SP Manweb


SP Manweb previously MANWEB, is the regional electricity supplier and distributor for Merseyside, North Wales and parts of Cheshire. It is now part of SP Energy Networks, itself a subsidiary of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola. MANWEB announced plans to slash five hundred jobs in the workforce in September 1994.

Nationalised industry

It was originally created in 1947, as the nationalised Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board in the Electricity Act 1947, but was privatised in December 1990 to become Manweb plc. MANWEB was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator and its distribution and sale of electricity to customers.
The key members of the Board were: Chairman Josiah Eccles, Chairman D.G. Dodds, Deputy Chairman D.G. Gwyn, Full time member E.J. Lollar.
The total number of customers supplied by the Board was:
Year1948/91960/11965/61970/11975/61978/91980/11985/61987/81988/9
No. of Customers, 1000s63294610281099117512201246130812761285

The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by MANWEB over its operational life was as follows:

Post privatisation

It was purchased by Scottish Power in January 1996, and subsequently become SP Manweb plc. The Manweb name continued to be used alongside the Scottish Power logo on home and retail publications until the middle of 2007, when it was replaced by ScottishPower.
However, the Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales electricity distributor continues as SP Manweb plc, which is managed along with the Scottish transmission operators SP Distribution plc and SP Transmission plc as SP Energy Networks. A fourth company, SP Power Systems Ltd maintains the distribution networks for each of these companies.