Utility Week

8 | 9TH - 15TH NOVEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Interview be more prosecutions in the future about stuff that has happened years ago. "Ultimately our ambition is to have no pollutions. We think that between 2020 and 2025 we will reduce by about 18 per cent, between now and 2025 by about 30 per cent, and by 40 per cent by 2027, but we would like to do it faster." Having set up BT's Openreach infrastruc- ture division and with experience of building "big global data networks", Robertson is all too aware of the importance of technology in business. His own career has been a "mix- ture of high tech, big operations, and lots and lots of infrastructure", and he has drawn lessons from that. "We need to get fantastic at using technology to pre-empt the impact of massive flows in terms of volume, and know where it will have a bad impact before it happens and do something about it," he says. Don't get him started on wet wipes, though. "Why is it okay to put wet wipes down a toilet?" he fumes. "Why is it okay for manufacturers to put that they are flushable on the packaging? It is an absolute disgrace. It should not be allowed, and the behaviour of people who put fat, oil and grease in the sewers when they know it is going to endanger the effective operation of our sewerage treat- ment works is a disgrace as well." But he accepts that Thames has a role to play too. "We need to be better – I absolutely buy that. I am not in any way, shape or form side-stepping our responsibility. There are things that need to change." Why him? When first approached for the job at Thames Water, Rob- ertson says he was perplexed. He recalls thinking: "Why is the largest water company in the UK talking to me, and why would I be interested in talking to them? But it didn't take long for it to become clear that actually there was a really good fit. I was at a stage in my career where I wanted to do something which I felt was significant and important from a societal perspective, and Thames Water ticked all those boxes." His background leaves him well suited to deal with some of the challenges facing the water sector, such as climate change, economic growth, housing growth, population growth and rising expectations. "The choices that we make need to be well informed," he says, "and we need to do that with our customers, not to them." He says Thames has even carried out some "cool research", involving some "very well-informed discus- sions" with customers about the gearing of the company. So what came out of those discussions? "They said we understand you need to borrow money to fund invest- ment, we get that, but also we think it's very important that you are financially resilient and therefore we would feel more comfortable if you reduce your gearing." He adds: "And when you look at what's in our plan – we say, well, okay, we're going to reduce gearing by about 5 per cent, and when you add the incremental investment to the reduction in debt you end up with an equity buffer, so the difference between the value of our assets and the debt of the company is something like £4.7 billion. That is a big bit of resilience. That's £4.7 billion of financial resilience that we will build over the next seven years into the company." Robertson says that Thames didn't build its business plan for Ofwat's PR19 water price review with any regu- latory outcome in mind, but "with the right outcome for the long-term health of our business, the way it serves its customers, and to clear up a space where we can begin to address some long-term issues". He's adamant that he's in the job for the long haul too. "One of the things with infra- structure businesses is that you have to be very suspicious of people who come in, wave a big flag, have a short-term impact, and dis- appear again. It's not that sort of business. How can I expect my teammates in Thames Water to be committed, how can I expect us to make long-term decisions, how can I expect my customers to trust me if they think I'm here to make a bit of a splash and then disappear?" Transformation and vision Thames is engaging in transformation in a bid to be more transparent with customers. At the start of this year Ian Marchant, the former chief executive of SSE, joined as independent chairman and was given the job of leading a review of the Thames corporate structure and govern- ance. Part of the review has seen the company start the process of closing down its Cayman Islands subsidiary. Robertson says: "I was looking for somebody who had the same emotional commitment to the task in hand as well as the capabilities. And that's where it starts. We need to care about the task our business has and the role it plays in the communities we serve. It goes beyond Ian; it goes to the rest of the board and our investors. They are committed to the long term. They are committed to investing in a business they can feel proud of, and have put their money where their mouth is. Not just in this asset management period, but in supporting our plan in the next AMP. That says we are going to make sure this is a business that invests, and invests wisely, but prioritises investment. There is a real unity of purpose inside our business. That is the foundation of our transformation." Robertson insists that understanding the relationship between the organisation's customers, the environment and how the business is run is at the heart of this. "The vision of our business is not a set of words," he declares. "The vision of our business is absolutely what we are here to do. We are here for you in a changing world, and being here for you is about being here for you now and in the future, and for your children and for your children's children. "The second part of being here for you in a changing world is to recognise we have to change as well. Chang- ing is about innovating, it's about listening, it's about doing things differently – because how can you cope with a changing world, how can I be here for you as my cus- tomer if I am not going to change in response to a chang- ing environment and your changing expectations?" These sentiments are not, he insists, just something to "look nice on a poster". They are, he says, "at the heart of who we are as a business. It's part of how we run our board meetings. It's at the heart of how we make our decisions. It's at the heart of how we want to engage with our customers and our stakeholders. And it's what we believe in because it's right. "Nobody is forcing me to do this job. I am doing it because I absolutely want to do it. What I have found within Thames Water is that it is absolutely stuffed full of people who are passionate and care, and are here because they want to be doing what they are doing. If we keep that at the heart of what we are doing, everything is going to be fine." "We need to get fantastic at using technology to pre-empt the impact of massive flows in terms of volume, and know where it will have a bad impact before it happens and do something about it."

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