UKWIR appoints duo to oversee Innovation Centre set up

UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) has appointed Shaunna Berendsen as client programme director and Carly Perry as consultant executive lead to oversee the establishment of the UK water industry’s Innovation Centre of Excellence. They took up their posts at the start of July 2021.

UKWIR is leading the water sector’s establishment of the Centre of Excellence with £250,000 in funding secured through a successful bid to Ofwat’s Innovation in Water Competition which is being matched by water companies through UKWIR.

The centre will be an innovation accelerator hub, promoting collaboration within and beyond the sector and driving transformational innovation – addressing the biggest challenges facing the water sector.

Berendsen (pictured top) has joined from Anglian Water where she led the innovation engagement team.

Perry (pictured) currently leads the water consultancy team at SIA partners and is on the board at Future Water. She led the water sector’s Open Data programme. She has some 15 years’ experience managing complex water sector programmes