Member Article

New Head of Strategic Partnerships for Water Direct

A former Affinity Water manager has joined emergency water supplier Water Direct as its Head of Strategic Partnerships.

Chris Falconer, whose previous roles have included Head of Planning & Business Performance at Affinity Water and Resource Planning Manager at London Stansted Airport, joins Water Direct as the company sees significant growth following its acquisition by Soris Capital Partners last year.

2022 was a bumper year for Water Direct, which delivered more than 150 million litres of water over the year, in comparison to 85 million litres in 2021. It also increased its emergency bottled water supply by 430 percent. The organisation has now committed to investing a further £2.6 million in fleet in 2023, further augmenting its industry-leading capability to support water utility, industrial and commercial customers.

Chris will work alongside Water Direct’s water industry partners, promoting best practice in the delivery of alternative water services, in particular where it relates to supply resilience and customer experience.

Chris says: “As well as ensuring we continue to provide the best solutions in an emergency, I aim to help the company further understand how it can support its partners in the delivery of first class customer experience in any alternative water supply scenario.

“With that being a key driver of regulatory performance, the need for creativity and proactivity couldn’t be clearer. Coming off the back of the drought and freeze-thaw in the last year, it is crucial that the industry recognises its future needs and those of its customers.

“My role is to work with our partners to understand and mitigate against the impact of increasing water resource challenges, ageing network infrastructure and increased per capita consumption. I will be guiding investment in our capability and evolving our products and services, so that we can best aid our partners in achieving their customer experience (C-Mex), business and regulatory goals.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Everett .