Networks November: Asset Health in AMP8 & Beyond
9:30am – Arrival
10:00 – 10:15 Welcome and Scene Setting
Why asset health matters now
AMP8 pressures, regulatory change and resilience expectations
The gap between capex-led delivery and the operational reality of maintaining and improving assets
How could the clean water bill impact asset health?
Speaker:
Paul Horton, CEO, Future Water Association
10:15-10:35 Opening Keynote – The State of Maintenance and Reliability in the UK and Ireland
Findings from Mainstream’s UK-wide asset health study
Cross-sector perspective with relevant insight from 6–7 UK water companies
An independent, data-led view of where the sector stands today
Speaker:
Ian Collier, Head of Content, Mainstream Community
10:35-10:50 Audience Input: Identifying the Challenge Set
Attendees invited to submit, in up to 10 words, their single biggest asset health concern
Responses gathered through an online polling tool
Inputs reviewed during the day and used to shape the closing synthesis
Objective: identify 6–7 priority challenges to carry forward into February
10:50-11:30 Session 1: The regulatory and standards landscape
Explore what good asset management looks like across the UK and Ireland.
Discuss the transition plan, standards gaps
and the role of consistent sector-wide practice.
Consider how standards can act as enablers rather than tick-box exercises.
Moderator: Mark Garth, CEO, Affinity Water
Speakers:
Matt Hateley, Director of Engineering and Asset Management, Ofwat
Phil White, Chief Maintenance Officer, United Utilities
11:30-12:00 Session 2: Critical assets: identification, condition and lifecycle
Examine how critical assets are identified, assessed and prioritised across the network.
Discuss the data and inspection challenge for understanding condition and lifecycle risk.
Identify supply-chain opportunities in asset inspection and condition assessment.
Speakers:
Kara Cartwright, Innovation Lead, Canals and Rivers Trust
12.00 – 12.20 Session 3 - How Can Supply Chain Collaboration Improve Asset Health?
Leveraging supply chain relationships to trial new products and bring innovative solutions to market.
Working more closely with water utilities and Tier 1 and 2 contractors to expand the range of available solutions.
Improving compliance monitoring and documentation to support faster, more efficient sign-off for repair and reinforcement works.
Reducing costs and environmental impact through consolidated deliveries and local stock availability.
Developing more flexible supply chain models to support asset health, emergency repairs, reinforcement and planned maintenance.
Speaker:
David Coxhead, Director of National Sales, Wolseley
12.20 – 13:15 LUNCH
13:15 – 13:50 Session 4 - Data, asset registers and smart technology
The relationship between physical assets and usable data
Asset registers, condition visibility and decision quality
Why smart sensing alone is not enough
Data fragmentation, poor linkage and the consequences for maintenance and investment decisions
Data quality and how to use data to report performance to regulators
Speakers:
James Miller, Data & Digital Transformation Director, Amnut
13:50-14:15 External and cross-sector perspectives
Perspectives from North America and other sectors
How leading organisations are approaching asset health, maintenance and long-term resilience
People, process, policy and technology as an integrated challenge
Examples of stronger practice that may be relevant to the UK sector
Speaker:
John Fortin, Senior Associate, Hazen and Sawyer
14:15-15:50 – Skills, maintenance culture and practitioner reality
The practitioner-level barriers to better asset health
Creating and sustaining a proactive maintenance culture
Integrating AM and MM
Skills, accountability, maintenance culture and organisational behaviour
How to move from macro-level discussion to practical asset improvement
Speakers:
Phil White, Chief Maintenance Officer, United Utilities
15:00 – 15:45 Interactive synthesis: surfacing the six or seven key challenges
Review of audience polling responses
Facilitated discussion to test and refine the
emerging themes
Agreement on the priority challenges for the sector
Identification of the people and perspectives that need to be in the room in February
Speaker:
Paul Horton, CEO, Future Water
15:45 – 16:00 Closing Remarks