Sara Venning, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Water, is the new National President of the Institute of Water.
Sara was formally installed as President at the 74th Annual General Meeting which preceded the Institute’s two-day Annual Conference, held at Titanic Belfast.
The National President is the most senior figure in the Institute of Water and is a well-known, well-respected leader in the water sector who believes in the values and vision of the Institute and is willing to actively promote them during their term of office.
Lynn Cooper, Chief Executive of the Institute of Water, said:
“I’m delighted we have persuaded another industry leader to be our President. Anyone who has met Sara will know just how dedicated she is and inspirational to those around her – ideal attributes for our President.
Sara has been involved at local Area level since she took over as CEO at Northern Ireland Water and has been a regular at our Annual Conference since she took part in Meet the Leaders in Cambridge in 2015. Sara has learned from each year’s event and managed to capture the best from each in her own Conference last week.
We welcome Sara to the role of President and look forward to an exciting and challenging year under her leadership.”
Sara Venning said:
“I’m so proud to be the Institute of Water’s President and to join a long list of distinguished figures from the water sector who have had the opportunity to lead this Institute over the years.
I’m thrilled to have started my term as President with such a successful and well received conference.
Since 1945, the Institute of Water has had a very clear vision of developing people to serve in the UK water sector and I will continue that work by ensuring the organisation remains a valuable resource for water sector professionals.”
The National President begins their year by planning and delivering the Institute of Water’s Annual Conference, capturing much of what the Institute of Water offers over two days. As well as providing high level direction to the Board, the President also leads the Rising Stars programme for the following calendar year and supports UK-wide Institute of Water events wherever possible.
Sara succeeds Douglas Millican, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, who will continue a further year on the Institute of Water Board as Past-President, and will be followed in 2020 by Bob Taylor, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Water.
About Sara Venning
Sara Venning started her career as an electrical engineer with Northern Ireland Electricity.
Sara joined NI Water in April 2010, as Director of Customer Service Delivery and was appointed CEO of NI Water in April 2014.
Northern Ireland Water provides water and wastewater services for almost 1.8 million people in Northern Ireland – producing 570 million litres of clean water per day and treating 340 million litres of wastewater.
Uniquely placed NI Water, a Government Owned Company which is publicly funded, has recently celebrated a decade of delivery with substantial customer service and efficiency improvements.
Sara is married with three daughters and loves to get the whole family out for a ramble taking in the beauty of NI Water’s many catchments.