SOUTH EAST WATER LIMITED ("the Company")

Director Declaration

SOUTH EAST WATER LIMITED announces the appointment of JOHN HALSALL as director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from 23 July 2026.

John Halsall started today (Thursday, 23 July) as Chief Executive Officer at South East Water, following regulatory approval.  

John takes up the role at a critical moment for South East Water. He comes with a clear plan to improve day-to-day performance and rebuild trust with customers.

On his first day as CEO, John is setting out three pledges for customers on what he wants to achieve in the first nine months. He is asking them to judge progress on: 

·      Fixing day to day performance

·      Driving operational excellence 

·      Ensuring transparent and authentic engagement with customers, stakeholders and regulators. 

Over the medium to long term, John will embed customer centricity in the organisation, transform the business by making it fit for the future, whilst delivering the largest ever investment programme in the company's history. 

John Halsall brings more than 25 years of transformation and operational leadership experience across public and private sector infrastructure organisations.

He has previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Pennon Group, where he was responsible for water and wastewater operations across South West Water, Bournemouth Water and Bristol Water. He has also held senior roles at Network Rail, including leading rail infrastructure in the South East of England, and spent 17 years at Thames Water in engineering, asset management, capital delivery and water services roles

Lisa Clement, Independent Non-Executive Director and Interim Chair, commented:

"I am delighted to confirm John Halsall has started as Chief Executive Officer of South East Water."

"John joins us at a critical moment for the company. Our customers deserve a safe, reliable water supply, and we must accelerate the improvements needed to deliver this."

"John brings more than 25 years of transformation and operational leadership experience across public and private sector infrastructure organisations. The Board is confident he can turn around performance and rebuild trust."

Regulatory Statement:

The Board confirms that there are no conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this announcement.

In the past five years John Halsall has held the following directorships: 

South West Water Ltd (former directorship)

Network Rail (High Speed) Ltd (former directorship)

Network Rail Property Ltd (former directorship)

Picotee Blue Ltd (current directorship)

For further information, please contact:

South East Water Limited

James Grant 

Head of Investor Relations

01634 276177

[email protected]

https://www.southeastwater.co.uk/investor-portal/