South East Water names John Halsall as chief executive designate

South East Water has named John Halsall as chief executive designate as the supplier faces scrutiny over outages, debt and service reliability.

South East Water has named John Halsall as its chief executive designate, choosing an outside industry figure to replace David Hinton after months of criticism over supply failures in Kent and Sussex.

The company said Halsall’s appointment is subject to regulatory approval. He has previously worked for Thames Water, South West Water and Network Rail, and is set to take over after Hinton leaves following a handover period.

The leadership change comes as the water supplier remains under pressure from customers, politicians and regulators. Tens of thousands of South East Water customers lost supply or experienced low pressure during incidents in November, December, January and May.

Regulator Ofwat recently proposed a £22m fine against the company over issues affecting 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023.

Halsall said his first priorities would be “responding to customers’ immediate concerns” and delivering short-term improvements. Over the longer term, he said he would lead the company’s largest investment programme, worth £2.1bn, to improve reliability and resilience.

“I look forward to working with our customers, community partners, regulators and colleagues to rebuild trust in South East Water, drive the improvements the business needs to deliver and make the changes people want to see,” Halsall said.

Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin welcomed the decision to bring in leadership from outside the company, saying fresh ideas were urgently needed after “years of managed decline.” He added: “I hope this marks a genuine turning point for the company.”

The company is also carrying a heavy financial load. A South East Water annual report shows £1.3bn of debt, while customer bills rose by an average of 7% from April, taking the average yearly bill to £324.

Halsall’s appointment now moves to the regulatory approval process, with customers and regulators likely to judge the change by whether supply reliability improves after a series of disruptive failures.