There’s little need to diagnose the challenges the water industry faces. From climate change and population growth to aging infrastructure caused by decades of under-investment, increasingly acute skills shortages, and more - the issues are well-documented.
The daunting scale of the challenge is illustrated by the need to deliver an additional five billion litres of water every day by 2050 and by pressing environmental concerns that require more sustainable water management to reduce pollution and increase biodiversity.
Yet, there is hope. And I am optimistic that the industry can come together, sharing talent and expertise, to deliver the comprehensive upgrades that our water infrastructure needs to meet the challenges of the coming decades. Ultimately, industry-wide collaboration will be key.
Opening the industry to more suppliers
Recent asset management periods have seen the industry coalesce around a relatively narrow pool of established suppliers. This has produced good, long-term relationships. However, it has made it difficult for new suppliers, including SMEs, to win work in the industry. As a result, the sector risks missing out on some valuable potential gains, including different perspectives, innovation and new and additional resources.
Ultimately, with the government’s ambitions for the UK’s water infrastructure and the size of AMP8 (and future AMPs), current suppliers will need a level of support that can only be delivered through wider collaboration. Yet, the scale of the challenge is enormous. Delivery requires skilled people on a scale that existing providers alone do not possess.
Recent research sets the scene starkly; nearly a quarter (23%) of the workforce is due to retire within the next five years, while two-thirds of engineers are seeking roles in other industries.
A breadth of knowledge and experience will be critical. That includes drawing upon expertise from countries where significant upgrades to aging water infrastructure are already being delivered – notably in Europe. This means it is increasingly important for clients and their existing supply chain to be collaborating with and drawing upon the expertise, new approaches and additional people that exist in SMEs and businesses with experience of overseas success stories.
AMP8 is bigger and broader in scope
AMP8 is not simply a bigger version of AMP7. The scope of work set by OFWAT is considerably broader and looks into the next funding period and beyond, which means the expertise required for delivery is much broader and a greater range of technical specialisms will be needed. For example, AMP8 requires considerable reductions in sewage discharges into rivers and seas, as well as the delivery of major strategic projects such as new reservoirs and water transfer schemes. Moreover, it comes with ambitious goals for energy efficiency, renewable energy use and carbon reduction whilst providing environmental enhancement through nature-based solutions.
Again, each of these elements involves substantial complexities, including interacting technical elements. Drawing upon deep technical expertise and a range of perspectives is vital. Ultimately, a break from the norm is required.
Clients and existing suppliers need to be brave, take a leap of faith to change the ways things have always been done. New suppliers from other sectors and geographies can be seen as partners rather than competitors - collaboration is an opportunity rather than a risk. Diversification of the supply chain provides resilience and efficiency in delivery and brings more people from other sectors into the industry, which helps to address the challenge of a declining workforce.
We can see, then, that to rise to the challenge of AMP8, the industry needs new people (more people) and expertise. But this is by no means an insurmountable challenge. As an industry, we must push collaborative relationships to enhance delivery. This includes expanding some of the best practice out there and moving away from short-term, transactional contracts to more collaborative partnerships across the supply chain - shared risks but also shared goals, opportunities and rewards.
Egis is just one example of a consultancy in prime position to complement existing expertise and to bring new people with new ideas into the UK’s water sector.
This article originally appeared in Water Magazine's October 2025 issue.