Summary
Anglian Water, one of the largest water companies in the UK, provides essential water and water recycling services to more than six million people across the East of England. In a region where environmental sustainability and population growth are of increasing concern, the company has placed a strong focus on innovation and stakeholder engagement.
In today’s landscape, businesses need to ensure that their operations are not only efficient but also transparent, especially when engaging with communities, regulatory bodies, and other key stakeholders. This is where Anglian Water’s story becomes particularly interesting. Facing a multitude of challenges in managing its interactions with thousands of stakeholders, the company adopted Tractivity, a platform that has helped it streamline its communication, build trust, and manage stakeholder feedback effectively.
Explore Anglian Water’s strategic approach to stakeholder engagement and how the implementation of Tractivity has strengthened their efforts in communication and consultation.
The challenges
Anglian Water provides essential water and water recycling services to more than six million people across the East of England.
Its Public Affairs Regional Engagement team manages a large and diverse stakeholder base daily, including local authorities, environmental groups, government agencies, MPs, and the general public, while simultaneously running major long-term infrastructure projects.
Key projects include the Cambridge Wastewater Treatment Plant Relocation (CWWTPR), the Lincolnshire Reservoir, and the Fens Reservoir, all of which require complex consultations and strict regulatory approvals.
Maintaining open, consistent, and fully auditable communication with such a varied audience, while meeting statutory obligations and regulatory scrutiny, was increasingly difficult without a unified system.
The solution
To overcome these challenges, Anglian Water needed a platform that could consolidate all stakeholder interactions in one place. After reviewing their requirements, they adopted Tractivity as their central SRM platform.
Key capabilities now used across the team:
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Centralised information management: Tractivity allows Anglian Water to store all stakeholder data and communications in one accessible location. This means that teams can easily retrieve previous interactions, ensuring consistency in their communications.
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Efficient feedback management: Collecting and tracking stakeholder feedback is crucial for ensuring that projects are informed by public opinion. Tractivity enables Anglian Water to efficiently capture feedback and respond quickly to concerns.
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Detailed reporting: The system provides in-depth reporting capabilities, helping Anglian Water to better understand the concerns and sentiments of their stakeholders. This is especially useful when presenting data to regulators and executives, as it helps guide decision-making.
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Regulatory compliance: With projects like CWWTPR requiring strict adherence to consultation processes, Tractivity supports Anglian Water in meeting regulatory requirements by centralising all consultation records and providing evidence when needed.
“It saves time and provides fantastic insight and reporting outputs that we can present to our Executive Committee on performance and engagement.” - Grant Turffs
With a platform that enables them to manage all their interactions in one place, Anglian Water has been able to focus more on the quality of their stakeholder engagement, rather than being bogged down by the complexities of managing multiple systems or tracking communications through spreadsheets and emails.
Results
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Single platform for all stakeholder interactions: replacing disconnected spreadsheets, emails, and multiple legacy systems
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Executive-level reporting: engagement performance and stakeholder sentiment presented directly to the Anglian Water Executive Committee
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Political engagement at scale: Mapolitical integration enables targeted, timely MP and political contact management during regulatory and operational moments
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Regulatory evidence on demand: centralised consultation records available as auditable evidence for statutory obligations and regulatory scrutiny
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Crisis and routine communication supported: system proven effective for both day-to-day engagement and high-pressure incident response
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Scalable stakeholder management: 13,000+ stakeholders actively managed across the East of England within a single platform
“The system’s efficiency is crucial for both routine and crisis communication, helping us meet the increasing scrutiny from regulators and the public while ensuring that no important stakeholder is overlooked.” - Emily Linsdell
Lessons learned
Anglian Water’s experience offers several valuable lessons for other organisations that are looking to enhance their stakeholder engagement:
- Centralisation is key: Having all stakeholder data and interactions in one place streamlines operations and improves communication consistency.
- Proactive engagement builds trust: Keeping stakeholders informed through regular updates and consultations ensures transparency and helps build long-term relationships.
- Tailored engagement approaches work best: Political stakeholders require timely and targeted communication. Integrating tools like Mapolitical can make this process much more efficient.
- Feedback is vital: Gathering and acting on stakeholder feedback is essential for project success. Tractivity’s feedback management tools allow organisations to respond quickly and effectively to stakeholder concerns.
Anglian Water’s ability to manage thousands of stakeholders across numerous projects while maintaining transparency and accountability is a testament to the effectiveness of their approach. By adopting Tractivity, they have demonstrated how technology can enhance stakeholder engagement and contribute to long-term success.
