Water Industry Forum, the independent stakeholder forum which addresses the UK water sector’s challenges through cross-sector collaboration, has appointed Margaret Read as a non-executive director.

She currently leads the RAPID (Regulators’ Alliance for the Progression of Infrastructure Development) programme as Director of Stakeholders and Programme on secondment from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Previously head of floods infrastructure and funding policy, prior to that Margaret Read was head of water supply policy at Defra where she led teams responsible for policy on abstraction licensing, water resource planning and developing the National Policy Statement for water supply infrastructure.

Commenting on her appointment, Margaret Read said:

“I was delighted to be invited to join the Water Industry Forum Board and I look forward to working with my fellow board members and Executive Director Peter Drake.”

“WIF provides an independent space to consider the big problems affecting the sector and to develop ideas for resolving them collaboratively. I'm particularly excited by WIF's interest in developing younger water sector talent by bringing together different players from government, regulators, the water companies and the supply chain to share thinking and best practice.”

Founded in 2012, the membership of the independent, not-for-profit stakeholder forum comprises around 600 organisations including government, regulators, regional water companies, contractors, consultants, manufacturers, research organisations, third sector organisations and investors.

Water Industry Forum Chair, Dr Mark Fletcher, added:

“I am delighted to welcome Margaret Read to the board.She brings a wealth of water sector experience and insight from both a government and regulatory perspective.”