Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 28TH SEPTEMBER - 4TH OCTOBER 2018 | 7 Interview C olin Skellett wants to revolutionise the water industry, and he plans to use the latest round of regulatory hoops – PR19 – to make a start. Wessex Water's chief executive is oen referred to as the godfather of the water sector. The only water chief executive to have led a company since before the indus- try was privatised in 1989, he's witnessed every change to the sector since. There is perhaps a danger that working for the same company for 44 years may cause one to become stuck in a rut, but for Skellett this hasn't happened. He always strives to keep Wessex Water moving, so it remains the best-performing company in all areas. Not only does he want Wessex to remain one of the top performers, he also wants the mindset of the entire sector to change. On 3 September, Wessex, along with every other water company in England and Wales, submitted its business plan for 2020-25 to Ofwat. The overarching theme of Wessex's plan is that the water industry model needs to change completely. "We feel really strongly that we should be about changing the model. We shouldn't be going through more and more regulation, and the more you can get competition and markets into the sector, the less you need regulation. That's the overriding thrust – our board is really keen to try and promote a different model." Skellett meets Utility Week at the company's head office in Bath to talk about Wessex's recently submitted business plan, and Skellet's vision for the future of the water sector. He has a glint in his eye as he jokes about the need for Utility Week to change its name. Although said in jest, his statement has a serious undertone. He doesn't like the word "utility" – he prefers "service business". "There's something about the word 'utility' – a) it sounds very old-fashioned, and b) it sounds as though all you're about is spending money to do stuff, whereas what you should be about is providing service." He gallops through his past, bored with going over old ground. The 73-year-old, Nottingham-born water boss joined the sector in 1961, when he started work in a lab at a sewage works. He joined Wessex Water in a junior man- agement role in 1974 – when the company was created – and was made chief executive in 1988 to lead the com- pany through privatisation. He now heads the empire that is Wessex Water Group, with six subsidiary companies. During the time he's been in the industry, Skellett has seen its many different facets. Now, he doesn't believe taking the water companies back under public owner- ship – as proposed by the likes of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – is the way forward. "You can do it," he says, "but there are difficulties." Firstly, the large amount of money that would need to be spent on the renationali- sation itself, at a time when there are all sorts of other demands on public money. Secondly, and more importantly, maintaining the level of investment the water industry needs would be a tough task. "We need sustained investment," says Skel- lett. "The reasons why the industry standards – whether it's service, leakage, pollution, water quality – have been transformed since 1989 is because of investment. Unless you can guarantee that sustained investment, you won't maintain those standards and those improvements." History shows us that the public sector is not good at long-term investment. Skellett doesn't believe the current model is perfect, however, and he does believe it is time for a change. Scrap monopolies, for a start. "It's a mindset that says, somehow, we've got to stay as a monopoly – but we don't. And if the industry does stay as a monopoly, then the mindset is that we need more regulation. "Comparative competition has driven efficiencies and made companies more responsive, but we're still dealing with monopolies," he says. "We were publicly owned

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