Why the departure of Nicola Shaw as Yorkshire Water boss won’t come as a surprise but will a change in chief executive make a difference?
It was evident that there needed to be change at Yorkshire Water after the company was given the lowest environmental rating by regulators earlier this week. Therefore the decision of Nicola Shaw to step down as chief executive won’t come as a surprise.
Shaw spent four-and-a-half years leading the business and her tenure was not short of controversy. She faced criticism from MPs in January after it emerged that she received £1.3m in undisclosed payments from Yorkshire Water’s parent company over two years. In addition to the payments from the parent company, Shaw also saw a rise in her remuneration.
No one would have begrudged any executive being rewarded for a company performing well. Yorkshire Water, however, has found itself in the mire along with the wider sector. Pollution has spiked, the infrastructure has clearly been neglected for too long and customer satisfaction has plummeted.
Not all of this can be laid at the door of Shaw, these issues had already taken root before her tenure. And that is the challenge for her successor.
Nicola Medalova, a former National Grid executive, will join next week as chief executive-designate, before taking over the role in January.
Just as is regularly seen in football, changing the manager doesn’t deal with deep-rooted issues. Medalova will find herself captaining a tanker that is in serious need of a course correction. Time could end up being kinder to Shaw’s tenure as Yorkshire Water boss, given that the company has engaged with criticism and sought to start addressing the issues that have angered so many in this region.
Earlier this year, this newspaper threw down the gauntlet to Yorkshire Water, challenging it to become an exemplar in the water industry that the region can be proud of. That challenge still stands.