mark penny
Mark is an inspirational leader with extensive water industry experience as an executive director and senior manager. He has both the ability and the credentials to facilitate implementation of large scale cultural change with the delivery of significant operational efficiencies and service improvement to large and small organizations.
Mark has held a number of Senior Executive positions including Customer Service and Operational Directorships at Yorkshire Water. As a change leader he was a major influencer and contributor in over a decade of organizational change including modernizing ways of working for treatment engineers, the creation of a customer service driven 7 day extended hour working for field staff, the introduction of a quarterly pay for performance review process, and the negotiation of a 5 year deal.
A National Customer Service award winner Mark was accountable for the Customer Experience Strategy which placed the business in 2nd place in the first year of the Service Incentive Mechanism. The visionary Clear Water program and the resultant Z3s project created a fresh approach to developing and delivering innovative water network solutions through the creation of a collaborative partnering culture. In his earlier career Mark was also the business unit lead on the development of the award winning Integrated Customer and Operations Management (ICOM) systems and processes.
Currently, he is the part-time Chief Operating Officer of Business Modelling Associates UK Ltd, a leading business analytics firm working in the water, waste, energy and infrastructure sectors. BMA helps clients improve financial performance and business outcomes by understanding the optimal trade-off between cost, risk and service.
Mark also holds a voluntary role as the Chair of the North East Partnership of the Canal and Rivers Trust. The Canal and River Trust is the 13th largest charity in the UK and has taken over accountability for the operation, maintenance and improvement of over 2000 miles of canals and navigable rivers in England and Wales. The Trust marks a new start for this extraordinary network and a radical, modern approach to the care of our national heritage. It is a new model for delivering public services with community involvement at the heart of its founding principles.
In addition Mark is a Trustee Directors of the Aire Rivers Trust a registered charity who work to improve the River Aire and its catchment, connecting people, places and nature.
Mark now adds Castleton to his portfolio bringing with him the following key attributes:
• Strategic thinker, facilitator and catalyst for change
• Inspirational leader of teams and individuals
• Open, honest and pragmatic approach
• A relationship builder and developer of partnering and partnership working
• Creative thinker who embraces and drives innovation
• Track record of delivering significant financial and service outperformance
Living in West Yorkshire with wife Shelley and 5 children he enjoys watching rugby union, collecting brewery advertising memorabilia, eating hot curries and the peace and tranquillity of gongoozling on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.