WET News

Testing times F ew would doubt that the pressure on water compa- nies is growing and, with more than 25 years' experience in the water industry, Daressa Frod- sham can speak with a sense of perspective as she outlines the scale of the challenges they face approaching AMP7. Having become head of UK water at SNC-Lavalin's Atkins business in September, Frodsham has a brief to work with its wide range of existing clients – includ- ing but not limited to Welsh Water, Thames, Southern, Anglian, United Utilities and Severn Trent as well as Scottish Water and Northern Ireland Water – and develop new ones. A key aspect of the role will involve helping these companies contend with the issues they face in both the near future and longer- term, and she warns that those issues are "quite significant". "Every AMP we say this, but I think this time the challenges from all directions are unprecedented – from the climate, Government r e g u l a t i o n , e n v i r o n m e n t a l • Atkins' new head of UK water, Daressa Frodsham, tells Robin Hackett that the company has what it takes to tackle the huge challenges facing the industry 8 WET NEWS NOVEMBER 2018 | wwtonline.co.uk INTERVIEW imperatives, even politics with nationalisation potentially on the horizon and issues with public opinion and reputation," she says. T h e n e w c h a l l e n ge s w i l l demand change, and she is con- fident that Atkins has the forward- thinking approach required for the task. Frodsham, a chemical engineer by profession, has held roles including director for water and environment at Ricardo Energy & Environment, and head of engi- neering and head of capital deliv- ery performance at United Utili- ties, and says she has long been aware of Atkins' capabilities. "I've worked in contracting, consultancy and on the client side as well, so I've known Atkins for quite some time as a competitor, as one of our suppliers or indeed as partners, and I've always been impressed with the people there," she says. "I'm an engineer at heart and Atkins are pretty much an engi- neering tour de force, particularly in the UK water sector." She stresses that she is talking SNC-Lavalin's Atkins business works with a wide range of water companies in the UK Daressa Frodsham became Atkins' head of UK water in September about engineering in "the broad- est sense of the word" and that, while traditional engineering still has an important role within the business, there is a growing emphasis on the digital arena. "It's an area they're really strong in," Frodsham says. "That was one of the things that sur- prised me. The more I learned about what Atkins were doing and the way they embraced the digital age – and I think especially having joined SNC-Lavalin, which brings a whole range of different experi- ences in different continents – I found that it is very, very strong across the whole of SNC-Lavalin and Atkins." Frodsham says her experience working both on hard engineering and on the environmental side of the industry will give her a strong insight as to how companies might approach the need to implement more green thinking into their plans. "The environment is one of the big trends now," she says. "The 25-year environmental plan that Michael Gove released earlier this

• Cover