Triple win for Business Stream at Women in Utilities Awards

Jo Dow, chief executive of Business Stream, was named Woman of the Year in the inaugural Women in Utilities Awards.

It was a double win for Dow, with her company winning best employer for women, under 500 employees at the event hosted by Utility Week and the Women’s Utilities Network (WUN). Her colleague Sophia Goring took home Mentor of the Year also.

Dow said she was thrilled to win and inspired by the stories of other women in the sector and the struggles they have overcome in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.

The judges said the category for woman of the year was a really difficult job to select just one winner among the quality and calibre of excellent and deserving entries. After “tortured discussions” they selected Dow as the winner, describing her as “quite simply an exceptional person and real trailblazer.”

WUN co-founders Hayley Monk and Jo Butlin spoke of the inspirational women in the sector and the work that has been done in the six years since they launched WUN. Butler described the journey in that time adding that an event like this honouring women was “only a dream” when they first started.

Hosted by Olympian Dame Sarah Storey, the event showcased the work of women at all stages of their careers in the energy and water sectors as well as the employers, initiatives and allies who have supported and celebrated their careers.

Jane Gray, content director for Utility Week, said: “The volume, quality and inspirational nature of the entries we’ve received for the first Women in Utilities Awards are testament to what a long way this sector has come to become more inclusive, more attuned to the need to address gender balance in the workplace and more progressive in the ways it thinks about doing that.

“There’s still a long way to go but our winners and all of our fantastic shortlist are testament to the milestones that have been broken through.”

Industry peers judged entries to the 12 categories. The winners are:

• Women’s Network of the Year: Thames Water – Women’s Network
• Education Outreach of the Year: Tessa Ryan – Jersey Electricity
• Allyship Award: Nikolaj Lyngbye Kolbe – Centrica Energy
• Mentor of the Year: Sophia Goring – Business Stream
• Best EDI Initiative: Thames Water – Women’s Network Allyship Programme
• Hi Viz Award: Jenny Rhodes – SES Water
• Returning Star: Carine Bou Tayeh – Jersey Electricity
• Rising Star (utility partner): Nina Moger Bengtsson – Kraken Technologies
• Rising Star (utility): Nicole McNab – Southern Water
• Best Employee for Women (under 500 employees): Business Stream
• Best Employee for Women (500+ employees): Eon UK
• Woman of the Year: Jo Dow – Business Stream