The UK’s Premier Water Industry Event
21-22 March 2022 | Hilton Tower Bridge | London
Future of Utilities: Water returns with a jam-packed 2 days of fresh ideas, top-level speakers and opportunities to network with other innovators.
With the sectors’ ambitious 2030 net-zero target on the horizon, now is the time to define the priorities to tackle this decade of change. This is the opportunity to hear the strategies to fuel innovation, improve your customer experience, build a smart and sustainable network, and meet that crucial carbon neutral goal.
Experience Everything
Collaborate on the biggest issues
Now is the time to discuss, strategise, and innovate on the solutions to meet Net Zero and build an industry fit for the future.
Grow your network
We have all learned that there’s nothing better than in-person connections. Shake off your zoom fatigue and make face-to-face connections that will fuel your business agenda.
Be inspired by industry-leading insight
Listen in to expert panel discussions and presentations from CEOs and hear the latest ideas that will drive your strategic direction.
Speakers
David Hinton
Chief Executive Officer, South East Water
Steve Trippier
Group Chief Information Security Officer, Anglian Water
Zoe Burns-Shore
Chief Customer Officer, Yorkshire Water
Richard Walwyn
Chief Technology Officer/Chief Digital Officer/Head of Asset Intelligence and Innovation, Severn Trent
Dr Toby Willison
Director of Environment and Corporate Affairs, Southern Water
Tom Lissett
Bioresource, Energy & Carbon Services Director, United Utilities
George Gerring
Partnership Director, Environment Agency
Tamsin Lishman
Asset Management Director, Northumbrian Water
Hot Topics
The c-suite perspective on Net Zero
From exploring new channels of energy production and becoming an operationally greener business, to engaging customers in sustainability initiatives, hear the experts share their thoughts on the journey to net-zero.
Boosting industry innovation
Innovation is the key to building a water industry that is fit for the future. Learn the strategies to overcome internal obstacles to champion and collaborate on future initiatives.
Smarter thinking for asset maintenance
Get smart with aging infrastructure with insights from the experts on how to tackle leakage, optimise maintenance and harness the power of network data.
Supercharging customer engagement
How do you engage the customer in the hyper digital, post-pandemic world? Re-think the supplier-customer relationship and hear how you can build a supportive, value driven experience for your customers.
Capitalising on the circular economy
With sustainability a top priority, investing in nature-based solutions and green initiatives are must. Hear from the experts on the circular economy and learn how to engage customers, communities, and non-sector stakeholders on future projects.
Future skills, strategies and operations
What does the workforce of the future look like? Learn how to forge your workforce with the skills needed to meet the operational changes the industry faces.
Agenda
Day 1
Monday, 21 March 2022
21 Mar
Day 2
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
22 Mar
Welcome address and chair's opening remarks
Shaping a water industry fit for the future
Keynote address
Building a greener future: delivering on priorities to reach 2030
The water industry faces a huge challenge to deliver on its ambitious goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. With change needed at all corners of the business, defining the short-term priorities to meet that long-term goal will be the key to success. David will give an insight into how South East Water is tackling this decade of change and share his thoughts on how water suppliers should prepare for the journey to unfold.
David Hinton
Chief Executive Officer
South East Water
Keynote address
Becoming a trusted partner for the customer: meeting evolving needs and cultivating mutual value
The pandemic has shaped a new set of needs for the customer base, from increased demand for digital channels to financial support schemes. Zoe will consider how the water industry can enhance its operations and evolve its relationship with customers to create a satisfying service, build trust, and engage customers.
Zoe Burns-Shore
Chief Customer Officer
Yorkshire Water
Leaders’ Forum
A bold new way of operating: becoming a smarter industry
- Continued impact of the pandemic on business operations: how have short-term responses settled into long term trends?
- Achieving Net Zero by 2030: what impact has this goal had on changes already in progress?
- Serving the customer: how should suppliers adapt to meet evolving financial needs and digital behaviours?
- Tackling the debt crisis for both household and non-household customers: challenges of providing continued support
- Digitalising an aging network: assessing challenges and opportunities and how suppliers can ensure a cohesive collection of data
- Optimising conditions to achieve Net Zero: creating the regulatory conditions to support a thriving innovation culture
- Embedding lessons learnt from PR19 into PR24: what needs to change?
