UK ministers have appointed insolvency advisers to make contingency plans for the potential collapse of Thames Water.
The company, which supplies 16 million customers, has been racing to pull together a deal to avoid financial collapse.
In a development first reported by Sky News, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has signed off the appointment of FTI Consulting to advise on plans for Thames Water to be placed into a special administration regime (SAR).
The appointment indicates that FTI is the frontrunner to act as administrator if the government enacted an SAR, although a court would ultimately approve such a step.
The government has been trying to avoid such an outcome, with the Treasury threatening that a potential £4bn bill from…