Judging panel

Sharon is Director of Sustainability First and since 2017 has established major multi-party projects on fairness, purpose and the public interest in utilities. She is a member of the British Academy’s Public Policy Committee and until March 2021 was a member of the UK Regulators Network Expert Panel.

A qualified accountant, Sharon began her career working on value for money studies at the National Audit Office. With a strong background in consumer issues, she was a board member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority until 2020, a Council member of Which? until 2019 and previously a Trustee and Risk Committee Chair of pension provider NEST, lay member of the Standards Committee of the House of Commons and a board member of Consumer Focus and Energy Watch.

Sharon has been a member of Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition Expert Panel and the RIIO ‘Challenge Group’.

Sharon was invited to the panel due to her expertise in sustainability and her experience in consumer representation in the water sector and other transferable sectors.

Anusha is a Senior Director-Resilient Cities at Arcadis. She is also a Royal Academy of Engineering-Visiting Professor at King’s College London on Climate Adaptation, Sustainability and Inclusive Design. A Fellow with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), she is the third woman and only BAME succeeding Vice President in 200 years of ICE’s history and is set to be President in 2023 (subject to interim council elections). In 2021, she was conferred an Honorary Professorship for knowledge transfer and Doctorate for her services to climate change in engineering. Anusha has specialisation in Water & Environmental Engineering with over 20 years’ experience in designing, managing and leading projects and programmes both in the UK and internationally. She is a Non-Executive Director at the Met Office, UK. She is also Past Chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership Board, a charity working towards sustainable management of the Thames Estuary. Anusha has held various roles at the ICE including youngest and first female Chair of ICE London and Co-Chair of ICE London & South East Diversity Task Force. She sits on various industry NetZero groups and represents Arcadis at the London Climate Change Partnership and 50L Home Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. A recipient of several awards including 2020 – Top 50 UK Women Engineers Sustainability Award and CECA FIR Inspiring Engineers Award 2019, Anusha is regularly invited to panel discussions and for delivering keynote speeches at various high profile industry events. In 2020, she was recognized by Climate Reframe as one of the UK’s leading BAME voices on climate change.

Anusha was invited to the panel due to her innovation and sustainability expertise and experience in transferable sectors.

Jane Davidsonis the author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country, the story of why Wales was the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect future generations.

She is Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, having spent nearly a decade leading the university’s sustainability agenda.From 2000 – 2011, Jane was Minister for Education, then Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Government which included responsibility for water. In her time in the role, Jane proposed legislation to make protecting future generations the central organising principle of government; the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act came into law in 2015. She introduced the first plastic bag charge in the UK and her recycling regulations took Wales to third-best in the world.  She created a Climate Change Commission for Wales, the post of Sustainable Futures Commissioner, One Planet Developments and the Wales Coast Path.

Jane is a patron of the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), Cambrian Wildwood and Tools for Self Reliance Wales (TFSR Cymru). She holds honorary fellowships from IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment), WWF, CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management), CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glamorgan. She contributes regularly to international expert events. She is an RSA Fellow and since 2017 has been guest faculty in the Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership programme at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

She lives on a smallholding in west Wales where she aims to live lightly on the land.

Jane was invited to the panel due to her expertise in sustainability and her experience of with a particular focus on Wales.

Steven serves as Lead Data Consultant for Zuhlke Engineering and is a member of the Greater London Authority infrastructure Expert Advisory Panel. In his former role as the Head of Data at Ofgem, he co-created and ran the cross-government Modernising Energy Data programme and set-up and advised the sector’s independent Energy Data Taskforce. Steven’s contribution to energy digitalisation includes creating and making licencing arrangements for Ofgem’s Data & Digitalisation regulatory standards, where he has required energy networks to treat their data assets as ‘presumed-open’ to all people and has mandated publication of industry’s digitalisation strategies. In parallel, Steven created government’s first energy data and digitalisation strategy and Ofgem’s own centre of excellence for data.

At the request of the sector’s new Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, Steven has authored an independent report recommending to government how it can enable creation of a modern Net Zero Energy Systems Architecture capable of digitalising UK energy services by using innovative sectoral governance arrangements.

