Strong governance, successful leadership
We're committed to operating to the highest standards of corporate governance. Our approach is an integral part of our culture, guiding how we do business, make decisions, measure long-term impacts and create value for our customers.
Jump to: Codes of Practice.
Our Board
The South West Water Board is responsible for providing the leadership and resources needed for water supply and sewerage disposal services in our area.
The Board oversees the company’s operations and make sure that there's sufficient planning, maintenance, delivery and management so the company always remains in line with statuary and regulatory obligations.
David Sproul
Group Chair
Appointed: David was appointed to the Board on 1 July 2024 and became Chair on 24 July 2024.
Skills and experience:
- David is a Chartered Accountant who has spent the majority of his career in professional services with Deloitte and prior to that Andersen serving a diverse range of UK and international clients.
- He concluded his executive career at Deloitte in summer 2021 as Global Deputy CEO having previously been elected for two terms as Senior partner and Chief Executive of Deloitte UK and North West Europe from 2011 to 2019.
- During his leadership the firm became the largest and most profitable professional services firm Globally and, in the UK, driven in part by significant investments in technology services, as well as differentiating itself as the Audit quality leader with a strong inclusive culture.
Other appointments:
- Chair of Starling Bank Limited and non-executive director on Safanad Limited. David is also a senior adviser to Bridgepoint Europe and he sits on the Board of Governors as chair designate of University of Hertfordshire.
Susan Davy BSc Hons, ACA
Group Chief Executive Officer
Appointed: Susan was appointed Group Chief Executive on 31 July 2020. She was appointed to the Board in February 2015 as Chief Finance Officer, having joined the Group as Finance Director of South West Water in 2007.
Skills and experience
- Susan’s knowledge of the industry, coupled with her financial and regulatory expertise, has underpinned the development of Pennon’s strategy. This has included the value-creating acquisitions of Bournemouth Water, Bristol Water, SES Water and the Viridor disposal, all of which she has led. In her 25+ years’ experience in the utility sector, Susan has also held a number of other senior roles in the water sector, including at Yorkshire Water.
- Under her guidance South West Water has become the only water company to have achieved fast-track status for two consecutive business plans – the first in 2014, the second in 2019.
- Susan is highly respected in the City and has been instrumental in building Pennon’s reputation.
Other appointments: Susan is a non-executive director and Audit Chair of Restore Plc. She is president of the IoW, holds a place on the board of Water UK, is a member of the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership Council and was previously a member of the A4S (Accounting for Sustainability) CFO leadership network.
Laura Flowerdew
Group Chief Financial Officer
Appointed: Laura was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Pennon Group in July 2024.
Skills and experience:
Laura was previously the Chief Customer and Digital Officer of Pennon Group between September 2022 and July 2024.
She was also an executive director and Chief Financial Officer of Bristol Water plc from October 2018. Alongside her financial responsibilities her role also encompassed leading the company’s transformation programme, as well as IT, HR, business services and communications
Laura continues to be a director of Pelican Business Services, a role she has held since 2019. Pelican provides billing and customer services across both Bristol Water and Wessex Water.
Other appointments: Laura previously worked in a number of executive positions in utilities and natural resources business including Bristol Energy, Anglo American and De Beers. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales.
Iain Evans CBE, BSc Hons, FCA, MBA
Senior Independent Director
Appointed: Iain was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2018 and became Senior Independent Director on 1 September 2023.
Skills and experience
- Iain has 40 years of extensive global experience in advising companies and governments on issues of complex corporate strategy.
- In 1983, he co-founded L.E.K. Consulting in London and built it into one of the world’s largest and most respected corporate strategy consulting firms with a global footprint active in a wide range of industries.
- Iain was appointed as a non-executive director of Welsh Water plc in 1989 and served on the board for nearly ten years, including five years as chair.
- As chair of the ESG Committee, Iain is leading the development of a sustainability programme that underpins the delivery of Pennon’s strategy.
Other appointments: Iain is a non-executive director of Bologna Topco Limited and HSM Advisory Limited and continues to act as an independent corporate strategy consultant.
Claire Ighodaro CBE, BSc Hons, FCMA, DUniv (Hons)
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Claire was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2019.
Skills and experience
- Claire has held a number of senior roles and directorships with UK and international organisations and has extensive board experience, serving on audit, remuneration and governance committees.
- She is a past president of the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) and was the first woman to lead this organisation.
- Claire has spent most of her executive career with BT plc. She has also held non-executive directorships across a diverse portfolio including Governance Committee Chair of Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch International, Audit Committee Chair of Lloyd’s of London, Flood Re, The Open University and various UK public bodies including UK Trade & Investment and the British Council.
- As chair of the Remuneration Committee, Claire continues to guide Pennon’s approach to executive remuneration, ensuring that it is aligned with and supports the Group’s strategy.
Other appointments: Claire is non-executive Chair of the Board and the Governance Committee for Axa XL – UK entities and non-executive Chair of the Audit Board of KPMG LLP.
