Adam is Technical Director for Jacobs Digital Flood Products, including Flood Modeller which is relied on across the industry for assess flood risk. Adam has over 20 years experience in hydrology, hydraulics and flood risk management, including flood mapping, flood forecasting, infrastructure resilience and FCERM schemes, having had the opportunity to work on many of the largest flood alleviation schemes in the UK. As a strong advocate for digital innovation, Adam has led the development of numerous new systems and tools for Jacobs and its clients. He is enthusiastic about the future of digital advancements in the field.

Ali is an experienced procurement leader who has worked across the public and private sector buying anything from IT equipment to live props for the BBC and has now found a passion for the water sector and the infrastructure it delivers and manages. She is currently leading key procurement activity to drive the delivery of infrastructure for Anglian Water in AMP8 and beyond.

Over 20 years experience at Affinity Water including 14 years working within Operation as a Process Engineer and then as a Production Manager responsible for over 100 sites. Moved within Capital Delivery leading HS2 programme of works and strategic projects for AW finally progressing to leading all AW Capita Delivery works.

With 30 years experience in leading large-scale environmental assessments and consultation efforts for a range of energy, ports, mining and linear infrastructure clients, Brian became Managing Director for Stantec's overall business in the UK last year. He has led numerous environmental assessments and implemented associated permitting and environmental management plans across Canada and Asia. With operational roles in Indonesia and Singapore, he has worked extensively with government, the private sector, and stakeholders in both countries. An active supporter of the renewable energy industry, he has advanced the development of hydroelectric and wind energy projects in British Columbia and across Canada.

A passionate strategic business leader and Chartered Civil Engineer with 25 years’ experience in the water sector, known for leading asset management strategy and planning, substantial capital investment programmes and business transformation. Currently, as Chief Asset Officer at Portsmouth Water, she is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive approach to asset management and capital delivery, ensuring optimal performance and value from the organisation's assets, while leading strategic planning, capital investment programmes, and operational risk management.

Catherine leads Arup’s Water Business in the UK, India, Middle East, and Africa.

She has extensive experience of major programmes and is the Alliance Board Member for the AMP7 Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water Capital Delivery Alliance, and Framework Sponsor for Arup’s Thames Water, Northern Ireland Water, and Environment Agency frameworks. Catherine is committed to supporting technical excellence, digital enablement, and sustainability in the water business, emphasising value and efficient project delivery.

As a recognised leader, Catherine is a Board Member of the Water Industry Forum and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). Her previous board positions include Chair of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) in Wales.

David Black was appointed as Chief Executive in April 2022. Before that, he was interim Chief Executive of Ofwat from April 2021. Prior to this, he was Chief Regulation Officer at Ofwat and led the 2019 price review. David joined Ofwat in 2012 as Director of Economics and became a Senior Director in 2015. David became Chief Executive of the UK Regulators Network (UKRN) on 1st September 2024.

Prior to joining Ofwat, David held a number of roles in economic consulting, advising on economic regulation, competition and financial economics in the communications and energy sectors. He has also worked at Oftel, New Zealand Treasury and New Zealand Commerce Commission.

Jamie has over 25 years of experience in the regulated industries, and within that time, he’s become broadly experienced in the water industry—from asset planning to design and build. Today, he’s responsible for our Water Cycle campaign, working with our leaders to support the accelerated growth of strategic resource options, coastal and flood risk services we provide for our water and infrastructure clients. With an eye for win-win situations, Jamie makes sure to approach collaboration and stakeholder management smartly and effectively. He finds methods that will keep both clients and communities happy, and he calls on his technical teams to innovate towards those goals.

Dr Lisa Gahan joined Pennon in 2021. As Director of Regulatory, Strategy and Asset Management, Lisa led on regulatory and strategic positioning; securing regulatory clearance for the Bristol Water merger, the development of WaterFit investment plans; and PR24 business plans for South West Water, Bournemouth Water and Bristol Water. Last year Lisa started a new role as Director of Economics. As well as leading the fast-track regulatory merger process and integration planning following the acquisition of SES Water, this involves looking at further opportunities and the economic strategy to deliver Pennon’s strategic ambitions. Previously, Lisa was a founding partner of ICS Consulting, where she spent over 20 years helping utilities with economic regulation, investment and strategy planning. Lisa has 25 years’ experience in regulated industries including water, energy, and transport. Lisa has a background in economics, having studied for a PhD in Environmental and Energy Economics at Manchester University.

