Our Board

The Board consists of our Chairman and acting Chief Executive - Chris Mellor and four Non-Executive Directors - John Ballard, Ruth Thompson, Declan Gormley and Donald Price.

The Non-Executive Directors are joined on the Board by Executive Directors - Ronan Larkin (Director of Finance and Regulation) and George Butler (Director of Asset Management).

Below are our Chairman / Chief Executive and Non-Executive Board members.

Non-Executive Board Members

Chris Mellor - Chairman

Chris Mellor

Chairman

Chris joined as non-executive Chair in February 2006. He spent five and a half years as CEO of Anglian Water Group up to 2003. Chris is a qualified accountant and has worked for nearly 25 years in the Water Industry in both the public and private sectors.

John Ballard
Non Executive Director

John is a former Finance Director of the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and Water Director with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He is a member of the Steering Board for the Marine Fisheries Agency, appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is also a non-executive Director of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, NHS Trust.

Ruth Thompson

Ruth Thompson, OBE
Non Executive Director

Ruth was the former Group Corporate Affairs Director for National Grid Plc and has undertaken senior roles in the energy industries. She is a non exec Director with a number of public organisations and charities. She is a non exec of ONE RDA, NHS NE, New and renewable energy Centre (NAREC), University of Northumbria and Chair of National Energy Action.

Declan Gormley
Non Executive Director

Declan is a former General Manager of Saxone (Ireland), UK Operations Director with the British Shoe Corporation and most recently Managing Director of Ulster Weavers Apparel Ltd.

He also currently holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the Action Renewables Board 

Donald Price
Non Executive Director

Donald is a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Director of the Northern Bank, where he is currently a non-executive director. A former Managing Director of NIR and the Belfast Telegraph, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers and a member of the CBI and IoD.

Executive Board Members

Laurence MacKenzie

Laurence MacKenzie
Chief Executive
Laurence joined Northern Ireland Water as Chief Executive Officer in July 2009. Prior to joining NI Water he was an executive director of the Viridian Group and headed up Northern Ireland Electricity plc. Before joining Viridian in 2000 he was General Manager of ABB's manufacturing interests in Scotland, he also spent time with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc as Business Performance Manager.

Responsible for the overall performance of Northern Ireland Water and the ongoing transformation of the organisation into an efficient, customer focussed, world class water utility.

Ronan Larkin
Director of Finance & Regulation

Ronan is the Director of Finance and Regulation for NI Water. He was previously responsible for commercial and financial roles in various other organisations in the UK and Ireland

 

George Butler

Director of Asset Management

George has worked in most aspects of the water industry as a consultant, independent contractor, regulator and financier.

In his early career he procured major water and waste facilities in the UK and overseas, using conventional and PPP models.

He is a chartered engineer, member of ICE, CIWEM and IWO and holds degrees from Edinburgh, Imperial and Cranfield universities. He is a director of UKWIR.

George's role with Northern Ireland Water has responsibility for strategic asset management and the company's scientific services.

Mark Ellesmere
General Counsel and Company Secretary
Mark Ellesmere is Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Northern Ireland Water Limited (“NIW”). He is a member of the NIW Executive Team. He is responsible for all legal matters impacting on the organisation including the establishment of the in-house legal function within NIW as well as external advisors instructed on behalf of NIW.

Mark has spent the last 11 years as a senior in-house lawyer. Prior to his role at NIW he held a similar position at First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland.

Mark qualified and practised in the City of London as a solicitor for several years before returning home to Northern Ireland in 1996.