Steven is a Chartered Physicist with the Institute of Physics and a former member of the University of Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG). Steven’s academic accomplishments include research across the fields of physics, economics and engineering. He gained his PhD studying fundamental nuclear physics at the University of Surrey.

Steven was invited to the panel due to his expertise of open data. He also brings a perspective from outside of England and Wales.

After being awarded a bio-chemistry degree, Paul’s first role was for the Body Shop working alongside the pioneering environmentalist Anita Roddick. Paul then volunteered for the World Wildlife Fund in Malaysia, and after completing a Master’s degree he later returned to research the effects that deforestation was having on water quality. Paul’s next role was with Atkins, one of the globally leading engineering management consultancies who are pioneering in their approaches to projects.

Whilst working as an engineering consultant, he observed the prolonged length of time it took to bring water technologies to the marketplace, so he founded BlueTech Research in 2011 to support innovation.

Paul’s latest project “Brave Blue World” is designed to increase awareness of existing solutions to the water crisis, he co-produced the documentary that has attracted support from a host of A-list celebrities. It is available to view in 29 languages on Netflix. Paul regularly lectures and has recently spoken at Davos 2020, Web Summit 2020 and at Harvard and Cambridge Universities. Paul now advises many global Fortune 500 corporates including L’Oréal, Microsoft and PepsiCo on their water strategy policies and has completed a PhD in Water Innovation.

Paul was invited to the panel due to his technical expertise and experience of the water sector within and outside England and Wales.

Niki is a Director and Co-Founder of AxiaOrigin and the immediate past President of CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management).

She is convinced that by connecting the right people and thinking at a systems-level, anything is possible. She has spent her career trying to do just that. Over her 20 years working in and around the UK water sector Niki has delivered operational and strategic change, often through enabling others to perform at their best. A passionate environmentalist at heart, Niki spends her time thinking about how we can drive real change to improve global resilience and has particular interests in water efficiency, bioresources and the circular economy.

Niki was invited to the panel due to her technical and innovation expertise and her experience of the water sector.

Frank manages the Innovation Team at Aqualia (Madrid, Spain), which provides water services for 30 million people in 20 countries.

He studied Environmental Engineering in Germany, followed by an MSc as a Fulbright student in the USA.

After ten years at Veolia Research Center in France, he was stationed in New York and Sao Paulo, then led the Global Technology Team for a large contractor based in London, UK, coordinating water projects worldwide.

Since 2008 he has coordinated and participated in more than 10 projects each in the EU R&D programs LIFE and H2020.

Frank was invited to the panel due to his technical expertise and experience in the water sector internationally. 

Myrtle is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, with extensive experience in the energy sector.

Myrtle has taken on an array of roles, from being an offshore engineer working for BP, designing offshore and onshore infrastructure in the UK and overseas, to driving digital transformation, and now leading the development of technology for net zero in the energy sector.

She was elected to the Institution of Chemical Engineer’s Board in 2015 to 2018, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors at University of Lincoln.

In 2017, Myrtle received recognition for her contribution to business, having featured in Breaking the Glass Ceiling and being selected as one of 100 Women to Watch in the Cranfield FTSE Board Report 2017.

In her spare time Myrtle studies mathematics, is a keen cat lover, and gamer.

Myrtle was invited to the panel due to her innovation, digital, and water adjacent sector expertise and experience.

Lila is the Chief Executive of British Water. Lila was formerly responsible for the delivery of British Water’s international services which included leading scoping and business development visits to a wide range of markets including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, China and India.

Lila has participated in a number of high-level industry working groups to foster business growth in a variety of sectors and has over 20 years of international experience supporting the adoption of innovation, policy development and stakeholder engagement.

Lila has a BSc (Hons) in Economics & Social Policy and a Diploma in International Trade.

Lila was invited to the panel due to her supply chain, water sector, and innovation expertise and experience.

Nicole Ballantyne is a chartered Mechanical Engineer with 3 decades of industry experience in the manufacturing sector, and in innovation support.

