20 . Glasgow Business October 2016
Glasgow Talks… Resilience
INDUSTRIES THAT POWER THE REGENERATION OF THE CITY
O
ur civic society depends on the resilience of the infrastructure to give
us heat, light and water. Glasgow, as a major industrial city, has an industrial legacy of electricity and water infrastructure that requires substantial upgrading, investment and regeneration. So hearing from three leaders
from the power sector, the water industry and Scotland’s waterways on the same platform was fascinating for the Chamber’s Glasgow Talks audience. Guy Jefferson, the Director of Distribution for ScotishPower,
spoke about SP Energy Networks (SPEN) and its mission to provide safe and reliable electricity to customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Guy joined SP Energy Networks in 1991 and was appointed as the Director for SP Distribution in January 2015. He has responsibility for
delivery of connections, fault restoration, asset modernisation and maintenance, so it was good to hear things are geting much beter for ScotishPower’s customers. He reminded the audience
that SPEN’s business mission is “to be a customer-focused company trusted by our
communities and stakeholders; an engineering company with strong stewardship of assets and world-class safety credentials; and a company that atracts and develops skills for the future from the communities we serve”. He spoke about the upgrade of
a tired urban network to create a robust system for an evolving city, with key investment projects at Finnieston and Port Dundas, while the Commonwealth Games provided a catalyst for an upgrade at Dalmarnock. “We will be investing a further
£125 million over the next eight years, including modernising a number of substations at Waddell Street, Gorbals (£1.5 million), Charlote Street, Glasgow Green (£3 million) and Langside, Cathcart (£0.8 million),’’ he explained. He was proud to announce that
the number of customers experiencing interruptions in the city had fallen dramatically in the last ten years (from 226,000 to 95,000) through the replacement of ageing equipment, use of newer technology and addition of capacity. He said Glasgow now has one of the most resilient energy networks in the UK. Simon Parsons, Director of
Strategic Customer Service Planning, at Scotish Water, spoke
about the massive water and waste water projects now helping Glasgow become a cleaner city. He joined Scotish Water in April 2012 as Chief Scientist and is now Director of Strategic Customer Service Planning. His overall responsibility is to ensure customer needs and expectations are built into the firm’s strategies and plans for the future, ensuring the water company continues to deliver the very best service for all. Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of
Scotish Canals, gave an entertaining presentation which highlighted the progress from dirty canals piled with rubbish and burned-out cars. Steve, who joined British Waterways in 2006 as Director Scotland, spoke about the regeneration of Speirs Locks in the last decade. It is now home to Scotish Opera, the National Teatre for Scotland, and other creative organisations, and is the hub for increasing involvement of the community. However, the impact of the
canal now spills out into North Glasgow, into Keppochhill, Cowlairs, PossilPark, Maryhill, Firhill and Ruchill where communities are embracing the opportunities of the canal network. Glasgow Talks is supported by
Clydesdale Bank and University of Glasgow Business School.
Simon Pearson, Scottish Water; Alison McRae, Senior Director, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce; Guy Jefferson, ScottishPower and Steve Dunlop, Scottish Canals at Glasgow Talks... Resilience
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52