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Joint Winners of Leadership Award


For the second year running judges have awarded two applicants the opportunity to go on the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.


Stephen Robson, Director of HR & Legal at Bristol Water and Haydn Knowles, Head of Operations at Dalriada Water Services, will both be attending the High Potentials Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School next year.


Four applicants were shortlisted for interview in August where they were asked to give presentations on why they should be selected and how they, their employer and their industry would benefit if selected. As usual, there was a high calibre of applicants and the judges were unable to separate the two winners.


Furthermore, the two other short-listed applicants were also given awards. Patric Bulmer, Environment Manager at Bristol Water, was awarded £5k to attend a course in the UK offering influencing and leadership skills. Simon Cyhanko, Information Services Team Leader at Northumbrian Water, was awarded £4k to fund a coaching programme to help develop his leadership skills.


Closing Date for Business Skills Applications


A reminder that the closing date for the next round of applications for the Business Skills Awards is 30th September. These awards consist of sponsorship of up to £7,500 to attend an established academic or training course in the UK that is relevant to the Utilities Industry. This Award is primarily designed to assist individuals at any level to benefit from opportunities that would not normally be available to them from their employer's ongoing training and development support arrangements.


Martin Kane appointed Chairman


Martin Kane, Director of Customer Relations at Severn Trent Water, has replaced Jack Carnell as Chairman of the USIT Board of Trustees. Jack had been Chairman since early 2006 and his drive and enthusiasm has enabled USIT to send two people to Harvard, three to IMD in Switzerland and three to courses in the UK. A further 10 awards have been made with several recipients due to attend or commence courses next month. The trustees paid tribute to Jack and thanked him for his leadership during the early years. Martin joined the Board of Trustees earlier this year and would be a worthy successor to Jack.

Our Awards have a new identity.


Following the successful uptake of the Leadership Award last year it has been agreed to offer this Award on an annual basis.


Initially our Awards were badged as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3. There was to be only one Tier 1 Award made each year but due to the level of interest we offered an additional Award of a similar nature, calling this the Leadership Award. At the end of the first year it was agreed this new Award should be offered annually, replacing the Tier 3 Award which had generated little interest.


At the same time we felt the awards should be given more meaningful names and settled on:



Hopefully these names give a better indication of what is offered in each case.