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UTILITY Week 12th June 2015

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UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JUNE 2015 | 9 Interview A lan Lovell has big shoes to fill. His predeces- sor as chair of the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) – Dame Yve Buckland – oversaw a huge transformation in the industry in terms of customer ser- vice and satisfaction over her ten-year reign. But despite only having been in the role for a couple of months, the new man is not daunted. In fact, he has a quiet but steely determination to ensure the good work will continue, but also to make his own mark on the water watchdog. Not a revolution, more a gradual evolution of "tweaks", as he puts it. Lovell came to CCWater at the start of April with a background in the energy sector, having been the chief executive of renewables developers Infinis and Tamar, and is still a non-executive director of two clean energy businesses. Task number one will be learning about the industry, and getting to grips with the details of the last price review. But Lovell already has some ideas about his likely agenda. Ensuring the survival of CCWater is top of the list, plus extending its profile and reach. The peren- nial hot potato of a national social tariff has landed on his desk, as has market reform – Lovell outlines plans to step in if necessary to protect customers. Then there is the issue of making sure the companies have "the consumer at heart" when the next price review rolls around, by changing the way the customer chal- lenge groups (CCGs) are run. A lot to take on, then, especially with the weight of expectation on him as he follows the highly regarded Buckland – but that is something Lovell has no worries about. "It is part and parcel of the job," he says. Aer playing the "new boy" card, he goes on to

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