Pennon Group, the parent of South West and Bournemouth Water, has announced Chris Loughlin will leave the business as part of a major restructure of its board.
The reshuffle also saw chairman John Parker stepping down from the board. Gill Rider, who has sat on the board since 2012 and is currently senior independent director and chair of renumeration committee, will take over as chair.
Davy, who has been chief financial officer since 2015 and with South West Water since 2007, added she was honoured to take the chief executive role and welcomed the appointment of Rider as chair.
She said: “With our renewed focus on excellence in the water and wastewater sector it is an incredibly exciting time for the group as we forge ahead with our ‘New Deal’ plans for the 2020-25 period. We’ve set ourselves ambitious targets, but I am confident we can build on past progress and can deliver for our customers and stakeholders, further cementing our leadership within the UK water sector while working in ever more innovative and sustainable ways.”
Paul Boote has been appointed to the board as group finance director and Jon Butterworth has been appointed as non-executive director to the Pennon board after sitting on the South West board since 2017.
Pennon said the board enacted its succession plan because of the changing shape of the group following the sale of Viridor and Loughlin commented it was “the appropriate time to step down” from leading the organisation.
“I would like to thank all the friends and colleagues within the group who, like me, should be incredibly proud of our many achievements,” he said. “I am very confident that Pennon will have a prosperous future focussing on the water sector and am delighted to hand over to Susan, who I have worked with for so many years. I am certain she will be a great success.”
Parker said: “I would like to thank Chris Loughlin for his dedicated service, firstly as CEO of South West Water and more recently as the Group CEO of Pennon. As a board, we acknowledge his significant commitment, long service, and contribution to the success of the group. We wish him well for his future endeavours. I am confident that the appointments of Gill Rider, as the new chair and Susan Davy, as the new chief executive officer, together with the rest of the board, will serve Pennon well for the future. It has been an honour to have served as the chairman of such a great company, with a talented board, that has delivered such significant shareholder value.”
As anticipated, Pennon received from £4.2 billion from the sale of Viridor to KKR, including £3.7 billion in cash. The proceeds will be used for growth opportunities in the sector as well as reducing company borrowings and pension obligations.