David Hinton
Chief Executive Officer
South East Water
Zoe Burns-Shore
Chief Customer Officer
Yorkshire Water
Refreshment break
Customer Stage: Riding the wave of the evolving customer engagement landscape
Keynote
Satisfying the customer of today: providing a smooth and valued dialogue
Today’s customer expects a quality, seamless service and understanding engagement. As other industries have perfected their digital platforms, disruptive CX trends have transformed the expectations customers have of their water suppliers. With engagement in the spotlight, Sue will give an insight into how Bristol Water is meeting evolving customer needs, and will address the ways the industry can improve its communication with customers.
Sue Clarke
Head of Customer Experience
Bristol Water
Panel discussion
Aware, informed and engaged: reshaping the supplier-customer relationship
- Engagement in the post-pandemic, hyper-digital world: what changes have been most long-lasting?
- Simultaneously improving engagement and protecting networks: tapping into the power of digital reporting platforms
- What different forms does loyalty take in different types of customers and how can organisations improve on this?
- Building-back trust: identifying the right approach to combat negative public perceptions
- From circular economy projects to blockages: strategies for engaging local communities and businesses to help overcome core network problems
- Fostering collaborative partnerships with non-household customers: doing more together on the road to Net Zero
- What can water companies in the consumer market learn from experiences with non-household customers?
- The future of engagement: what steps should the industry take to maintain a mutually valuable and open relationship with its customer base?
Dawn Creighton
Head of Customer Strategy & Experience
Northumbrian Water
Molly Horsley
Senior Leader Corporate Affairs
Scottish Water
Case study
Whether in-person, online or collaborative: engaging with non-household customers to tackle network issues
Blockages caused by fat, oils and grease present an abundance of disruptive and costly challenges for water networks. By forging collaborative partnerships with non-household customers, water networks can provide education, support and solutions to work towards a mutually beneficial future. Elvira will share Southern Water’s experiences in engaging with the hospitality industry to successfully tackle wastewater issues and protect the sewer network.
Elvira Gabos
FOG & Unflushables Manager
Southern Water
Infrastructure Stage: ‘Smart’ thinking across the network
Panel discussion
Making the leap from automation to AI: towards a more informed network view
- Reaching smart network goals: assessing the pace of digitalisation
- From automation to AI: what internal challenges are water companies facing in taking automation to the next level?
- How can suppliers maximise the long-term value of early-stage investments?
- From cities to the highlands: ensuring consistent implementation and overcoming geographical challenges
- The whereabouts of water: leveraging an informed network to tackle water scarcity and reach sustainability goals
- From reskilling to redistributing teams: assessing the impact of network digitalisation on the workforce
- A more informed future: what possibilities can be opened up with widespread implementation of automation and AI
Martin Jackson
Head of Strategy and Product Management
Northumbrian Water
Dr Hande Cote
Head of Digital Maintenance Transformation
Anglian Water
Case Study
Intelligent solutions to tackle wastewater management: exploring the value of AI
As sewer blockages and pollution incidents continue to burden the water industry with high repair costs and reputational damages, integrating AI solutions can enable organisations to move to a model of predictive wastewater maintenance. Jody shares how Wessex Water has trialled an AI empowered sewer network to enhance maintenance efficiencies and reduce wastewater pollution, and discusses the next steps in the organisation’s AI journey.
Jody Knight
Asset Technology Manager
Wessex Water
Lunch
Customer Stage: Holistic support and seamless experiences: next-level CX strategies
Fireside Chat
From tech natives to the digitally vulnerable: adding real value with CX transformation
- Meeting every need: what does real value mean to different kinds of customer?
- Identifying and smoothing over digital pain points: key challenges and potential solutions
- Embedding a human touch throughout digital journeys: how can this be done well?
Matthew Tasker
Head of Digital Channels
United Utilities
Panel discussion
Managing an era of long-term support: supporting vulnerable customers and navigating the debt recovery
- Understanding the broad church of vulnerability: towards more a nuanced approach
- The evolution of support since the pandemic: how have needs changed for retail and non-household customers?