Having begun my career more than 25 years ago as an engineering technician, I have been fortunate to work on some of the most significant Engineering Projects in the UK over the last 20 years, for some of the industries key players including Norwest Holst, Taylor Woodrow and Mott McDonald Bentleys. Water and Waste Water has been the backbone of my career to date, and led me to my current role as the current Engineering Director - West for amplify, Pennons Capital Delivery Business.

Mark has over 25 years’ experience in the Utilities Sector, the last 8 years of which have been as part of the senior management team within Southern Water, operating as a Head of delivery for Water and more recently Head of delivery of Water for Life Hampshire. His role is split between tactical delivery and strategic direction. Day to day he is responsible for a team of specialist project managers delivering multi AMP solutions to improve the resilience of Southern Waters Hampshire region. These schemes range from large cross-country pipelines to innovative technology solutions to create new water sources, such as water recycling, all working in concert to protect the environment and ensure sufficient water for use within drought. As the schemes within the portfolio are complex Mark provides strategic insight and direction, applying extensive experience and knowledge to work through interconnected challenges to give the project teams clarity whilst working through the many scenarios involved in future water regional planning. Mark is also key to stakeholder and regulator interaction, often taking the lead on presenting to and holding discussions with regulators on key topics and working with and gaining buy in from parties to ensure that these complex multi-million pound are understood, and benefit maximised. Previously he was responsible for the southern division of Mouchel’s (now WSP) Water Consulting business comprising approximately 100 staff and a turnover of £4.5m. This combined division housed both Asset Management and Civil Design skills enabling delivery of a range of services from business / asset planning and modelling through to optioneering and detailed design.

With nearly 30 years experience in the Water Industry, Martin is now focused on ensuring Scottish Waters compliance with the various Specifications and Standards within the discipline of Civil Engineering. With Scottish Water commitment to be Net Zero by 2040 in both operational and capital interventions, Martin is focusing on delivering many Low Carbon initiatives within Scottish Water.

Matt Cannon is chief executive of Clancy, one of the UK’s largest privately owned, independent contractors. He took up the role in 2019 following a 15-year career of operational roles in the business founded by his grandfather Michael Clancy. Matt has since overseen the establishment of a new leadership team and led the creation of Clancy’s refreshed vision and strategy.

As an infrastructure partner working across major frameworks and alliances in water and energy, as well as supporting ground-breaking civil engineering and infrastructure programmes, Clancy employs and trains a workforce of over 3,000 people across the UK. With a 66-year track record in technical expertise and innovation, a sustained, stable growth trajectory, and an independent, family-ownership model, Clancy ensures it reinvests its profits into innovative and sustainable tools and ways of working.

Nick is Head of Water Resources at South East Water with responsibility for managing water resources availability and compliance and overseeing development of the company’s long term supply-demand strategy. He began his career as a hydrologist and has more than 25 years’ experience in the United Kingdom water sector working for two water companies and the Environment Agency in the South East

Peter is currently a Principal Consultant at the Water Research Centre (WRc) in the UK and heads up its Pollution Reduction team which specialise in wastewater networks. He has been in the wastewater industry for over 36 years working as a contractor doing sewer surveys before joining Wessex Water as their Private Sewers Transfer Manager. He joined WRc in 2009 and has an extensive background in drain and sewer management, sewer condition assessment, drain and sewer rehabilitation and as an expert witness in drainage disputes. He has authored several publications relating to household drainage including the Drain Repair Book and the Manual of Drain and Sewer Cleaning.

He is currently working on research aimed at reducing the numbers of spills from storm overflows, sewer blockages and pollution incidents to help improve our environment.

He delivers technical training as part of the WRc Academy team in drain repair and sewer condition assessment with training delivered in exotic places such as Singapore, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Portugal.

He was recently awarded the Pride in the South West Award by the Institute of Water in 2023 for his work in explaining the need to maintain our drains and sewers with his 3P’s flushing message, only Pee, Poo and Paper. He sits on the Technical Committees of the National Association of Drainage Contractors and UK Society of Trenchless Technologies.

Outside of work he’s a keen cyclist and a Bristol Bears rugby fan

Rachel has worked at Thames Water for over 25 years in Innovation. Currently the Networks R&D Manager leading a team of experienced scientists and engineers on both clean and waste projects. Innovation projects focus on the business priorities of leakage, trunk main failure, pollution and flooding including smart networks implementation. She has also previously been the Thames Water programme lead for UKWIR & Ciria and managed sludge, energy & carbon projects.

