British Water hits 1,000 presentations at Innovation Exchanges mark

Tony Harrington, director of environment, Welsh Water, welcomes participants to the British Water Innovation Exchange at Cardiff City Stadium.

LONDON, UK, OCT 10, 2018 -- British Water is proud to announce that over 1,000 presentations have now been delivered at its Innovation Exchanges for UK water utilities and engineering companies. The 1,000^th presentation took place at the Welsh Water Innovation Exchange at Cardiff City Stadium on 11 September 2018

British Water UK director Paul Mullord said, "Reaching our 1,000^th presentation is a fantastic achievement for British Water and our members. British Water Innovation Exchanges help the supply chain develop a better understanding of the challenges water utilities face and build stronger working relationships and partnership opportunities."

Participants delivered 10-minute presentations on a wide range of water and wastewater solutions to senior representatives of Welsh Water and their framework partners. Feedback was given using a traffic light ranking and on this occasion 11 technologies were given the green light for fast-tracking while others will be looked at more closely.

Mullord said, "Since we introduced the traffic light system well over 80% of suppliers have received green or amber signals. There is some brilliant work happening in the supply chain and we have been able to connect 276 different suppliers with 32 different client organisations.

"The Welsh Water Innovation Exchange was our 34^th event and an impressive 39 suppliers took part across three workshop streams – it was during the afternoon that we passed the 1,000 mark."

Attendees from the supply chain, Welsh Water and utility's partners network during the British Water innovation exchange.

Tony Harrington, director of environment, Welsh Water, said, "I was delighted with the British Water Innovation Exchange. We identified 11 technologies which we want to progress immediately and several more which will go through our innovation process with the right specialist in the company.

"We hope this will provide us with a kick-start on the efficiencies and improvements we want to provide our customers with in AMP7. It's great to be able to continue to work in partnership with others in the delivery of our vision to earn the trust of our customers every day."

Jeremy Biddle, engineering director at water and wastewater treatment specialist Bluewater Bio said, "Bluewater Bio has taken part in nearly every British Water Innovation Exchange since they started and they have been invaluable to us both in terms of the connections we've made and business generated. We were delighted at the positive feedback received from Welsh Water and look forward to working with them on forthcoming projects."

Mullord added, "This is a unique opportunity for British Water members and non-members to get in front of senior utility leaders and create connections not obtainable anywhere else. We are now very much looking forward to our next event, which is with Southern Water."

The Southern Water Innovation Exchange takes place on 8 November at East Sussex National hotel. Companies wishing to take part should email [email protected] or visit www.britishwater.co.uk to find out more about the topics being covered.