- Identifying customers before they fall into financial hardship: leading with a technology-led approach
- From supporting accessibility needs to extra care teams: serving customers in a more empathetic way
- Assisting with affordability: implementing a flexible approach to billing
- Cross-utility data sharing: a collaborative approach to the identification of vulnerable customers
- Embedding compassion into the business: towards a kinder future for customer service
- Ofwat’s role in future change: what extra support might the industry need?
Pete Holland
Director of Customer and Wholesale Services
Anglian Water
Alex Belsham-Harris
Principal Policy Manager, Energy Retail Markets Policy
Citizens Advice
Infrastructure Stage: Visualising the future of asset management
Panel discussion
The tech-led operational shift: assessing the impact across the business
- Assessing the impact of digitalisation on operations: what changes have had the most impact in recent years?
- What further changes to operations could be expected as the sector moves to a more predicative model of asset maintenance?
- Leveraging data sharing across the business to boost operational efficiencies
- What changes might further digitalisation bring to the workforce and how can organisations start to prepare?
- Sharing trial experiences and best practise: encouraging sector-wide communication to maximise the value of future investments
- Looking towards the next decade: how might regulation need to evolve to support the sector through the next wave of change for asset management?
Paul Harper
Director of Asset Delivery
NI Water
Graham Lunt
Head of Digital Assets
Thames Water
Refreshments
Towards a new normal for industry innovation
Panel discussion
Reflections on the Innovation Fund and beyond: next steps for boosting industry transformation
- Learnings from the Innovation Fund so far: has it started to set out what it intended to achieve?
- How have different parts of the sector felt the benefits?
- What can be learned from other initiatives within the water industry aiming to boost innovation?
- Looking inside the business: how can water companies overcome internal silos that are slowing down innovation efforts?
- Gearing up to Net Zero: assessing the impact on innovation processes and priorities
- Investing in innovators not innovation: developing the workforce through reskilling and recruitment to fuel future change
- What can the water industry learn from other utilities who are ahead in their innovation journey?
Selwyn Rose
Innovation Strategy Manager
United Utilities
Keynote
Sharing best practice to fuel innovation: collaborating within the sector and beyond
From technological and digital weaknesses, to enhancing energy efficiency and supporting vulnerable customers, providers must look across the industry and beyond to find the solutions to these challenges. In this keynote, Richard explores how Severn Trent have opened up new channels of innovation. As their business and operating models evolve, what new kinds of collaboration might come through and why is it so important to share best practise?
Richard Walwyn
Chief Technology Officer/Chief Digital Officer/Head of Asset Intelligence and Innovation
Severn Trent
End of day and drinks reception
Chair's opening remarks
The journey to net zero: becoming an operationally greener business
Keynote address
Tackling an ambitious Net Zero goal: exploring the green solutions to meet the industry’s biggest challenge
The water industry’s 2030 Net Zero target is an ambitious commitment. Reaching this goal will require a major change in the way the industry operates across all aspects of the business. Becoming more energy efficient, exploring the potential of nature-based solutions and adopting a circular economy are an important step towards this greener future for the industry. In this keynote, Toby will explain how Southern Water has begun to implement green solutions in its efforts to enhance sustainability, heighten resilience, and meet the industry’s carbon neutral goal.
Dr Toby Willison
Director of Environment and Corporate Affairs
Southern Water
Keynote address
The energy revolution: exploring alternative strategies for a clean and efficient industry
Becoming an energy efficient business is a key requirement for the industry to meet its environmental goals. Becoming more “carbon efficient” includes extending production of heat and transport renewables alongside changing the way we operate treatment processes and purchase energy. In this keynote, Tom will explain how United Utilities is exploring new channels of clean and efficient energy production and is planning its next phase of decarbonisation to support its long-term ambition of net zero.
Tom Lissett
Bioresource, Energy & Carbon Services Director
United Utilities
Panel discussion
Collaborating on the circular economy: customers, communities, and non-sector stakeholders
- Defining the circular economy: who, what, when, where, how?
- How are collaborative partnerships with third parties currently fuelling green initiatives?
- From water conservation to bio-diversity: how can suppliers best communicate the benefits of the circular economy for non-industry players?
