Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/258952
utILIty WeeK | 14th - 20th February 2014 | 9 Interview I t could have been embarrassing. When the judging panels for the Utility Week Industry Achievement Awards independently gave gongs to Northumbrian Water five times over, there were fears that the crowd on the night could turn nasty. In the event, the 1,400 guests that thronged the Grosvenor House Hotel on 2 December showed considerable grace, applauding and cheering as Northumbrian Water swept the board, collecting the coveted Utility of the Year Award alongside four others. And Team Northumbrian? Suffice to say that come the early hours, they were to be found taking turns sliding down the Grosvenor's iconic ballroom bannisters, with chief executive Heidi Mottram taking her turn alongside the rest. Today, the party's over and it's back to business for both Northumbrian Water and Mottram – but they're no less celebratory for that. Mottram's packed schedule is in evidence as she dashes in from the train station, engages in some intense corridor discussions, before welcoming Utility Week with a smile. An acknowledged leader in both the water sector and industry more generally, Mot- tram is pleasant, thoughtful and passionately committed to her company. Under her leadership, it has won not only a clutch of Utility Week awards, but industry rec- ognition for leading the way on sustainability initiatives including anaerobic digestion, plus a healthy profit of £150 million aer tax in 2012/13. Mottram's story is fairly well rehearsed. She is that rare thing in the water industry – a joiner from another sector. She took the job at Northumbrian in 2010, fol- lowing a successful career in the rail industry, culminat- ing in a spell as chief executive of Northern Rail. There are the obvious contrasts and comparisons to be made between water and rail – "both industries get their hooks into you" – but Mottram hasn't looked back since switch- ing ships. The water industry has come in for considerable criticism recently, particularly those companies that are owned by private equity and overseas investors. North- umbrian Water was acquired in 2011 for £2.41 billion by Chinese investment consortium CKI, which also owns UK Power Networks. Asked about the negative publicity that has surrounded water company finances, Mottram replies: "I came out of another industry that's a priva- tised public service, and I think wherever those changes have been made this debate perpetuates." Mottram reflects further: "A lot of private money has been invested to deliver services for customers and of course it has to generate a return. The numbers are big – when there are big numbers you can make a story because the numbers are big. Nobody is registering the The big winner at Utility Week's Achievement Awards Northumbrian Water won an unprec- edented five awards at the Utility Week Achievement Awards 2013. Judges said the company had "consistently outperformed its peers". • Utility of the Year • Community Initiative of the Year • Marketing Initiative of the Year • Supply Chain Excellence • Environment Award