Breaking Waves

On Friday 22nd March 2024, World Water Day, we launched our Make a Pledge campaign encouraging customers to sign up to one of our five achievable pledges before 30th June 2024. On supporting the campaign, they were entered into a prize draw to win an Automatic Meter Reader (AMR), a device that monitors water usage by reading a water meter every 15 minutes.

And the winner is…

It was great to see engagement from customers of different sizes and industries whose commitments were spread across the five choices. The winner was picked at random from entries, by our Head of Water Efficiency Services, Oli Shelley, and we’re delighted that Barnsley Premier Leisure were awarded an AMR for committing to all five pledges.

Michael Daley, SHEQ Manager at Barnsley Premier Leisure said: “Sustainability is high on the agenda for us and water is one of the key areas we’re focussing on. Making these pledges supports our commitment as they’re simple, achievable and make a difference. As an organisation that already has some AMRs installed, I was delighted to win another device, as I already know how beneficial they are for monitoring water usage.”

Oli Shelly, Head of Water Efficiency Services at Wave said: “We love running campaigns like this because small pledges really can make a big difference, especially if they become a habit. It’s great to hear Barnsley Leisure already see the value of tracking their water consumption, finding efficiencies and looking out for leaks, I’m sure they’ll put their new AMR to good use!”

A successful campaign

Since World Water Day, over 12,100 people have seen our messages on how to save water, advice and guidance on checking for leaks and the importance of doing our bit to protect the environment, helping raise awareness that when it comes to water, there’s not a drop to waste.

This May, we were absolutely delighted to win two gold awards, one for Best CSR Strategy and one for Health and Wellbeing, at the UK Employee Experience Awards (UK EXA).

Up against global organisations including Capital One Bank, our winning entry for Best CSR strategy detailed our approach to creating a strategy that centred around making a positive difference in the communities and world that we live in, through the efforts and passion of Wave employees.

Beating the likes of Bupa, we were thrilled to be recognised for our incredible wellbeing culture and strategy which is led by our employees. Our people have created support groups such as the Hot Flashes (menopause), Talking BS (bloke support) and One Wave (diversity and inclusion). We bring in external speakers to raise awareness on topics close to the hearts of our employees, such as suicide prevention and autism. Employee wellbeing is at the core of what we do in Wave, and we continue to break down the stigma of mental health in the workplace.

In addition to our amazing win, we attended The State of EX conference in London prior to the ceremony, where our Director of HR, Jane Austin, spoke about Wave’s journey to fostering an exemplary health and wellbeing culture. She then joined a panel discussing how organisations can create a sense of purpose and meaning in the work they do and how employee experience can drive continuous improvement.

You can read about our key achievements that led to these awards on our website.

We’ve appointed two new key hires as we introduce our new Operations Directorate. Bolstering the senior team are Pamela Nast as Director of Operations and Ben Kershaw as Head of Metering.

Pamela joins the team with a wealth of industry experience, having worked for a number of well-known brands including Evian, Talk Talk and Shell Energy. Pamela’s expertise lies in operational excellence and change management, and her new position as Director of Operations will see her take on an important role in our newly formed Operations Directorate, to maximise customer experience and support with its smart meter roll out.

Pamela said: “It’s so exciting to have a new department that’ll be working together, using everyone’s years of skills and experiences. We’ll build on the hard work done so far and create a step change in how we deliver for internal and external customers while supporting Wave’s vision for the future.

“Wave has such a strong reputation and culture that it was an easy decision to make the move, particularly with the new directorate. From what I’ve seen so far, I know we’re going to surpass all expectations, and it’s going to be an immense journey."

Ben joins Wave with 10 years' experience in metering within the water industry and brings a strong background of innovation and process improvement, a key focus within his new role as Head of Metering.

Ben said: “I joined Wave after seeing the opportunity to join a business whose values very much align with my own. In this role I’ll be taking responsibility for the overall metering journey at Wave, which includes creating a new strategy to improve processes for all of our clients and stakeholders.

“As Head of Metering, I’ll also focus on the industry-wide smart meter roll-out and l look forward to seeing how the programme improves the frequency and accuracy of data and the overall experience for our customers.”

We’ve formed a significant partnership with water-sensing technology company, Infersens, to determine how to harmonise a reduction in water usage, with water safety, and the effective management of Legionella risk in non-domestic buildings.

As it stands, more than 3.2 million business or public sector premises across England manually carry out weekly and monthly water monitoring regimes, as part of their Legionella risk management (LRM) strategies. This includes flushing out taps and systems on top of regular daily use to avoid the Legionella growth conditions of lukewarm and stagnating water. It has been estimated that these LRM activities could account for up to 8%* of total non-household (NHH) consumption.

Your organisation could take part

With new funding received through the Market Improvement Fund, we’re looking for a selection of business customers to trial the innovative, remote, retro-fit flow/temperature sensors provided by Infersens, which could significantly reduce the water used in their LRM activities. This will be achieved by using data collected by the sensors which will read the temperature profiles and confirm the taps and systems that have had sufficient flow in the past week, and so present low risk of Legionella and don’t need any manual intervention.

This trial will be the first of its kind in the UK that will attempt to quantify the volume of water used by businesses to manage Legionella risk, and to provide evidence that new technology, including that provided by Infersens, can be the key to unlock this untapped source of water efficiency savings.

I'm interested in the trial

On Wednesday 22nd May, Wave and public sector buying organisation, The Energy Consortium (TEC), came together with volunteers from Ministry of Justice to volunteer on the Birmingham & Worcester canal at the Tardebigge Lock Flight, the longest line of locks in Britain.

The day, led by the Canal & River Trust, was an opportunity to step back in time and learn about the history of the canal as well as giving back to the local community and networking with customers and colleagues.

No dampened spirits in sight

Despite the very wet conditions, the team of 32 volunteers remained in great spirits and headed out to the lock flight armed with tools for digging and clearing foliage. The day was spent cutting back the overgrown towpaths and improving the local area for the community. Altogether the team cleared three locks' worth of grass and foliage, all with smiles on their faces even in the rain!

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day, with TEC calling the day “really enjoyable”, “well organised” and a “great collab”. A volunteer from HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) said: “Really great to network…Lovely intro to the work/sustainable work you do…Thank you so much. It’s been FAB!”

CSR isn’t just a tick box for us

These corporate volunteering events are a great opportunity to network, build relationships and boost wellbeing. If you’re interested in joining us at one of our future events, speak to your Account Manager for more information.

• 4th September - Friends of Festival Gardens in Liverpool
• 9th October – Charity Kitchen in Covent Gardens