About United Utilities

Our board and leadership team

Dr John McAdam

Dr John McAdam
Non-executive chairman
Age: 62
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Chemical Physics, Diploma Advanced Studies in Science, PhD
Appointment to the board: Appointed as a non-executive director in February 2008 and as chairman in July 2008
Committee membership: Nomination (chairman)
Current directorships/business interests: Chairman of Rentokil Initial plc, senior independent director of J Sainsbury plc, non-executive director of Rolls-Royce Group plc and Sara Lee Corporation
Career experience: Appointed to the board of ICI plc in 1999 and became chief executive in 2003, a position held until ICI's takeover by Akzo Nobel.

 Philip Green Philip Green
Position:
Chief executive officer
Age: 57
Qualifications: BA (Hons) Economics and Politics, MBA
Appointment to the board: February 2006
Committee membership: Nomination
Current directorships/business interests: A director of Water UK and Business in the Community and a trustee of the Philharmonia Orchestra Trust
Career experience: Chief executive of Royal P&O Nedlloyd until its acquisition by AP Moller-Maersk A/S. Previously a director and chief operating officer at Reuters Group PLC and chief operating officer at DHL for Europe and Africa.
 Charlie Cornish

Charlie Cornish
Position:
Managing director, utility solutions
Age: 50
Qualifications: BA (Hons) Economics/Business Studies
Appointment to the board: January 2004
Committee membership: None
Current directorships/business interests: None
Career experience: Previously chief operating officer with Thames Water UK and Ireland and chief executive of West of Scotland Water Authority. Positions also held with British Aerospace, Plessey Telecommunications, Associated British Foods and the NHS.

 Dr Catherine Bell Dr Catherine Bell CB
Position: Independent non-executive director
Age: 59
Qualifications: MA Geography, PhD Economic History
Appointment to the board: March 2007
Committee membership: Nomination, audit and community investment
Current directorships/business interests: Non-executive director of the Civil Aviation Authority and Ensus Limited
Career experience: A former civil servant and acting permanent secretary at the Department for Trade and Industry. Previously a non-executive director of Swiss Re GB Plc.
Paul Heiden Paul Heiden
Position:
Independent non-executive director
Age: 53
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Biology, Chartered Accountant ACA
Appointment to the board: October 2005
Committee membership: Audit (chairman), nomination and treasury (chairman)
Current directorships/business interests: Non-executive chairman of Talaris Topco Limited
Career experience: Formerly chief executive of FKI plc and prior to that group finance director of Rolls-Royce plc. Previous senior finance roles at Hanson PLC and Mercury Communications and has been a non-executive director of Bunzl plc and Filtrona plc.
 David Jones CBE David Jones CBE
Position:
Independent non-executive director
Age: 68
Qualifications: MSc Control System Engineering, BSc Electrical Engineering
Appointment to the board:
January 2005
Committee membership: Audit, nomination and remuneration (chairman)
Current directorships/business interests: Chairman of UK Coal plc
Career experience: Formerly group chief executive of The National Grid Company plc and chief executive of South Wales Electricity.
 Nick Salmon Nick Salmon
Position: Senior independent non-executive director
Age: 57
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Mechanical Engineering
Appointment to the board: April 2005
Committee membership: Nomination and remuneration
Current directorships/business interests: Chief executive of Cookson Group plc Career experience: Formerly executive vice president of Alstom S.A. and of ABB Alstom Power and chief executive of Babcock International Group plc. Previous senior management positions held at GEC and GEC Alsthom in the UK and France and the China Light and Power Company, Hong Kong.
 Alison Clarke Alison Clarke
Position: Human resources director
Age: 43
Alison joined the group on 21 May 2007. Previously she was group international human resources director for global retailer AS Watson in Hong Kong. She started her early career in Ford Motor Company, holding a variety of industrial relations roles, and then moved into media to specialise in management development. In 1997 she became human resources director for Hilton, then Whitbread Restaurants. She is responsible for the human resources teams across United Utilities.
 Steve Fraser Steve Fraser
Position:
Managing director, operations
Age: 34
Steve was appointed as managing director of water operations in May 2009. He has previously worked in utility contracting for 12 years, latterly as a director of Bethell Power Services before joining United Utilities in 2005 as operations director of the regulated wastewater business and later, managing director of our energy and contracting services business. Steve holds a BA (Hons) degree in Management Studies and an MSC in Engineering Project Management.
 Tom Keevil Tom Keevil
Position:
Company secretary and general counsel
Age: 49
Tom was appointed company secretary and general counsel on 3 December 2007. From 2002 until 2007 he was company secretary and general counsel of Gallaher Group Plc and a board appointed member of Gallaher's corporate responsibility committee. As such, he was responsible for managing the corporate affairs, legal and security and brand protection departments and acting as secretary to the Plc board and its principal committees. Prior to that, he was a senior legal adviser for Gallaher from 2000 to 2002, having been appointed to that role following 16 years with Simmons & Simmons, where he was appointed a partner in May 1991. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an accredited mediator, a member of the European advisory board of FM Global, an executive committee member of the GC100 and was appointed a non-executive director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority with effect from 01 January 2010.
 Gaynor Kenyon Gaynor Kenyon
Position:
Communications director
Age: 49
Gaynor was appointed communications director in May 2006 and joined United Utilities from Scottish Power where she was UK government and community affairs director.  She was instrumental in achieving BiTC Company of the Year award in 2009 for United Utilities and in 2002 for Scottish Power. Gaynor previously worked for electricity company Manweb until 1995, at the Government's Central Office of Information, and as a journalist.
 Matthew Wright Matthew Wright
Position:
Managing director, asset management & delivery
Age: 45
Matthew was appointed managing director, asset management and delivery, in May 2009.  He has over 20 years' experience of utility management in both UK and international markets.  He joined United Utilities on 1 March 2007 from ScottishPower's US operation, where he was executive vice president of PacifiCorp's transmission, distribution and customer service division.  He has also held senior management positions in operations, regulations, corporate strategy and commercial utility functions.

 image - Paul Worthington

Paul Worthington
Position: Chief information officer
Age: 47
Paul was appointed chief information officer in June 2010. He was previously a partner at the strategy consultant Blueground Partners. Prior to that he was group commercial director and group chief information officer for Kingfisher PLC, following a number of senior roles within the group and  previously for Nationwide Building Society. Paul is a non-executive director of Modelzone Holdings, has an MBA in Executive Management, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and has a BSc (Hons) in Maths and Statistics.