Tunbridge Wells bakery calls for "fair" compensation after water crisis
Tunbridge Wells business owners urged to share losses online to support compensation push
Last updated 27th Jan 2026
A bakery owner in Tunbridge Wells is demanding higher and "fairer" compensation from South East Water after days without running water during the December outages left his business thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Jamie Tandoh, who owns the bakery TW, revealed that his business suffered several thousands of pounds worth of financial losses during what is usually the busiest trading period of the year for hospitality.
He described the offered compensation as "inadequate" given the scale of disruption and additional costs.
“We lost several key trading days in December alongside unavoidable costs for bottled water, machinery adaptations, staffing, and wasted stock," Mr Tandoh said.
He added that the financial impact amounted far more than the £1,100 compensation credited to his water bill so far.
Compensation push from local MP
Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin has launched an online consultation urging local businesses to share detailed reports of their losses from the recent water outages.
Earlier this week, South East Water CEO David Hinton suggested the company may increase compensation if businesses can provide evidence of financial impacts beyond the £600,000 figure initially allocated.
The £600,000 package, which equates to roughly £400 per business, has been branded “insulting” by Martin, who raised the issue at a parliamentary hearing in January.
“The priority now is fair compensation, clear information about what went wrong, and confidence in a system properly reviewed to prevent a repeat,” Mr Tandoh added, supporting Martin’s call for greater transparency and action.
How businesses can take part
Mike Martin's survey, launched last week, aims to compile evidence from local firms to push for a revised compensation figure. He hopes to present cases to South East Water that reflect the true scale of losses experienced by affected businesses.
“Business owners are urged to fill out the online form so we can ensure South East Water compensates fairly for the losses experienced during the outages,” Mr Martin said.
South East Water response
South East Water has stated it will “absolutely look at the evidence before us” when assessing whether to increase compensation.
Jamie Tandoh, who has already filled in the consultation form, highlighted the difficulty some businesses have faced in accessing the correct tools to communicate losses.
For now, local firms await updates from South East Water and further developments following Mr Martin’s consultation.
The water outages in December, and most recently in January, have affected more than thirty thousand residents and businesses across Kent and Sussex, leaving many frustrated and calling for accountability.