South East Water announces resignation of Independent Non-Executive Chair

The Board of South East Water today announces the resignation of Independent Non-Executive Chair, Chris Train, effective immediately.

Board discussions have taken place in recent weeks regarding the Company’s recovery and transformation plan. As part of this, the Board and Chris considered the leadership of South East Water and mutually agreed that new independent Board leadership is now required to oversee a
critical period of positive, transformative change for the Company, its customers, and local communities.

The Board has accepted Chris’ resignation and thanks him for his service and significant contribution during his tenure.

The Board notes the report handed down today by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee.

The executive team has the support of the Board to continue accelerating targeted engineering works and make operational changes to improve the resilience of the supply network, increase water capacity and quality in high priority areas as part of a comprehensive, Company-wide transformation
plan.

The Company intends to announce further details about this soon. With support of its customers, South East Water plans to double investment into the water supply network serving Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire over the next five years.

The Board and executive team reiterate their unreserved apology to those customers impacted by recent operational failures, and the resulting loss of public trust in the Company and its services.

The Board has initiated an external, independent search process for a permanent Independent Non-Executive Chair. Lisa Clement, currently Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, is appointed Interim Independent Non-Executive Chair effective immediately until the search is completed.

Lisa Clement, Interim Independent Non-Executive Chair, said: “The Board thanks Chris for his service to South East Water. The Company’s focus remains on delivering engineering and operational changes that will strengthen the resilience of South East Water’s network and transform the Company for the benefit of customers and local communities.”