South Staffs Water has appointed Sara Vaughan as its new Independent Non-Executive Director and forthcoming Chair of the Board.
She will succeed The Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury as Independent Chair of the Board in April 2025.
An experienced Executive and Non-executive Director, Sara Vaughan started her career as a competition and regulatory lawyer at Slaughter and May before moving into the energy industry to join what later became E.ON UK. From there she joined the UK Board as Executive Director for Strategy and Regulation and, latterly, for Political and Regulatory Affairs.
She currently holds positions as Chair of the Board at Elexon, Chair of the Balancing & Settlement Code Panel and Non-Executive Director at the North Sea Transition Authority. She also works with Icebreaker One as co-Chair of its Open Energy Steering Group.
Lord Smith was appointed to the Board of South Staffordshire Water Plc, the regulated clean water company that operates South Staffs and Cambridge Water, in 2018 and, as Chair, he has supported the business through the creation and delivery of the AMP 7 (2020-2025) business plan.
This has included oversight of significant investment at two major water treatment works in the South Staffs region, ensuring both continue to provide safe and high-quality drinking water for our customers.
Charley Maher, Group CEO at South Staffordshire Plc said:
"I’m very pleased to welcome Sara to the Board of Cambridge and South Staffs Water. She is an experienced Executive and Non-executive Director and Chair and will strengthen our Board at a critical time, as we deliver our ambitious 2025-2030 business plan; our largest investment period to date.
"I would also like to thank Lord Smith for over six years of excellent support to our business, for which we are very grateful."
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