Richard sits on Yorkshire Water’s Executive Committee as the Director of Asset Delivery. He joined Yorkshire Water in 2021 and is responsible for the engineering function and for the delivery of the capital investment programme across our water and wastewater assets. Richard is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. His background is in the delivery of major projects and programmes in a number of different sectors across the built environment.

Richard is a Civil Engineer with 30 years’ experience across a range of projects across many sectors of the industry. In the last few years, Richard has been the Project Design Director for two water and flood resilience schemes in the Salteye Brook Diversion as part of the Port Salford enabling works scheme with Sisk that won the “ICE NW Medium Value Project of the Year Award 2023” and the Whinny Brook FRC, a 40,000m3 attenuation reservoir and public open space, as part of a residential scheme for Countryside & Persimmon that won the “CECA NW Environmental Excellence Award 2023”.

Sarah joined Morgan Sindall in October 2022 from Network Rail, where she was most recently route director for the East Coast Main Line. Prior to this, Sarah worked in several senior roles at companies including Bombardier, Invensys Rail and Siemens. Sarah brings more than 20 years’ experience of delivering complex and challenging projects while working collaboratively with multiple stakeholders to ensure consistent, safe delivery. She is also a founder of Never Mind the Gap, a cross rail industry initiative that aims to provide training and work placements for women. Outside work, Sarah enjoys exercising, and going for walks with her family and pet dog.

Steve has had a storied career in the water industry spanning decades, three water companies, a contractor, and a management consultancy. With a B.Eng(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (still the best engineering degree) and an MBA from Nottingham, Steve has a passion for turning water infrastructure projects into well-oiled machines – although, sometimes, the oil leaks. As the Asset Strategy and Capital Delivery Director at Affinity Water, Steve oversees a team of 400 engineers and scientists, tackling responsibilities from asset management and net-zero targets to ensuring water quality. Steve can talk confidently, if not interestingly, about smart metering, periodic reviews, and construction projects to anyone who will buy the drinks.

Terry is currently leading the team constructing the Havant Thicket Reservoir in Hampshire which is the first of its kind for decades. Prior to this Terry was the CEO of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management working to influence policy and practice in the water sector and supporting the professional development of individuals, the demand for skills across the sector and dissemination of knowledge.

Terry is a Chartered Engineer and Water and Environmental Manager with expertise in flood and coastal risk management. He has led on the production of strategic plans and feasibility studies and the design and construction of major capital schemes. He feels privileged to have worked in some of the most beautiful places around the world, always with a view to supporting nature recovery and managing flood risk in a way that accommodates and mitigates climate change and promotes sustainable practices.

Having worked in senior roles within water companies and consultancy for over a decade, Tom has expertise across operations, innovation, transformation, asset management and regulation. Tom brings a detailed understanding of both the engineering realities water companies face and the requirements of regulators and other stakeholders. It is this combination that has enabled Tom to specialise in setting strategy, developing business plans, and securing successful regulatory determinations from price controls.

• Tom is a senior leader with broad experience in supporting utilities to face their most complex strategic challenges
• Experienced in price controls and long-term strategy, through to managing the organisations to deliver on these plans
• He combines strategic vision and experienced pragmatism to help companies set the right direction and the plan to get there
  

Toby has over 30 years working in the environmental services sector as a regulator, operator and strategist. Over this time he has worked in the Environment Agency, Water Companies and is an iNED at British Water. Much of his work has involved planning and delivering infrastructure that must be able to both accommodate changes in our climate and do a job of work. Toby brings a wealth of experience and insight to the delivery of resilient water infrastructure.

Tony Slater has a demonstrable history of successful programme delivery and enterprise working within UK infrastructure. He joined United Utilities in June 2024 to establish and lead their Enterprise. Based on Project 13 Principles, United Utilities’ Enterprise is an integrated enterprise comprising eight members together with a wider supplier network. The members are: UU as the client; Jacobs as Strategic Solutions Partner; Costain, C2V (a Jacobs & Volker Stevin JV), Kier, Mott MacDonald-Bentley, Murphy and MWH Treatment as Construction Delivery Partners. Prior to joining United Utilities, he was Managing Director of National Highways’ SMP Alliance and before then was employed by Balfour Beatty as an Operations Director in their Highways business. In leading UU’s Enterprise, Tony is driven by this becoming a high-performing enterprise that excels in all aspects of delivery. His experience and proven ability in transforming performance through authentic and committed leadership is central to successfully improving performance.

