Northumbrian leads in British Water survey

Northumbrian Water has topped British Water’s annual Water Company Performance Survey thanks to its high performance in the area of innovation.

Key findings from the 2022 survey include:

1-Northumbrian Water rises to first place, with Southern Water and Northern Ireland Water dropping to joint last

2-Health and safety, quality assurance and environmental policies were the highest-scoring areas

3-Innovation scores continue to be low across the sector, despite increased investment

Contractors, consultants, and suppliers are asked to score their customers’ performance in 11 categories, including innovation, professionalism, contractual approach, and procurement, as part of British Water’s annual UK Water Company Performance Survey.

Streamlined questions and the addition of four water-only businesses were two new features of the 2022 survey. In comparison to the survey from last year, the ranking has undergone a number of adjustments this year.

Northumbrian won, moving up from sixth place last year, and Anglian Water came in second.

The biggest drop was experienced by Wessex Water, which dropped from first to ninth. Southern Water went from ninth to equal eleventh, while Northern Ireland dropped from third to eleventh.

In third and fifth place, respectively, Scottish Water and United Utilities both maintained their places.

The head of programs at British Water, Dr. Mar Batista, commented on the high scores of Northumbrian Water and Anglian Water, saying that both companies “get people in a room” with their innovation offerings like the Northumbrian Innovation Festival and the Anglian Water Innovation Network.

Both companies appear to have worked hard to embrace innovation across the business.

“It is important that we build on the innovation portals available across the sector to a culture of innovation across the industry. Innovation needs time commitment, people to be onboard and trust to be developed and that is easier to achieve when people and companies get to know each other and how they work,” said Batista.

Sometimes innovation is implemented in a transactional manner, with water company representatives using the solutions they may find more convenient or necessary at the time.

This may lead to a specialized path and particular results in terms of innovation.

“Supply chain companies will tend to want to work with businesses that are welcoming and with capacity for innovation, so innovation is more likely to happen when businesses and people are aligned,” she added.

According to Batista, it is challenging to complete projects, whether they are conventional or innovative if the concerned parties are rigid or operate alone.

Bringing all parties together increases the likelihood that a positive outcome will be achieved for everyone since they may all share in the success or equitably distribute the risk.

Long-term cooperation that goes beyond a project or a five-year regulatory asset management period (AMP) can also result in increased capacity because it takes a lot of time and energy to establish new connections and forms of cooperation.

Water businesses are conscious of the demands emanating from Ofwat and the public over pricing, environmental degradation, and climate change as they look ahead to AMP8, which runs from 2025 to 2030.

The amount of work required in the sector will increase dramatically as a result of this.

Batista said, “Building strong, trusted relationships and spreading spend is essential to allow businesses to grow and meet the demands going forward. The water sector will no doubt continue to modernise through collecting and understanding data, and using new technologies which are integrated into the existing legacy equipment and processes.”

British Water started conducting its annual study in early 2003 in response to requests from businesses for information on how the industry supply chain saw them and how they compared to rivals.

Instead of a corporate perspective, the study is looking for opinions from people who work in the field.

The poll captures a range of viewpoints from every level of an organization along the supply chain.

This diversity of viewpoints offers the industry insightful information on how water utilities interact with their supply chain, how the supply chain perceives this interaction, and the advancements water utilities have made through time.

Source: British water 

 

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