Rising Star of the Year (Supply Chain)
Celebrating the achievements of emerging talent within the utilities supply chain over the past year. Finalists have been working in the utilities sector for seven years or less.
Rising Star of the Year (Supply Chain)
Celebrating the achievements of emerging talent within the utilities supply chain over the past year. Finalists have been working in the utilities sector for seven years or less.
Ethan Ashton, Caecillian Utilities
In just over a year as Caecillian’s first dedicated data hire, Ethan has transformed how the business captures, understands and uses information. He has replaced disconnected spreadsheets and paper-based records with live dashboards and digital processes covering fleet, supply chain, fuel, training, qualifications and health and safety. His initiative has extended beyond reporting: he developed a contract productivity system that outperformed an existing third-party platform and is now being introduced elsewhere in the business. Ethan’s work has improved visibility, strengthened decision-making, reduced costs and made reliable data part of Caecillian’s day-to-day operations.
Tom Bowman, Grundfos
At just 25 years old, Tom Bowman has established himself as a recognised leader in utility technology, combining innovation, commercial impact and strategic influence. As Senior Product & Solutions Manager at Grundfos, he is responsible for technologies supporting more than 100,000 deployed assets globally and is leading strategic programmes expected to generate significant future revenue. A holder of 14 patents and multiple industry awards, Tom has built a reputation for turning complex ideas into real-world solutions. From shaping business strategy and product direction to representing the business at industry events, he is helping drive the future of the utilities
Laura Friel, Pastdue Credit Solutions, a Firstsource company
Around 440 customer accounts were protected from further collections escalation because Laura Friel refused to ignore one escalated case. That instinct was built over ten years in hospitality, working her way from housekeeper to regional manager, paid to spot what was wrong in a room before anyone complained. When Covid ended that career, she started again in collections, knowing nothing about the industry. Six years on, the habit remains: she cut metering-related feedback by 94% in two months, introduced fee controls now shared across Water Plus, and has led her team to exceed its performance target for 12 consecutive months.
Rowan Hutchinson, Stantec
Rowan Hutchinson has rapidly established himself as one of the water sector's most outstanding emerging leaders. With limited of industry experience, Rowan has been appointed as the Regional Discipline Lead, demonstrating leadership, technical excellence, and professional maturity well beyond his career stage. Over the past year, he has successfully grown and led a regional engineering team, delivered significant value across major water projects, and championed a people-first approach to leadership. His ability to combine technical expertise, innovation, collaboration, and exceptional client focus makes him a truly deserving recipient of the Rising Star of the Year award.
Helen Jones, Lanes Group
In just five years within the sector, Helen has emerged as an exceptional leader within Lanes Group. Over the past year, she successfully project managed a major new depot launch while maintaining regional performance and KPI delivery. Faced with the challenge of operating over 70 HGVs during depot construction, Helen developed an innovative and flexible operational plan that enabled works to progress safely without disrupting service delivery. Through strong stakeholder engagement and meticulous planning, she earned the trust of both client and contractor, keeping the project on track. Helen's initiative, judgement, and leadership mark her as a future leader.
Mehr Lamba, Sirio
In fewer than two years in energy, Mehr has progressed to leading strategic programmes with industry-wide significance. She took ownership of a first-of-its-kind Distribution System Operator (DSO) data strategy, shaping how a major network business will govern, improve and share data through the next price control period. Alongside this, she created an automated Social Value assurance tool, expanded industry guidance for vulnerable-customer services, and is now developing storm response proxies to quantify previously under-evidenced benefits. Her work combines initiative, technical judgement and a clear focus on using better evidence to drive better decisions for networks, customers and vulnerable communities.
Tom Pooley, M Group
Tom Pooley has emerged as one of our most promising new leaders. After transitioning from a successful policing career into the water industry just one year ago, he has quickly established himself as a key operational leader within Southern Water's smart metering programme. Managing approximately 100 colleagues, he has played a critical role in helping mobilise and deliver one of the UK's largest customer-facing water efficiency programmes, contributing to more than 191,000 smart meter installations. His leadership, initiative in building high-performing teams, and commitment to delivering exceptional customer outcomes make him a highly deserving Rising Star of the Year candidate.
Jack Roberts, OCU Group
Jack is an outstanding example of emerging talent in the water sector, combining hands-on operational experience with strong leadership, safety expertise and a determination to deliver better outcomes. Since joining OCU in August 2025, Jack has progressed through SHEQ, Operations and Construction Management, making an immediate and measurable impact at every stage. He has helped transform a key client relationship, improving KPI performance from the 60s to the high 80s with zero escalations, while successfully delivering more than 20 complex reactive jobs for Welsh Water. His initiative, innovative thinking and commitment to developing others make him a deserving Rising Star.
Zac Spearman-Weaver, Sirio
In two years at Sirio, Zac has progressed from analyst to senior consultant and become a leading figure not only in the firm's rapidly growing Distribution System Operator (DSO) practice, but also in wider DSO consulting. Over the past year, he led 11 DSO projects across two electricity networks, representing around 80% of Sirio's DSO portfolio. His work spans regulatory submissions, strategy, and stakeholder engagement. Zac has become Sirio's trusted source of DSO knowledge and a valued adviser to clients. Projects under his leadership accounted for 60% of Sirio's DSO revenue and 16% of total company revenue in 2025/26.
