Ian McAulay is stepping down as CEO of Viridor and from the Pennon Board to pursue other opportunities and Phil Piddington has been appointed as Managing Director. 

Phil will report to Chris Loughlin, CEO of Pennon.

Phil joined Viridor in 2014 to lead the energy division as Chief Operating Officer for Viridor. Since joining the group, Phil has played a key role in delivering Viridor’s portfolio of the Energy Recovery Facilities.

Phil has almost two decades of experience in the energy industry. He previously held senior management positions within the RWE Group and prior to that had an extensive career within BP, including Managing Director of BP Energy.

Sir John Parker, Non-Executive Chairman of Pennon, said:

“The Board would like to thank Ian for his valuable contribution to the Company and wishes him every success. Ian leaves Viridor on track to meet management expectations for 2016/17. We are delighted to welcome Phil as Managing Director of Viridor where his wealth of operational experience will be an asset to the Company. I am pleased that the depth of talent within the Group has resulted in our being able to fill this role from within the organisation.”

Ian McAulay said:

“It has been my pleasure to be at the helm of Viridor for the last three years and I’m very proud of the transformation that has been achieved in that time. We have evolved rapidly from a predominantly landfill company with a local focus, to a sophisticated and centralized waste management, recycling and energy recovery firm with an extensive UK asset base.

Our £1.5 billion investment in ERF assets has been particularly successful and, despite many challenges along the way, we have led the way in the UK in bringing these assets into operation. The contribution of these assets to the company’s future success has been underpinned by securing many long term feedstock supply contracts. Together this has been transformative to earnings for the company.

We have also made great progress in improving business performance in recycling even in very difficult economic conditions and again stand in a good place to go forward.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for helping to drive the business forward during my tenure to make Viridor one of the leading companies of its kind in the UK. We have created some great teams who are well placed to continue to deliver for future. The combination of the talents that existed in the company together with excellent new hires attracted from some of the world’s most recognized companies has been powerful.

The strategic foundations have been laid. Viridor is operating well and has the right team in place to continue to deliver Business Plan targets, continue to be a leading player in the sector and be a valuable part of the ongoing Pennon success story.

I would like to wish you and the company every success in future.”