Following a competitive recruitment process, MOSL, on behalf of the Panel Nominations Committee (PNC), is delighted to announce the appointment of the three Independent members of the new Strategic Panel. The appointments mark the full contingent of the Strategic Panel following the announcement of the trading party members earlier in November.

The Strategic Panel will become the senior decision-making group for the non-household water market from March 2022, following Ofwat’s approval of code change CPM039/CPW134: ‘Revisions to Panel Composition’ in July. Members will oversee the performance of the market, offer strategic direction, and recommend improvements aligned to the direction set by Ofwat and Defra.

A summary of the newly appointed members' biographies are below; to read member's full biographies, please click on the member's name or visit our Strategic Panel members page. 

Independent members

Trisha McAuley OBE, Chair

Paul Smith
Paul is an experienced senior leader in policy and regulatory organisations, with extensive executive and Board experience. His roles have focused on helping to deliver better outcomes for consumers in a range of markets. Since 2018 Paul has been on the board of the Civil Aviation Authority as Group Director of Consumers and Markets. Before joining the CAA he was the Head of Policy at the Payment Services Regulator (PSR), part of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Paul has also previously held the position of Chief Executive of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) as well as a number of senior positions with Ofgem. In his roles at the AEMC and PSR, Paul was particularly involved in leading thinking about how to make markets work better for consumers. 

Pamela Taylor
Pamela is founder and CEO of Taylor Macpherson, a coaching and leadership training business, working with leaders, teams and organisations in regulated sectors to innovate and embrace change. Pamela is a qualified executive coach, accredited by the International Coaching Federation. She has over 17 years of experience in the energy sector and is formerly a Director at Ofgem and FTI Consulting. 

Rick Hill
Rick has had a varied career in both the voluntary sector, film/tv industry and media regulation. Chairman of Northern Ireland Screen Commission 2008-2013, he took the lead role in developing digital content, supporting new programme and delivery formats in the film/tv sector. Rick has also worked in Consumer advocacy. He was Chairman of the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, a member of Consumer Focus UK Board and Chairman of the Scottish Government Consumer and Competition Working Group. Deputy Chairperson of the Independent Press Standards Organisation until 2020 and he is currently the Communications Consumer Panel Chairperson and  the Northern Ireland Member. Rick also chairs the Telecoms Industry Forum and the UK Communications Consumer Forum.

Customer Representative

Mike Keil (Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning, CCW)
Mike is a member of the CCW's executive team and is Director for Policy, Research and Campaigns. Mike spent the first decade of his career at the Met Office, during which time he completed his PhD while working with weather and climate models. Mike has over fourteen years of experience in the water sector working on policy and strategic planning. Prior to joining CCW in 2017, Mike worked at Ofwat as its first Head of Climate Change Policy and Severn Trent Water as their Business Lead for Asset Strategy.

Wholesaler members

• Andrew Beaver (Regulation and Assurance Director, Northumbrian Water Ltd)
• Cathryn Ross (Strategy and Regulatory Affairs Director, Thames Water Utilities Ltd)

Retailer members

• James Cleave (Chief Financial Officer, Everflow Ltd)
• Lucy Darch (Chief Executive Officer, Wave Utilities)

Affiliate members

The Strategic Panel also has non-voting affiliate members which include representatives from Ofwat, Defra and MOSL:

• Georgina Mills, Delivery Director, Ofwat
• Davide Minotti, Deputy Director of Water Services, Defra
• Sarah McMath, MOSL CEO
• Adam Richardson, Director of Market Design at MOSL (Strategic Panel Secretary)

In announcing the Independent members and affiliate members, Trisha McAuley, Chair of the new Strategic Panel, said:
 
“I am delighted with both the quality of the response from trading parties and with the calibre of independent candidates who put themselves forward. I am confident that we have a highly competent Strategic Panel with extensive senior industry expertise, insight from different sectors and, most importantly, with a strong desire to drive real change in this market. I am looking forward to getting to work and to proactively engaging with market participants to understand how we best drive change and get input and insight from across the market. As the Strategic Panel Chair, I will continue to listen to the voices of trading parties and our key stakeholders to ensure we unlock better outcomes for customers and the environment in the non-household water market.“  
   
The new governance structure will take effect from 1 March 2022. The Strategic Panel will meet for the first time tomorrow, 19 November.