Scarborough and Whitby MP likens Yorkshire Water leadership change to 'shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic'

Yorkshire Water announced that chief executive Nicola Shaw is stepping down after four-and-a-half years in the role, just a day after the Environment Agency downgraded the company’s environmental performance rating from two stars to one.

The water company, which serves more than five million customers across Yorkshire, said Nicola Medalova, a former National Grid executive and current member of its board, will join as chief executive-designate before taking over permanently in January.

Reacting to the announcement, Scarborough and Whitby Labour MP Alison Hume said replacing the chief executive with an existing board member would not, on its own, address the company’s environmental failings.

She said: “The resignation of Nicola Shaw as Yorkshire Water CEO and her replacement by an existing member of the Board is akin to shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic.

“Yorkshire Water’s downgrade to a one-star environmental rating is appalling, but not surprising.”

​​Issues with Scarborough’s bathing water quality have persisted and last year’s ratings saw the South Bay still classed as ‘poor’ and the North Bay’s bathing water quality classed as ‘sufficient’.

Announcing her departure, Ms Shaw said there remained “a huge amount of work to do” but that Yorkshire Water was now on a “stronger footing for delivery across all aspects of its work”.

She added: “This now feels like the right time to begin an orderly transition to the company’s next chapter.”

The leadership change follows a damning assessment by the Environment Agency, which classed Yorkshire Water as “poorly performing” after recording 335 pollution incidents in 2025, including 13 serious incidents.

The one-star rating, the lowest available, means the company is automatically barred from paying performance-related bonuses to executives under rules introduced last year.

Ms Hume said that while she welcomed the company’s multi-million-pound investment programme in Scarborough and Whitby, it needed to be judged on its wider record.

She added: “Whilst I welcome the multi-million-pound investment Yorkshire Water is making in Scarborough and Whitby, Yorkshire Water must be judged on its full performance across environmental, drinking water and financial regulation.”

The MP also renewed calls for greater public control of water companies, claiming privatisation had failed and arguing government should have stronger powers to intervene in the sector.

She said she would be meeting Ms Medalova, alongside other Yorkshire and Humber MPs, to discuss how the company plans to tackle sewage pollution.

“I will be meeting the new CEO Nicola Medalova, along with other Yorkshire and Humber MPs, to scrutinise her plans, particularly regarding what Yorkshire Water will be doing to address the unacceptable number of sewage pollution incidents in Scarborough, Whitby and the villages,” Ms Hume said.

Responding to her appointment, Ms Medalova acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing the company.

She said: “Yorkshire Water faces huge challenges but also great opportunities for continued improvement, and I look forward to working with Nicola Shaw, the leadership team and colleagues across the business as I get up to speed.”

She added that she would have a “relentless focus” on delivering “for customers, communities and the environment”.