South Staffordshire Plc has announced the appointment of Elena Karpathakis as the new Managing Director for its water businesses, South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water. She will assume her role at the end of March 2025, coinciding with the commencement of AMP 8, the company's most significant investment phase to date.
Elena Karpathakis brings over two decades of leadership experience in regulated and safety-critical sectors. Prior to joining South Staffordshire Plc, she served as Vice President – Field Services Director at British Gas, overseeing one of the UK's largest in-home service engineering units. Her career also includes various operational and business planning leadership roles at Openreach and BT Group.
In her new position, Karpathakis will lead efforts to implement the 2025-2030 business plan for both South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water. This plan represents the largest investment period in the company's history, aiming to secure future water supplies, protect regional environments, and maintain customer bills among the lowest in the sector.
Charley Maher, Group CEO at South Staffordshire Plc, expressed confidence in Karpathakis's appointment, stating: "The successful delivery of South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water’s 2025-2030 business plan is imperative for our customers, the environment, and our investor. The next five years will bring some truly exciting investment for customers, and we are excited to start putting our plans into action to secure future water supplies, alongside protecting the region’s environment and keeping our customer bills amongst the lowest in the sector. Elena’s experience and skill set mean she is ideally placed to lead South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water, and I look forward to the future success ahead."
Karpathakis herself conveyed enthusiasm about joining at such a pivotal time, stating: "I’m delighted to be joining South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water at a time when the business, and sector, is starting out on its new five-year business planning period. I am looking forward to working with the whole team to deliver on our ambitions for our people, customers and the environment. There is lots of work to do to deliver our ambitious business plan, and I can’t wait to get started."
South Staffs Water supplies high-quality drinking water to approximately 1.3 million people across the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, South Derbyshire, North Warwickshire, and North Worcestershire areas. Cambridge Water serves around 351,000 customers in the Cambridgeshire region.