Claire’s worked in the military, a major international construction company, and public sector management. She implemented change in Unitary Authority reforms and developed new policy approaches. At the Environment Agency, Claire was national lead on drinking water protection policy and implementation and shaping Government policy on pollution control. She looked after the £4.5bn Thames Tideway Tunnel, the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (£1bn 6 year programme), London Incident management and was instrumental in setting up the London Surface Water Strategic Group driving forward surface water innovation. As voluntary lead for the Women’s Network, she supported delivery of a gender neutral breastfeeding policy, a menopause discussion pack, and a parental support pack, receiving an MBE for gender equality in the workplace. Claire is currently a Deputy Director in Major Projects and Programme Delivery, and Senior Responsible Owner for 5 Major Projects (>£100mn), better protecting people and the environment from flooding.

Educated in Earth Science at University of California, San Diego, Hiatt has had a diverse career spanning field geophysics, hydrological system analysis for hydropower and flood technology research, which she now applies to her role as senior flood risk management officer at Hull City Council. Her passion for nature-based solutions and innovative approaches to flood resilience are expressed through a portfolio of past and present projects ranging from helping to create a SuDS monitoring laboratory, development of community engagement and education programmes, and identification, design and project management of urban natural flood management schemes. Currently she is working within the Living with Water partnership to help deliver Hull’s award-winning Blue Green Plan. Hiatt is dedicated to educating stakeholders about the benefits of SuDS and ensuring impactful SuDS delivery through the planning system. Hiatt sits on an ASA workgroup for Technical and Data Management and is a WiFCERM Mentor.

Growing up across Southern Africa in a utility family (electricity not water, sorry) Jamie took a deliberately different path becoming a Theologian, University Lecturer and Research Manager for an NGO. Following emigration to the UK Jamie found himself on a two month temporary contract with Anglian Water carrying out data capture. This initial contract turned into over 18 years (so far) with Anglian Water in which he has re-trained, specialising in programme management, design, strategy, operational capital delivery, Asset Health and more recently co-creation. Jamie is committed to using his varied experiences to realise Anglian Water’s ambitious goals for 2025 – 2030 across the Treated Water Distribution Network and through the Integrated Maintenance and Repair Alliance.

Jamie Kukadia is part of the innovative Watercourses Team at Enfield Council. The key focus of the team is to reduce flood risk and improve the river environment using green infrastructure sustainable drainage such as rain gardens, constructed wetlands and natural flood management techniques. Jamie has designed and project managed rain garden and wetland projects across the borough, and is currently managing the Enfield Chase Landscape Restoration scheme, which is London’s biggest rewilding project.

A Chartered Water and Environmental Manager, Environmentalist and Scientist, Fellow of CIWEM, Mat has 25 years ‘Grass Roots Up’ experience as an Environmental Manager, Planner, Specialist & Sustainability professional with 18 years specific experience in Water, Multi-disciplinary Environmental Consultancy, Local Authority, and non-governmental public bodies. For the last 9 years he has been a Principal Drainage/Senior Flood Risk Management Officer at West Sussex County Council, delivering the County Council’s duties and responsibilities , as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) under the Flood and Water Management [2010] and Land Drainage Acts [1991]. Possessing Master’s in Environmental Management (MSc) and (LLM) Environmental Law & Practice he is acts routinely as Subject Matter Expert within Flooding & Drainage (SuDS) engaging in Planning, Ordinary Watercourse Consenting, Enforcement, Asset Management, Environmental Project & Programme Management and Risk Assessment & Analysis. This working with communities in collaboration, whilst managing flood risk , leading and advocating climate change adaptation, and resilience locally as well as regionally and nationally. As an innovative and pragmatic Environmental Advisor/Manager, Mat has previously held numerous senior roles as Consultant and Officer delivering outcomes for Flood Alleviation Schemes and Major Infrastructure Projects (Highways and Rail) at NISP, DCO, TWAO level.

Head of Drainage capability within TFL Engineering, providing technical advice and engineering design and assurance on drainage within the entire TfL portfolio (highway, London Underground, London Overground, DLR and Premises). I am leading a team of specialist in track, highway, SuDS and building drainage systems and flood risk management to support TfL throughout the value chain. We are all strong advocate of SuDS delivery in TFL and London to help building adaptation to flood risk while improving water quality, biodiversity and amenity.

