Customers are a lot happier, says United

The FTSE 100 company, which covers a population of seven million people and 3.2 million households and businesses in North West England, said more ways to contact the firm, increased staff availability and a simplified telephone system have improved customer satisfaction.

United Utilities received more complaints than any of its rivals in the 2010/2011 period, the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) said, after recording a 6.7 per cent increase to 39,000.

Elsewhere, the water firm posted a 5 per cent decline in pre-tax profits to £124.4m as an increase in revenues, driven by higher tariffs, was offset by a rise in spending on infrastructure.

CCWater said customer complaints in the water industry as a whole fell 4.5 per cent in the 2010/2011 year, while United Utilities recorded an increase.

Steve Mogford, United Utilities chief executive, said: “Our stronger focus on operational performance is delivering further service improvements for customers and we have reduced customer complaints by 20 per cent in the first half of this year.”

The company recently set up a customer experience programme to tackle its high number of complaints, which saw it introduce a new online account service and an overhaul of its telephone system. The group saw revenues rise by £30m to £793m, mainly due to the regulated price increase, which rises in line with the retail price index rate of inflation.