Who's on the WaterShare+ Panel?
An independent WaterShare+ Advisory Panel has been established to protect the interests of our customers. The Panel provides an independent review of our business plan commitments and Board Pledges.
Lord Matthew Taylor
Chair
Lord Matthew Taylor was a member of Parliament until he stood down in 2010. He has a passion for sustainable planning and housing policy. Matthew continues to advise government, and he runs his own consultancy business advising on a significant number of major new sustainable ‘garden community’ projects across the UK.
Following a decade of working in the water sector as a Non-Executive Director at South West Water, focused on improving customer outcomes, Matthew continues to champion customer interests by holding the company to account as the independent WaterShare+ Chair.
“The critical thing is the Panel independently can analyse what the company is doing to make sure they are delivering on the promises they made to their customers”
Nick Buckland
Deputy Chair
Nick continues to champion the needs of customers having successively chaired the previous independent WaterShare and WaterFuture Panels, overseeing and challenging delivery and development of South West Water’s business plans.
Nick brings a wealth of experience to the role, he is an experienced and highly regarded leader, chair and board member.
“It gives customers the opportunity to engage with the company and see how the company is run, it’s a positive and transparent move”
Carole Theobald
Carole has worked in the public and charitable sectors in Cornwall for more than 18 years. Carole is currently the Chief Executive at SightCornwall, a leading sight loss charity supporting more than 4,000 people each year and Non-Executive Member of the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care System for quality, citizen engagement and equalities.
Carole is a highly versatile senior leader with a wealth of experience in customer advocacy.
"An advisory panel of this type is a new concept and provides an additional dimension and purpose to engagement and involvement by putting the interests of customers at the heart of South West Water’s ‘New Deal’."
Richard Lacey
For the last five years, Richard has chaired the Bournemouth Water Customer View Group ensuring that the company delivers against its promises, he was instrumental in ensuring services to Bournemouth Water customers were not impacted when South West Water acquired the company in 2016. Richard continues to ensure that Bournemouth Water’s customer needs are considered on the WaterShare+ Advisory Panel.
Richard is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a lifetime’s experience in the Water Supply Industry both in the UK and overseas, where he has held both Executive and Non-Executive Directorships in water companies.
“The Panel is there to look after the customers interests and to challenge the company on its performance”
Peaches Golding OBE
Peaches Golding OBE is the independent deputy chair of the Watershare+ Panel and independent chair of the Bristol Water Customer Challenge Panel. She is His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Bristol, Vice President of the Royal Society of St George, non-executive consultant of Moon Consulting Ltd, and a Trustee of the SS Great Britain and of Bristol Zoological Society. Peaches' board experience spans the health, media, utilities and education sectors.
She was awarded the OBE in 2009 for services to minority ethnic people in the South West and awarded an honorary MBA by the University of the West of England (UWE) in 2010, a Doctorate of the University by UWE in 2017 and a Doctorate of Letters by the University of Bristol in 2018.
She is an Honorary Captain of the Royal Naval Reserves and President of the affiliation between Bristol and HMS PRINCE OF WALES.
She was graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA with a Biology degree. She is the widow of Bob Golding and has an adult son, Charles.
"Representing the priorities and preferences of water customers and of water consumers in the South West to their water supplier brings immeasurable benefits to all parties. It results in more accountable business planning, customer driven service improvements and better investment decisions. As water is a scarce resource, we must all contribute to its wise use."
Anthony Denham
On retiring from a successful career in the electrical power industry, Anthony became a champion for water customers in the Southwest when he joined WaterVoice (latterly the Customer Council for Water).
Since 2015 Anthony has been the Deputy Chair of the independent Bristol Water Challenge Panel where he helps to lead the challenge to the water company on behalf of customers.
"The Panel enables customer priorities to be at the heart of the company’s future business plan and challenges the company to achieve those promises."