Troubled supplier South East Water has appointed John Halsall as its incoming chief executive after its former boss announced plans to step down in the wake of major supply outages in Kent and Sussex.
Mr Halsall has been hired as chief executive designate and will take over from David Hinton after regulatory approval and a handover period.
The appointment follows the announcement in May that Mr Hinton would resign, just days after former chairman Chris Train also stepped down, following a scathing report into a series of outages by MPs, who said they had “no confidence” in the company’s leadership.
Thousands of customers were left unable to access tap water, shower or flush their toilets during the outages between November and January.
There have been repeated outages across Kent and Sussex since then, with tens of thousands left with water supply issues again in May and June.
Mr Halsall said: “My priorities are clear: responding to customers’ immediate concerns around their water service – delivering immediately on the short-term improvements we can make both today and over the coming weeks and months.”
He added: “In the longer term, I am excited by the opportunity to deliver the company’s largest-ever investment programme of £2.1 billion.
“I see this investment as a vital step to underpinning the provision of the public water supply, improving reliability and resilience in the South East.”
Dry Wells Action, a consumer action group based in Tunbridge Wells, said it will be pushing for a meeting with the new chief executive.
Jonathan Hawker, the campaign group’s chairman, told the Press Association: “We’re delighted that somebody would take on this very difficult role leading a company that has lost the trust of many of the communities that it serves.
“We’ll be pressing for an urgent face-to-face meeting with this new chief executive to get assurances that infrastructure investment and improvement will happen as a matter of great urgency.”
Mr Halsall previously served on the board of South West Water, was chief operating officer at the supplier’s owner Pennon Group and was also previously an executive member of Network Rail, where he ran rail infrastructure in the South East.
South East Water interim chairwoman Lisa Clement said: “South East Water faces significant challenges and customers, communities and stakeholders rightly expect better.
“John brings a strong track record of delivering transformation programmes, operational leadership and a clear commitment to transparency and improvement across different industries.”
She added: “The board is confident John will bring the energy, direction and focus needed to accelerate progress and deliver the reliable service our customers deserve.”
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