News

Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield named Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year

10th May 2018

Liv Garfield, Chief Executive of water company Severn Trent, was named Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year at a special ceremony last night.

The 42-year-old, who has been in charge of the company, which serves eight million people in the Midlands and north and mid-Wales, since 2014 was the FTSE 100’s youngest ever female CEO.

The judging panel outlined Liv’s strong customer-focused approach and business acumen as two reasons as to why she won the award. Since taking over, she has ensured the business has a strong customer focus while also making sure she has championed diversity, inclusion and engagement. That focus has led to Severn Trent being named in the Social Mobility Index, taking a leading role in considering the needs of women entering, or in, menopause and also signing up to the Dying to Work charter to better help employees with a terminal diagnosis.

“This is an incredible honour, not only because I remember taking a huge amount of inspiration from some of the previous winners of this award but also because of the awesome story of Madame Clicquot herself, who was a strong role model at a time when women in business were almost unheard of,” said Liv.

“I truly am delighted but also a little humbled – I know I wouldn’t have been able to win this award without the help and support of absolutely everyone at Severn Trent who works to keep customers’ water flowing every second of every day, so this is as much a win for them as it is for me.”

Ruth Chapman, Founder, Matches Fashion was announced as the runner-up for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award. For more information about the award go to http://www.veuveclicquotaward.com/.