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How do utilities like Northumbrian Water leverage collaboration with SMEs and start-ups to bolster innovation? Watch this 5 min video interview to hear from Angela MacOscar, Northumbrian Water's Head of Innovation, to learn more: 

Read the full transcript below:

Louise Crauet: Hi, I'm Louise, the conference producer for the World Water-Tech Innovation Summit, taking place in London this February 25 -26. And today I'm joined by Angela MacOscar, the Head of Innovation at Northumbrian Water. Angela, thanks for speaking with me today.

Angela MacOscar:  Very great to be here. Thank you very much for the invitation.

Louise Crauet: Great! So Angela; Northumbrian Water is actively leading on the innovation front and I wanted for you to tell us more about your innovation strategy and specifically how you work with startups - when you're leading startup projects, how do you support them during and beyond that? And also, how does that benefit you?

Angela MacOscar:  So, at Northumbrian Water, we are very passionate about innovation right throughout the entirety of our business and it is indeed one of our core values and something that we hope everybody in our organisation will get involved in and you'll see from events that we run like the Innovation Festival or the festive booster event that we've just held, our innovation approach is very inclusive. We know that we do not have all the answers to the really tough challenges that we're facing at Northumbrian and indeed in the sector at large. So we need the help from the supply chain, from academia, and from companies large and small, to be able to come up with novel solutions that will help us crack these challenges. And working with small businesses, especially is of real interest to us. So these could have spun out of a university, they could be a start up in their own right and they need very, very careful working measures because they are small and agile, which is brilliant. They're obviously often very ingenious, which again is brilliant. But what they are is also very delicate. Also, things like cash flow are really important to them. What we do is we really try and foster a strong partnership where we can give flexible payment terms and really help nurture them through the process. And we've done this with many, many companies across the years, whether it be university spin out from perhaps even students that we sponsored PhDs with, or it could be that we've come across them at the Innovation Festival or another event. And we're always really excited by what a small business can offer. So, we always do really try our best to make sure that we are clear, transparent and supportive and also sharing across the sector to make sure that that benefit goes just beyond ourselves as well.

Louise Crauet: Right. I mean you’ve already mentioned a few points around them being agile but what do you want as a utility, especially for the SMEs and the startups, what do you need them to know before they approach you? What is the best way that they can get your attention?

Angela MacOscar:  So we have as a sector; the 2050 strategy and I would recommend that anybody who wants to work with any of the water companies actually take some time to actually read that strategy and really understand the challenges that we have, because often people will come to us with what they think is a solution. But actually, they haven't really understood what we're really wanting. So there's a little bit of a disconnect. I would definitely do my homework on whatever company it is that you want to work with. We also all publish our challenges also more than anywhere else, there could be an open door in the festival where we actually describe what our challenge is. If you take the time to really understand what it is that we're looking for, then it could be that it's a great fit and then that would lead to a great partnership and some really great results at the other end. I would definitely urge people to do their homework. The other thing that I think is really important is that there's honesty and openness that will then lead to a trusted relationship. So by having you know, really clear success criteria and really being, you know, setting up a very good partnership that then builds that trust and honesty again. This is very, very important for success.

Louise Crauet: Great. And I guess that leads on perfectly to my last question and talking about the water sector in general, you know from the idea to the proof of concept to being able to scale up, how do you think that we can shorten the timeline for the technology development for those startups in the water sector and also perhaps what are the barriers to the innovation and what could what needs to change and what could change?

Angela MacOscar:  Yeah, I think that you're absolutely got the nail on the head there in that the gap between trial and then business-as-usual is probably wider and longer than we would like it for a whole host of reasons: be it monopoly regulated businesses, plus we work across seasons. Everything aren't as fast as perhaps we would like. But for sure that there is in our hands to make it as fast as possible. So there are ways in which we can do that. So I think trusting other water companies, there aren't as many trials. So for example, if another company has trialled it, we shouldn't have to then run a trial. We should then take those learnings and then build from that. And if it is that you set up good success criteria, then really you should be able to create your business case that then would then bring it into business-as-usual. So, you can absolutely take it from me. We had speed and scale as our theme at the festival this year and it is something that we are actively working on. So, we can improve that speed and scale which will benefit the supply chain and indeed the small businesses, but it'll also be a benefit to us because we want to realise that value from innovation as fast as we can as well.

Louise Crauet: Ah, ending on a positive note. I like that this is some good prospect. Thank you so much for sharing your insights and for sharing your time with us. Can't wait to hear more about it at the summit. It will be amazing to have you join us again.

Angela MacOscar:  Yeah. No, thank you very much for the invite and it was really nice to meet you.

Meet Angela at the summit in London and join her in the session 'Collaboration and Investment: Accelerating the Path to Market for Start-Ups and SMEs' at 15.10pm on February 26.