South East Water announces new chief executive

South East Water (SEW) has announced a new chief executive designate after its previous boss resigned.

The heavily criticised water company said that John Halsall will take over from David Hinton, pending regulatory approval.

Halsall has previously worked for Thames Water, South West Water and Network Rail.

The announcement comes as SEW remains under fire for repeated water supply failures in Kent and Sussex and grapples with major infrastructure issues.

Halsall said that his priorities were “responding to customers’ immediate concerns” and delivering on short term improvements.

In the longer term, Halsall said that he would deliver the company’s largest ever investment programme of £2.1bn to “improve reliability and resilience”.

He added: “I look forward to working with our customers, community partners, regulators and colleagues to rebuild trust in South East Water, drive the improvements the business needs to deliver and make the changes people want to see.”