We're committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and leadership, and we recognise the importance of demonstrating to customers, shareholders, investors, regulators and other stakeholders how we do this.
Our Board makes sure we’re open and honest in everything we do. They’re also responsible for making sure we behave ethically and always aim for high standards of performance when it comes to our services and protecting the environment.
We have a Corporate Governance Code to make sure we regularly review and improve how we’re run. It also makes sure we’re transparent about how we do things.
The diagram below shows how our corporate governance framework works in practice.
Who runs South East Water?
Matters relating to operations, that is your water supply, are considered and decided by the board of South East Water Limited and no decisions are reserved for other parties (such as shareholders or parent companies) save for those required legally (under the UK’s Companies Act 2006).
Several board committees help oversee the business. Here’s who’s on each committee:
Nomination Committee
Chair: Chris Train (Independent Non-Executive Director)
Other Members: Célia Pronto (Independent Non-Executive Director), Caroline Sheridan (Independent Non-Executive Director), Mark McArdle (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated), Michael McKinstry (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated)
Remuneration Committee
Chair: Célia Pronto (Independent Non-Executive Director)
Other members: Chris Train (Independent Non-Executive Director), Caroline Sheridan (Independent Non-Executive Director), Mark McArdle (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated), Michael McKinstry (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated)
Audit and Risk Committee
Chair: Lisa Clement (Independent Non-Executive Director)
Other members: Célia Pronto (Independent Non-Executive Director), Caroline Sheridan (Independent Non-Executive Director), Mark McArdle (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated), Michael McKinstry (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated)
Responsible Business Committee
Chair: Mark McArdle (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated)
Other members: Lisa Clement (Independent Non-Executive Director), Caroline Sheridan (Independent Non-Executive Director), Michael McKinstry (Non-Executive Director – Shareholder Nominated), David Hinton (Executive Director)
Find out more
Asset management policy(opens in a new tab)
Our tax policy(opens in a new tab)
Our Corporate Governance Code(opens in a new tab)
Our dividend policy(opens in a new tab)
What our nomination committee does(opens in a new tab)
What our remuneration committee does(opens in a new tab)
What our audit and risk committee does(opens in a new tab)
Our diversity policy(opens in a new tab)
Matters reserved for the board(opens in a new tab)
What our responsible business committee does(opens in a new tab)
Who owns South East Water?
The ultimate owners of HDF (UK) Holdings Ltd are:
- Utilities of Australia Pty Ltd as Trustee for the Utilities Trust of Australia
- NatWest Pension Trustee Limited as trustee for the NatWest Group Pension Fund (Main Fund Section)
- Three entities of the Desjardins cooperative financial group based in Quebec (Régime de rentes du Mouvement Desjardins, Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company and Certas Home and Auto Insurance Company)
What our group companies do
- South East Water is the main operating company. This means we’re the ones who supply your water.
- South East Water (Finance) is the company that holds a significant part of the debt raised by the group. It is registered in the Cayman Islands for historic company law reasons but it is resident in the UK for tax purposes.
- South East Water (Holdings) makes sure the operating company is protected from any financial difficulties in the companies higher up the ownership chain.
- Hastings Luxembourg Water S.a.r.l. is registered in Luxembourg and borrows money from banks and shareholders and passes on the proceeds to companies within the group structure.
Our history
