Severn Trent has created 300 jobs for its customer waste team which it recently brought back in house.
The new jobs will focus on speeding up the process of unblocking pipes and dealing with floods at customers’ properties.
The reactive sewage service crews officially joined Severn Trent from contractor Customer Solutions Plus (CSP) on 1 September. It comes after CSP, the formerly contracted service provider, was taken completely in house by Severn Trent.
Steve Betteridge, head of customer waste networks at Severn Trent, welcomed the new staff. His department currently tackles around 2,480 customer blockages a month across the network, which contains around 93,000km of pipes.
“You joining only us strengthens our position and makes our ambition to improve performance even further for our customers a reality,” he said.
“This move will help deliver the best possible service for our customers, with improved right first-time completion and reduced repeat work.
“It signals the beginning of a new era – and a new team.”
The teams will now receive fresh training and new equipment including phones, computers and trucks.
The new team brings additional resources to a wide range of waste management services, including:
- Customer blockage and flooding response
- Responding to potential pollution incidents
- And offering sewage CCTV investigations and cleaning
The recruitment is part of a commitment from Severn Trent to create an extra 1,000 jobs, including the biggest ever intake of 130 new apprentices.
Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield added: “We are seen as a leader in the waste division and, with your help, we want to get even better.”
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