The Institute of Water Annual Conference 2017, a key event in the calendars of the water and utility sectors, took place at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester on 14-15 June, and was attended by around 150 individuals from across the water industry.

Thomas Faulkner, the new President of the Institute of Water, chose this year’s theme around ‘innovation through collaboration’ and the conference, titled ‘Together We Can Achieve More’ explored how the water industry and, ultimately its customers, would benefit from this approach.

Key Note Speaker Andrew McMillan, former Head of Customer Service at John Lewis set the tone for the conference. With his background in an Intelligence Team at the renowned department store giant where he was responsible for customer service and analysis of demographic trends, Andrew believes that service reflects internal culture.

Cathryn Ross, Chief Executive of Ofwat, Jo Causon, Chief Executive of the Institute of Customer Service, Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and Alan Sutherland, Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland were also at the conference.

Causon stressed that working in collaboration needs to actually involve the customer in the design and delivery of the offer with a greater focus on personalisation; “More and more customers are expecting a seamless customer experience not just inside the organisation and sector but across organisational boundaries; for collaboration to really work, we have to be aligned, joined up purpose and focus.”

What really set this conference apart was the line-up of speakers, especially those from the water industry supply chain, who gave their views on what collaboration with water companies means for them. The supply chain was represented by Neil McKenzie, Director at Lagan Water, Mark Enzer, Group Technical Director at Mott MacDonald, and Alex Vaughan, Managing Director of Costain.

Neil McKenzie, Director at Lagan Water, highlighted how the risks of poor collaboration, caused by inadequate scope definition, bad attitudes and miscommunication can adversely affect the process. He firmly believes that effective collaboration does produce high performance delivery teams, engenders trust and leads ultimately to customer satisfaction, and said: “Collaboration involves challenging the current way that many water companies operate and involves openness, honesty and trust to make it work.”

Summing up the two days, Thomas Faulkner, President of The Institute of Water said: “As a passionate believer in collaboration, the conference has really motivated me. The benefits for all are clear and I will put even more effort into leading collaborative approaches both in Skanska and the industry that I am so proud to work within.”

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