Spring, the UK and Ireland centre of excellence for water innovation, has announced the appointment of three new board members to help steer the organisation into its next phase.
Graeme Wright, Christian Inglis and Anthony King take up their positions as Spring moves forward with a programme to support the water sector with its strategy. Joining from different backgrounds, they help Spring strengthen its offering to the sector.
Wright has been with Fujitsu since 2001. A regular Fujitsu blogger, he joins the Spring board in an annual rotation seat from his role as an advisory member of the Spring strategic advisory panel. Graeme has knowledge of energy and water utilities and is versed in emerging technologies.
Inglis leads the urban environments team at Innovate UK, focusing on strategy and activities that bring together different sector activities in an urban environment. He has been at Innovate UK since 2007 and his industry background focuses on research and business development.
King is an entrepreneur, advisor and founder of AD:K, an innovation consultancy which advises on tech hubs, accelerators and new ventures for innovators, corporates, funds, banks and governments. He brings experience from the UK start-up, tech and innovation ecosystem and is also an investor in technology ventures.
Steve Kaye, Spring board chairman, said, “The Spring board is delighted to welcome Graeme, Christian and Anthony. Their range of expertise will bring value to our service offering, as we move forward into a new period of growth.”
Spring launched in December 2021 to support the water sector in delivering the ambitions of its 2050 Water Innovation Strategy. It has carried out a user engagement exercise and, as a result, is revamping some services, including the Spring innovation accelerator and knowledge transfer service.
Carly Perry, Spring managing director, said: “I am keen to create an equitable environment at board level representing all stakeholders, so we can continue to deliver on the commitments we made to the sector when starting out.”
She added, “To have such a diverse board of individuals with representatives from supply chain, the start-up ecosystem, the national innovation agency and the water companies themselves, is brilliant news for Spring and the wider sector.”
The new appointments will join these board members: Tony Harrington, director of environment, Dŵr Cymru; Steve Kaye, CEO, UKWIR; Denise Massey, managing director, Energy Innovation Centre; Carly Perry managing director, Spring; Lila Thompson, CEO, British Water; Jason Tucker, director of strategic delivery and commercial, Anglian Water; Nigel Watson, CIO, Northumbrian Water.