As Knowledge Transfer Manager in the Manufacturing Team at KTN, Nicole makes targeted links to the right knowledge, partners, facilities and funding with a view to driving productivity, efficiency and economic growth. Nicole’s role in the Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Challenge team at InnovateUK is to lead the development of a growing vibrant cohesive community of industrial digital technology providers, developers and users across sectors, supporting manufacturers to embrace digital technology innovation, and technology developers to innovate the best solutions.

Nicole started her career as an engineering sponsored student with Metalbox – a 15yr career that led to exciting manufacturing leadership roles throughout Europe. Subsequent varied management roles in the support sector have seen Nicole develop and collaborate in technology & innovation strategies in a whole variety of companies in a plethora of sectors. She holds a M.Sc. from Cranfield, and a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College.

Nicole was invited to the panel due to her supply chain, innovation and water sector expertise and experience.

Adam is Chief Executive of National Energy Action. He has been a consumer rights campaigner for many years including at Which?, energywatch, Consumer Focus and Citizens Advice. As a consumer advocate he has been a member of numerous advisory boards and committees from civil aviation to insurance fraud. Fuel poverty and consumer vulnerability have been a focus throughout his career and Adam was appointed Chief executive at NEA in December 2017.

Adam was invited to the panel due to his consumer and water adjacent sector expertise and experience.

A Non-Executive Director of CCW since 2018, with a strong interest in consumer affairs and sustainability she was part of Board Steering Group that oversaw the development of the Independent Review of Water Affordability, summer 2021.

She has pursued a portfolio career combining Public Sector Board roles with independent sustainability consultancy, helping a range of clients to develop sustainability strategies within a business context. In 2021 she joined the Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Group on Novel Foods and Processes as the consumer representative. She is a Trustee of the Green Alliance and the Springbok Sustainable Heat Co-operative.

Previously roles include six years as Non-Executive Director of WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) and eight years as Seafish’s Independent Non-Executive Director. Additionally, she chaired an cross-industry expert group for Defra over four years to develop and deliver a 25-year strategy for the English Seafood sector.

Previously Alison spent 25 years with Sainsbury’s Supermarkets in a variety of senior roles, ranging from advertising and marketing, public affairs to technical and food policy, but held the environmental remit for 18 years and in 2000 received the OBE for services to sustainability.

Alison was invited to the panel due to her experience in consumer affairs and sustainability in the water sector and other transferable sectors. 

Professor Savic is Chief Executive Officer at KWR Water Research Institute based in the Netherlands and Professor of Hydroinformatics at the University of Exeter in the UK. He is an international expert in smart water systems with over 35 years of experience working in engineering, academia and research consultancy. His work has resulted in patentable innovation and spinout companies. In addition to innovation and leadership skills, he is known for believing in and practising of bridging science to practice in the wider water sector and utilities in general. Prof. Savic is elected Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) and a member of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc).

Dragan was invited to the panel due to his academia, water and innovation expertise and experience. Dragan also brings a perspective from outside of England and Wales. 

Tony’s career has been devoted to the water industry and with a particular emphasis on innovation. He is a former Executive Director of United Utilities and has led Asset Management, Operations and Engineering functions, as well as business transformation programmes. In his role as Strategic Asset Planning and Engineering Director he focussed on United Utilities’ £3.6 billion AMP5 capital investment programme and shaped the company’s systems thinking based “Future Concept of Operation”.

With the informal title of Director of Curiosity, he focused on identifying world leading water utility innovation, engaging with hubs around the globe. Tony is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, chaired the Leadership Board of the TWENTY65 Water Research Programme and is co-author of the TWENTY65 Industry Guide for Collaborative Innovation.

He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Director of British Water and of the Water Industry Forum. He serves on the Leadership Council of the UK Water Partnership (UKWP) and was lead author of the UKWP Digital Water White paper. Tony provides strategic advisory services to a wide range of organisations operating across the water sector, from start-up innovators to global organisations.

Tony was invited to the panel for both the Catalyst and Transform streams due to his experience of innovation and leadership within the water sector in England and Wales and expertise in delivering public value.