Water 2009

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.

Philip Green

Chief Executive Officer, United Utilities

Biography

Philip Green became Chief Executive of United Utilities PLC in February 2006. United Utilities is one of the largest utilities (water, gas, and electricity) companies in the UK, ranked mid-way in the FTSE100, with a market cap of £3bn+ after recently returning £1.5bn to shareholders. During the last three years it has restructured and strengthened management, created strategic focus through some disposals, and improved operational performance.

In 2003 Philip was appointed CEO of P&O Nedlloyd, one of the largest container shipping companies in the world, and a joint venture between P&O and Royal Nedlloyd. He led the company to its successful listing as Royal P&O Nedlloyd BV in Amsterdam in April 2004. Under his leadership operating profit increased from $77m in 2003 to approximately $550m in 2005. In August 2005, the company was acquired at a share price of €57 compared to a market price of less than €10 in 2003.

He was previously Chief Operating Officer at Reuters Group plc, which he joined in 1999. His responsibilities included the design and implementation of a global change management programme. From 1990 to 1999 he was at DHL, the global market leader for cross-border express delivery, becoming Chief Operating Officer for Europe and Africa.

He holds an MBA from the London Business School and a BA (Hons) from the University of Wales.

Philip is a member of the Commission for Skills and Employment. He is also a Director of Business in the Community, and Chairman of BitC’s Environment Campaign. He is a Trustee of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

He was born in 1953 and is married with two daughters.

Mike McKeon

Group Finance Director, Severn Trent

Biography

Michael joined the board of Severn Trent Plc on 13 December 2005 as Finance Director. Prior to that, he was Finance Director of the buildings materials group Novar Plc. He worked for Rolls Royce Plc from 1997 to 2000 in various senior roles including Finance Director of the Aerospace Group.

He has extensive international business experience, having worked overseas for CarnaudMetalbox, Elf Atochem and Price Waterhouse. Michael is a Chartered Accountant and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He was appointed a non-executive director of The Merchants Trust Plc, with effect from 1 May 2008.

Stephen Kay

Managing Director, Cambridge Water

Biography

Stephen Kay has spent almost his entire career supplying water and associated customer service – firstly in South Africa and Mauritius before commencing 35 years in the English water industry with Lee Valley Water, Thames Water and Cambridge Water.

Stephen believes that water companies should be at the heart of the communities they serve which enables them to be closer and more responsive to the customers they supply. Leading one of England's smallest water companies gives him the opportunity to spend time speaking directly to customers and encouraging his colleagues to play an active part in community initiatives.

Stephen is also a passionate supporter of Water UK and plays a full part in developing a consistent approach to technical issues across the industry as Chairman of both the Water UK [technical] Standards Board and the Water Regulations Advisory Service (the organisation that helps enforce standards of plumbing fittings and installations in buildings).

In his spare time Stephen is an active cricket administrator representing Cambridgeshire with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Jean Spencer

Director of Regulation & Executive Director, Anglian Water

Biography

Jean Spencer was appointed as Regulation Director with Anglian Water in May 2004. Prior to joining Anglian Water, she held a number of positions with Yorkshire Water and Kelda, including Head of Regulation, Head of Internal Audit and Regulatory and Accounting Controller.

A qualified chartered accountant, Jean began her career at Grant Thornton in 1980. In 1984 she joined the Audit Commission, leaving in 1989 to join Yorkshire Water.

During 2006-2008, Jean chaired the Steering Group for Waterwise's Evidence Base for Large-scale Water Efficiency in Homes. The Evidence Base brought together and analysed for the first time around twenty large-scale water company water efficiency retrofit projects, and produced cost-benefit data and scenarios to inform water company and regulatory delivery of retrofit programmes, to help the supply-demand balance as demand increases, and supply is threatened as a result of climate change. The Evidence Base was used by water companies and Ofwat in the PR09 process. The Steering group has now reconvened to deliver phase 2 of the evidence base.

Mark Powles

Chief Executive, Business Stream

Biography

Mark Powles joined newly formed Business Stream in March 2007. Since then he has created a dynamic, customer focused company that successfully operates in the non-household Scottish retail market.

Powles brings a wealth of relevant senior management experience operating in highly regulated, competitive retail service markets across travel, transport and Financial Services, with Companies such as Sealink Stena Line, National Express Group and AEGON UK.

At Business Stream, Powles has created a strong, sustainable brand where the customer sits at the heart of all activities and business is retained on merit by the strength of the products, services and value for money it provides. Since 2008 customer satisfaction has increased, around 60% of customers are benefiting from discounts and the range of services has expanded from 6 to 57. Business Stream has also helped our customers make over £19 million of efficiency savings overall. That’s a saving of over 4.39 billion litres of water or 8,205 tonnes of CO2.

Business Stream has won best business performance at the European Utility Awards, Green Business at the CBI Growing Business Awards and Partnership in Environment with Glasgow City Council at the LGC Business Partnership awards 2011.

Keith Harris

Director of Finance and Policy, Wessex Water

Biography

Keith Harris has 20 years of experience in utilities specialising in regulation, competition and government affairs, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions.

Keith oversaw the 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009 Price Reviews and had the dubious pleasure of being the global head of regulation at Azurix, Enron's water subsidiary. He was then integral to protecting Wessex Water and realising value from the Azurix group upon Enron's collapse.

After gaining an Economics degree with a specialisation in the privatisation of public utilities, Keith continues to study the increasingly important part that utility companies play in delivering social and sustainability policies. He introduced Wessex Water’s innovative “Assist” social water tariff, and pioneered the company’s approach to contracting with farmers not to pollute water sources.

