The Eric Wright Group has promoted Neal Whittle to the position of managing director of Eric Wright Water, continuing to build on the success of the £45 million company as a leading water sector contractor.
The promotion follows a strategic move to separate the commercial interests of Eric Wright Water from Eric Wright Group’s Civil Engineering business, enabling it to become a specialist division in its own right. It is part of a focus on building stronger water industry relationships and focusing on high quality, reliable and safe contracting services to deliver the company’s strategy of an increased presence on water sector frameworks. The appointment of Neal as managing director will ensure that Eric Wright Water delivers this strategy in preparation for AMP7.
Neal has been a key figure within Eric Wright Water for the past 15 years, and has been instrumental in building the division into a respected water sector specialist with established relationships across several UK water companies with a 200-strong team in five locations, including Preston, Bromsgrove, Bradford, Dumfries and Glasgow.
The company’s national reach and proven expertise in the water and wastewater sector has led to its successful appointment to a number of major frameworks, including United Utilities, Yorkshire Water and Scottish Water. Most recently, Eric Wright Water was awarded a framework extension with Severn Trent.
Neal explained: “We have an established reputation for proactively working in partnership with our water company customers to help them improve efficiency, safety and reliability and I will continue to place safety at the heart of everything we do in my new role as managing director.
“As we approach AMP7, there are excellent opportunities for our water business to further our relationships and my new role as managing director will involve ensuring that we embrace that opportunity and answer the requirements of the water industry marketplace, delivering projects as a true collaborative partner.”
Jeremy Hartley, group managing director at the Eric Wright Group, added: “Neal has been instrumental in taking the Eric Wright Water business forward to become the £45 million business it is today, as a key supply chain partner for several water companies.
“His appointment as managing director is part of our focus on enabling Eric Wright Water to develop its own strategic model, distinct from the Civil Engineering division, heralding an exciting new period as the company moves forward under Neal’s leadership.”
Eric Wright Group’s multi-disciplinary engineering and construction arm delivers a range of specialist services including in-house design (mechanical and electrical), project management, civil engineering, MEICA installation, commissioning, instrumentation & control, planned & preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance & breakdown repairs.
Eric Wright Water is part of the Eric Wright Group and wholly-owned by the Eric Wright Charitable Trust. Profits from the Group are invested back into the Trust and used to support organisations and good causes that focus on young people’s wellbeing, education and training, health, carers and elderly services in the North West and across the UK.