Innovation: An Endless Pursuit

Today’s episode of our Innovation: An Endless Pursuit podcast, is a special one, as it’s the last one of our series. Over the past weeks, we have journeyed through many different innovation challenges that the water industry faces and explored how companies can respond to them. In today’s episode, Chris speaks with Bristol Water’s CEO, Mel Karam. They shift focus and zoom out a little, to look at the industry, rather than company-specific, challenges. Mel and Chris talk about how the industry is evolving and discuss where it can look for further progress. Their conversation touches on a range of topics, including the complexities of competition in the water industry, how utilities businesses can live out their social purpose and, as in our previous episodes, Mel’s punt on which of today’s innovations are likely to flop. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and look forward to hearing what you think of it. We’re always looking for help and collaboration on our Quest and if you have any comments or thoughts we’d love to hear from you at innovation@Bristolwater.co.uk. Today's guest: Mel Karam Mel Karam is the CEO at Bristol Water. He joined the company in April 2017, from the KPMG Global Infrastructure team, where he was a Partner and Global Head of Asset Management. He is an engineer with a First Class Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering and graduated with an MBA distinction from London Business School. Mel has a long history of working in senior executive positions in UK infrastructure and utilities, including British Gas, National Grid, Scottish & Southern Energy, SGN and Thames Water. He has advised infrastructure and utility executive teams and investors around the world, on M&A activities, as well as operational excellence. Mel is skilled in investment management, asset management, commercial and business development, project management and strategic leadership.