Southern Water appoints Lawrence Gosden as new chief

Southern Water has appointed its chief operating officer, Lawrence Gosden, as chief executive, starting on 1 July.

Gosden (pictured) began his career as a graduate at Southern Water and has over 30 years’ operational and capital programme delivery experience in the water industry, including 12 years at Thames Water in a variety of senior executive roles. He returned to Southern in 2020 to take up the chief operating officer post.

Commenting on the appointment, chair Keith Lough said: "This smooth succession will allow us to continue our capital investment programmes and transformation at pace. His extensive knowledge and leadership within the industry will be invaluable as we drive the business forward. Importantly Lawrence will now lead us through the development of the PR24 business plan covering the next regulatory period.”

Gosden said: “Southern Water has made great strides in improving transparency and putting in place the foundations of change. We know we must continue to improve, and quickly. Working with the committed teams across Southern Water, we are ready to deliver the next phase of the transformation our customers and the environment deserves.”

Ian McAulay has led Southern since 2017 and announced his intention retire at the start of the year.