Business Stream has appointed a new Director of Strategy and Corporate Services in a move that completes the strengthening of its senior team ahead of the English water market opening in 2017.

The company announced in June that it was buying the non-domestic customer base of Southern Water, creating the third biggest player in the Anglo-Scottish market with an 11% market share. The acquisition is expected to create around 40 new jobs. The deal will formally take effect from 1 April 2017 when the English market fully opens for competition.

Derek Hendry is joining Business Stream from Standard Life, where his most recent role has been leading change and transformation programmes on international assignments in Canada, China and Hong Kong.  He previously held a number of leadership roles with the company in a variety of IT and business change projects across its pensions, operations and group functions.

Before Standard Life, he worked in a range of leadership and project management positions with Aegon and Abbey National / Banco Santander.

Based in the company’s Edinburgh head office, and reporting into Chief Executive Johanna Dow, the new Director of Strategy will be responsible for around 30 staff and an operational budget of £4m across technology, people management, business strategy and transformational change.

Johanna Dow, chief executive of Business Stream said:

“Derek joins us at a pivotal time for the business and the industry as a whole. Our recent acquisition from Southern Water doubles our customer base and gives us a strong foothold in the English market ahead of the market opening for next year. Derek will lead our transformation activities as we prepare for market entry and continue to invest in systems and processes which will deliver service excellence for our customers across the UK. ”

In May Business Stream announced the appointment of Jo Mayes as its Director of Customer Operations.

Business Stream is the largest operator in the Scottish non-domestic water market. Its most recent profit before tax was £31 million from revenue of £320 million. Headquartered in Edinburgh, it also has an office in Glasgow, and employs around 250 staff.