Interview: How South Staffs Water Modernized Investment Planning with IFS Copperleaf

The UK water industry is undergoing major change, driven by the need for smarter, sustainable, and value-focused investment decisions. South Staffs Water, serving over 1.3 million customers is tackling this head-on with IFS Copperleaf®, transforming how it plans and prioritizes investments. In a recent interview with Jared McGivern Head of Asset Management, we explored how the UK water sector is evolving as it prepares for PR24 and AMP8, and how IFS Copperleaf is helping enable this transformation by driving value-based investment planning.

Navigating Transformation in the UK Water Sector

We began by asking Jared how sector dynamics are changing — and how those shifts are shaping South Staffs and Cambridge Water’s investment approach. 

What do you see is the biggest shift in the UK water sector right now and how are these decisions influencing your investment planning for AMP8?

First, the scale of investment permitted by Ofwat in PR24 has increased significantly. With that, there’s a growing expectation for water companies to demonstrate clear value from their investments – making the right decisions and remaining flexible in how they deliver outcomes for customers. Second, there’s a much stronger focus on resilience, particularly in relation to climate change. By resilience, I mean not just preparing for the future but being able to respond to climate impacts that are happening right now. We’re also seeing rapid population growth in some regions, which means our asset base needs to evolve and remain resilient to both environmental and demographic pressures. Finally, the regulatory landscape is changing. Following the Cunliffe report, there have been numerous recommendations on how regulation might evolve. While that creates some uncertainty, there’s also an opportunity as regulators begin to work more closely or even move toward a single entity. As water companies, it’s important that we continue to be effective by understanding our assets, investing wisely, and maintaining open dialogue with regulators to ensure we’re delivering for customers both now and in the future.

How has the growing focus on resilience, sustainability and customer outcomes shaped your priorities?

I think across those three areas resilience, sustainability, and customer outcomes we are seeing a real shift in how we shape our strategic priorities, both in the short and long term. For PR24, for example, we’ve put significant thought into how we deliver against our enhancement spend and drive a step change in serviceability for customers. That’s meant focusing on water quality improvements, infrastructure resilience, and embedding ESG principles – particularly around low-carbon investments and innovation to ensure we deliver more efficiently and sustainably. Since implementing IFS Copperleaf, our approach to asset planning has evolved quite substantially, especially in the context of PR24 and AMP8. We’re now thinking about investment through a value-based lens, underpinned by a robust value framework. Previously, our investment planning could be somewhat subjective or reactive, without a clear way to measure value across the business. Now, with IFS Copperleaf’s portfolio optimization capabilities, we can bring investment needs forward from our risk capture processes, run what-if scenarios quickly, and share those insights across the business from the board to operational teams. That transparency helps everyone understand why certain investments are prioritized, which builds alignment and confidence in our plans.

Building a Value-Based Future with IFS Copperleaf®

With these evolving expectations in mind, we turned to how the IFS Copperleaf system was implemented and aligned with existing business processes. 

How did you approach embedding IFS Copperleaf into your existing plans and processes?

I think the first step was really understanding what our core objectives were for implementing the system. There were two main priorities. First, we wanted to ensure it supported the delivery of our PR24 business plan in the right way aligned with the approach and principles I mentioned earlier. Second, looking ahead to AMP8, we knew we needed a central investment system that would serve as the single source of truth for all investment planning across the business. Essentially, everything should flow through IFS Copperleaf; it should be the system that defines and drives our investment plan, with no activity sitting outside of it. That centralization was absolutely at the heart of how we set our objectives from the very beginning.

What would you say are the biggest change management lessons you have learned along the way and what advice would you give to others looking to implement a similar system?

When you’re introducing any new system or process, it’s absolutely critical that people understand the “why” behind it. Take the time to engage the business early and often. It’s not enough to say, “We’re implementing this now,” and then come back two years later with a finished product. You need a clear, frequent engagement plan and a roadmap that brings people along on the journey. Secondly, start small and scale up. Begin with something proportional to the size and complexity of your organization, then build from there. For example, we started with IFS Copperleaf H2O, a smaller, more agile solution that suited us as a water-only company. Jumping straight to C55 at the time would have been like going from zero to one hundred overnight, which didn’t feel right for our maturity level. From there, we gradually scaled up – adding additional value models tailored to our needs, building dashboarding capabilities to surface insights through Power BI, and using those to communicate more effectively with our executive team and decision-makers. In short, my biggest change management lesson would be start small, engage consistently, make the “why” clear, and build momentum as you go.

Finally, Jared reflected on what made this implementation successful and what peers across the industry can learn from their experience. 

What advice would you give to other utility companies embarking on a similar investment and change management journey?

One of the biggest lessons we learned was the value of establishing “super users” within the team. Early on, we identified two team members who would take the lead on the technical build and act as the primary point of contact with the IFS Copperleaf team. The rest of the team contributed as the programme developed, but these super users were invaluable particularly for engaging in UAT and ensuring the system met our needs. Another key lesson is not to underestimate the quality and completeness of the data you need initially to get the system up and running. In particular, asset data is critical. If the data isn’t accurate or complete, portfolio optimizations won’t generate credible outputs, and that can create challenges when presenting findings or making decisions. Ensuring a solid data foundation upfront is essential for the system to deliver value.

Since going live with IFS Copperleaf, my team has an in-depth understanding of the investment plan, line by line better than anyone else in the business. Having a centralized system means that all change management flows through IFS Copperleaf, so we maintain a baseline investment plan while being able to manage any adjustments whether that’s re-phasing projects across the AMP, introducing new spend, or responding to emerging risks. The system also allows us to run scenarios quickly and provide clear insights back to the business.

Jared McGivern
Head of Asset Management
South Staffs Water

South Staffs experience demonstrates how utilities of any size can achieve transformational outcomes through value-based investment planning. By starting small, focusing on clear business objectives, and building engagement across the organization, they’ve established a scalable foundation for future growth. 

IFS Copperleaf is proud to partner with innovative utilities like South Staffs Water as they lead the way in resilient, sustainable, and customer-centric investment planning for the UK water sector. 

About South Staffs Water
South Staffs Water supplies high quality drinking water to approximately 1.3 million people and approximately 35,000 commercial customers over 1,500 square km in the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, South Derbyshire, North Warwickshire, and North Worcestershire areas. The Company consistently achieves its twin objectives of delivering high levels of customer service and low charges.

About IFS Copperleaf
IFS Copperleaf’s AI-powered asset investment planning (AIP) solution helps critical infrastructure organizations deploy capital with confidence. By aligning every investment with strategic goals like decarbonization, risk mitigation, and regulatory outcomes, IFS Copperleaf delivers capital efficiency and business agility. It serves as a strategic decision-making layer between ERP systems and execution environments like EAM.