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2 WET NEWS AUGUST 2017 COMMENT "...but only time will tell if there will be a marriage made in heaven" AUGUST 39 AECOM has a new asset management training portal to enable learners to acquire an Asset Management (AM) Certiƒ cate. It covers the 39 asset management subject areas that make up the AM landscape. "Sweco has made great strides since launching in the UK and is ideally placed for further sustainable, profitable growth" Ola Holmstrom, who has joined Sweco UK as head of water and asset management. 30% 31% 900 Northumbrian Water Ltd has opted to use the web-based Ctrack Online across its fleet of 900 vans in the north- and south- east of England to improve asset utilisation and reduce fuel costs. $16bn The potential combined annual revenue should Jacobs acquire CH2M "This project aims to close the gap between regulatory calls for greater resilience, academic thinking and practical application" Dr Simon Jude, Cranfield Institute for Resilient Futures and principal investigator, on the uni embarking on a research project into the international water utility sector. "This year is incredibly exciting for us, uniting our broad range of cap- abilities and expertise under one name, and providing enormous opportunity for growth" Mark Naysmith, CEO of WSP UK, on professional eng- ineering services consultancy Mouchel rebranding as WSP. £1M Anaerobic digestion (AD) plants across the UK now have enough capacity to power more than a million homes, ADBA's July 2017 Market Report has revealed. AD in the UK now has a capacity of 730MWe-e, a rise of 18% over this time last year. All change, please. Or is it? I t's certainly an interesting time in the infrastructure contracting and consultancy world at the moment as companies eye each other up for potential takeovers. In the past month, we have seen the surprise acquisition of infrastructure and utilities services provider McNicholas by Kier (see front page). It's a logical deal and the two businesses are complementary but did anyone see that one coming? And if national media reports are to be believed, talks are at an advanced stage regarding the possibility of US-based engineering group Jacobs acquiring fellow countryman CH2M for more than US$1bn. Jacobs apparently wants to grow its presence in the UK, and CH2M could help with this. A‰ er all, it has major roles this side of the Pond on key infrastructure projects such as the Thames Tideway 'super sewer', High Speed 2 rail scheme, and the Houses of Parliament restoration, to name but a few. The two groups would create a mammoth engineering ' rm with a combined annual revenue in excess of $16bn. Of course, CH2M was a‰ er Atkins not so long ago and nothing came of that. Of course, Atkins has since become part of Canada's SNC-Lavalin. Will another potential suitor step in for CH2M should the talks with Jacobs fall through? I'm sure there's still lots to discuss between the powers that be at Jacobs and CH2M, and only time will tell if there will be a marriage made in heaven. Innovation hackathon an example of what collaboration is all about Last month I mentioned what a brilliant idea Northumbrian Water's Innovation Festival was and, having now taken place, the event appears to have been a resounding success. The three-day hackathon saw expert data crunchers from across the country to focus their grey cells on tackling current as well as future social and environmental challenges. Some of the ideas to emerge from the festival include 3D mapping to identify the exact locations of gas and water mains, electricity cables; and farmers helping to resist › ooding by improving the qualities of their soil. Commenting on the event, a face-glittered Heidi Mottram, Northumbrian Water Group chief executive, said: "We started planning the festival with some ideas, but when we started talking with partners and people who come at things from a completely diŸ erent perspective, things were started to be added in, saying what about this and what about that." The festival is a prime example of collaboration at its best. IN A NUTSHELL T he Skills Accord, devel- oped by the Energy & Util- ities Skills Partnership, is getting a full operational roll- out following the completion of a successful pilot trial, and with the number of companies in- volved having already doubled. The Skills Accord initiative pro- motes structured and sustained investment in the technical and operational skills the sector needs most, and doing this via commitments in company pro- curement. The pilot was led by Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership members Amey, National Grid, SSE, Thames Water and UK Power Networks. These 'lead partners' cascaded the aims and objectives through 19 deliv- ery partners. At the end of the trial, the companies completed a full audit and review. Launched last October, the Skills Accord was designed in response to the challenge set by the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership,¤ which recognised the potential for leveraging procurement to generate ¥ The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership scheme, which has undergone a successful trial, aims to increase investment in workforce resilience. Full operational roll-out for Skills Accord initiative investment in skills across the supply chain. In order to meet the require- ments of the Skills Accord, sig- natory companies must achieve five commitments:¤¤ To address sector-wide skills gaps and shortages. Contrib- ute to a 5% sector target