--- title: "Board and management of Southern Water" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/southern-water-services-limited/board-and-management/ as_of: 2026-10-17 keywords: ["Southern Water Services Limited","Southern Water","02366670","water and wastewater company","South East England","Greensands Holdings","Macquarie Asset Management","Macquarie Super Core Infrastructure Fund","Asterion Industrial Partners","Sandstone Water Holdings","Ofwat","Environment Agency","Drinking Water Inspectorate","sewage discharges","2025 recapitalisation","SWS Scheme","Greensands (UK) Limited administration","ownership history","board of directors","AMP8 frameworks"] --- # Board and management of Southern Water **Question.** Who sits on Southern Water's board, which of its directors are investor-nominated, and who held office before them? **Answer.** Companies House's register, retrieved in October 2026, lists ten current directors of Southern Water Services Limited and a secretary, the same people the company's website shows: Chair Andrew Davies, who took over from Keith Lough on 16 July 2026; Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Gosden and Chief Financial Officer Stuart Ledger; four independent non-executive directors; and three non-executive directors described by the company as investor-nominated, Will Price, Neil Corrigall and Steve Hurrell. Sandra Redding succeeded Richard Manning as Company Secretary on 22 July 2026. In July 2026 the chair said that Price would be replaced by Martin Bradley, probably the former director of that name (2021–2022), and that Asterion Industrial Partners was expected to nominate a director; neither appointment was on the register in October 2026. The register's 91 officer entries reach back to directors recorded as appointed before 1 April 1992; 80 of them are recorded as resigned. ## The board in October 2026 - Analysis: Companies House's register of officers of Southern Water Services Limited, retrieved in October 2026, holds 91 officer entries, 80 of them recorded as resigned; a person who held office more than once appears once for each period of office. It lists ten directors as current, with these appointment dates: Malcolm Charles Cooper (23 December 2019), William David George Price (8 September 2021), Lawrence Karl Gosden (1 July 2022), Stuart Neil Ledger (3 January 2023), Christèle Delbé and Professor Kerensa Jane Jennings (both 31 May 2023), Neil Robert Vint Corrigall (29 November 2023), Neil Craig McArthur (1 October 2024), Andrew Oswell Bede Davies (6 May 2026) and Stephen Glynn Hurrell (28 August 2026). They are listed as current on the register retrieved in October 2026, which carries no other date. The company's website board page, retrieved the same month, shows the same ten directors and the secretary: Andrew Davies as Chair, Lawrence Gosden as Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Ledger as Chief Financial Officer, Malcolm Cooper, Christèle Delbé, Kerensa Jennings and Neil McArthur as independent non-executive directors, Will Price, Neil Corrigall and Steve Hurrell as non-executive directors, and Sandra Redding as General Counsel and Company Secretary. [src-002] [src-100] - Analysis: Southern Water's annual report for the year ended 31 March 2026 states that board membership remained constant during the year apart from the departure of an investor-nominated director, Steve Fraser, leaving a smaller board of four independent non-executive directors besides the Chair, two investor-appointed non-executive directors and two executive directors. Its board pages list Keith Lough as Chair, Lawrence Gosden as Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Ledger as Chief Financial Officer, Malcolm Cooper, Christèle Delbé, Kerensa Jennings and Neil McArthur as independent non-executive directors, Andrew Davies as independent non-executive director and Chair Designate, Will Price and Neil Corrigall as non-executive directors and Richard Manning as Company Secretary. The board pages reflect the position at the report's date in July 2026, after Davies joined on 6 May 2026; the statement on board size refers to the 2025–26 financial year. The report gives the appointment dates of the four independent non-executive directors as 23 December 2019 for Cooper, 31 May 2023 for Delbé and Jennings and 1 October 2024 for McArthur. In the chair's overview, dated 15 July 2026, Lough states that Cooper chairs the Audit Committee, has acted as senior independent non-executive director and led the search for a new Chair; that Delbé chairs the Remuneration Committee and McArthur the Health and Safety and Operational Risk Committee; that Jennings brings experience in data platforms and applications of AI; and that he himself chaired the Nominations Committee. The company's website, retrieved in October 2026, lists the same four as independent non-executive directors. [src-059] [src-100] ## Chair and executive directors - Analysis: Keith Lough, a director of Southern Water since 