The UK’s utilities need work. Poor water provision and sewage leaks are the most obvious issues, but old power and gas infrastructure is also holding back large industry and new electricity-hungry operations such as data centres.
That means expectations for utilities have changed, with greater scrutiny of performance and more regulation in the case of the water companies. But the overall direction of travel is higher returns, for both energy and water companies, given prospects are based on regulated asset bases which grow with capital spending.
This dynamic has led to Severn Trent (SVT), United Utilities (UU.), National Grid (NG.) and SSE (SSE) being included in investment bank Panmure Liberum’s list of growth stocks to watch in 2026.