Water 2012
Marketforce and the IEA's 13th Annual Conference
5th & 6th November 2012, Central Location, London
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Conference Agenda
Print ProgrammeMonday 5 November 2012, Central Location, London
Day One
Introduction to the Institute of Economic Affairs
Chairman’s opening remarks
Keynote opening address - Delivering ‘Water For Life’: Supporting a vital industry
Questions
Session One: Safeguarding the essential service: the future for water in the UK
Meeting rising expectations: towards a customer focussed industry
Delivering a sustainable future at Wessex Water

Colin Skellett
Executive Chairman, Wessex Water
Colin Skellett
Executive Chairman, Wessex Water
Biography
Colin Skellett was born in Nottingham and has lived in the Bristol and Bath area for over 40 years. He is a scientist and engineer by training, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has worked largely in the water industry for over 40 years.
He has had non-executive roles in rail, travel and international infrastructure businesses. He served on the Board of the South West Regional Development Agency and is involved with a number of charities.
Colin is currently Executive Chairman of Wessex Water, non-executive Chairman of European Connoisseurs Travel, joint Chairman of BusinessWest, and Chairman of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.
Advisory session

Senior representative
KPMGPanel Discussion and Questions: Leadership at a decisive moment for the water industry: is it bold enough?

Colin Skellett
Executive Chairman, Wessex Water
Colin Skellett
Executive Chairman, Wessex Water
Biography
Colin Skellett was born in Nottingham and has lived in the Bristol and Bath area for over 40 years. He is a scientist and engineer by training, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has worked largely in the water industry for over 40 years.
He has had non-executive roles in rail, travel and international infrastructure businesses. He served on the Board of the South West Regional Development Agency and is involved with a number of charities.
Colin is currently Executive Chairman of Wessex Water, non-executive Chairman of European Connoisseurs Travel, joint Chairman of BusinessWest, and Chairman of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.

Senior representative
KPMGRefreshments
Session Two: Preserving the UK’s water security: lessons from drought 2012
Planning for extremes: how can companies increase their resilience to scarcity?

Senior representative
AtkinsReforming abstraction: could market forces better move to where it is valued most?

Martin Silcock
Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
Martin Silcock
Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
Biography
Martin is head of Business Strategy at Anglian Water, a role which encompasses leading its work on market and regulatory reform, and directing regulatory price reviews. Before joining AW in 2005 he worked as consultant in energy, water end transport sectors in a number of countries, with a particular focus on reform and the introduction of markets.
Reforming abstraction: could market forces better move to where it is valued most?

Trevor Bishop
Head of Water Resources Policy, Environment Agency
Trevor Bishop
Head of Water Resources Policy, Environment Agency
Biography
As Head of Water Resources for the Environment Agency, Trevor's responsibilities include all aspects of the management and operation of water resources across England and Wales. Specific responsibilities include Access and Allocation of Water Resources across sectors, Strategic Water Resource Planning, Securing Sustainable Catchment Abstractions, Climate Change Adaptation/Mitigation, Water Competition, Water Demand Management and Monitoring. Trevor has recently been responsible for the delivery of the Environment Agency's Water Resource Strategy, looking out to the 2050's.
Prior to his current role Trevor worked for over 10 years in the Water Industry with a wide range of both strategic and operational roles in a number of water companies. Trevor's final role before joining the Environment Agency was Head of Regulation and Asset Performance at Mid Kent Water. Before joining the Water Industry Trevor worked as a consultant and a geologist in the oil industry.
Panel discussion - Adapting to scarcity: examining solutions to a growing problem details
- Forecasting challenges: advances in modelling water availability and demand
- Are reservoirs the answer? The role of capital projects in securing water supplies
- The importance of efficiency: could optimised networks and trading alleviate shortages?
- How could regulation encourage better water resource management?

Martin Silcock
Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
Martin Silcock
Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
Biography
Martin is head of Business Strategy at Anglian Water, a role which encompasses leading its work on market and regulatory reform, and directing regulatory price reviews. Before joining AW in 2005 he worked as consultant in energy, water end transport sectors in a number of countries, with a particular focus on reform and the introduction of markets.

