The UK’s new Labour government is pinning its hopes for growth on private investment in everything from green energy to housing, but there’s an unexpected stick in the spokes: Thames Water. Since the debt-ridden water company was declared “uninvestable” by its shareholders in March, foreign investors have been asking: If the monopoly provider of a bare necessity to nearly a quarter of the UK’s population doesn’t yield guaranteed returns, then what does? 

On this episode of In the City,  UK economy reporter Philip Aldrick  and corporate finance reporter Abhinav Ramnarayan discuss with host Francine Lacqua how the collapse of what should be a safe investment has spooked foreign investors, and how the new Labour government can woo them back.