Speakers
21st Annual Leakage Conference
Glyn Addicott
Operations Director, Hydraulic Analysis Ltd
Glyn is a chartered engineer with more than 25 years’ experience in pipeline hydraulic design and surge analysis/water hammer studies, and has undertaken more than 300 studies on pipelines and networks in over 50 countries. Past projects include water supply networks, water trunk mains and wastewater pumping systems. As a director in the Hydraulic Analysis Group, Glyn is involved in the calibration and installation of transient real-time pipeline simulators (Digital Twins) of trunk mains and water supply networks. The simulators are used to rapidly detect leaks and bursts, determine the cause and source of pressure transients, eliminate pressure transients, optimise system performance, carry out ‘what-if’ analysis, tune control systems, replay events and train operators.
Harry Armstrong
Director for Regulatory Policy, Ofwat
Harry is Director for Regulatory Policy at Ofwat, where he manages a wide portfolio of work, including Ofwat’s Innovation fund, customer policy and asset resilience. Before joining Ofwat, he worked closely with regulators in the UK, Canada, EU and Malaysia on innovation-driven approaches to regulation. He also worked with the UK and Canadian governments to develop a supportive environment for regulatory innovation through initiatives such as the Regulators Pioneer’s Fund and the Centre for Regulator Innovation in Canada. At Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, his work covered a wide range of other areas, including foresight, the responsible development and use of AI, nanosatellites, local energy systems and future skills.
Michael Baker
Tactical Planning Manager, Northumbrian Water
Mick has 34 years’ experience in the water industry, having held a variety of operational and strategic planning roles. He currently manages a varied portfolio at Northumbrian Water – covering capital, operational and maintenance programmes aligned to the company’s performance commitments and ODI targets. Mick has also been actively involved in AMP6 and AMP7 business planning, focusing on water networks and resilience. He holds honours degrees in Water & Environmental Management and Leadership & Management.
Alex Barter
Director, B4T Group
A chartered electronic engineer by training, an entrepreneur by calling and a disciple of the Internet-of-Things, Alex invented the disruptive Jellyfish sensor and founded B4T to solve environmental challenges.
Robin Bell
COO, Inflowmatix
Robin is COO at Inflowmatix, a spin-out company from Infrasense Labs, Imperial College London. He joined Inflowmatix in 2015 and now leads the commercial and operations teams. He has worked with the customer base in the UK and global partners to substantially increase sales and fulfilment of the InflowSys™ product portfolio year on year. Before joining Inflowmatix, Robin was Hardware Director at i2O Water and coordinated the launch and manufacturing ramp of an extensive range of smart data loggers. Robin also worked on the senior team of SPI Lasers for eight years, and has also held senior roles at Bookham, Raymarine and Marconi.
Andrew Blenkharn
Network Performance Coordinator, Northumbrian Water
Since joining Northumbrian Water in 2006, Andrew has focused on all aspects of water balance calculations and delivering the requirements of Ofwat’s reporting guidelines. He recently moved into the strategic planning team, which looks at the company’s longer-term strategies as part of a service planning framework. He is also the water lead on the Innovation Ambassadors Group, which apples latest technology and thinking to day-to-day operations.
Gina Bryden
Managing Consultant, CACI
Gina leads the development of all water clients at CACI Ltd. Currently working with over 75% of the UK water market, CACI supplies rich demographic, attitudinal and location data and analysis tools to deliver actionable insights to customers and their use of water. Applications include understanding and influencing water usage, identifying and reducing leakage, forecasting future demand and improving CMEX. CACI is focused on enabling organisations to do amazing things with data. things with data.
Jeremy Heath
Innovation Manager, SES Water
Jeremy has more than 25 years’ experience in the water industry, and has a background in mechanical engineering and database applications. He has worked for SES water for 20 years, managing water metering, leakage, GIS, remote working and network services. He has a deep understanding of the problems facing the water industry and also the transformational power of innovative technical solutions. In 2015, he was appointed Innovation Manager at SES Water to promote innovation and ensure that an innovation culture was firmly embedded within the business.
Jamie Jones
Leakage and Smart Networks Manager, Portsmouth Water
Jamie is the Leakage and Smart Networks Manager for Portsmouth Water, where he specialises in leakage, interruptions to supply and network optimisation. He has 10 years’ experience in the water industry, and has worked for consultants and water companies. Jamie was previously a regulation analyst and network project manager, and has had active roles in the development of PR14 and PR19 business plans for Portsmouth Water. He is now responsible for creating and delivering Portsmouth Water’s 15-year leakage and pressure management strategies, and for managing analytical and operational teams. Jamie is treasurer of the Institute of Water South East Committee and formerly Portsmouth Water’s WaterAid representative.
Karma Loveday
Editor, The Water Report
Karma is founder and editor of The Water Report, a monthly print and digital publication that focuses on policy, regulation and competition in the UK water sector. She is a water sector specialist journalist, with more than 20 years’ experience of researching and writing about the industry. Karma also chairs the water group of the Major Energy Users' Council and is a non- executive director of Waterwise.
Dene Marshallsay
Director, Artesia
Dene is a founder, director and co-owner of Artesia. He is a leading expert in the management and analysis of water use and leakage, and applies 30-years’ experience to the water management challenges we face today. He is currently working on a range of water demand projects, including understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on demand, producing demand forecasts for water resource management plans and developing leakage reduction strategies.
