Lord Matthew Taylor, Chair

Chair

Formerly an MP in Cornwall for 23 years, Matthew has a passion for sustainable planning and housing policy, and he continues to advise government and businesses on a significant number of new sustainable developments.

 Following a decade of working in the water sector with a focus on improving customer outcomes, Matthew continues to champion customers by holding the company to account as chair of the WaterShare+ Panel.

Peaches Golding OBE

Deputy Chair

Peaches is His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Bristol; Vice President of the Royal Society of St George; Non-Executive Consultant of Moon Consulting Ltd, and a Trustee of the SS Great Britain and the Bristol Zoological Society. She has also been awarded an OBE for services to minority ethnic people in the South West and the CStJ for services to faith and humanity. Peaches has an honorary MBA from the University of the West of England (UWE), a Doctorate of the University from UWE and a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Bristol. She is an Honorary Captain of the Royal Naval Reserves and President of the affiliation between Bristol and HMS Prince of Wales.

Anthony Denham

After retiring from a career in the electrical power industry, Anthony became a champion for water customers in the South West when he joined WaterVoice (latterly the Customer Council for Water). Since 2015 Anthony has been the deputy chair of the independent Bristol Water Challenge Panel where he helps to lead the challenge to the water company on behalf of customers.

Ben Harper

Ben is the Chief Executive of the award-winning Watergate Bay group of hospitality companies. His previous roles include spending six years helping the serviced apartment company SACO (now EDYN Group) to double inventory, revenues and profitability and transitioning the business through a private equity cycle.

Dinah Cox

Dinah is Chair of the grant-making trust the Devon Community Foundation; a Non-Executive Director for Inclusion and Race Equality for Devon and Cornwall Police and a Non-Executive Director of the Devon Partnership NHS Trust. She is also a Regional Advisory Group Member for the National Trust. The former Chief Executive of Race on the Agenda (ROTA), Dinah was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to Community Relations in London.

Carole Theobald

Carole has worked in the public and charitable sectors in Cornwall for more than 20 years. Carole is the chief executive at iSightCornwall, a leading sight loss charity supporting more than 4,000 people each year and Non-Executive Member of the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB) for quality, citizen engagement and equalities. Carole is a versatile senior leader with a wealth of experience in customer advocacy.

Nick Buckland OBE

Nick continues to champion the needs of customers having chaired South West Water’s independent WaterShare and WaterFuture Panels. Nick is the Chair of the social mobility charity Future First and a Chair, Non-Executive Director and Trustee of other organisations. In recognition of his outstanding services to innovation and technology, Nick was appointed OBE in 2009. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Technology by Plymouth University in 2013.

Richard Lacey

Richard previously chaired the Bournemouth Water Customer View Group ensuring that the company delivered against its promises and was instrumental in ensuring services to Bournemouth Water customers were not impacted when South West Water acquired the company in 2016. Richard continues to ensure that Bournemouth Water’s customer needs are considered on the WaterShare+ Panel. Richard is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a lifetime’s experience in the Water Industry.