offering or paying for the return and recycling of disposable e-cigarettes. A spokesperson from Elfbar said the company hasn’t been “trying to circumvent any proposed restrictions” and it supports “the new waste, electrical and electronic equipment directive requirements”.

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