On the move: Wales & West director departs; SES Water hires new CCO

In our latest round-up of industry appointments, directors at Wales & West Utilities and Good Energy depart for new chapters, while SES Water has appointed a new chief customer officer. Meanwhile, Waterwise introduces three new board members.

Wales & West Utilities

Sarah Williams, Wales & West Utilities’ regulation director, has announced she is leaving the company after almost 19 years.

Williams, who began her career at the company as a senior manager in August 2005, was most recently director of regulation, asset strategy and health, safety and environment.

Commenting on her departure, she said: “After almost 19 years at Wales & West Utilities I am now flying the nest…I will truly miss my amazing team and the colleagues I am privileged to call my friends!”

Good Energy

Charlie Parry, Good Energy’s director of corporate strategy and investor relations, has announced he is leaving the company after more than six years.

Parry, who has previously held senior roles at Domino’s Pizza Group, Barclays Investment Bank and Deloitte, will be joining energy trading platform UrbanChain as its chief development officer.

Speaking of his time at the renewable energy supplier, Parry said: “It’s been a real journey of growth, challenges, and achievements in the renewable energy space, alongside an incredible team.”

A spokesperson for the company told Utility Week that Parry is not being directly replaced.

SES Water

Debra Goodwin has recently been announced as the new chief customer officer of SES Water.

Goodwin, who joined the company in January, has previous experience at Centrica where she served as sales operations director at British Gas. More recently she worked as chief customer officer for three years at digital advertising company Yell.

At SES she will have overall responsibility for the company’s C-MeX score and supporting customers with additional needs or those struggling to pay their bill.

SES Water chief Ian Cain said: “We’re pleased to have Debra on board at this important time for the company following the recent submission of our business plan for 2025 to 2030.

“Debra brings a unique skillset which will undoubtedly strengthen our ability to become a company that not only meets but exceeds our customers’ expectations – getting things right first time, all the time.”

Goodwin said: “I’m delighted to have joined the talented team at SES Water and look forward to helping us deliver consistently excellent service, as our customers rightly expect.

“I’m particularly passionate about customer experience and the transformative role technology and data can bring to the water industry, especially as we start to roll out smart meters over the coming years.”

Waterwise

Three new board members have joined environmental campaign organisation Waterwise.

They include Lydia Dareheath who is currently serving as public affairs manager at Anglian Water, having previously worked for organisations such as Waterwise and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

Jane Ferguson and Joe Cahill are also joining the board.

Ferguson’s career spans various industries including consumer goods, retail, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, and financial services.

Cahill meanwhile has a background in geography and sociology, and is a consultant and sales and account lead at Artesia Consulting.

Waterwise chief executive Nicci Russell said: “I’m really thrilled to be welcoming our three new board members! The Waterwise executive and staff team really benefit from a very wise, committed, diverse board, and I’m looking forward to working with Jane, Joe and Lydia.”