WUN Advocate Kerris Mackley chats with Nicole McNab, the 2024 Women in Utilities Rising Start Winner, discussing the importance of owning your own career – stop waiting for other people to do it for you. Also discussed in this episode is the need to be authentic, that it is ok to have ups and downs, and that the key to successful recruiting is finding people that care!

Nicole is Head of Strategic Partnerships at Southern Water. Joining the industry three years ago into the newly formed Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force, a dedicated team delivering innovative solutions to sustainably reduce storm overflows. Nicole has tackled overflow reduction head on, building new partnerships with councils, businesses, schools and campaign groups, while refusing to accept “that is just the way things are done”. Her ability to translate complex topics to the public, while delivering multi-million-pound schemes at pace, earnt her the Rising Star Award 2024 at the Women in Utilities Awards. Her team also won the Partnership/Alliance Project of the Year at the Water Industry Awards, for installing SuDS in almost 100 schools across the south within 18 months.

Find out more about Women in Utilities Awards 2025 – including hearing from further past winners, how to book your ceremony tickets or sponsorship opportunities.

Nicole is also joining the panel – What Future Leaders Want from Today’s Leaders: Attracting and Retaining Talent, 24 April, 2025, 11AM, BST. 

Hear from a panel of future leaders from across the sector as they share their insights on the policies, cultures, and leadership approaches that make an employer truly stand out to the next generation of women in utilities.

Free tickets