Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MAY 2014 | 23 Path to the top 2013 - 2014 NIW – Interim CEO 2010 - 2013 NIW – Director of CSDD 2008 - 2010 NIE – Customer Operations Manager 2006 - 2008 NIE – Performance Manager 2003 - 2006 NIE – Supply Chain Manager & Six Sigma Black Belt 1970's 10R A History of Churchill Controls' Telemetry Development 1980's 30R 1990's 20R 2000's Data_Link 2014 Mega_Link Evolution through Intelligent Design Mega_Link Contact us now for anything you need to know about telemetry: Licence-free Radio, GPRS, Leased Line and to receive a copy of our new Mega_Link product brochure Churchill Controls Ltd 30 Wellington Business Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire, RG45 6LS Tel: 01344 750233 e-mail Mega_Link@churchill-controls.co.uk At each stage of our product evolution we: Listen to our customers Encompass latest technology Design Innovate value for money. We have had excellent engagement with a wide range of customers during the preparation for our 6 year price control (PC15) and we were very pleased with the overall level of satisfaction, but there is always more to do • The regulatory regime continues to demand that more is delivered for less. We have re- duced the number of staff in NI Water from 1,900 to just under 1,300 while at the same time doubling our overall performance assessment (OPA) score in 5 years. This is probably the fastest pace of transformation in the water industry and our PC15 business plan continues to set challenging efficiency and performance targets going forward • We also have the challenge of our NI governance model which is a hybrid of a government company and non-departmen- tal public body. This can be as unwieldy as it sounds and reduces the pace at which we would like to improve services for custom- ers. Linking our capital funding to the annual public expenditure cycle is less than ideal. • Climate change is driving more extreme weather events. We have invested in adaptation measures and we continue to drive down our carbon footprint to mitigate against future events. Q: What sets Northern Ireland apart from the rest of the UK? Northern Ireland is o‰en described as a village, as everyone seems to know everyone else. We also have 108 members of the Local Assembly (MLAs) who follow up on any local issues so I receive a lot of letters and e-mails. However the most obvious difference for NI Water is our governance model, striving to achieve private sector efficiency while adhering to public sector governance proves challenging. Our natural comparators are English and Welsh companies who are approaching 25 years since privatisation and Scottish Water. While they undoubtedly have shareholder pressures they have significantly more freedom to act than NI Water does. These constraints present us with challenges but we have certainly achieved a lot despite this sub optimal governance model. Q: What are the challenges for water supply and treatment in NI While there are many challenges ahead for water supply and treatment in Northern Ireland, we should also reflect on the successes we've deliv- ered in the seven years since NI Water was formed. We've successfully delivered our first price control and we can evidence reductions in both call volumes and customer complaints, our OPA score doubling in our first five years. We can call claim to the best ever quality of water and wastewater compliance. We've driven down the number of pollution incidents and all this while reducing the efficiency gap between the English and Welsh companies. For further reading go to wwtonline.co.uk • About Sara Venning Sara started her career as an electrical engi- neer with the local electricity utility, Northern Ireland Electricity. Over a 14-year period with the company Sara held a number of positions, latterly as Customer Operations Manager with responsibility for delivery of customer connec- tions to the electricity distribution network. She is a qualified black belt six sigma practi- tioner and worked on a number of efficiency and customer service improvement initiatives within NIE. Sara joined NI Water in April 2010 as Director of Customer Service Delivery with respon- sibility for water production and distribu- tion, wastewater collection and wastewater treatment together with all aspects of service to customers, including billing and customer contact handling. In September 2013 Sara was appointed interim chief executive following the retirement of chief executive Trevor Haslett and was appointed chief executive from 01 April 2014. Mrs Venning is a native of Cookstown Co Ty- rone and holds a MEng degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Queens University Belfast. She currently resides in Glenavy, Co Down with her husband and three children.

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