Governance
Learn about WSUP's members, history and Members of the Board
Members of the Board
Lord Boateng – Independent (Chairman)
The Rt Hon Lord Paul Boateng DL PC is a Member of the House of Lords. He was formerly in the UK Cabinet as Chief Secretary to HM Treasury and UK High Commissioner to South Africa. He is currently Chairman of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund based in Nairobi and is on the Board of the London based Ghana International Bank. He is Chair of a number of charities working in Africa including BookAid International and the International Council of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

David Birch – Independent
David is a civil engineer specialising in water resources. Following three years as a VSO volunteer in Bangladesh, David led water resource projects in Egypt, Pakistan and India. He has worked for one of the UK’s major consulting engineering companies including being managing director or chairman of the group’s companies in India, China and South East Asia.

Robin Bresser – Borealis & Borouge
Robin is Value Chain and Marketing Manager Pipe in Borealis, Vienna. Previously, he spent nine years with Borouge in Singapore and Abu Dhabi, and has strongly contributed to the advancement of both companies and the pipe industry through several polyethylene and polypropylene pipe innovations and market development initiatives, including the Water for the World CSR programme which has projects across Asia and Africa.

Tim Hess – Cranfield University
Tim is Professor of Water and Food Systems at Cranfield University with over 35 years of experience in research, teaching and consultancy in a wide range of water topics. He has worked on research projects in many developing countries, particularly in Africa funded by DFID, UK Research Councils, The EU and agricultural businesses.

Peter Lochery – CARE
Peter is Director of the CARE USA Water Team and his current work includes increased engagement with private entrepreneurs in rural WASH and mobilizing investment into rain-fed agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previously Peter worked for the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program and then with the WSP Regional Water and Sanitation Group for South Asia.

Rebecca Marmot – Unilever
Rebecca, Chief Sustainability Officer, is responsible for leading the team to provide strategic counsel to the business on key advocacy areas and co-creating strategic partnerships that deliver scale. This involves working with commercial organisations as well as the UN, NGOs and Governments and entails developing new business models that help to embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

David Scott – Independent
David Scott is a London based chartered accountant. His career has been with Coopers and Lybrand, the Commonwealth Development Corporation and Deloitte, specialising in transactions and business appraisal.

Karl Simons – Independent
Karl is Executive Director – Head of Health, Safety, & Wellbeing at FYLD. Previously, he was the Chief Health, Safety & Security Officer at Thames Water and was responsible for the strategic direction and development of these. He has 25 years of experience in industry, having worked across all continents and numerous safety critical industries including oil, gas, minerals, rail, construction and utilities.

Thames Water
The new Board representative for Thames Water will be announced shortly.

Andy Wales – Independent
Andy Wales is Chief Digital Impact and Sustainability Officer for BT plc, where he leads on digital skills, digital and human rights, sustainability (with a big focus on climate change) and community engagement. He was previously Global VP Sustainable Development for AB InBev, having spent 10 years with SABMiller plc as Corporate Affairs Director Europe and SVP Sustainability. Andy is a senior advisor at the Global Innovation Fund, and an active tech for good angel investor, and is also a member of WWF UK’s Programme Committee and the Sainsburys Foundation Advisory Board.

WSUP Advisory: Members of the Board
Yaver Abidi – Managing Director, WSUP Advisory
A civil engineer by profession, Yaver has over 35 years of consulting engineering and business leadership experience in North America, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. His expertise includes strategy, corporate governance, business planning, leadership and the planning, financing, design and management of infrastructure projects. Yaver holds a MS in management from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and is a Licensed Professional Engineer.

David Birch – Independent
David is a civil engineer specialising in water resources. Following three years as a VSO volunteer in Bangladesh, David led water resource projects in Egypt, Pakistan and India. He has worked for one of the UK’s major consulting engineering companies including being managing director or chairman of the group’s companies in India, China and South East Asia.

Ed Mitchell – Chief Executive, WSUP
Ed joined WSUP as CEO on June 2022. Previously, he was a Director at Pennon Group, the owners of South West Water, Bournemouth Water, Bristol Water, and Viridor, and Executive Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency for nearly a decade. He was also the Director of Environment and Corporate Responsibility at Thames Water. Ed holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Water and Wastewater Engineering from Cranfield University and was previously involved with WSUP as a non-executive director following its foundation in 2005.
