Thames Water commissioned Community Research to create bespoke panels of domestic customers and employees who are engaged and interested in Thames Water and want to have a say on their plans and to help improve customer service.

A key objective was to construct panels that could be used as a flexible, cost-effective resource for diverse research and engagement exercises. The panels have been used on a number of occasions to date (including customer research to inform the drafting of the company's Drought Plan and an employee survey to test water efficiency products). There are plans to use the panels extensively over the coming year.