1 August 2019, described 2025–26 as his seventh and final year as Chair. In the chair's overview of the annual report, dated 15 July 2026, he wrote that he would step down on 16 July 2026 and hand the role to Andrew Davies; the report states that Davies joined the board on 6 May 2026 as an independent non-executive director and Chair Designate and would take over as Chair on 16 July 2026. Companies House's register records Lough's directorship as ending on 16 July 2026, and the company's website, retrieved in October 2026, states that Davies became Chair that day. The annual report gives Lough's external appointment as senior independent director of Hunting plc, without dating it, and states that immediately before joining Southern Water's board he was a non-executive member of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem), where he chaired the audit and risk assurance committee, having served on that board since 2012. Davies, according to the report, was chief executive of Kier Group plc from April 2019 to October 2025, senior independent director of Chemring Group plc between May 2016 and January 2025 and chief executive of Wates Group between January 2014 and January 2018, after 28 years with BAE Systems plc; his external appointment is chair, since 2022, of EKFB, the joint venture building the central section of HS2. The website gives the same roles and dates his Kier tenure as 2019 to 2025. [src-059] [src-100] [src-003] [src-002] - Analysis: Lawrence Gosden joined Southern Water in May 2020 and was appointed to the board on 1 July 2022, when he became Chief Executive Officer, according to the annual report and the company's website; Companies House's register lists him as a director from that date. The report adds that he had previously spent 12 years at Thames Water, where he was managing director for wastewater and later chief operating officer. Stuart Ledger joined Southern Water as Chief Financial Officer on 3 January 2023, the website states, the date from which the register lists him as a director. The website and the report say that he was previously chief executive of Affinity Water and, for the four years before that, its chief financial officer, and that he spent nine years at Thames Water as chief financial officer of the retail business and as group financial controller. [src-002] [src-059] [src-100] ## Investor-nominated directors - Analysis: Companies House's register records three directors appointed on 8 September 2021 — William David George Price, Martin Bradley and Mark William Mathieson — and two directorships ending that day, those of Mary Katherine Fuller and Sara Sulaiman. According to SWS Holdings Limited's accounts for the year to 31 March 2022, 8 September 2021 is also the date on which Macquarie Asset Management, through Mscif Wight Bidco Limited, acquired a 62.24% majority stake in Greensands Holdings Limited. The records show only that the dates coincide: the register does not say who nominated these directors, although the 2025–26 annual report describes Will Price as an investor-nominated director. The report lists Price as a non-executive director who is not independent, appointed on 8 September 2021, and states that he joined Macquarie in 2007, heads the Utilities and Networks team for Macquarie Asset Management in EMEA and is currently a director of National Gas and EP Infrastructure. The company's website, retrieved in October 2026, says instead that he heads the European Utilities team for Macquarie Asset Management and serves as a director of Southern Water, EP Infrastructure and Czech Grid Holding. The two company sources thus differ on the team he leads and on his current outside directorships, and neither dates those directorships; the report names the gas company only as 'National Gas'. [src-002] [src-003] [src-004] [src-059] [src-089] [src-100] - Analysis: Neil Corrigall, appointed on 29 November 2023, is listed in the annual report as a non-executive director who is not independent, and in its remuneration report as an investor-nominated non-executive director. The report describes him as an operating partner for Macquarie Asset Management, gives his external appointment as non-executive director of Cadent Gas, and states that he previously served as a non-executive director of Czech Grid Holdings and earlier held leadership roles at Severn Trent plc; the chair's overview says he chairs the board's new Major Projects and WRMP Committee. The company's website, retrieved in October 2026, describes him as currently a non-executive director of Cadent Gas and Czech Grid Holdings: the report treats the Czech Grid Holdings directorship as past and the website as current, and neither source dates it. Another investor-nominated non-executive director, Steve Fraser, left the board on 8 December 2025. Companies House's register lists Steven Richard Fraser as a director from 1 May 2022 to 8 December 2025, and the filing history records the termination notice as filed on 15 December 