Closer connections: The power of personalised customer support
With a career spanning almost three decades, including much time working with customers to provide close payment support, Mark Wilkinson is more than familiar with the impact water firms have on everyday lives. Here, Northumbrian Water Group’s head of income, reveals how he is using past experiences to ensure customers receive the best service – at the right price.
January 16, 2025
Meet Mark Wilkinson, Northumbrian Water Group’s head of income.
Having worked in the water industry for almost 30 years, he has seen unprecedented change in the sector, with his career having taken him from Essex to Durham, Johannesburg and back to Durham again.
Mark started at Essex and Suffolk Water in 1995 after graduating with an economics degree from Portsmouth University.
He initially worked in debt recovery, talking to customers on the phone all day, a role he took temporarily before moving to work on customer billing complaints.
He says: “Working directly with our customers gave me a real understanding of those struggling to pay their bills, and how we could help them without judgement, listening carefully and helping as much as we could.”
The merger of Essex and Suffolk Water and Northumbrian Water saw Mark relocate to Durham and take financial control of the customer directorate, along with income and debt.
Around the same time, Mark had the opportunity to work on two projects in Johannesburg, resulting in setting the first prices for the newly-formed Johannesburg Water.
Once back in the North East, he became a qualified accountant, and began spending more time focusing on customer debt and looking
at Northumbrian Water Group’s billing and collections process.
Mark’s economics, finance and customer background meant he focused on the longer term benefits of sustainability, rather than short- term cash collection.
He says: “In a monopoly situation, longer term strategies make more sense financially.
“Building relationships with customers who are struggling to pay, by having meaningful conversations, even in very difficult situations, leads to the best customer service.”
The water company has been among the top water firms for customer satisfaction and trust consistently for nine years, something it is always looking to improve to become the best in the UK.
Northumbrian Water Group was the first water company to partner with Stepchange, the debt advice agency, by guaranteeing to abide by its customer payment recommendation, no matter what that was.
Mark says: “This partnership showed each customer had a different story.
“Yes, there were often some similarities, but for each one, the set of circumstances that had led them to that point were subtly different.”
He adds: “We often talk about putting ourselves in customers’ shoes, but how easy is that to do in reality?
“How many of us have actually had similar experiences?
“When you listen to a customer talking to someone independently, the perspective is different to having a direct conversation.
“You notice different things, you pick up tone, you actually listen carefully to the words and what a customer focuses on in the conversation, and often you realise the judgement you might have applied to the situation is based on your experience, not theirs.”
Over the years, Northumbrian Water Group has embarked on many different campaigns and partnerships with a number of local and national operators, always with the principle that these organisations are the ones customers trust and turn to for help.
Mark says: “More recently, the focus has been proactive identification of eligible customers for support.
“We’ve set up data sharing with the Department for Work and Pensions, housing associations and local authorities to help us find customers needing support.”
The water company offers a range of support for customers including flexible payment plans, low income discounts, bill cap schemes and even payment breaks if there has been a sudden or unexpected change in a customer’s circumstances.
There is also a priority services register, which ensures support for those who may need additional help.
North East customers pay the lowest water and wastewater bills in England.
This follows the biggest price reduction in the sector of 18 per cent, which was made in 2020.
The funds raised by any future increased water bills will only be used to fund improvements to regional water systems, with the water company stating if these improvements aren’t delivered, bills will automatically be reduced.
In more recent years, Mark has gone on to lead the debt teams and set up the affordability team.
He adds: “The water industry today is unrecognisable from the sector I joined almost 30 years ago, but our customers remain at the heart of what we deliver.
“Our current plans will see the number of households we are supporting with social tariffs double by 2030 to almost 300,000 as we eliminate water poverty, making sure no customer will need to spend more than five per cent of their income on water and wastewater bills.”
Northumbrian Water Group
For more information about Northumbrian Water Group, and the provider’s wider work across the North East, visit – www.nwl.co.uk
To check if you might be eligible for financial support, visit www.nwl.co.uk/services/extra-support/financial-support/
January 16, 2025
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