based on company requirements To promote signing up to the Accord through the supply chain. Encourage suppliers to become signatories and agree training targets To promote relevant skills development across the sup- ply chain through procure- ment. Develop and deliver responsible procurement practices through the supply chain on skills delivery To continuously improve per- formance. Continuous improvement of signatories' sustainable skills and train- ing interventions To monitor and report. Annual review and reporting of company and sector per- formance relevant to the Skills Accord The Skills Accord is one of the core initiatives identified within the Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy, which was published in February 2017. It was the first-ever coherent stra- tegic plan for the continued delivery of essential energy and utilities services to 65 million people every day across Scot- land, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. The sector accounts for 56% of the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan and requires a skilled, competent and sustainable workforce. The Skills Strategy also found that 221,000 vacancies will need to be created across the energy and utilities sector during the next decade. Nick Ellins, chief executive at Energy & Utility Skills, said: "The Skills Accord has been built by the energy and utility sector to increase its investment in workforce resilience, and to directly meet the training and upskilling challenge set by HM Treasury in its National Infra- structure Plan for Skills." Almost a third of firms (30%) in a mix of industries have had a significant effluent treatment problem in the past year which put their compliance at risk. Research by Siltbuster cited effluent treatment plant failure as the most common cause (31%). The report identifies poor understand- ing of the interplay between production and wastewater treatment as lying at the root of the problem. The voice of water contractors WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS Energy & Utility Skills initiative to generate required workforce capacity. S tate-of-the-art sensors are being installed by Amey into gullies in Hampshire in a trial aimed at preventing the ooding of roads. Amey is installing live sensors into gullies that will give data that will inform whether a gully is in need of a cleanse. These sensors measure the level of silt and the water level inside, feeding the information instantly back to a control centre managed by Amey via web-based, mapped, visual- isation so• ware. This so• ware couples weather forecasting with silt levels to inform if a gully is likely to ood over the next few days. A cleanse of that particular gully can then be instructed at a low cost, avoiding the need for subsequent emergency attendances. If the technology works well, then these gullies will only need to be cleansed when they are actually at risk of ooding, a more e cient and cost-e- ective approach. Utilities pledge commitment to new Skills Accord NOVEMBER 2016 Volume 22 • Issue 11 CECA: Look at Brexit in- frastructure procure- ment impact T he Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) is urging the government to take a fresh look at the impact that Brexit might have on infrastructure procurement. For the past year, CECA carried out research to look at the way that work in the UK is procured, and how this can build up unnecessary cost and waste for industry. It is due to publish the outcome of this research next month. CECA wants immediate action to look at the impact Brexit might have on procurement. Its head of external a- airs Marie-Claude Hemming said: "Civil engi- neering contractors are primed to deliver a substantial project workload over the coming years. Yet their ability to deliver these projects in the most e cient way is increasingly being stymied by burdensome procurement processes on projects large and small." "…even now each project still has to be argued on its merits" David Smoker, ACO Water Management. P4 "The time is now for looking at new solutions to age-old problems" Mark Hodgens, Talis UK. P7 News+ National Risk Assessment will separate out fluvial and surface water flood risks, and enable a more targeted approach to planning for and managing the risk. P4 Onsite: Renewable energy Wastewater treatment plant Billund Biore‰ nery anaerobically co-digests domestic and industrial organic waste. P12-13 Insight: Flow and level monitoring While measurement solutions have moved with the times the problems they address remain the same? P15, 16 Amey trials sensor to prevent road floods N early 30 companies, including Thames Water and Amey, have pledged their commitment to the new and innovative Skills Accord, created by Energy & Utility Skills to help strategic work- force renewal. The Skills Accord is a new way of advancing the energy and utilities sector and their supply chain to generate the required workforce capacity and capability. Amey, National Grid, SSE, Thames Water, and UK Power Networks, along with 22 key supply chain companies have signed up to the initiative, and Energy & Utility Skills will be encouraging more asset owner partners to sign up. The energy and utilities sec- tor is now poised to deliver its commitment to skills through the supply chain for years to come – leading to a future sus- tainable workforce Energy & Utility Skills said the new accord is one part of the utility sector's new approach to strategic workforce renewal, and will ensure mar- ket contractors remain