2025. The annual report records his departure on 8 December 2025 and says he stepped down after two-and-a-half years on the board; that length does not match the register, which dates his appointment to 1 May 2022, while both sources give 8 December 2025 as the end date. [src-059] [src-100] [src-002] [src-003] [src-040] - Analysis: In the chair's overview of the annual report, dated 15 July 2026, Keith Lough states that Will Price, an investor-nominated non-executive director, had signalled his intention to stand down that year; that on completion of Ofwat's new fitness and propriety processes he would be replaced by Martin Bradley, and Steve Hurrell would also join the board, as investor-nominated non-executive directors; and that Asterion Industrial Partners were expected to nominate a non-executive director following the recent equity transaction. Companies House's register lists Stephen Glynn Hurrell as a director appointed on 28 August 2026, and the company's website, retrieved in October 2026, lists Steve Hurrell as a non-executive director. On the register retrieved in October 2026, however, William David George Price was still listed as a current director, and no new appointment of Martin Bradley or of an Asterion nominee was listed. The report does not identify Martin Bradley further. He is probably the Martin Bradley who was a director of Southern Water Services Limited from 8 September 2021 to 1 May 2022: Companies House's appointments record for that former director also lists directorships of Macquarie companies, including MSCIF Wight Bidco Limited and Macquarie Asset Management UK Holdings No.1 Limited; the annual report describes funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management as the principal investors in the parent company Sandstone Water Holdings Limited; and Asterion's press release of 22 June 2026 quotes a Martin Bradley as Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Asset Management. This identification is an inference from the name and the Macquarie context; neither the annual report nor the press release gives an identifier. [src-059] [src-002] [src-100] [src-040] [src-112] [src-048] ## Secretaries, 2026 filings and officer records - Analysis: Companies House's register lists six company secretaries: Graham Dudley Nicholson, recorded as appointed before 1 April 1992, until 1 April 1994; Graham John Heyes from 1 April 1994 to 24 December 1996; Kevin Gregory Hall from 24 December 1996 to 30 September 2015; Joanne Statton from 1 October 2015 to 24 July 2018; Richard Denley John Manning from 24 July 2018 to 22 July 2026; and Sandra Faye Redding, appointed on 22 July 2026 and listed as the current secretary on the register retrieved in October 2026. The annual report states that Manning joined Southern Water in July 2018 as General Counsel and Company Secretary, with overall responsibility for risk, internal audit, corporate governance and assurance, and acted as secretary to all board committees; it records that he would retire from the company at the end of July 2026 after eight years and that Sandra Redding would take over his position. The company's website, retrieved in October 2026, lists Redding as General Counsel and Company Secretary, states that she joined Southern Water in June 2026 to lead its legal, risk and compliance, audit and company secretariat teams, and says she previously served as General Counsel to Petrofac, Seadrill, Highview Power and Dragon Oil, without dating those roles. [src-002] [src-059] [src-100] - Analysis: The 2026 changes appear in Companies House's filing history for the company: the appointment of Andrew Oswell Bede Davies as a director on 6 May 2026 (filed 24 June 2026); the termination of Keith Geddes Lough's directorship on 16 July 2026 (filed 17 July 2026); the termination of Richard Denley John Manning's appointment as secretary and the appointment of Sandra Faye Redding as secretary, both on 22 July 2026 (filed 4 August 2026); and the appointment of Stephen Glynn Hurrell as a director on 28 August 2026 (filed 9 September 2026). A business-registry aggregator's activity feed shows the same filing dates for the Davies, Lough, Manning and Hurrell filings. [src-028] [src-040] - Analysis: Companies House's appointment pages for the officer records linked from the register each show one appointment in total, the Southern Water Services Limited role, for Sandra Faye Redding (secretary from 22 July 2026), Richard Denley John Manning (secretary from 24 July 2018 to 22 July 2026), Steven Richard Fraser (director from 1 May 2022 to 8 December 2025), Sara Sulaiman (director from 26 September 2017 to 8 September 2021), Kevin McCullough (director from 18 July 2019 to 31 July 2022), Gillian Lesley Guy (director from 12 November 2018 to 31 March 2025) and Michael Paul Sheffield (director from 1 June 2014 to 31 March 2023). Each page covers one officer record only, so a count of one is not a complete list of a person's appointments: Companies House holds Redding's and