Our team

Right Honourable Stephen Byers

Chairman

Stephen is a law graduate and was a senior lecturer in contract and commercial law at Northumbria University. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1992 and served in the Cabinet when Tony Blair was Prime Minister.

He stood down from the House of Commons in 2010 to pursue business and charitable interests. In addition to being ACWA’s Chairman he is senior adviser to the Board of CCC (ACWA’s ultimate parent company) and gives strategic advice to several other companies.

Stephen has established the SJB charitable foundation which supports individuals and community groups in the north east of England. He continues to serve as a member of His Majesty the King’s Privy Council.

Dominic Hurd

Managing Director

Dominic has over 20 years’ experience in the civil and meica design and build arena primarily in the water industry. He has spent many of those years working in senior management positions, engineering and operations, within collaborative partnerships and frameworks. Starting out as a mechanical engineering he moved into project, contract and framework management positions managing the safe delivery of multimillion pound contracts across the UK.

Dominic is proud to say he is an experienced leader with strong people skills who has the ability to build and develop teams, getting them working to their strengths. He is passionate about influencing and driving the right culture and behaviours to grow a successful business.

Matthew Agar

Financial Controller

Matthew is a Chartered Accountant and has been a member of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) since 2006. He has over 25 years management experience. As Finance Director in his previous employment, he was part of a management buyout team that acquired the business in 2011 overseeing several years of growth before exiting the business in 2020.

Matthew joined ACWA in September 2023 as Financial Controller and is responsible for all aspects of Finance and Human Resource functions and is committed to supporting ACWA in working towards meeting its vision and values.

Gary Harris

Executive Proposals Director

Gary is a Mechanical Engineer with over 35 years’ proposals experience primarily in the water sector. He believes in integrity and transparency ensuring that ACWA keeps its promises right through into delivery. He has been instrumental in developing solid relationships not only with ACWA’s clients but right through the supply chain. He continually builds on ACWA’s track record by utilising in-house process expertise and technologies and those developed in collaboration with the supply chain to ensure cost effective innovative solutions.

He feels a strong responsibility for keeping everyone safe and free from harm which was further developed in his operational management roles. Gary also has a depth of knowledge relating to water scarcity that only comes with time spent working overseas providing solutions focussing on water re-use.

Gary joined ACWA in 2006 and he is a member of the Leadership Team with full responsibility for the management of the Proposals and Process teams of the company.

David Large

Commercial Manager

David is an experienced Commercial Manager who has over 30 years’ experience primarily within the water industry. He has extensive commercial and contractual knowledge which is underpinned by his experience on both individual projects ranging from £250k up to £20m and major frameworks and alliances.

David’s commercial skills coupled with his business acumen makes him a valuable member of the senior management team and it is his responsibility to effectively manage and protect ACWA’s commercial position.

David believes that building strong relationships with clients and the supply chain is integral to running a profitable company. He uses his interpersonal skills to convey complex ideas, provide solutions and negotiate effectively at all levels.

David joined ACWA in April 2021 as Commercial Manager.