What Innovation means to us

Innovation can mean a variety of different things. We follow the lead of Ofwat who describe innovation as “not only meaning a step-change in technology, but also in the use of systems, process and people, including commercial arrangements.” And from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) who say “Innovation is about new ideas, new ways of doing things, new products and services, new technologies and new business models. It can come from radical transformation or incremental improvements…” We find we are good at innovation which delivers incremental improvement; it is the transformational nature of innovation that we particularly need to unlock.

When it comes to innovation, our focus is on identifying, adapting and deploying innovative solutions. We are not a research and development type organisation. Yet we welcome the opportunity to work with external companies and academic institutions to support and tap-in their endeavours.