Dorothy Burwell
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Dorothy was appointed to the Board on 1 December 2022
Skills and experience
- Dorothy is a Partner and Global Partnership Board Member of FGS Global. She has over 20 years of experience in Banking and Communications, specialising in natural resources and advising clients around issues on sustainability, strategy, and corporate communications. She is well known for driving substantive diversity and inclusion agendas.
- Between 2002 and 2006 Dorothy held analyst and senior roles at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Division in both London and New York as well as in the Firmwide Strategy Group, where she focused on proprietary mergers and acquisitions and new business development.
- Dorothy graduated the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, USA with a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration, Finance and Management.
Other appointments: Dorothy is a Non-Executive Director at consumer packaged goods group, Post Holdings, Inc. Dorothy is also a Trustee of the Charity the Consumers’ Association, Which?, the largest independent consumer rights organisation in the UK.
Jon Butterworth MBE, MSc, Flod
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Jon was appointed to the Board on 8 July 2020.
Skills and experience
- Jon is the Chief Executive Officer of National Gas, a new business launched in January 2023 following the separation of the gas transmission and metering business from National Grid plc.
- Jon is an experienced leader with a strong track record of building and running successful businesses in both regulated and competitive energy markets across the UK, Europe and the US. He began his career over 44 years ago in British Gas as an apprentice technician.
- Previous roles have included Managing Director of Northwest Gas running the UK Gas Emergency Service; Global Director of Safety, Health, Environment, Resilience and Incident Command for National Grid plc; and Chief Executive of National Grid Ventures, building £3bn of growth in renewables across the USA and Europe.
Other appointments: Jon is currently President of the Pipeline Industries Guild - a national trade body covering a range of utility and energy sectors – and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a Director of the National Gas Museum Trust. He is passionate about public service, and for 12 years was an Ambassador for HM Young Offenders programme as well as serving as an Ambassador for Special Olympics Great Britain; and he is a current 4x4 Responder Volunteer, supporting NHS England.
Loraine Woodhouse BA Hons, ACMA
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed: Loraine was appointed to the Board on 1 December 2022.
Skills and experience
- Loraine is an experienced finance executive, with her experience being predominantly in the retail and consumer sector, but more recently also in real estate and infrastructure through her roles with Intu Properties plc and British Land Company plc.
- Loraine was the Chief Financial Officer of Halfords Group plc for just under four years until June 2022, before which, she spent five years in executive and senior finance roles within the John Lewis Partnership, including Waitrose.
- Prior to that, Loraine was Chief Financial Officer of Hobbs, Finance Director of Capital Shopping Centres Limited (subsequently Intu Properties plc) and Finance Director of Costa Coffee Limited.
Other appointments: Loraine is a Non-Executive Director of The Restaurant Group plc and a member of their Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees and is also a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at British Land Company plc.
Andrew Garard MA (Hons), Solicitor
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
Appointed: Andrew Garard was appointed as Group General Counsel and Company Secretary on 1 December 2022.
Skills and Experience
- Andrew is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales and Hong Kong and a CEDR accredited mediator.
- Andrew founded the Legal Social Mobility Partnership in 2014 before creating the Social Mobility Business Partnership in 2017. He joined Meggitt PLC as Group General Counsel and Director, Corporate Affairs in September 2019 where he was a member of the Group Executive and responsible for legal, commercial, trade compliance, government relations, ethics and contract management.
- Previously, he was Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at ITV plc where he was a member of the Executive Board and led a global team responsible for legal and business affairs, secretariat, compliance, insurance, health & safety, rights management and corporate responsibility.
- He started his career at Clifford Chance and also Freshfields.
Other appointments: Andrew is a Non-Executive Director at Zinc Media Group plc where he is Chair of the Remuneration Committee.
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Supporting committees
The Board is advised on the company’s performance by a group of committees that cover strategy, performance, delivery, compliance and governance.
Regulatory Compliance
As we're the primary water and wastewater supplier in the region, there is a very strict system of regulation in place to safeguard the best interests of our customers, stakeholders and the environment. We must ensure that our regulatory activities are compliant with these regulatory and legal obligations and regulators’ expectations.
Governance
The South West Water Compliance Group meets regularly to review the company’s activities in relation to these obligations against a register of Licence of Appointment, Non-Household Retail Market Code and ad-hoc regulatory compliance lists.
Failure to ensure compliance with regulatory obligations may render the company at risk of legal action, financial or reputational penalties and regulatory sanctions.
Condition R Compliance Code
Condition R of our Licence Appointment requires us to have in place a Compliance Code. Amongst other things, the Code covers the provision and confidentiality of information between South West Water and any Licensee, to ensure that South West Water does not obtain a competitive advantage in the provision of water services.
View the current version of our Condition R Compliance Code.
Our regulators
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Our codes of practice
Our Codes of Practice set out our legal obligations and responsibilities together with your rights and responsibilities as our customer. They are approved by the industry regulator Ofwat. They include information on the services that we provide, how we calculate water and sewerage charges and explain our complaints procedure.
Our Customer Promise explains what to expect from us and what we will do, should we fail to meet the required standards.