Colin Kelly, director of gas and water at Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, said the time had come for a fresh approach to drive the benefits that customer wanted to see.

He told a conference of leading lights in the water industry that to tackle the challenges of AMP6 and beyond, the industry has to deliver a real step change be adopting a new national innovation strategy.

He said:  “It will not be enough for us to simply ‘up our game’ and do more of the same, but better.

“It is my opinion that moving forward, innovation will need to be undertaken in a much more structured way.

Speaking at the Future Water conference in London, Kelly argued the time had come for the industry not to wholly rely on contractors to drive innovation solely through the bid process.

“My request to water companies, the supply chain and the regulator is to come together to create a National Innovation Strategy for the water industry.

“By working within a more formal framework for innovation, it would be possible to remove the wasted effort and duplicity which occurs from multiple organisations working in parallel on the same problems.

“Working collaboratively towards common goals would prioritise efforts, ensuring investment is made in the right areas and solutions are delivered that the whole sector can adopt for the benefit of all.”

Kelly asked those present from the regulator, water companies and supply chain if there were any instances when they acted as a blocker, rather than an enabler for innovation and where they could each benefit from a more joined-up approach.