Water for Public Benefit

Guest: Mark Thurston, Chief Executive, Anglian Water
Interviewed by: Antony Oliver

In this episode we talk about water sector reform with Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian Water, arguably one of the most progressive and innovative water companies in the UK. Mark joined Anglian in July 2024 having previously spent nearly seven years at the helm of the controversial HS2 project. And it’s a challenging time for the water sector. Last summer Sir Jon Cunliffe's Independent Water Commission pulled no punches and called for sweeping reform includng replacing Ofwat with a single integrated regulator and embedding a new “public benefit” duty into company licences. In this episode we talk about the challenges ahead as Anglian begins the AMP8 investment period to spend £11bn over the next five years - that £4bn more that the last period but less than the company wanted.