Our board

The Board of Thames Water is accountable and responsible for the delivery of its business. We are committed to being open and transparent in the delivery of the highest standards of corporate governance for the benefit of customers, investors, regulators and other stakeholders.

We support the principles set out in the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018 (the ‘UK Code’) and Ofwat’s Board leadership, transparency and governance principles. 

The Company Secretary keeps compliance with the UK Code and Ofwat’s Principles under review and any proposed changes are subject to Board approval. 

The Thames Water Utilities Limited Board is made up of the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and eight Non-Executive Directors, all of whom are independent. The Board has approved the division of responsibilities between the Chairman for running the Board and the Chief Executive for running the business.

The Board is committed to ensuring an appropriate mix of skills, experience and independence on the Board, which is considered when new directors are appointed. The shareholders also consider this mix when nominating their Non-Executive Directors to the Board, in order to complement the existing Directors. This overall approach is appropriate in order to balance the needs of customers, the environment, shareholders, and other stakeholders. This approach also takes into account the UK Code requirements as well as the private shareholder-owned nature of the business.

Our Chairman

Sir Adrian Montague is chair of the Thames Water Board.

Our Executive Directors

Between the Directors, there is a wealth of management and financial experience, together with extensive specialist knowledge of the water industry and other regulated utilities.

Our Independent Non-Executive Directors

As stated in the most recent Annual Report, the Independent Non-Executive Directors form the largest single group on the Board, taking account of the Executive Directors and the shareholder appointed Non-Executive Directors.

Our committees

The Board has several established committees. Learn more about the terms of reference for each committee:

Each committee reports on its activities in the governance section of the Thames Water Annual Report. All committees, other than the Nomination Committee and the Restructuring Committee, are chaired by Independent Non-Executive Directors, who comprise the majority of each committee’s membership. No Executive Director is a member of any committee.

Board effectiveness and transparency

The Board undertakes a formal and rigorous annual evaluation of its performance and that of its committees and individual directors and explains in the Annual Report how the performance was evaluated.

The Board and committee meeting arrangements are reviewed regularly to ensure the openness and efficiency of meetings. The Thames Water governance framework exists to ensure the Board is accountable for its actions and focused on the key issues facing Thames Water’s regulated business. This ensures that the needs of the customer and the public interest are given full attention.