Water company chief plans spring retirement

May 29 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

NORTHUMBRIAN Water managing director John Cuthbert yesterday revealed that he plans to retire next spring after more than 20 years in the industry.

One of the region’s highest profile and most respected executives, Mr Cuthbert, 56, has led the company since 2001, overseeing its stock market floatation in 2003 and growth after it was sold by French company Lyonnaise des Eaux.

“We had been looking at succession planning at the company and it just seemed like the right time for me and for the business. I will oversee the next round of price reviews. This will be my fourth and I don’t want to be around for the next one in 2014,” he said.

“It was not an easy decision for me. This is a fabulous job and it has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to lead the company.

“I have been thinking about my position for the last 12 months. It is because I care so passionately about the company that I thought now was the right time. It will give my successor time to learn about the company to manage its next round of changes.”

The company will now begin to look for a replacement for Mr Cuthbert when he leaves at the end of the company’s financial year next March.

The company’s managing director for the last eight years wants to leave to spend more time on his high profile community work and with his teacher wife Lynn at their home in Chester-le-Street, County Durham The former accountant, who was born in Chester-le- Street, is also deputy lieutenant of Durham and is renowned for his charity and community work, which includes raising money by playing guitar in the amateur rock band 55 Degrees, which is comprised of senior business executives.

Mr Cuthbert is chairman of the Northern Business Forum, the Kielder Partnership and the Castle View Enterprise Academy in Sunderland, where Northumbrian Water is the lead sponsor. And he is also vice chairman of the Durham University Council and a member of the CBI Regional Council.

Northumbrian Water chairman Sir Derek Wanless, said: “John has made an outstanding contribution to both the water industry and Northumbrian Water over almost 20 years.”

The company, which recently won a Queens Award for Enterprise, has 2.6 million customers in the North East and employs more than 3,600 staff, around half of whom work in the region.