Meet our executive team
Career experience:
Steve was appointed to United Utilities as Chief Executive Officer in 2011. His previous roles include: chief executive of SELEX Galileo, the defence electronics company owned by Italian aerospace and defence organisation Finmeccanica; chief operating officer BAE Systems PLC and a member of the PLC board. He spent his earlier career with British Aerospace PLC. Steve is set to retire in 2023 to be succeeded by Louise Beardmore.
Career experience:
Louise is the CEO designate and successor to Steve Mogford who will retire in early 2023. Prior to her current role as Customer Service and People Director, Louise held a number of senior positions across the United Utilities Group, at North West Water, Norweb Plc and Vertex, leading teams in business transformation, water operations, customer service and people capabilities both in the UK and internationally for a number of well-known utility and retail brands. Louise is an advocate of the power of inclusion and employee engagement to drive superior business performance and is a Non-Executive Director of Engage for Success and Vice President of the Institute of Customer Service.
Career experience:
Phil was appointed Chief Financial Officer designate on 28 February 2020 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer on 24 July 2020.
He has over 25 years’ experience working for United Utilities Group. Prior to his recent appointment he was group controller leading a team responsible for all aspects of the group’s financial reporting, having previously been group treasurer. He was appointed as a member of EFRAG TEG from 2015 to 2017, and prior to joining United Utilities he worked for KPMG.
Career experience:
Simon joined United Utilities in 1997 and has held a wide variety of senior operational and transformation roles across the business in both customer service, front-line operations and digital services. As Chief Operating Officer, Simon is focused on ensuring we maintain and improve our water and wastewater service provision and implement a robust digital strategy that underpins and supports our ambitions.
Career experience:
James joined United Utilities in 2012 as director of economic regulation. He started his career at PwC in London and has also held a variety of roles at ABN AMRO Investment Bank, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and Water UK.
Career experience:
Kevin joined United Utilities in 2018 prior to which he was managing director of the utilities division at Amey Plc. Kevin held a number of senior positions within Enterprise Plc, before it was acquired by Amey in 2013. During his career he has lead teams in operations, commercial, business development and IT. Kevin is a director of Street Works UK and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration.
Career experience:
Simon has overall responsibility for any legal, governance and compliance issues affecting United Utilities. He leads the legal and company secretariat functions and was also Chairman of Tallinn Water, the group’s listed water utility joint venture in Estonia until its disposal in March 2021. In his time at UU, Simon has been involved in all the group’s corporate transactions and restructurings and led the supply chain function during the first Covid-19 lockdown. He is also currently responsible for security governance (physical as well as cyber) across the group. Simon joined United Utilities in 2002 from global engineering group, GKN.
Career experience:
Jo has worked for United Utilities since 1998. In her current role she is accountable for leading our environmental and asset strategy for the business for the next 25 years; including developing and strengthening the company’s approach to asset management, resilience, climate change and environmental regulation. She is a chartered member of the Institute of Water and Environmental Managers and a Chartered Environmentalist.
Career experience:
Gaynor joined United Utilities from ScottishPower Plc where she was Government and Community Affairs Director, heading up the group’s UK public affairs function and responsible for its UK and US corporate responsibility strategy. She was previously Communications Director at Manweb, and a senior communications adviser to a number of government departments at the Central Office of Information having begun her career as a journalist. Gaynor is a board member of the North West Business Leadership Team and sits on the CBI’s North West Regional Council.
Career experience:
Working for the United Utilities group for over 30 years Paula has held a number of senior positions across the business. As a director of United Utilities Property Services Limited she is responsible for managing the group’s extensive land and property estate. She is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a trustee of the United Utilities Pension Scheme.
Career experience:
Adrienne joined United Utilities in 2022 from Newcastle University where she was Chief Operating Officer, leading and delivering core professional services relating to all aspects of people across its campuses in the UK, Malaysia and Singapore. Prior to that she was Chief People Officer at Utilitywise, an independent energy procurement and energy management business. In her role at United Utilities, Adrienne is responsible for shaping how we attract, develop and engage with our colleagues, now and in the future, and ensuring we deliver for all of our stakeholders through our people.
Career experience:
Mike joined United Utilities in 2023 from BT Enterprise where he was Managing Director of Customer Service, leading a multi-national team serving all business to business customer services. Before that he was Director of Supplier Management at Openreach for three years, joining from Balfour Beatty where he began his career as a Graduate Commercial Manager and rising to become Commercial Director. Based in the North West throughout his career, Mike has an in-depth knowledge of the region and the business community in particular, and is passionate about striving to provide the best possible service to customers. Mike is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an active member of the Institute of Customer Service.