“There are multiple angles on any problem and fewer levers of change”: Nicola Shaw, Yorkshire Water

“Everything is a priority, and we are measured on everything by the regulators. So, we've got to keep moving on all fronts,” says Nicola Shaw, CEO of Yorkshire Water.

Few businesses more powerfully illustrate the importance of understanding the complex interconnections across your business and ecosystem than a water company - especially when it comes to implementing change.

With 5.5 million customers, 670 water and treatment works and 72,000 acres of reservoirs and countryside, Yorkshire Water must navigate a dizzying matrix of commercial, environmental, financial, political, regulatory, reputational, residential and technological factors. It must also do so in the fierce spotlight that comes with running a utility company.

“There are multiple different angles on any problem and in this business there are fewer levers for change than you would have in a normal turnaround business,” says Shaw. “Elsewhere you could go in and prioritise something, and by doing so you almost automatically deprioritise something else. But for us, everything is a priority.”

Shaw is on the verge of confirming a price rise in order to invest in modernising Yorkshire Water’s network. In total, £8.3bn will be invested across the region in the next five years and those investments will deliver environmental benefits and a better service for customers, she says. But Shaw is very aware it will also spark a backlash and critical headlines.

Engaging people with a clear strategy

Shaw’s approach in two-and-a-half-years as CEO at Yorkshire Water has been shaped by a review and a clarification of its strategy, built around three pillars.

The first pillar of the Yorkshire Water strategy, Shaw says, is focused on addressing that issue of employee engagement: "Because if employees don’t understand the strategy, then what chance do our other stakeholders stand, such as customers and politicians.” 

“Since we launched the new strategy along with a real focus on communication, including a weekly video I share with all staff, we've seen engagement going up and up. And for me, if you don't get your colleagues with you, then the rest of what you do in your business is for the birds. It doesn't matter whether you automate, what you do, because in the end the colleagues make the difference.”

The role of data in managing asset health

The second pillar is around improving asset health. That means physically upgrading and maintaining pipes and facilities but also using data to understand the stresses and strains on its network to make proactive interventions. 

Yorkshire Water uses thousands of monitors on its 32,000km of clean water pipes to constantly measure water pressure to manage and mitigate the risk of leaks, resulting in a 15% reduction in leaks over the past five years. 

The company also collects data up to every two minutes from sensors on all 2,100 combined sewer overflows across its network. That data helps to inform its response to sewage entering lakes and rivers as a result of flooding and overcapacity in the system.

Shaw says many of Yorkshire Water’s treatment facilities are regularly dealing with two or three times the level of water they would normally see due to the heavy rainfall that has become more common in recent years. In some instances, the increase is up to tenfold for some facilities.

She is aware such significant change is not without its disruption for local communities.

"We're building big tanks in urban areas which means digging,” she says. “In Whitby, on the coast, we've taken the esplanade up in the winter months to put storage underneath to stop discharging into the sea, which is really good, but nevertheless disruptive for the community."

Taking a joined-up approach

The third strategic pillar is about taking a joined-up approach - the need for reflects the complex matrix Yorkshire Water operates within. Shaw says many of the issues they are working on have multiple stakeholders, from customers and local communities, to city councils and local MPs, the Environment Agency and regulators.

At a local level this may mean working closely with farmers on the issue of runoff, but Shaw also gives the example of a partnership established in Hull on Yorkshire’s east coast.

Sitting on low-lying land in a natural basin where the Rivers Ouse, Hull and Trent meet the Humber and the North Sea, Hull has the highest flood risk for any UK city after London.

“We've been working with the East Riding Council, Hull City Council, the University of Hull and the Environment agency, on a long-term plan that has really ramped up in the last five years,” says Shaw. “The partnership we have is called Living With Water because this problem isn't going to go away. So, we have to find a way, all of us, working collectively with the people of Hull to manage things better.”

For some stakeholders, steps may be minor changes in behaviour - such as customers using less water or not putting wet wipes, and sanitary products down the toilet, or fats down the sink, adding to blockages in the sewers. For other stakeholders, the actions required are greater, including the major investments in infrastructure and infrastructure management that Yorkshire Water has planned.

But Shaw says building such bridges and taking a collaborative approach will be essential to navigating change and delivering the long-term benefits needed.