Philip Adshead is the Infrastructure Asset Manager at the Canal & River Trust. He is accountable for management of the Trust’s critical assets and leads a team responsible for the strategic asset management of the Trust’s 2000 miles of inland waterways with over 10,000 principal assets. Philip is a chartered engineer, member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, with over 25 years’ experience in construction, design, and asset management. Ensuring the Trust has the skills needed to manage infrastructure, including our 2970 bridges, is a key consideration for Philip and he will be able to share some thoughts on how the Trust does that during the discussion.

Philip is a chartered civil engineer specialising in water resources management and has 21 years' experience in the water sector in the UK and internationally. He leads Arup's water resources work in a variety of contexts, ranging from highly regulated sectors in the UK and Europe, to advising and nurturing regulatory regimes in the developing world. His experience enables him to help clients align with Integrated Water Resource Management principles and sustainable water management practices, including water stewardship.

Philip is also contributing to understanding the interfaces between city water resources and resilient supplies, particularly the impact of city water demand on river basins and aquifers. He began his career working on water resources studies and assessments for national projects in Uganda, and major World Bank-funded projects in the East Africa region, including the Nile Basin Water Resources Project, the Nile Basin Initiative and the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project.

In the UK, Philip has worked on a variety of water sector projects, including developing statutory water resources plans for many UK water companies, often assessing the impact of climate change on water resources availability and future demand. His areas of work also include strategic water business consulting, particularly on regulation, cost drivers and water resource system optimisation.

I am a Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers and a Chartered Director. Following 3 periods of 6 months on site with Sir Alfred McAlpine, I graduated in civil engineering in 1976 and then worked on the design and construction of service reservoirs and water treatment plants for 3 years. I worked in a structural engineering consultancy for 6 years and then co-founded Rodgers Leask Ltd, a civil, structural & geotechnical consultancy in 1984. I remain an active Director and Engineer. In 2023 I was asked to take over the Managing Director role of PowerCem Technologies (UK) and since then I have been steering the business towards new and innovative applications of this technology. My interests now are innovation, carbon reduction, health and safety and mentoring, focusing on the big picture rather than detailed design.

Ben has built teams and products in GIS, IT & Water industries for over 15 years. His passion for the environment gives him the drive and determination to constantly seek out new and better ways of solving the problems we face as a society. His unique blend of skills give him the ability to understand problems and find solutions that benefit all parties involved. Ben works closely with the Water team at Lucion Delta-Simons to navigate flood-risk, hydrology and drainage issues. Other industries that Ben supports regularly include planning, ecology, climate and geo-environmental. Ben serves as a Director and Council Member for the Association for Geographic Information supporting the day to day running of the Association, leading the awards and sustainability groups. Ben is a keen networker and enjoys connecting with peers and has mentored junior GIS professionals with their early careers and general support.

Jimmy is the Commercial Director at Cubex Industries Ltd, where he leads strategic growth initiatives for innovative concrete solutions. With a marketing degree and a decade of commercial leadership experience across multiple startup environments, Jimmy brings a fresh perspective to scaling sustainable infrastructure innovations. Since joining Cubex Industries in February 2025, Jimmy has focused on expanding awareness of the SeaHives project and identifying new deployment opportunities for this groundbreaking solution. Though new to the sustainable concrete sector, his background in commercializing innovative products has proven valuable in bridging the gap between technical solutions and market needs. Jimmy's involvement with Cubex Industries began in early 2024 through collaborations with CEO Charlie, where he recognized the transformative potential of the company's approach to concrete solutions for environmental challenges. At the Innovation Accelerator, Jimmy will present how SeaHives represents a significant advancement in addressing the dual challenges of flood defense and marine biodiversity enhancement.

Dr Stuart McMichael is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ulster University’s School of Engineering, with a background in clean technology and a PhD in engineering. He has published several research articles high-impact journals, as well as book chapters, in areas of water treatment, photo(electro)chemistry, hydrogen production and CO2 reduction. Dr McMichael is a member of the IET and serves on its local network committee. He is currently the research lead in the development of an innovative IoT device for bacterial water measurement, featuring automated CFU counts and a reduced time to result. His current work focuses on creating a user-friendly device that provides accurate results for detecting microbial contamination, bridging microbiology, automation, and digital water management. The objective is to develop a mini microbiology lab that enables anyone to test for bacterial contamination in water and obtain quantitative results without the need for a full laboratory.