Trevor Bishop
Head of Water Resources Policy, Environment Agency
Trevor Bishop
Head of Water Resources Policy, Environment Agency
Biography
As Head of Water Resources for the Environment Agency, Trevor's responsibilities include all aspects of the management and operation of water resources across England and Wales. Specific responsibilities include Access and Allocation of Water Resources across sectors, Strategic Water Resource Planning, Securing Sustainable Catchment Abstractions, Climate Change Adaptation/Mitigation, Water Competition, Water Demand Management and Monitoring. Trevor has recently been responsible for the delivery of the Environment Agency's Water Resource Strategy, looking out to the 2050's.
Prior to his current role Trevor worked for over 10 years in the Water Industry with a wide range of both strategic and operational roles in a number of water companies. Trevor's final role before joining the Environment Agency was Head of Regulation and Asset Performance at Mid Kent Water. Before joining the Water Industry Trevor worked as a consultant and a geologist in the oil industry.

Senior representative
AtkinsLunch sponsored by Capgemini
Session Three: Advances in demand side management: lessons from 2012 drought
Drought as an opportunity? Engaging consumers in demand management details
- Why “Waterwisely” works: insight into an award winning project
- Providing services beyond the bill: re-inventing the relationship with customers
- ‘Report a leak’: why companies must demonstrate their own commitment to saving water

Richard Aylard
External Affairs & Sustainability Director, Thames WaterQuestions
Peer to Peer Discussion details
Delegates will split into facilitated groups to discuss short and long term measures that could reduce demand for water across the country.
Topics for discussion could include:
- Is engagement worth the investment or is water still too cheap to save?
- Have high profile shortages reinvigorated metering programmes?
- Are water efficiency requirements for new builds sufficiently ambitious?
- Could water re-cycling and rain water harvesting become standard issue?
- Is there a future role for smarter metering in optimising water usage?
Refreshments
Session Four: Asking more from your network: new heights of asset performance
Reducing the risk of sewer flooding: counteracting extreme rain details
- Prevention better than cure: are customers getting better at avoiding blockages
- How can the sewer network be strengthened against extreme rainfall?
- Adaptation solutions for at-risk properties: the value of customer peace of mind

Colum Goodchild
Water Asset Strategy Manager, Northumbrian Water
Colum Goodchild
Water Asset Strategy Manager, Northumbrian Water
Biography
- Academic background in Environmental Sciences and Water Management (posh Geography).
- Joined Essex & Suffolk water as a graduate trainee in 2000, working in various areas of the business before finding a home in Water Distribution.
- From 2002 responsible for overseeing maintenance and refurbishment activities on the Companies strategic network (big pipes). Also, co-ordinating investment activities in the Distribution Network arena. I developed skills in engineering and finance.
- Transferred to Northumbrian Water in 2006 to compile the Company’s period review submission for water networks – analysing investment needs to compile a robust forecast for the 2010-2015 period. Also managing the day to day activity of the Asset Strategy team responsible for all water assets.
- Recently completed an MBA with Durham University
- Actively involved with my local church in Durham – sitting on the PCC and helping out with the youth group.
Private Sewer Transfer: Challenges and Opportunities details
- The scale of the challenge: establishing the condition of domestic sewers
- Making the case for investment: what kind of monitoring makes sense?
- When things go wrong, how can companies get the intervention right?

Chuck Hansen
Chief Executive Officer, Electro ScanReducing water’s carbon foot print: insight from South West Water details
- The megawatt challenge: how simple changes in asset management save energy
- How SWW saved energy at Par Sewerage without compromising performance
- Towards energy independence? Making the case for renewable generation

David Rose
Carbon Manager, South West WaterQuestions
Chairman’s closing remarks and end of day one
Tuesday 6 November 2012, Central Location, London
Day Two
Chairman’s opening remarks
Session Five: Regulatory Focus
Keynote Opening Address

Regina Finn
Chief Executive, Ofwat
Regina Finn
Chief Executive, Ofwat
Biography
Regina Finn is the Chief Executive of Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales. She has extensive experience regulating utility sectors, including the electricity and natural gas sectors in Ireland, the telecommunications, post and electricity sectors in Guernsey in the Channel Islands and the communications sector in Ireland.
Extended Q&A
Strategic Forum: Adapting to a changing priorities and regulation details
Speakers will give an introduction to their company’s vision for the next price review period, before discussing in a panel how Future Price Limits could support these plans.
Redefining the scope of water companies: taking on bigger challenges

