Business Stream has named Derek Hendry as its new director of strategy, strengthening of its senior team ahead of the English water market opening in 2017.

Hendry will report to the company’s Chief Executive, Johanna Dow, and will be based in the firm’s head office in Edinburgh.

He will take responsibility for about 30 staff and a £4 million operational budget across transformational change, business strategy, people management and technology.

Hendry will join the company from Standard Life, where his role in the company was to lead change and transformation programmes on international assignments in Hong Kong, China and Canada.

Previously, he held a number of leadership roles with the firm in a number of IT and business change schemes throughout its group functions, operations and pensions.

Prior to joining Standard Life, Derek worked in a number of project management and leadership roles with Abbey National/Banco Santander and Aegon.

Dow commented: “Derek joins us at a pivotal time for the business and the industry as a whole. Our recent acquisition from Southern Water doubles our customer base and gives us a strong foothold in the English market ahead of the market opening for next year.”

He added that Hendry will be the head of the company’s transformation activities as it prepares for market entry and continues to invest in processes and systems that will deliver excellent service for its customers throughout the UK.

Hendry said: “I’m looking forward to using my extensive change and project management experience to help Business Stream maximise the potential of the exciting opportunities ahead.

“The company has a bold strategy and a culture of ambitious continuous improvement, both of which will be critical in meeting the competitive challenges ahead.”

In May, the company announced that it had appointed Jo Mayes as its new Director of Customer Operations.