The new five-year deal worth £250m will start in October and run through to 2030 with the potential for contract extensions.

Clancy will be responsible for delivering both reactive and proactive work, including responding to emergency calls, supporting leakage reduction, working with housing developers and businesses, and installing meters.

Stephanie Davidovitz, our Head of Water Networks, said: “We’re delighted to have secured and maintained a partnership with an industry-leading supplier who are experts in their respective disciplines.

“This agreement prepares us to meet the service levels expected by our customers and will help us to deliver on our performance commitments for years to come.

“We challenged all companies bidding to work with us to provide value, efficiency and innovative ideas across a range of areas, and we look forward to a step change in performance as a result of the robust process”.

Ronan Clancy, executive director at Clancy, added: “As the new AMP8 control period gets underway, Southern Water is rightly placing an emphasis on performance and ensuring that increased investments are generating the greatest impact on the resilience and capacity of its assets.

“Our decades of experience in water, and our culture of reimagining delivery through new approaches, tools and techniques, makes us well placed to support Southern Water in shoring up and expanding its network while maximising value for money and minimising disruption for its customers. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship over the coming five years.”