Richard Flint
Chief Executive Officer, Yorkshire Water
Richard Flint
Chief Executive Officer, Yorkshire Water
Biography
Richard was appointed Chief Executive of Kelda Group and Yorkshire Water Services Ltd in April 2010. Prior to that he was the Chief Operating Officer of Yorkshire Water (2008-2010) and Director of the company’s Water Business Unit (2003-2008). He is Chairman of Kelda Water Services, a member of the Water UK Board and a WaterAid Trustee. He was previously chairman of Bradford’s Business in the Community initiative.
Richard's career has had a heavy focus on leading change, including introducing competitive market working practices into the regulated water business, the real-time automation of the Yorkshire Water production platform and innovations in service experience and delivery.
He has recently led a major reorganisation of Yorkshire Water to ensure the company’s 4.8m customers continue to benefit from industry-leading levels of service and environmental excellence.
After the ‘Clean Sweep’: Water, Service and Environment
The future for WOCs serving expanding populations

Luis Garcia
Chief Executive Officer, Bristol WaterPanel Discussion details
- The ‘Customer Challenge’: will customer focussed outcomes lead to an industry transformation?
- How can Ofwat encourage innovation in water retail?
- Does the end of the June Return marked a downward trend for the regulatory burden?
- Earning freedom: will the prospect of flexible price reviews incentivise high performance?
Advisory Session

Senior representative
SiemensQuestions
Refreshments
Delivering continued investment in the water industry details
Water companies have been used to the easy flow of debt financing to fund high levels of capital investment. Could radical reform of price review methodology endanger advantageous credit ratings? And what could this mean as competition for investment becomes more intense?

Martin Brough
Director European Utilities Research, Deutsche Bank
Martin Brough
Director European Utilities Research, Deutsche Bank
Biography
Martin leads analysis of UK energy and pan-European thematic research in the Deutsche Bank Utilities equity research team. He has been working in the UK and European utilities sector since 1993, including 7 years at the leading economic consultancy company Oxera, and 10 years as an equities analyst in Pan-European utilities teams.
Questions
Session Six: Constructing outcomes: succeeding at the ‘customer challenge’
What will empowered customers mean for the UK’s water industry? details
- Engaging with end users: how big a hurdle could gathering customer insight be?
- Do customers really know enough about the industry to shape company proposals?
- How much do customers care about anything beyond the bottom line?
- Will the ‘Customer Challenge’ sufficiently highlight the needs of vulnerable customers?

Tony Smith
Chief Executive, CC Water
Tony Smith
Chief Executive, CC Water
Biography
Tony joined the Consumer Council for Water in December 2005 as Chief Executive.
Since it was set up, CCWater has tried to encourage water companies, their regulators and government to make sure that the industry and the way it is regulated is fully focused on customers and their needs.
His early career was in strategy and marketing, implementing business turnarounds in oil, aerospace, automotive and fast moving consumer goods businesses.
Later Tony joined the utility sector where he has worked at senior level in electricity and as a director in the water industry and the rail sector. During his career in the utilities, he has led corporate strategy, corporate services and stakeholder relations, customer service, investment programme and PFI procurement and delivery and competitive market business development.
His last job was with Ofwat, as Director of Competition and Consumer Affairs, where he was responsible for consumer issues in the lead up to and through the 2004 price review.
In it for the long haul: continuous customer engagement details
- Engaging with end users: how big a hurdle could gathering customer insight be?
- Do customers really know enough about the industry to shape company proposals?
- How much do customers care about anything beyond the bottom line?
- Will the ‘Customer Challenge’ sufficiently highlight the needs of vulnerable customers?
Questions
Lunch sponsored by Siemens
Session Seven: Harnessing market solutions for water
Built for uncertainty: could extending market structures improve resilience and performance? details
- Bringing water into line with other utilities: plans for expanding retail competition
- Getting the access price right: ensuring efficient competition
- The potential for upstream markets to rationalise water resources
Opportunities in UK retail: why customers are already choosing independent suppliers details
SSE water was granted its first inset appointment in October 2007 and now provides water and sewerage services to over 5,000 properties. How has the company become the market leader in the area and what opportunities for growth could an increase in retail competition bring?
Are the benefits of retail competition for household customers becoming clearer? details
- Delivering cost benefits: when might customers see lower bills?
- Could retail competition for domestic customers raise water company’s profiles?
- What will competition mean for vulnerable customers and their social tariffs?

Tim Orange
Finance Director & Head of Customer Operations, Cambridge WaterQuestions
Chairman’s closing remarks and end of conference
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