The importance of natural water

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A drive to breathe life into a debate around the importance of our natural water resource in the North West has received a boost from one of Prince Charles’s charities.
Around 15 top business leaders will visit Greater Manchester next month as part of Business in the Community’s Seeing is Believing programme.

Started in 1990, the Prince wanted leaders to see for themselves how business can play a role in tackling Britain’s most pressing social, environmental and economic issues resulting in a simple yet powerful programme with over 8500 leaders participating to turn ideas into action.

The one-day summit will draw attention to the importance of water management in the UK.

The boss of north west water firm United Utilities' Steve Mogford has been chosen to host the visit in Rivington, Bolton.

Mr Mogford said: "Businesses have a critical role to play in the shared risks of water management, it’s vital we stimulate discussion at Boardroom level and illustrate the scale of the issue and the risks poor water management pose to business strategy.

"I hope this visit will strengthen mutual understanding, not simply of the challenges, but also of its enormous potential to address water management issues for the benefit of society such as reducing the risk of flooding to both homes and businesses."

A wide range of industries will come together on Wednesday 12 September including Alliance Boots, Whitbread, and United Biscuits.

The delegation will hear how United Utilities is addressing the issue of water management and valuing its natural capital, before travelling by coach to Winter Hill, Bolton to see first hand how SCaMP, a sustainably water catchment programme, is addressing some of the complexities in the collection of water in the natural environment.

Before finishing at United Biscuits, Crossley Road, Manchester, were they will hear from Paul Martin, Head of Engineering, about investing in sustainable water management.