On the Move: Macfarlane departs Thames

Kelly Macfarlane has stepped down as managing director of customer service and retail at Thames Water.

Utility Week understands Dinesh Manuelpillai, who oversees customer experience and digital, strategy and transformation, will step up to cover Macfarlane’s role while the company finds a successor.

Chief executive Sarah Bentley, who was previously chief customer officer at Severn Trent, identified  customer service as priority when she joined Thames. Last year the company hired 180 additional staff to bolster its customer experience teams.

Thames said Macfarlane left the business to engage in new opportunities.

In other people moves across the sector:

Nikki van Dijk has joined Mott McDonald as climate advisor in its UK water and environment business as part of the firm’s climate change and sustainability team.

Van Dijk, a chartered environmentalist, has 15 years’ experience in consultancy specialising in climate risk and resilience and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) as well as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She joins from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Battery technology firm, Britishvolt, has named Timon Orlob as its chief operating officer to deliver the skills and system for the construction and operation of the UK’s first battery gigaplant in 2023. Orlob joined from motor-yacht manufacturer Sunseeker and has previous experience at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Bosch.

Engineering firm Black & Veatch has appointed Youssef Merjaneh as senior vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa with a focus on supporting the renewable generation, transmission and distribution side of the business. Merjaneh’s experience includes operation, business development, strategy, sales and project management in Middle East and Europe from a background in power, oil, gas, transportation and IT.