Judging Panel: Breakthrough 4

Jon is an independent provider of support, challenge and options to supply chain, academia and industry in the water, waste, agriculture and sustainability sectors. His focus is to create and realise value from innovation. A thirty-year water sector career of commercial, operational, and strategic roles culminated as Head of Innovation at Yorkshire Water. Jon delivered disruptive, transformational initiatives to inform business vision, strategy and growth. The approach also challenged and supported new technologies offering valuable change. Utilising an initial career in agriculture, Jon’s business has Government support to deliver transformational technologies into the agri-sector.  His diverse experience and personal approach provides valuable support to clients. 

Andy is Managing Director at the Water Research Centre (WRc). He is an Environmental Scientist, with a background in Automotive Engineering. Having worked in two of the larger UK Water Utilities, and prior to that a number of environmental consultancies, Andy has contributed to UK best practice on a number of topics. Andy has developed an extensive knowledge of water operations, planning and strategy with experience and perspectives in international utilities. Andy is a non-executive Board member of Waterwise, former water sector specialist for the Department of International Trade and former chair and non-executive director of British Water. 

Jane Davidson is 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. 

Lila is the Chief Executive of British Water, a Board member of SPRING Innovation and a Non-Executive Director of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Lila has extensive experience in facilitating international trade having organised and led a large number of UK delegations overseas to a wide range of markets including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, China and India.  Lila’s experience which spans 20+ years also includes driving business growth, policy development and stakeholder engagement across several different industry sectors. She currently leads the UK’s largest supply chain trade association, British Water, as the Chief Executive Officer. British Water represents the interests of UK water and wastewater supply chain companies together with wider stakeholders across the sector through UK, Technical and International forums, connecting them to contacts to raise their profile, grow their business and promote best practice. The fourth forum, the Water Industry Forum provides challenge-led, independent thought leadership, to tackle the challenges facing the sector. Lila has a BSc (Hons) in Economics & Social Policy and a Diploma in International Trade.   

Lisa is an experienced data professional who has led many teams in the public sector in the UK. Shaping and driving data initiatives to ensure the value of data is unlocked for better outcomes for society, the environment, and the economy.  Lisa spent many years in the environmental sector both in the public sector and the not-for-profit space. At the Open Data Institute, she assisted Ofwat with their H2Open Strategy. At the Environment Agency was part of the team that propelled the UK into the top rankings in the world for implementation and impact of open data. Lisa is chair of DAMA UK, the go to organisation for Data Professionals and works with people across the UK, and the world, to elevate industry standards in the data profession, with the aim of putting it on par with more mature professions like accountancy or medicine.   

Lisa is the Director of Data Services at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and joined in November 2023 putting data at the heart of TPR to operate efficiently, transparently and to leverage data for the benefit of savers.

Rachel is Executive Director of WSP and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She is also the Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). In 2019, she was appointed by the Scottish Government as a Commissioner for the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland. Rachel is a Patron of Women in Transport (a not-for-profit), having been one of its founding board members since 2005. She is a chartered engineer, chartered transport planner and an ICE Fellow and Trustee. Rachel was named in The Telegraph’s inaugural Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2016, then in 2017 she won both “Most Distinguished Winner” and “Best Woman in Civil Engineering” at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards. In 2019 she was confirmed by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Top 100 Women in Engineering. She is regularly invited to give keynote conference presentations and to chair or participate in panel discussions at national industry events. A transport planner and geographer by technical background, Rachel has authored and co-authored several publications, most recently on driverless vehicles, shared mobility and future place-making. She is involved with strategic projects for clients across the public and private sectors, including leadership of a growing portfolio of future mobility projects in the UK and overseas. 

Niki is a Director of Blue & Green Consulting, an Honorary Vice President of CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and the Host of Planet Possible, an award winning podcast. 

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 more than 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 reducing water demand, catchment partnerships and the circular economy. 

Nik is a former Senior Policy Adviser for RSPB England, having joined in August 2022. Nik is also Vice Chair of Blueprint for Water, part of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, which represents a diverse range of environmental NGOs. His focus is on the regulated water sector, with a specific interest in the question of reforming regulation to drive nature recovery and positive outcomes for biodiversity. He is also interested in the role of green finance and emerging environmental services markets in helping reverse the decline in nature. Before working at RSPB, Nik worked in Defra’s marine policy team and prior to that for several years at RenewableUK focusing on energy regulation and onshore renewables. 

Suresh is a Consulting Leader with a c.18-year strong track-record in leading strategy, digital and business transformation across the water and wider utilities sector, with advisory up to Board level. Suresh has worked at several major consultancies such as Accenture and more recently as Head of Water at Capita, working with or for over a dozen major UK and global energy and utilities organisations, including the likes of Thames Water, Southern Water and Anglian Water. Suresh is passionate about using technology and innovation to drive sustainability, in addition to fostering diversity and inclusion in the utilities sector. Suresh has strong links across the water sector, with a keen focus on how we can use digital solutions to solve the sector’s biggest challenges, from leakage and water quality to climate change and resilience.