He is a member of the Water UK Council and Steering Committee and is Vice Chairman of Norton Radstock Regeneration Limited.

David Elliott

Director of Planning & Asset Management, Wessex Water

Biography

David is responsible for ensuring that the Company invests in and maintains appropriate assets to meet our customer service, regulatory, financial and quality objectives. He is responsible for liaising with regulators and preparing regulatory business plans, developing policy and implementing investment plans to deliver our obligations within an acceptable level of risk and return.

David joined Wessex Water in 1984, and has spent many of those years delivering services within the operational side of the business.

Elliott, David BSc Director of Regulation and Assets. Wessex Water Director since June 2007. Responsible for investment planning and risk management. Previously General Manager Asset Planning and Group Services. Joined Wessex Water in 1984.

Alan Sutherland

Chief Executive Officer, Water Industry Commission for Scotland

Biography

Alan has been the Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission since its establishment in July 2005. Prior to that he was the Water Industry Commissioner. He was appointed by the Scottish Ministers to that role in November 1999. He has extensive experience in management consultancy and in the investment banking industry, being a former management consultant with Bain and Company and before that a Manager with Robert Fleming and Company. More recently he was a Managing Director of Wolverine CIS Ltd, a division of Wolverine World Wide. Alan has a MBA and MA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MA(Hons) from the University of St Andrews.

Anna Walker

Chair, Independent Review of Household Charging for Water and Sewerage Services

Biography

Anna was appointed to lead a review of charging for household water and sewerage services in August 2008.

She has wide ranging experience in the public sector particularly in regulation, the needs of disadvantaged customers and the interrelationship between economic and environmental issues.

Anna was appointed as chair of the Office of Rail Regulation in July 2009 the statutory board which is the combined economic and safety regulatory authority for Great Britain’s rail network.

 Prior to that, Anna was Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission which was created in April 2004 and regulates both public and private sector healthcare.

 She was Director General, Land Use and Rural Affairs at Defra from 2001-2004. Her responsibilities there included drawing up a new rural policy following the foot and mouth outbreak. . She was also responsible for a review of the regulation Defra was responsible for worked on Defra’s strategy as a then newly established department.

Anna was Director General, Energy at the Department of Trade and Industry (1998-2001) – responsible for all aspects of the government’s energy policy including the regulation of the energy industry.  She was Deputy Director General at the Office of Telecommunications regulating the telecommunications industry from 1994-98. Anna joined the Department of Trade and Industry in 1975 following jobs at the British Council and the Confederation of British Industry,. She was Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Industry (1977-79).  She is a member of the new National Consumer Council which brings together the functions of the National Consumer Council energywatch and postwatch.

Anna is married and lives in London.  She has 3 daughters:  When time allows, she likes to travel, cycle and walk.

Martin Cave

BP Centennial Professor, London School of Economics

Biography

Martin Cave was until recently director of Warwick Business School’s Centre for Management under Regulation and is now holder of the BP Millenium Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He specialises in regulatory economics, and is the author of 'Understanding Regulation' and co-editor of the forthcoming 'Oxford Handbook of Regulation'. He has advised many governments and regulatory agencies and has undertaken reviews for Defra, the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Department for Transport, the DTI  and the Treasury. He is the author of the recently published Independent Review of Competition and Innovation in the England & Wales Water Sector (April 2009).

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.

Dame Yve Buckland

Chair, CC Water

Biography

Dame Yve was appointed the first National Chair of the Consumer Council for Water on 1st October 2005.

Dame Yve is also currently the National Chair of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Before joining CCWater Dame Yve had substantial experience in local government and between 1992 and 1999 she was City Secretary of Nottingham City Council. Dame Yve is an honorary member of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine and an associate of the Warwick Business School. She was awarded the DBE in June 2003 for services to public health.

Martin Wells

Vice President, Utilities, Capgemini

Biography

Martin has worked at the senior executive and operational levels of the largest utility companies in the UK and Ireland, helping household-name clients in the electricity and water industries to transform customer service and increase efficiency in front and back offices, and in the field. He has 15 years' experience of programme and change management, CRM and customer operations, human performance management and outsourcing, all gained in the utilities sector. Currently he is working with a number of our UK water clients to help them respond to the challenges they face in AMP5.

Robert Miller-Bakewell

Water, Waste & Infrastructure Consultant

Biography

A science graduate, Robert joined Wood Mackenzie & Co as an investment analyst in April 1977. During the 1980s he was involved in a series of UK privatisations (e.g. Jaguar, and British Airways) and IPOs. Robert covered the UK water companies from their 1989 privatisation, and their waste counterparts from 1990. He a broadly knowledge of European water and waste companies, particularly the French, and has also written extensively about infrastructure.

He joined Merrill Lynch in March 1998 after nearly 21 years at Wood Mackenzie and successor firms (eg NatWest Markets). His equity coverage extended across water & waste management companies, including continental European stocks. Retired from Merrill Lynch in July 2008, but continued to act as a consultant to the Bank of America Securities – Merrill Lynch EMEA Utilities team until April 2010 whilst pursuing other projects including writing.

Appointed a non-executive director of RPS Group in May 2010. Also a director of the Lothians Racing Syndicate, and a member of OFWAT's Future Regulation panel.

His other interests include politics (though on extended sabbatical since June 2000) and horse racing (with horses in both UK and Eire), Robert lives near Melrose in the Scottish Borders.