Board of directors
Sir Derek Wanless - Chairman
Sir Derek Wanless was appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director in December 2003. He was appointed to the board of NWL in January 2006, and, in July 2006, became Chairman of NWG and NWL. Sir Derek chairs the Nomination Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee. He became a director of National Westminster Bank in 1991 and its Group Chief Executive in 1992. He retired from this position in 1999. Sir Derek is currently Chairman of Legal and General plc’s Longevity Science Advisory Panel and a member of the Board for Actuarial Standards at the Financial Reporting Council.
Heidi Mottram OBE - Chief Executive Officer
Heidi Mottram was appointed to the NWG and NWL Boards, as an Executive Director, on 1 March 2010, and became Chief Executive Officer on 1 April. Heidi began her career with British Rail as a General Management Trainee in the mid 1980s. Her first senior position was that of Station Manager in Harrogate in 1986 and she then held a number of roles before joining Midland Mainline in 1999 as Operations Director, where she was fully accountable for the Operations Team. Heidi was Commercial Director for Arriva Trains Northern from January 2004, before joining
Serco-NedRailways in November 2004 as Managing Director, Northern Rail Ltd.
Heidi was named Rail Business Manager of the Year in 2009 for being an
“inspirational leader”, and was awarded an OBE in the New Year honours list 2010,
for services to the rail industry.
Chris Green - Finance Director
Chris Green was appointed to the Board in May 2003. Chris joined the former Northumbrian Water Group plc in January 1990 and was initially involved in its diversified business activities before being appointed as Group Finance Director in 1997. Chris was appointed as Finance Director of NWL in April 2000 following the merger of that company with Essex and Suffolk Water plc.
Sir Patrick Brown - Senior Independent Non-executive Director
Sir Patrick Brown was appointed to the Board in May 2003 and to the board of NWL in January 2006. Sir Patrick chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He held various positions in the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment, becoming Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of the Property Services Agency in 1990. He was Permanent Secretary for the Department of Transport from 1991 to 1997. Sir Patrick became a non-executive director of the Go-Ahead Group plc in 1999 and its Chairman in 2002. He is also Chairman of the Advisory Committee of
Alexander Proudfoot UK.
Margaret Fay CBE - Independent Non-executive Director
Margaret Fay was appointed to the Boards of NWG and NWL on 1 June 2010. Margaret was formerly Managing Director of Tyne Tees Television until she took early retirement in December 2003 in order to take up her current position as Chairman of One North East, which achieved the top “performing strongly” grading in a National Audit Office assessment of its work in 2006. She is a Board Member of the new Homes and Communities Agency, Patron of Tees Valley Community Foundation and, in June 2005, was appointed the Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for the North East of England. Margaret has established strong relationships with the region’s
business and political communities. Margaret was awarded an OBE for services to
broadcasting in 2004 and, in 2010, a CBE for services to regional development.
Claude Lamoureux – Non-executive Director
Claude Lamoureux was appointed to the boards of NWG and NWL on 1 December 2006. Claude was until 1 December 2007, President and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“OTPP”). Previously, he spent 25 years as a financial executive with Metropolitan Life in Canada and the US. He is a director of Xstrata plc, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc, Maple Leaf Foods Inc, Atrium Innovations Inc, The Learning Partnership and the York University Foundation. OTPP holds 27% of the issued share capital of Northumbrian Water Group plc and Claude is, therefore, not regarded as an independent director.
Martin Nègre - Independent Non-executive Director
Martin Nègre was appointed to the Board in May 2003 and to the board of NWL in January 2006. Martin is a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees. He was, between April 2000 and April 2001, the CEO of the former Northumbrian Water Group plc and the chief corporate representative of its parent company, Suez, in the UK. He is currently the Chairman of Ecofin Global Utilities Hedge Fund Limited, Chairman of Ecofin Special Situations Utilities Fund and of Ecofin North American Hedge Fund, a director of Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities plc, a London listed investment trust of which he was Chairman for
three years, as well as a director of Hansen Transmissions International NV, Bolux
Utilities (Sicav Luxembourg), Mercurius Utilities (Liechtenstein), EFMI Global
Utilities and Infrastructure Funds plc, EFMI UBAM Global Utilities 130/130 Fund.
All the above funds are focused on utilities. In 2005, he was appointed a director of
Promethean plc, an AIM-listed investment company and sits on the supervisory
board of Jean-Philippe Hottinguer & Cie.
Alex Scott-Barrett - Independent Non-executive Director
Alex Scott-Barrett was appointed to the Board of NWG in September 2006, having previously joined the board of NWL in November 2005. Alex chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees. Alex qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand in 1981 and joined Cazenove, a city corporate stockbroker, in 1982. He worked initially as an analyst and transferred to the corporate finance department in 1986, becoming a partner of the firm in 1988. In 1996 he became a director of the firm's fund management division and from 2000 to 2003 was the Chief Operating Officer
of that division. Alex left Cazenove in 2003. He is a non-executive director of
Lighthouse Group plc and is a Trustee of L’Arche and Help for Heroes.
Company Secretary
Martin Parker - General Counsel and Company Secretary
Martin Parker was appointed as Company Secretary of NWG in May 2003. Martin joined the former Northumbrian Water Group plc in 1990, concentrating on acquisitions, overseas projects and contracts with industrial customers, before being appointed Head of Group Legal Services in 1998 and General Counsel and Company Secretary of NWL in 2000. Martin is Secretary of all the Board Committees.