Pennon Group Plc

About Us

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors comprises the Chairman, three Executive Directors and three Non-executive Directors. All of the Non-executive Directors are considered to be independent as none of the relationships or circumstances set out in paragraph A.3.1 of the Combined Code apply to these Non-executive Directors. They are also considered to have the appropriate skills, experience in their respective disciplines and personality to bring independent and objective judgement to the Board's deliberations. Gerard Connell is the Senior independent Non-executive Director. The biographies shown below demonstrate a broad range of business and financial experience. There is a clear division of responsibilities between the roles of Chairman and the Chief Executives of South West Water and Viridor as recorded in the descriptions of the roles approved by the Board. All Directors are subject to re-election when they have held office for three years.


Ken Harvey


Chairman  (Age 70) 		Show Details

Appointed on 1 March 1997. Ken was formerly chairman and chief executive of Norweb Plc.
He was chairman of National Grid Holdings in 1995 and was previously deputy chairman of London Electricity and earlier its engineering director. He has also been chairman of a number of limited and private equity funded companies. Currently he is the senior independent non-executive director of National Grid Plc.

Ken is Chairman of the Nomination Committee.


Chris Loughlin


Chief Executive, South West Water Limited  (Age 58) 		Show Details

Appointed on 1 August 2006. Chris was most recently chief operating officer with Lloyd’s Register and previously was an executive director of British Nuclear Fuels Plc and executive chairman of Magnox Electric Plc. Chris started his career as a chartered engineer and subsequently held a number of senior positions with British Nuclear Fuels. He was appointed chairman of Water UK with effect from 1 April 2008.

Chris is a member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee.


Colin Drummond


Chief Executive, Viridor Limited  (Age 59) 		Show Details

Appointed on 1 April 1992. Prior to joining the Company Colin was a divisional chief executive of Coats Viyella, having previously been corporate development director of Renold plc, a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and an official of the Bank of England. He is chairman of the Government’s Living with Environmental Change Business Advisory Board; of UKTI’s Environmental Sector Advisory Group; and of the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network. He is a senior visiting research fellow in Earth Sciences at Oxford University; an adviser to Beehive Water and Waste Holdings LP; and a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators.

Colin is a member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee.


David Dupont


Group Director of Finance  (Age 56) 		Show Details
Appointed on 2 March 2002. David was formerly regulatory and finance director of South West Water Limited, having joined Pennon Group Plc (then South West Water Plc) in 1992 as strategic planning manager. Previously he held business planning and development roles with Gateway Corporation. He is a member of the CBI Environmental Affairs Committee and the CBI South West Regional Council.

Martin Angle


Non-executive Director  (Age 60) 		Show Details

Appointed on 1 December 2008. Martin currently holds non executive directorships with Savills plc, JSC Severstal, Shuaa Capital and The National Exhibition Centre where he is Chairman. Until November 2009, he was also on the Board of Dubai International Capital. In addition he sits on the Advisory Board of the Warwick Business School. Formerly he held senior positions with Terra Firma Capital Partners and various of its portfolio companies, including the executive chairmanship of Waste Recycling Group Limited. Before that he was the Group Finance Director of TI Group plc and held a number of senior investment banking positions with SG Warburg & Co Ltd, Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.

Martin is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee, the Corporate Responsibility Committee and the Nomination Committee.


Gerard Connell


Senior Independent Non-executive Director  (Age 52) 		Show Details

Appointed on 1 October 2003. Gerard was formerly group finance director of Wincanton Plc. Prior to that, he was a director of Hill Samuel and a managing director of Bankers Trust having trained originally at Price Waterhouse and has held other corporate finance and business development positions in the City and in industry. He is also a governor of King’s College School, Wimbledon.

Gerard is Chairman of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee, the Nomination Committee and the Remuneration Committee.


Dinah Nichols


Non-executive Director  (Age 66) 		Show Details

Appointed on 12 June 2003. Dinah was formerly Director General Environment at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and previously held various senior appointments within Government, including being head of the water directorate during the period of water privatisation. She is also a Crown Estate Commissioner, a non-executive director of Shires Smaller Companies Plc, chair of the National Forest Company and a director of several charitable Trusts.

Dinah is Chairman of the Corporate Responsibility Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee, the Nomination Committee and the Remuneration Committee.