Severn Trent names new wholesale boss

Severn Trent has appointed the National Grid chief executive of gas distribution as its new managing director for wholesale operations.

Emma Fitzgerald will leave her current role and join Severn Trent Water on 1 July 2015.

On being appointed, Fitzgerald said: “I am really excited to be joining Severn Trent at such an important moment for the Water Industry.

“I have spent my entire career in the provision of essential services and I am looking forward to sharing my experience to deliver for all Severn Trent stakeholders over the next five years.”

Prior to joining National Grid, she held senior technical, strategic and operational roles with energy oil giant Shell for more than 20 years.

Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield added: “I am delighted that we have been able to recruit someone of Emma’s calibre.

“She has the experience, passion and drive to help us to deliver on the commitments we have made in our business plan for the next five years and to provide an even better service to our customers in the future.”

At the start of the year, Severn Trent made two new leadership appointments in order to drive a “greater customer and commercial focus”, with Sarah Bentley joining as chief customer officer and Helen Miles taking up the role of new group commercial officer.

The appointments follow a significant overhaul of the management structure, where 100 jobs have been cut, mostly from middle management positions.