Manning's appointments at SW (Finance) I PLC under other records. That company's register of officers (company number 13677506), retrieved in October 2026, shows seven officer entries, four of them resigned. Stuart Neil Ledger, director since 25 October 2023, and Sandra Faye Redding, secretary and director since 1 September 2026, are listed as current; Manning was secretary and director from 13 October 2021 to 1 September 2026, Lawrence Karl Gosden a director from 1 July 2022 to 25 October 2023 and Ian James McAulay a director from 13 October 2021 to 30 June 2022. Ledger's and Gosden's entries use the same Companies House officer records as their Southern Water Services directorships. Redding's, Manning's and McAulay's are held under officer records different from those on Southern Water Services' register and are matched to the same people by identical full names and fitting dates: McAulay's two directorships both ended on 30 June 2022, and Manning handed over both secretary roles to Redding between July and September 2026. [src-113] [src-114] [src-118] [src-123] [src-126] [src-128] [src-134] [src-079] ## Directors on the register before 2010 - Analysis: The earliest directors on the register are ten recorded as appointed before 1 April 1992. Bruce Alexander Ogston Hewett, William John Wesley Courtney, Francis Neil Midmer and Keith Tozzi all resigned on 1 February 1993; Raymond Francis Thomas Collett followed on 11 May 1993, William Cutting on 15 June 1995, Alastair Lumsden Smith on 4 October 1996, Graham Hillier Setterfield on 10 November 1997 and Richard Frank Clayton on 31 August 1999, while Stuart Derwent stayed until 17 March 2005. Collett appears a second time, as a director appointed on 2 May 1995 who resigned on 4 October 1996. The directors appointed between 1992 and 2002 were Eric John Hutchinson (1 December 1992 to 31 May 2003); Michael John Kinski (16 December 1996 to 1 March 1998); Professor Christopher Baker Chapman and John Clement Harris, both appointed on 1 November 1997, who served until 18 November 2003 and 31 March 2005 respectively; Barrie Walter Delacour and David John Stainthorpe, both appointed on 10 November 1997, who served until 25 April 2007 and 30 September 2004; Ronnie Edward Mercer (1 March 1998 to 1 April 2001); Anthony James Fegan (16 July 1999 to 1 September 2004); Martin Wayne Baggs (14 May 2001 to 7 October 2005); and Richard Anthony Nelson (23 April 2002 to 7 May 2003). [src-003] [src-002] [src-004] - Analysis: In 2003 the register records four appointments on 7 May: Jean Claude Banon (until 10 February 2005), Rory Malcolm Cullinan (until 1 October 2004), Francois Darley (until 15 March 2005) and Cyril Roger Lacan (until 24 February 2004). Robert Peter Thian followed on 13 May 2003 and served until 23 January 2008; Joseph Bernard Mangion has two entries that year, from 16 May to 16 July 2003 and from 15 September to 30 November 2003; and David Golden, appointed on 1 November 2003, remained a director until 23 June 2015. The directors appointed in 2004 and 2005 were Paul de Rosen (24 February 2004 to 10 April 2006), Howard Charles Goodbourn (29 March 2004 to 7 March 2011), John Donald Black Workman (1 October 2004 to 15 October 2007), David William Alexander (10 February 2005 to 10 April 2006), Simon Michael Peter MacDonagh and John James O'Brien (both appointed on 15 March 2005, until 22 April 2008 and 10 April 2006 respectively), Steven Marshall (19 April 2005 to 31 January 2010) and Leslie William Dawson (25 October 2005 to 26 May 2010). Those appointed between 2007 and 2009 were Phillip William Peters (22 October 2007 to 12 January 2010) and Jason Demetrious Zibarras (22 October 2007 to 13 January 2010), Michael William Welton (24 January 2008 to 20 February 2012), Robert David Armstrong and Cheryl Campbell Black (each 23 May 2008 to 31 January 2015) and Surinder Singh Toor (9 February 2009 to 7 March 2014). [src-002] [src-003] [src-004] ## Directors on the register since 2010 - Analysis: Two director entries under the name Mark Alan Walters run from 13 January 2010 to 23 February 2011 and from 7 March 2014 to 26 September 2017. They show the same name and the same partial date of birth (not published here) but sit under two different Companies House officer records, and the register itself does not state that they are the same person. The directors appointed between 2010 and 2016 also include Paul John Moy (22 February 2010 to 19 May 2016), Jaron Yuen (22 February 2010 to 19 July 2011), Colin William Hood (23 February 2011 to 1 April 2014), Bronte Louise Somes (19 July 2011 to 19 May 2016), Michael Carmedy (1 November 2011 to 31 March 2016), Peter Szymon Antolik (22 February 2012 to 7 January 2015), Robert Archie Jennings (1 July 2012 to 28 February 2017), Michael Paul Sheffield (1 June 2014 to 31 March 2023), William Tame (1 January 2015 to 31 March 2019), Andrew John Truscott (7 January 2015 to 26 September 2017), Rosemary Jane Cecilia Boot (1 March 2015 to 31 March 2023), Lisa Harrington (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2018) and William Anthony Lambe (3 May 2016 to 14 December 2018). [src-004] [src-003] [src-002] - Analysis: The register also lists Matthew Reginald Wright as a director from 28 February 2011 to 31 December 2016. This dossier identifies him with the Matthew Wright whom the Environment Agency describes as the company's former Chief Executive Officer; the identification rests on the official descriptions of the accused as the former chief executive and on matching career dates, and no record gives an identifier linking the accused to the Companies House officer record. On 22 July 2026 the Agency announced that he and three other former officers or senior operations managers face a charge of conspiracy to defraud: it alleges that between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017 they conspired to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat by implementing artificial no-flow events at wastewater treatment works operated by Southern Water in order to manipulate the operator self-monitoring compliance testing regime. These are charges, not findings, and no plea or trial is recorded; the Agency said it could not comment further on live proceedings. According to a press report of 11 September 2026, Mr Wright denies any wrongdoing and has cooperated with the Agency's investigation, as his solicitor said after an earlier High Court hearing; the record contains no plea or public statement by the company on these charges. On 11 September 2026 the defendants appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court and the case was sent to Maidstone Crown Court, where they were due to appear on 9 October 2026; the record contains no later step. [src-004] [src-074] [src-054] [src-055] [src-073] [src-059] - Analysis: The directors appointed between 2017 and 2020 whose appointments have ended were Ian James McAulay (1 February 2017 to 30 June 2022); Wendy Jacqueline Barnes, Andrew Emerson Gilbert, Michael Colin Putnam and Sara Sulaiman, all appointed on 26 September 2017, who served until 27 March 2020, 4 October 2018, 31 July 2024 and 8 September 2021 respectively; Ian Raymond Francis (12 September 2018 to 12 February 2019); Gillian Lesley Guy (12 November 2018 to 31 March 2025); Sebastianus Antonius Theodorus Boelen (14 December 2018 to 31 July 2022); Kevin McCullough (18 July 2019 to 31 July 2022); Keith Geddes Lough (1 August 2019 to 16 July 2026); and Mary Katherine Fuller (15 June 2020 to 8 September 2021). Malcolm Charles Cooper, appointed in the same period on 23 December 2019, is still listed as a current director. Of the directors appointed from September 2021 onwards, those whose appointments have ended are Martin Bradley (8 September 2021 to 1 May 2022), Mark William Mathieson (8 September 2021 to 31 October 2023), Steven Richard Fraser (1 May 2022 to 8 December 2025), Nadim Ahmad (31 July 2022 to 3 January 2023) and Philip Swift (31 May 2023 to 31 March 2025). [src-003] [src-002] [src-004] ## Sources - [src-002] Companies House register of officers: SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED (02366670), Companies House - [src-100] Company statement source · src-100 - [src-059] Company statement source · src-059 - [src-003] Companies House register of officers: SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED (02366670), page 2, Companies House - [src-004] Companies House register of officers: SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED (02366670), page 3, Companies House - [src-089] Company statement source · src-089 - [src-040] Companies House filing history: SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED (02366670), Companies House - [src-112] Companies House officer appointments: Martin Bradley, Companies House - [src-048] Company statement source · src-048 - [src-028] Corporate registry source · src-028 - [src-113] Companies House officer appointments: Sandra Faye Redding, Companies House - [src-114] Companies House officer appointments: Richard Denley John Manning, Companies House - [src-118] Companies House officer appointments: Steven Richard Fraser, Companies House - [src-123] Companies House officer appointments: Sara Sulaiman, Companies House - [src-126] Companies House officer appointments: Kevin McCullough, Companies House - [src-128] Companies House officer appointments: Gillian Lesley Guy, Companies House - [src-134] Companies House officer appointments: Michael Paul Sheffield, Companies House - [src-079] Companies House register of officers: SW (Finance) I PLC (13677506), Companies House - [src-074] Media source · src-074 - [src-054] Environment Agency: EA commences criminal proceedings against Southern Water, Environment Agency (GOV.UK), 2026-07-22 - [src-055] Matthew Wright, R (on the application of) v Medway Magistrates' Court [2026] EWHC 1842 (Admin), The National Archives, Find Case Law, 2026-07-22 - [src-073] Companies House officer appointments: Matthew Reginald Wright, Companies House