Stuart Mawditt
Managing Director, SME Water
After founding SME Water in 2018, Stuart has built a team of engineers and data analysts with a wealth of experience in hydraulic analysis, leakage and modelling. As a chartered engineer and member of CIWEM, Stuart enjoys sharing his experience with others and is always looking for opportunities to develop his knowledge. He is excited about the challenges the water industry currently faces and proud to be part of such an innovative and fast-moving industry.
Nicole Metje
Professor of Infrastructure Monitoring, University of Birmingham
As well as Professor of Infrastructure Monitoring at the University of Birmingham’s School of Engineering, Nicole is Director for Sensors of the National Buried Infrastructure Facility (NBIF), part of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities. Her main research focuses on mapping and assessing the condition of buried utilities through smart sensors and surface geophysics, including quantum technology gravity sensors. However, she has a broad interest in infrastructure monitoring in general.
Glen Mountfort
Senior Consultant, WRc
Glen joined WRc in 2020 as Senior Consultant, and specialises in leakage and water resources planning. He has previously worked for Jacobs and South Staffs Water and has extensive experience from his 18 years of working in the industry – directly for water companies and as a consultant. Glen has been involved in producing business plans at PR09, PR14 and PR19 and water resources management plans at WRMP14 and WRMP19. Between 2017 and 2020, he provided technical assurance to a number of UK water companies, covering annual performance reporting, business plans and water resources management plans.
Fabio Orlandi
Commercial Director, PIPA Ltd
Fabio has spent the last 12 years working in the water pipe inspection industry after previously setting up a pipe inspection company in another sector, where he used his experience to become a problem-solver and international trainer on inspection techniques. After listening to client feedback in many countries, Fabio recognised the need for the right processes in pressurised pipe inspection and leak detection equipment, and set up PIPA to develop reliable and user-friendly equipment.
Dr Willow Smallbone
Data and Analytics Manager, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water
As a data and analytics manager, Willow is responsible for managing the Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) Data Science Team. Willow joined DCWW in 2017 following the successful completion of a PhD in biology at Cardiff University. The Data Science Team delivers a programme of work that tackles business problems aligned to measures of success, utilising data and analytics to deliver insight to enable data-led decisions. This is achieved by implementing machine learning, operational research and artificial intelligence techniques to support operational activity, and drive benefit for customers.
Chris Smith
Data Science Manager, Yorkshire Water
After a starting his career in the banking sector, Chris joined Yorkshire Water in 2012 and has undertaken a range of analytically focused roles before starting his current role as Data Science Manager in 2017. Chris’s role focuses on the development and delivery of analytical solutions, which encompass the water and wastewater operational arenas.
Dr Benjamin Tam
Managing Director, Isle
Ben is a water sector professional with a background in science and innovation. After gaining a PhD in biochemistry, he worked at Anglian Water, where he fulfilled a variety of operational and technical roles in water and water networks. At Isle, Ben has focused on strategic consultancy projects with water utilities in the UK to develop innovation plans and overcome the difficulties in implementing innovative ideas. Ben leads Isle UK, where the team manage technical and industry research projects for water utility clients, and help technology companies enter the market.
Bob Taylor
CEO, Portsmouth Water
Bob is Chief Executive Officer of Portsmouth Water, which has a 160-year history of providing water services on the south coast of the UK. Today, it serves a population of around 800,000. The company has a well-established reputation as one of the consistently best performers in the sector at lowest price, and is about to embark on the first major reservoir project to be built in the UK since privatisation. Previously, Bob was Operations Director of Drinking Water Services for South West Water, part of the FTSE-listed Pennon Group.
Eldos Then
Asset Manager, Affinity Water
Eldos is an asset manager at Affinity Water, and is responsible for a team on network data analytics and water balance process. He has an engineering PhD from Imperial College and, before joining Affinity Water, worked as an analyst in Ocado and Tesco. While new to the water industry, he has used his skills to ensure accurate leakage reporting and leakage operational response.
Stephen Tooms
Director and Co-founder, Invenio Systems
Stephen is a director and co-founder of Invenio Systems. He has a background in physics research, and specialises in the analysis, management, regulation and economics of water loss. He has worked for a number of science and engineering organisations in the UK water industry over the last 30 years. Recent work has included developments in the use of precise temperature measurements to detect and quantify flows in customer supplies and distribution systems – work that has been applied successfully in DCWW’s Cartref programme. He is a chartered scientist and member of CIWEM and the IWA Water Loss Specialist Group.
Pauline Walsh
CEO, Affinity Water and Chair, Leakage Public Interest Commitments (PIC)
Pauline has a BEng (Hons) in mechanical engineering from University College Dublin and an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. She is an honorary fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland. Pauline has broad international experience and a track record in leading transformational changes in large scale operations. She was previously Director of Gas Transmission for National Grid, where she was responsible for building and maintaining the assets of the UK’s high-pressure national gas transmission system. Prior to joining National Grid in 2015, Pauline held senior leadership roles at Ford Motor Company, Philips Electronics, Havells-Sylvania, and Fred Olsen. Pauline is a non-executive director at Buccleuch, a business focused on the sustainable economic development of vast land resources and deploying renewable energy technologies.
