Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH AUGUST 2018 | 9 Interview W hen you first meet Northumbrian Water's chief executive Heidi Mottram, you feel as if you've known her for years. She is welcoming and approachable, and she has no problem giving Utility Week an hour of her time for an interview at the company's biggest event of the year. Sitting on a wooden bench in a teepee at Newcastle Racecourse, amid Northumbrian's 2018 Innovation Festival, Mottram talks to Utility Week about diversity in the water sector, Northumbrian's performance, her ambi- tions for the future, and gives some much-needed advice on how to climb Ben Nevis. We meet during the driest June on record, and resil- ience is very much at the forefront of everyone's minds. However, thanks to some careful planning, Mottram doesn't foresee a hosepipe ban in Northumbrian's area. "We've got additional demand, but we're okay," she says confidently. But the company's secure position is "not by accident". "We think long and hard about our resil- ience… we knew this was coming because, generally, you can see the weather coming, so we've planned for it." Two water companies have been caught out by the dry weather so far – Northern Ireland Water, which has now lied its restrictions, and United Utilities. However, Northumbrian is not concerned, and is not anticipating any restrictions in any of the areas it operates – the north east of England and parts of Essex and Suffolk. "Up here we have a lot of water as you know anyway, but in Essex we're resilient. However, that's not by accident, that's because of a lot of thinking over a lot of time and some highly skilled and experienced operational teams. That's what we're paid to do, isn't it, to do our job well and for customers to be able to rely on us." Mottram – a mountain-climbing enthusiast from Leeds – is studious, and commands respect through numerous accolades and achievements. When appointed chief executive of Northumbrian Water in 2010, she became the first ever female chief executive of a water company. The absence of women in utilities is all too well known. However, Mottram says she never felt being a woman was an issue. "It never felt like it was anything to do with me and my gender, people were more inter- ested in what I could bring to the company, my newness and my different perspective. That's what most women will talk about if they get asked about being a woman – it's about diversity, it's about difference." Mottram feels passionately that teams with different perspectives are "a real business accelerator". "There are any number of academic studies that show that, but it's also been my personal experience. I certainly wasn't ever conscious of being the 'first' or the 'only', even on the Water UK board. I've never felt the gender issue at all." Instead, coming from the rail industry, where she had accelerated through the ranks quickly and held several senior management roles – including managing director of Northern Rail, commercial director of Arriva Trains, and operations director of Midland Mainline – people were keen to have her input. Not long before our interview, strong headlines had emerged from unions calling out water company bosses for getting paid "too much". This, along with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's calls for renationalisation and environment secretary Michael Gove's criticism of water company financial structures, has put pressure on water companies to prove themselves and their legitimacy. According to Northumbrian's latest figures, Mottram earned £667,000 in 2017/18. What are her thoughts on whether executive pay is "too high"? Unperturbed by the question, her reply is consid- ered and sensible. "It's important that we articulate and describe the contribution that we make and the service that's provided to our customers. "Generally, when the debate goes on around execu- tive pay, I think the public get frustrated if the CEO is not successful or delivering but still appears to be well- remunerated. When people are successful, and they deliver for their customers, people feel it is fair and appropriate. But these calls will cause us to reflect again about a greater level of transparency and a link to what we're delivering. If you deliver and you lead, and you make success, then I think the public typically go: that's okay. It's when there isn't success, I think, is where that anxiety comes from." It's clear that Mottram is nothing if not successful. Her rapid rise in rail is evidence of this. Having made a success of a rail company previously referred to as a "basket-case", Mottram felt it was time for a change of scene and to prove herself in a new sector. In making the change she certainly moved up a gear in terms of size of

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