06 October 2009
Philip Green, CEO of North West water firm United Utilities, wins the backing of Tory leader David Cameron for "tap into water' during the North West Conservatives reception at Manchester's Town Hall.
The leader of the Conservatives was in town for the party's annual conference being held in Manchester for the first time. He took time out along with his shadow cabinet heavyweights George Osborne and William Hague to raise a glass.
The event attracted North West Conservative MPs, the National Union of Farmers as well as other local businesses. Philip told the packed reception that UU is the UK's largest listed water firm and the only FTSE company with its headquarters in the North West - something he was very proud of. He told the audience that since privatisation £80bn has been invested by water firms in England and Wales - at no cost to taxpayers - pulling out the new £125m West / East pipeline running from Manchester to Liverpool capable of delivering 400 million glasses of drinking water a day.
Philip then poured glasses of pure United Utilities water, telling the group it had come from the Lake District along aqueducts built by the Victorians over a century ago, adding that United Utilities was preserving its legacy today by being good stewards of the environment.