Water companies must more than double investment in their infrastructure, and meet a range of challenging targets by 2030. That means mobilising quickly and scaling up the supply chain – but reshaping internal processes and systems will be crucial too, says Bobby Brown, Head of Water at Ridge.

The water sector in England and Wales is undergoing the biggest step-change since privatisation in 1989. Many factors have combined to bring the industry to a critical juncture: urban expansion and population growth, historic underinvestment in ageing infrastructure; the impacts of climate change and a target to meet Net Zero by 2030. Now, under the water regulator, water companies must deliver environmental improvements, resilient systems, fair bills and better service. Between 2025 and 2030, they are expected to invest a record £104 billion – more than double the target under the previous five-year asset management programme.

There’s an awful lot to do and not much time, against the backdrop of greater public scrutiny and regulatory pressure, and the risk of much higher penalties for failure. Typically, once a five-year asset management plan is set, spending follows a hockey stick curve, ramping up to years four and five. This time, the volume of expenditure required and the complexity of the projects, means that companies can’t afford to be slow off the blocks: they need to start strong and maintain momentum.

Water companies are already upskilling their teams and ramping up their supply chains, but there is typically less focus on how they can streamline internal processes and systems to enable faster mobilisation and smoother project delivery.

I’ve been working in the water sector for the last 20 years, as a civil engineer and project manager responsible for large-scale capital programmes. I’m in no doubt as to the scale of the challenge, but I’ve also supported water companies by carrying out deep dives into their operations, to help them identify capability gaps and set action plans – so I’ve had a close-up view of their potential to streamline and accelerate too.

Here are six key strategies that companies could deploy to maximise their chances of meeting the regulator’s targets.

Understand organisational barriers

Each water company is different, in the challenges it faces, and in the maturity of its business processes. A strong first step is a sprint exercise to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. An organisational assessment involves interviewing the executive and senior management teams to examine how decisions are currently made, and the changes that could accelerate them. For example, there might be ways to streamline how business cases are put together, how contractors are instructed, or how risk is managed. Should projects be put into different swim lanes based on value rather than applying the same criteria every time? The solutions will be as varied and unique as organisations themselves – but you can’t fix what you can’t see.

Set clear priorities

Ideally, organisations would kick off the delivery period with a concise plan that identifies what needs to happen, and the cost, duration and status of each project. Prioritising projects with the most strenuous regulatory requirements sounds like an obvious first step. In reality, executives often struggle to develop robust programmes or maximise efficiency because they don’t have enough information to make decisions or to weigh up all the variables in play. This lack of leadership filters down to project teams, leading to confusion and delays on the ground.

Know what success looks like

Organisations need to consider how success is measured and whether existing metrics are sufficient to ensure value for money, efficiency and the desired benefits and outputs, particularly when a greater number of projects have to be delivered at pace.

Capture data, and apply it

Water companies are not good at using their own intelligence, or extracting insights from the vast quantities of data that pass through their systems. It’s not only that their IT platforms are not fit for purpose, it’s also down to the type and quality of data that they are collecting, the level of comprehension of that data, the analytics associated with it and how the outputs are used. Addressing this significantly improves decision-making and project management, and provides a firm foundation for leveraging emerging technologies such as machine learning and AI.

Address governance gaps

Internal governance is critical to maintaining momentum, and it can easily become a barrier. For example, a small team that is responsible for final checks and approvals can become a bottleneck if the volume of projects suddenly increases. We should look at the resilience of these departments: their organisational structure and processes, whether they have the right capabilities, whether they’re aware of their roles and responsibilities, and how authority is delegated. Uncovering how delays occur and increasing awareness of the implications can quickly boost productivity.

Leave the past behind

Construction is a contentious industry, and that hits productivity in many different ways. One of the less obvious is that projects can be dogged by a legacy of mistrust and negativity that prevents people from picking up the phone, prioritising emails, resolving issues quickly with a smile on their face and an open mind. Water is a complex sector, and there are many potential areas of tension and conflict that are not always within the supply chain’s control. After a dispute, the important thing is to work out exactly what went wrong, learn the lessons – and then move on. It’s about having a positive mental attitude.

This asset management planning period requires all concerned to dig deep, ramp up significantly, and use the supply chain better. Rather than focusing on the challenges, we should see it as a positive that there’s so much more investment in the sector. We know what we need to do, and we know how to do it – this is an opportunity to really drive forward, to develop and thrive.

Bobby Brown is Head of Water at Ridge. Contact him at bobbybrown@ridge.co.uk

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