Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | SepTember 2014 | 7 Industry leaders Scott Aitken mD european Water Division, black & Veatch "The UK water sector is demanding innovation from its supply chain. We serve the customers, who want high levels of service at an affordable price, so the water companies simply have to be innovative" T he new MD of Black & Veatch's European water business, Scott Aitken effectively sums up the focus of the new AMP6 regulatory period which begins next April, through which he'll be steering the company while aiming to double its £155m turnover by 2020. The key to doing that will be helping water companies deliver good value for money to their customers in ways that make efficiency savings using innovative operational solutions. "The industry is in a cycle of capital maintenance at the moment. Its needs are mainly focused around a lot of smaller interventions, but at the same time there's a balance between that and the need to make investments that get the results that customers demand, so that their bills remain affordable," he explains. "The skills that we bring to the table, with about 1,000 staff in our water business here and 200 in energy and telecoms, in consulting, professional services – design, build and delivery, and in asset operation and maintenance will be hugely pertinent to AMP6 and 7. The only thing that will remain constant in AMP6 is change, and I think it'll be quite a dynamic period, perhaps more so than the industry has ever experienced before." "We can o'en solve a number of problems for water companies at the same time. This might be raising a dam to increase the capacity of water available, for example, but we might also improve the amount of hydro energy that can be generated. "Something like that provides a great outcome for clients and their customers, and it also means we can bring our expertise in dam engineering, water resources and power generation to bear as well in order to maximise the power that's produced for the grid. "We're also doing some important research into water trading and abstraction, where we can draw on experience from around the globe so that we have a detailed insight into the full water cycle and integrated catchment management. "As we approach this very dynamic AMP6, and towards even further changes in AMP7, these are areas where we can help to ensure that water companies, their CEOs and boards stay ahead of the game," he adds. Against the background of B&V's US- headquartered global business aiming to double its entire revenue to £4.1bn, the 47 year-old Glaswegian civil engineering graduate is bringing a wealth of experience to the table as he eyes a host of potential business opportunities throughout the UK. For instance, the company already works with Thames Water on its AMP5 programme and is talking to them about its infrastructure alliance and AMP6. It has a framework agreement with Yorkshire Water in AMP5 that is being rolled over, and it's talking to Anglian Water about supporting them in AMP6 and about its data and analytics

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