Welsh Water chief executive Peter Perry to retire

The chief executive of Welsh Water, which in April increased average bills to consumers by 27%, is to retire next spring. The not-for profit water company, which doesn’t have any external shareholders and funds capital investment through bonds, said it has appointed headhunters to help find a successor to Peter Perry. He joined what was then a nationalised water company as an apprentice in the early 1980s.

He was appointed chief executive in 2020 having previously been its managing director. In its financial year to the end of March, 2024, Mr Perry’s had a total remuneration of £489,000- excluding pension accruals and long-term incentive plan - compared to £380,000 a year earlier. His remuneration included just over £91,000 in anexecutive performance related award under its annual variable pay scheme.



Commenting on his decision to stand down, Mr Perry said: “Welsh Water has been a part of my life since I left school. I’m incredibly proud to have spent my career in an organisation that plays such a key role in protecting public health and makes a genuine difference every single day. “To have had the opportunity to lead the company as chief executive has been a huge honour as well as seeing the tireless work and sacrifices made by colleagues when trying to maintain our services, especially during some exceptional weather events.

I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and the strong foundations we’ve laid for the next five years and beyond. I have every confidence that Welsh Water will continue to go from strength to strength in the years ahead and I will continue to drive such improvement until my retirement.” Welsh Water’s chair, Jane Hanson , said: “Peter’s story is truly inspirational – from apprentice to chief executive, his journey embodies everything that Welsh Water stands for in terms of values.

His leadership has been defined by a deep understanding of the business, a genuine care for our people and customers, and a commitment to doing the right thing now and for the long term. On behalf of the board and everyone at Welsh Water, I want to sincerely thank Peter for his exceptional service and wish him every happiness in his retirement.” Mr Perry is also currently chair of Business in the Community Cymru, and is an advisor on the UK Resilience Forum, where he has chaired the UK water’s sector strategic platinum incident management group.

Rating agency’s Moody’s and Fitch recently downgraded its ratings for Welsh Water. Moody’s said its downgrade, while still a stable outlook, reflected its view that Welsh Water will be unable to maintain an average net debt to regulatory capital value less than or equal to 60% as commensurate wit its previous A3 rating. At the time Welsh Water said the downgrades would not impact its bond financing costs.

It said: “There is no impact. Existing bonds remain at the rate they were issued - they do not change. As for new debt to be issued, we have not seen spreads increase since the ratings actions.

The ratings actions were largely expected by the market and already priced in. Spreads have been stable since the start of the year, having settled down after the final determination (new five year business plan approved by Ofwat)..