competi- tive whilst embedding relevant skills development in their organisations through their commitment to an annual con- tribution to the sector's overall training target of 5%, and encouraging the same through their supply chain. Jan Ward, chair of Energy & Utility Skills, said: "This Skills Accord is one of the key priori- ties of the new sector partner- ship now underway, and I applaud these companies for testing the art of the possible..." Keith Waller, senior advisor at the Cabinet O ce and HM Treasury's Infrastructure and Projects Authority, said: "One of the key challenges stated in the 2015 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills was how to incentivise skills investment through procurement. This requires innovative approaches to encourage the retraining and up-skilling of the workforce to meet future skills demands. "The fact that employers within the energy and utilities sector were already working towards this remit in conjunc- tion with Energy & Utility Skills through the management of the Procurement Skills Accord Pro- ject is very much welcomed." Five asset owning compa- nies have driven the develop- ment of the Skills Accord as a pilot initiative over the past 12 months, supported by a further 22 supply chain companies, to address the sector's workforce challenge. Nick Ellins, chief executive of Energy & Utility Skills, said: "The Industrial Partnership Council of utility sector chief executives originally set the Skills Accord project as a prior- ity, so that procurement compe- titions can help to enhance skills development through the supply chain." Ellins said: "All of the par- ticipating utility companies have pledged to embed the £ ve commitments that make up the Skills Accord into their busi- ness, and also to undertake an annual review of performance to calculate their contribution to an overall sector training tar- get of 5%." REALITY CHECK • One ‰ fth of the energy and utilities sector's skilled workers is approaching retirement • 36% of vacancies are proving hard to ‰ ll in the sector, higher than any other UK industry • 14% of all employers are reporting skills gaps amongst their existing workforce • Around 46,500 employees work in the water sector • About 9,000 water sector employees will retire over the next ten years, and nearly 4,000 of those are expected before 2020 Protecting Our Environment With Double Containment From IPS IPS Flow Systems Tel: 0191 521 3111 www.ipsflowsystems.com For further details or a copy of our handbook please contact our sales team. Freephone: 0800 975 7971 New Poly-Flo PE and PP double containment for quick and easy installation. Agrusafe PP, PE and PVDF double containment for critical process applications. Duosafe® PVC-U and PVC-C double containment systems are designed for ease of installation. Duosafe ® Flex Ideal for chemical dosing. Secure your completely FREE 12-month print and digital subscription TODAY at wwtonline.co.uk Call 01664 567226 for more information www.dualpumps.co.uk ...more than just pumps pumps WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS • • Trade association survey reveals top concerns following vote for the UK to leave the EU. E ngineering, environmen- tal and construction services company GHD has adopted a single brand for its operations across the UK. The GHD name and brand bring together multidiscipli- nary consulting engineering business GHD Livigunn, which was acquired in May 2015, with the company's transporta- tion, business consulting and environment businesses in the UK. As a result, clients can now access an expanded portfolio of services. GHD has 300 people working in the UK across water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Mark Ingram, general manager - UK and Middle East for the company, said: "Our future growth will be based on the company's local presence and its international network, and we will continue to build on our long-term relationships with end-user, contractor, and regulated industry clients. Water supply chain's uncertainty over Brexit OCTOBER 2016 Volume 22 • Issue 10 Jim Arnold becomes MUS chief executive J im Arnold has been appointed chief executive of Morrison Utility Services (MUS) and Charles Morrison as chairman following the company's acquisition by First Reserve. The appointments are with immediate effect. Commenting on the new appointments, Charles Morri- son said: "I am personally delighted that Jim has been appointed to the position of chief executive, given the considerable experience he has gained over the last 17 years with the business in varying roles including executive director and chief operating officer. "I am convinced that Jim is ideally placed to lead the business through the next phase of our growth..." Arnold added: "I am delighted to have been appointed to this position, and I very much look forward to working closely with my senior team and our new investors, First Reserve, in continuing to successfully grow the business." "At a time of increasing change... AECOM is well- placed to be the industry leader" John Priestland, AECOM. P2 "It's not a cliff edge at all – we just need some concerted action" Nick Ellins, EU Skills. P8-9 "It is clear that our members have some very real concerns..." Tony Williams, British Water News+ Sludge working group meeting hears Environment Agency's concern over reporting with the opening up of markets. P4 Onsite: It & telemetry Having realised it needed to adopt a smarter business model, Anglian Water decided its existing telemetry system was not up to the