The default comes after Thames Water on March 28 said it had failed to raise a major cash injection from shareholders, blaming industry regulations that made its rescue plan "uninvestable".
Kemble Water Finance said in a statement Friday that "as envisaged" payments on a debt of GBP 400 million ($505 million) due on April 2 had "not been paid".
The firm said it had begun to approach creditors and bondholders to "request that they take no creditor action so as to provide a stable platform while all options are explored with all key stakeholders".
The company expected to be in "a position to provide a further update in the coming weeks," it added.
Spokespeople for Kemble and Thames Water contacted by AFP declined to elaborate further on the consequences for the beleaguered supplier.
Thames Water's problems have come to a head since its March 28 announcement.
The cash injection it had been seeking represented most of a GBP 750-million funding lifeline agreed with investors in July to stay afloat.
The company said at the time it was in talks with industry regulator Ofwat over a plan that is "affordable for customers, deliverable and financeable for Thames Water, as well as investible for equity investors".
Ofwat had reportedly refused to bow to Thames Water's demands for concessions, which it said included a 40-percent jump in water bills that would worsen the country's cost-of-living crisis.
Thames Water, which supplies more than 15 million homes and businesses in London and elsewhere in southern England, is saddled with debts of almost GBP 15 billion that have placed it at risk of nationalisation.
It has faced fierce criticism over missing targets to reduce leaks and slash sewage discharges into rivers, despite major infrastructure investment.
Environmentalists have increasingly voiced outrage at the rise in pollution on the UK's beaches and waterways, and have pointed the finger at privatised water companies.
Nestle steps up monitoring of French mineral water
Paris (AFP) April 5, 2024 -
Nestle said Friday that it has stepped up monitoring after warnings by French regulators about the quality of its bottled mineral water brands including Perrier and Vittel.
The move follows revelations earlier this week that France's food safety watchdog had recommended stricter monitoring of sites where Nestle extracts mineral water after traces of "faecal" contamination were found.
The recommendation, made to the health ministry last year, comes on top of an investigation by prosecutors into allegations that Nestle used illegal treatment to purify its mineral waters.
"We have stepped up monitoring of extraction sites under the control of regulators," Nestle France President Muriel Lienau told AFP in an interview.
"Every bottle that leaves our facilities can be drunk by consumers in complete safety," she added.
Nestle is a major player in the international bottled water market with brands including Perrier, Vittel and Contrex.
Regulations on quality for natural mineral waters are stricter than for tap water in France and purification is not allowed.
Lienau said more than 1,500 quality measurements are not taken every day at its mineral water facilities, and that the reports of traces of faecal matter may have come from wells that are no longer in use.
The Foodwatch consumer pressure group earlier this week called for a recall of the affected brands.
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