Senior Leadership
Ruth Kelly
Chair
Ruth Kelly joined Water UK as Chair in March 2023.
As a former Member of Parliament for Bolton West from 1997-2010, Ruth served in the UK Cabinet for four years. Since stepping down as an MP, she has held senior corporate and academic positions. She is the Chair of Thames Freeport, a Director of Heathrow Airport, advises the Vatican on its financial portfolio and is Senior Fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank.
David Henderson
Chief Executive Officer
David Henderson joined Water UK as Chief Executive Officer in February 2023.
His Government experience includes working as a special adviser in Australia and as an official in HM Treasury and 10 Downing Street. In the private sector, he has specialised in building and strengthening the reputations of large organisations, most recently at WPP and KPMG.
Stuart Colville
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Stuart joined Water UK in 2017. He is responsible for overseeing all policy and strategy work at Water UK.
Previously Stuart was Principal Private Secretary in Whitehall. He spent ten years in Government strategy and policy roles with a particular focus on energy and the environment, and has also worked for Accenture.
Valmai Barclay
General Counsel
After a spell in public affairs at the start of her career, Valmai qualified as a solicitor and worked first in private practice then for a major international contractor where she specialised in construction and engineering projects. Before joining Water UK Valmai was Company Secretary and Senior Legal Counsel at Tideway - the company responsible for the Thames Tideway Tunnel.
Dan Walker-Nolan
Director of Policy
Dan Joined Water UK as Director of Policy in January 2024 and is responsible for overseeing development of our policy agenda, including water services, the environment, rivers & seas, and resilience.
Dan previously worked in Government for four years, latterly as Deputy Director for the Policy Response and Resilience Unit. Before that, he held several roles focussing on water and energy sector regulation, at Ofwat and Citizens Advice respectively.
Mark Holmes
Director of Public Affairs
Mark leads on engagement with politicians, advisors and influential third parties across Westminster and Whitehall.
Previously Mark worked in a similar role for the international development charity WaterAid, at the National Farmers Union (NFU) and in a public affairs consultancy focusing on energy and environment policy. He started his career working for the Climate Change Committee Chairman Lord Deben, has worked in parliament for an MP and was Interim Director at the Conservative Environment Network (CEN).
William Davies
Acting Director of Communications
Will heads up the press office and also leads the communications for campaigns and policy work.
Prior to joining Water UK Will held a number of different communications roles across the charity, political and business sectors.
Jane Disborough
Director of Finance and Commercial Operations
Jane is a chartered accountant and has worked for sixteen years in the mining industry both in the UK and Africa, holding roles in corporate finance, business planning and group reporting. She subsequently moved to the non-profit sector where she has led finance teams at international charities. She has also managed a wildlife conservation NGO in Zambia which carried out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking activities as well as community outreach and environmental education.