- Building a convincing case for the customer: assessing how companies can best inform customers of their role to play and the potential benefits it may bring
- What special tactics might be needed to reach local community groups and why is this so important?
- Collaborating with local government and environmental charities: outlining the best approach to win their financial and strategic support
- How might regulatory support and policy signals need to adapt as nature-based solutions become more commonplace across the industry?
George Gerring
Partnership Director
Environment Agency
Shaunna Berendsen
Head of Innovations
Anglian Water
James Harrison
Head of Asset Management
Yorkshire Water
Malcolm Horne
Director of Environment
Severn Trent
Refreshment break
Preparing for the world of real-time data
Panel Discussion
Implementing the opportunities of real-time data across the business: harnessing live and accurate insights
- What does data-driven mean for water and how close are suppliers to achieving that goal?
- Making the leap to real-time: what obstacles are water suppliers currently facing?
- Quality control: what steps should be taken to improve data quality?
- Combating geographical inequality: how can companies collect equal levels of live data from across the network?
- From tackling leakage to asset maintenance: assessing the challenges of moving towards a more predictive model
- Gaining insight: harnessing data analytics to present a broader picture of customer behaviour
- Assessing new challenges for security: identifying weak points and offering added protection
- How can companies leverage data analytics to enable lasting business change?
Tim Stanley
Head of Data and Analytics
United Utilities
Athena Zitrou
Head of Business Analytics
Scottish Water
Kevin Parry
Head of Data
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water
Keynote
Is cyber security your biggest and least understood risk?
The utilities sector is considered an attractive and potentially vulnerable target for large scale damaging cyber and cyber-physical attacks that could result in business disruption and widespread impact on essential services. Steve will discuss why the industry has this reputation and highlight why as we move towards a digitally transformed, connected and data-driven future, cybersecurity must become a key priority for all utility businesses. Steven will share Anglian Water’s journey to embedding cybersecurity at all levels of the business and how this focus is making a positive difference.
Steve Trippier
Group Chief Information Security Officer
Anglian Water
Lunch
A new way of working
Panel discussion
Supporting the workforce of today: adapting in the face of industry change
- A post-pandemic and digitalised workforce: what long-term working trends are emerging in water?
- Factoring in other national or international trends for the future of work: how might water feel the impact?
- How is network digitalisation reshaping field force deployment and unlocking new capabilities on the job?
- Empowering front-line workers to make data-driven decisions: getting the right information to the right people
- Leveraging recruitment and reskilling existing staff to unlock new opportunities across the business: how can this be done well?
- Towards a more diverse future for the industry: what initiatives should be developed and what advantages could this bring?
- Aligning this change with industry growth and organisational restructuring: ensuring operational agility
Debbie Wood
Head of Resourcing and Development
Wessex Water
Luke Sambridge
Head of Business Excellence and Transformation
Affinity Water
Tamsin Lishman
Asset Management Director
Northumbrian Water
Keynote
Working from the pandemic to net-zero: building a greener, digitally savvy and more diverse workforce
From meeting Net Zero as an industry to becoming an increasingly digitalised business, the transformational changes on the horizon will usher in new kinds of jobs and skillsets. These changes will run parallel to the development of post-pandemic employment trends and a movement within water to boost diversity in the sector. Tania will share how Affinity Water is developing the workforce with new skillsets, tapping into exciting new recruitment strategies and championing an innovation culture that fuels fast-paced future change.
Tania Flasck
Director of People
Affinity Water
Assessing the regulatory relationship
Chair’s closing remarks and end of conference
Tickets
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Full Price £995.00 + VAT
Who Attends
We have some of the industries leaders attending this years event!
Sponsorship Opportunities
Thought Leadership
Taking part in a fireside chat, fielding a pundit or participating in a panel discussion alongside industry leaders are just some of the thought-leadership opportunities for you to showcase your insight and expertise.
Branding Awareness
You want to ensure your brand is front of mind with senior players in the utilities world. Using multiple channels across Future of Utilities, we have the megaphone to tell your story and increase visibility of your brand.
Lead Generations
We get industry leaders, you form lasting connections with those who have genuine buying power. From 1-2-1 meetings via a VIP concierge, to bespoke roundtables, the opportunities are endless.