job. P13, 14 Insight: Sewage & sludge treatment Additional treatment is being used for high strength liquor in plants using thermal hydrolysis alongside AD. Should separate treatment for high ammonia waste streams be considered? P22-23. GHD adopts single brand for UK operations C oncerns about infra- structure funding, invest- ment in research, and environmental regulation are among the issues raised by British Water members in the aœermath of the Brexit vote. The trade association said the results of a survey of its 185 members shows a great many unanswered questions follow- ing the result of the vote for the UK to leave the EU. A quarter of those who responded to the survey say they are highly pes- simistic about what the future holds for the industry, while half say it is too early to say. British Water Chairman Tony Williams said: "I think the survey results show there is still a lot of uncertainty about what the future will bring, following the vote to leave the European Union. Many British Water members have experience of working in different interna- tional markets with different regulatory regimes but the sur- vey shows the industry is still looking for answers about the implications for post-Brexit Britain." The survey asked how opti- mistic respondents felt about the future, both in terms of their own companies and in terms of the water industry as a whole. In terms of how they expected the result to affect their own business, 42% were highly opti- mistic, 20% were highly pessi- mistic and 38% said it was too early to say. When asked about the future implications for the industry as a whole only 25% said they felt very positive about the future, 25% said they felt very pessi- mistic and half of all those who responded said they were uncertain about what would happen aœer the UK leœ Europe. British Water also asked its members what the UK govern- ment could do to protect their businesses when Britain leaves the EU. Funding for infrastruc- ture projects, support for over- seas trade, and clarification about the status of current and future environmental legislation, were all among con- cerns raised by respondents. One respondent wanted the government to assure the that "the current level of investment will continue". Another sug- gested the government could negotiate to ensure that UK companies still had the right to bid for contracts paid for by European Bank for Reconstruc- tion & Development funds. The security of EU-funded projects was another issue, with respondents asking the government to ensure a similar level of funding was main- tained in the future. Many respondents urged the govern- ment not to weaken environ- mental regulations relating to water and wastewater, and to ensure that the UK does not fall behind European standards of water quality and sanitation. Members also urged that the new UK-only regulatory regime should be properly enforced. Respondents asked that new trade agreements be sorted out as soon as possible and that extra support should be available for UK compa- nies wishing to do business with international markets, both in Europe and beyond. Williams said: "It is clear that our members have some very real concerns, about fund- ing for major infrastructure, about environmental legisla- tion and regulation, and about support for international trade. British Water will do every- thing it can to ensure that the voice of the water industry is heard as the UK government tackles the practical implica- tions of the vote to leave the EU." contractor, and regulated industry clients. ngineering, environmen tal and construction services company GHD has adopted a single brand for its operations across the UK. The GHD name and brand bring together multidiscipli nary consulting engineering business GHD Livigunn, which was acquired in May 2015, with the company's transporta tion, business consulting and environment businesses in the As a result, clients can now access an expanded portfolio of GHD has 300 people working in the UK across water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Mark Ingram, general manager - UK and Middle East for the company, said: "Our future growth will be based on the company's local high strength liquor in plants using thermal hydrolysis alongside AD. Should separate treatment for high ammonia waste streams be considered? P22-23. GHD adopts single brand for UK operations based on the company's local presence and its international network, and we will continue to build on our long-term relationships with end-user, contractor, and regulated ngineering, environmen- tal and construction services company GHD has adopted a single brand for its operations across the UK. The GHD name and brand bring together multidiscipli- nary consulting engineering business GHD Livigunn, which was acquired in May 2015, with the company's transporta- tion, business consulting and environment businesses in the As a result, clients can now access an expanded portfolio of GHD has 300 people working in the UK across water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Mark Ingram, general manager - UK and Middle East for the company, said: "Our future growth will be based on the company's local presence and its international network, and we will continue to build on our long-term relationships with end-user, contractor, and regulated industry clients. based on the company's local presence and its international In partnership with: WET-170x245advert-alt vs.indd 1 25/11/2016 16:32

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