Yorkshire Water CEO to leave after one-star rating

Yorkshire Water chief executive Nicola Shaw is stepping down, and the company has named Nicola Medalova as her successor, with the handover scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. The announcement came a day after the Environment Agency gave the utility its lowest environmental performance rating, one star out of four, and classified it as poorly performing. Yorkshire Water said Medalova will join on November 2 as chief executive-designate and work with Shaw during a transition period. Shaw will remain in the role until Medalova assumes the position at the start of 2027. The company said Medalova previously served as a non-executive director on its board. The Environment Agency’s rating followed an assessment of the company’s environmental performance. Reports give different totals for Yorkshire Water’s pollution incidents in 2025: one says the agency recorded 335, including 13 serious incidents, while two others report 260. The reports do not explain the difference, so neither figure can be presented as a settled total. The lower figure was described as the company’s highest since 2011. The rating marks a decline from two stars in 2023 and 2024, and three stars in 2022,...