Hyder was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

water, gas and electricity multi-utility and infrastructure company created in 1996. It broke up in 2001 following a financial crisis.

History

Hyder PLC was created in 1996 following the takeover by

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

of the electricity company

SWALEC SWALEC was an electricity supply and distribution company in South Wales, established in 1989 following the de-regulation of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom. The business has seen several changes of ownership from 1996, and ...

for £872m. By 1998 it was Wales' largest independent private employer, and had quadrupled its turnover since SWALEC was privatised in 1990. (since 1996?). Hyder owned Swalec and Swalec Gas brands and combined international, leisure, infrastructure and construction interests. Other subsidiary companies/brands of Hyder included Transis (operator of fleet vehicles), Laing Hyder (construction consortium), Hyder Investments, Celtic Infrastructure and Lusis (IT provider), several hotels in Wales, a small stake in cable company

NTL NTL may refer to: Companies * NTL Incorporated and NTL Internet, later Virgin Media, communications media company ** NTL Ireland, later Virgin Media Ireland * Arqiva, UK company formerly ''NTL Broadcast'' and ''National Transcommunications L ...

and a 36% stake in Severoceske Vodovody a Kanalizace, the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

water company. However, the debt taken on to finance the takeover of Swalec left the company vulnerable to external shocks. In these circumstances, the 1998

windfall profits tax A windfall tax is a higher tax rate on profits that ensue from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry. There have been windfall taxes in various countries across the world, including Mongolia, Australia, and on wind power i ...

on the utilities introduced by the new Labour government, combined with the price cuts required by the 1999

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price review made Hyder's share price plummet (from a peak of 1048p in January 1998, to a low of 179p in March 2000).

The sale and break-up of Hyder

In February 2000, the retail electricity and gas business under the Swalec brand was sold to

British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...

for a reported £105m. The sale included the Swalec retail brand, whilst Hyder retained the Swalec electricity distribution business (i.e. running the electricity network) which was renamed

Infralec Infralec was a short-lived electricity distribution subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Infralec was established in February 2000 by Hyder to operate the Welsh electricity distribution network previously operated under the SWALEC brand, when the re ...

. The cash boost, however, was not enough to prevent a 30% fall in pre-tax profits, and following the final outcome of the unfavourable Ofwat price review, Hyder was vulnerable to a takeover. Hyder was acquired in September 2000 following a four-month

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

battle won by

Western Power Distribution Western Power Distribution was the trading identity of four electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom: WPD South West (operating in South West England), WPD South Wales (in South Wales) and WPD Midlands (two companies, in the E ...

(WPD) - a subsidiary of the US utilities PPL and

Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest ...

. Southern Company later sold its interest in WPD to PPL. Hyder's electricity distribution subsidiary

was rebranded as part of

. The water subsidiary,

, was sold by WPD to a

company limited by guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...

( Glas Cymru), while remaining subsidiaries in areas such as gas and engineering consultancy were sold off by

management buy-out A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

or other means, including

Hyder Consulting Hyder Consulting was a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employed approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Midd ...

and Hyder Business Services (HBS). Hyder's IT organisation was acquired by

Logica Logica plc was a multinational IT and management consultancy company headquartered in London and later Reading, United Kingdom. Founded in 1969, the company had offices in London and in a number of major cities across England, Wales and Scotl ...

in 2001. Chief Executive Graham Hawker, went on to run the

Welsh Development Agency Welsh Development Agency (WDA; cy, Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru) was an executive agency (or QUANGO) and later designated an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB). Established in 1976, it was tasked with rescuing the ailing Welsh economy by encour ...

Name and logo

The name Hyder (pronounced {{IPA-cy, hədɛr}) is the Welsh word for 'Confidence'. Hyder's name and logo used to be prominent in the seating at Cardiff's

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. Hyder still remains as a brand used by

. The Hyder logo is also still used by HB

References

* Thomas, Dennis (2000), "Hyder: the rise and fall of a multi-utility", ''Utilities Policy'', 9: 181-192
Subsidiaries

Sale of SWALEC electricity and gas retail and supply

Purchase and sale of SWALEC - prices

takeover battle

news releases including financial statements

Hyder Business Services (HBS)
Defunct energy companies of the United Kingdom Energy companies established in 1996 Companies disestablished in 2001