Tag Archives: Governmental

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Press release: UKEF appoints Oliver Peterken as Non-Executive Director

UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, has announced that Oliver Peterken has joined its board as a Non-Executive Director.

Oliver comes from a long career in the insurance sector, with significant non-executive experience. He will provide guidance and oversight of UKEF’s risk management and underwriting activities as a member of the board’s Audit and Risk Committee, and act as the board’s credit risk specialist.

Oliver brings significant risk management experience to the post, having served as Chief Risk Officer for Bupa and Aspen Insurance and held a number of senior positions with Willis Group and Prudential. His non-executive board roles include MS Amlin and UIA Insurance.

He is also Deputy Chairman and chairs the Finance and Audit Committee of the board of the Willow Foundation, a charity that works with seriously ill young adults.

Oliver joins UKEF’s board following the appointments of Noel Harwerth as Chair and Laurence Weiss last year.

Oliver Peterken said:

I am very pleased to be joining UKEF’s board as a specialist Non-Executive Director. UKEF is there to provide the UK’s export community with certainty of support in all economic weathers. I look forward to working with colleagues in the department to help it achieve its ambitious mission, that no viable UK export should fail for lack of finance or insurance.

Louis Taylor, CEO of UK Export Finance, welcomed Oliver to the Department, saying:

Oliver’s impressive career in risk management will be a major asset to UKEF and our ability to manage credit risk, helping us to ensure that we provide UK exporters with the most comprehensive package of support available while continuing to operate at no net cost to the taxpayer. I look forward to working with him.

Notes for Editors

  1. UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency and a government department, working alongside the Department for International Trade as an integral part of its strategy and operations. It exists to ensure that no viable UK export should fail for want of finance or insurance from the private market. It provides finance and insurance to help exporters win, fulfil and ensure they get paid for export contracts.

  2. You can find more information on the UK Export Finance Board and governance on our website

  3. Sectors in which UKEF has supported exports include: aerospace, construction, oil and gas, mining and metals, petrochemicals, telecommunications, and transport.

  4. UKEF has a regional network of 24 export finance advisers supporting export businesses.

  5. UKEF supports exporters with a range of products that include:
    • Bond insurance policy
    • Bond support scheme
    • Buyer & supplier credit financing facility
    • Direct lending facility
    • Export insurance policy
    • Export refinancing facility
    • Export working capital scheme
    • Letter of credit guarantee scheme
  6. Find latest information on UKEF’s country cover positions
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HM Government • • •

Press release: South West Water prosecuted for crude sewage spill in Truro River

South West Water will pay £54,000 in fines and costs for allowing untreated sewage to escape from a pumping station near Truro in Cornwall.

The case was brought by the Environment Agency.

On 16 March 2015 approximately 400,000 litres (88,000 gallons) of sewage was discharged from the Calenick Pumping Station into the Truro River via Calenick Creek.

Located south of Truro at the head of an estuary, the site receives sewage from surrounding villages and pumps it to Truro (Newham) Sewage Treatment Works for full treatment, including disinfection.

An investigation by the Environment Agency revealed two factors contributed to the illegal discharge. In 2015 a contractor working on electrical panels at the pumping station forgot to restart the pumps. This meant sewage arriving in the wet well, a storage area within the site, wasn’t pumped out.

Shortly before the spill, South West Water received three urgent alarms via telemetry warning that sewage had reached a high level in the sump, yet no pumps were running. The team responsible for sending a crew to the pumping station failed to telephone them with a ‘high priority’ request to attend the site. Instead, they messaged them electronically, forgetting the crew was at a meeting and wouldn’t be able get to Calenick for some time.

A short while later, further alarms were triggered warning the water company that sewage was now spilling from the pumping station outfall into Calenick Creek. The discharge continued for approximately four-and-a-half hours.

The pumping station lies within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation close to commercial mussel and oyster beds at Grimes Bar and Malpas. Fortunately, the sewage spill occurred during the closed season for shellfish, although there was a risk of possible contamination of shellfish beds.

Mark Pilcher of the Environment Agency said:

It is vitally important water companies have robust procedures in place to ensure their sewage infrastructure assets perform appropriately.

Calenick Sewage Pumping Station is situated at the head of a very sensitive estuary containing important intertidal habitats and commercial shellfish beds. The unpermitted discharge of crude sewage to the estuary because the pump station was not switched on following a site inspection is unacceptable.

South West Water had earlier pleaded guilty to discharging crude sewage from Calenick Sewage Pumping Station contrary to Regulations 12(1)(a) and 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.

At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on 26 January 2017, South West Water was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £4,000 costs.

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HM Government • • •