Yorkshire Water names former Ford chief designer as chairman

Yorkshire Water has named the former chief designer of the Ford Motor Company as its new non-executive chairman.

Richard Parry-Jones will join the board of directors of Yorkshire Water and parent company Kelda as a non-executive director from 1 January 2015, before officially taking over as non-executive chairman in April.

Parry-Jones retired in 2007 as Ford Motor Company group vice president, global product development and chief technical officer, after more than four decades with the company.

Since his retirement, he has had board roles at the global engineering business, GKN, where he is the senior independent Director and at Network Rail, where he has been non-executive chairman of since 2012.

Commenting on his appointment, Parry-Jones said: “Clean water and sanitation are taken for granted by most of us who live in advanced economies, yet it is a critical public service requiring enormous skill, technology and investment, coupled with passionate customer and environmental care.

“I am excited and honoured to be given the opportunity to work with the executive team to help the men and women of Yorkshire Water and Kelda, one of the best water utility companies in the world, to continue to deliver services ever more safely, reliably and efficiently in the framework of great values and the intelligent use of technology.”

He will replace Kevin Whiteman, who announced in June this year he would be stepping down after 17 years with the group.