Anglian Water has opened a new office in Norwich, as record investment into the county’s water and sewerage infrastructure continues. Between 2025 and 2030, Anglian Water is delivering its largest ever programme of investment across the East of England, with upgrades and new infrastructure worth £11 billion. Norfolk is a hotspot for the programme, with the county set to benefit from around £1 billion of investment by 2030.

Investment delivered to overhaul Norfolk’s water and sewerage infrastructure by 2030 will include:

• Major upgrades at Whitlingham Water Recycling Centre, which treats the wastewater for the wider Norwich area, to accommodate the city’s population growth
• Improvements to reduce storm overflow spills across the county, including at Caister, Wymondham, Great Yarmouth and Norwich, protecting Norfolk’s precious natural environment and coastline
• Key sections of Anglian Water’s flagship strategic pipeline, which will transport water from wetter parts of the company’s region in the north, to the drier areas in the south and east – such as Norfolk – that need it most. These investments would help keep taps running for customers in Norfolk for years to come, protect some of the sensitive habitats around the Broads, and help the region to prosper.

The East of England is one of the driest parts of the UK, but also one of the fastest-growing, with more than 720,000 new residents expected to move to the region by 2043. Research has shown that over the same period, temperatures in Norfolk are set to increase by more than the national average as rainfall hits record low and the county is likely to see more extreme weather.* Anglian’s plan is designed to deliver the investment needed to prepare the region for this level of growth, as well as navigating the challenges, extremes and uncertainties that climate change will bring.

At a local level, data suggests that developing a skilled workforce to respond to a changing climate will be Norfolk’s biggest challenge over the next two decades.* There is a huge opportunity to expand the renewable energy sector in the county, and with a growing population and increasingly extreme weather, investment into the county’s water and sewerage infrastructure will be vital to protect Norfolk’s customers and environment. Norfolk’s largely agricultural workforce today means there’s a need for more people with the right skills, as the requirement for environmental infrastructure increases.

Anglian Water and its @one Alliance already have more than 700 employees who live in Norfolk and commute to existing offices in Cambridgeshire. The new Norwich hub offers a better work-life balance for employees, alongside closer connections to key local investment schemes.

The East of England will be home to several major infrastructure projects over the next decade, including Sizewell C, the new Universal Studios theme park, and Anglian Water’s two proposed new reservoirs, in the Fens and Lincolnshire.To take advantage of these economic opportunities and deliver at scale, the region needs the right skills pipeline –  bringing people in, developing them properly, and building long‑term careers. The water company hopes this new local base will help attract Norfolk-based candidates for the hundreds of new roles it will need to recruit to deliver its plans across the East of England.

The new Norwich hub was opened by Anglian’s CEO Mark Thurston at an event on Friday 10th April, which was attended by local stakeholders from the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, University of East Anglia and local government, as well as senior leaders at the water company.

Jason Tucker, Director of Commercial Operations for Anglian Water, said: “Between now and 2030, we’re making our biggest ever upgrade to the East of England’s water and infrastructure – and we’re investing more money into Norfolk than any other county in our region. That’s why we’re really pleased to be opening this new hub in Norwich, to bring our teams closer to some of the most important and exciting projects we’re working on.

“We’re making infrastructure upgrades worth £1 billion in Norfolk over the next few years. At a time when lots of offices are closing, this new hub demonstrates our commitment to connecting with the local communities here, as well as making life easier for our hundreds of colleagues who already live in the county. We’ll need to create hundreds of new roles to help us deliver this work by 2030, and we hope the Norwich hub will help us attract local people into high-quality, green jobs where they can improve their own local area.”

Nova Fairbank, CEO of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said: “Anglian Water’s £1 billion investment in Norfolk is a major boost for the local economy, creating high quality jobs and strengthening vital infrastructure. The new Norwich hub shows a clear commitment to the county and will support long term growth, resilience and opportunity for local businesses and communities.”

Much of the investment planned for Norfolk will be delivered by Anglian Water’s @one Alliance, which brings together industry-leading partners Balfour Beatty, Barhale, Binnies, Mott MacDonald Bentley, MWH Treatment, Skanska and Sweco to deliver major capital investment on behalf of Anglian Water.

With significant investment planned in and around Whitlingham, Heigham and many other locations across Norfolk, effective delivery depends on strong collaboration between Anglian Water operational teams, @one Alliance colleagues and their key supply chain partners. Located at Lakeside 400, Broadland Business Park, to the east of Norwich, the hub will bring together Anglian Water colleagues and members of the @one Alliance project delivery teams in a single, purpose-designed office environment. By bringing these teams together under one roof, the Norwich hub will enable year-round collaboration, faster decision-making and improved coordination.

*Anglian Water’s Thriving East report, 2023, draws on publicly available information (for example ONS data, Met Office forecasting, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) to create an index that pulls together disparate data sources to create a unique measure of risk and opportunity for an area. This data is aggregated to provide a framework to assess the relative severity of the challenges within the region and compared to other regions of the country. The full data set can be found here. 

To learn more about the Anglian Water’s @one Alliance’s AMP8 delivery & current opportunities to join us, then visit the website here.