Yorkshire Water is looking to drive innovation as part of its strategic plan with the appointment of Stantec (previously MWH) as its sole strategic planning partner (SPP) in a deal worth £50 million.
The seven-year contract comes as the water firm looks to prepare supply chain arrangements and contracts for the AMP7 period (2020-2025).
It will involve driving innovation in the approach to resolving risk, exploiting new technology, partnership working and use of markets.
Yorkshire Water said a commercial model arrangement will “incentivise the delivery of results” and will lead to “exceptional service” for customers.
Both innovation and great customer service are key requirements from Ofwat in its final methodology for PR19, along with affordable bills and resilience in the round.
Nevil Muncaster, Yorkshire Water’s director of asset management, said: “The appointment of Stantec demonstrates the first of a series of exciting changes that we are making to ensure that we excel in AMP7 and beyond.”
Yorkshire Water’s partnering arrangements throughout AMP7 involve an investment of around £1.5 billion. The company said supply chain partners will need to “demonstrate the highest standards of process safety and innovation.”
Muncaster added: “Innovation is a key driving force, allowing delivery of more while keeping costs down and helping meet the challenges of climate change, population growth and economic pressures. Future supply chain partners will also need to support the development and delivery of low carbon solutions and enhance our use of standard products and solutions, off site construction and modular build.”
Yorkshire Water has deployed a “Six Capitals Model” philosophy where supply chain partners will be asked to think beyond traditional construction and engineering requirements. The model encompasses financial capital, manufactured capital, natural capital, social capital, human capital and intellectual capital, with each of these elements needing to be factored into project design.
The water firm said it is “embracing this approach” as it looks to drive “environmental, sustainable and social outcomes, as well as purely economic and financial” ones.
Cath Schefer, managing director of Stantec UK, said: “We look forward to working in an integrated partnership to support the delivery of benefits to Yorkshire Water’s customers and the wider community.”
The contract commences this month and will run until March 2025 with the potential to be extended by an additional five years.
In November 2017, Yorkshire Water announced plans to invest several million to transform its operational performance in a bid to become a “top performer” in the water industry.
Speaking at Utility Week’s Water Customer conference in Birmingham last week (17 January), John Russell, Ofwat’s senior director of strategy and policy welcomed Yorkshire Water’s public commitment to reduce leakage by 40 per cent between now and 2025.