With AMP8 work everywhere, it’s easy to think winning it and cracking on is enough. But your reputation is built on every site, every day, by every person on your team, and it’s that reputation that keeps you in the commercial conversation.

This month: Ofwat’s draft decisions would cut bills by £240m net, and £771m of AMP8 contracts reached award. We also cover Thames Water’s £4bn major projects framework, a 9km mains renewal in Sheffield and the ECA’s warning on electrical skills.

Thousands of new starters are joining the water industry for AMP8, just as many of our most experienced people prepare to retire. When they go, their knowledge goes with them, unless we connect the two before it’s too late.

The water sector’s biggest ever investment is being delivered by many people who’ve never worked with a food-grade product. The standards exist, but until teams can see what good looks like on site, inconsistency is the risk that reaches the customer’s tap.

This month: a Water Bill that lifts the cap on government shareholdings in water companies, and £3.4bn of extra allowances in Ofwat’s draft decisions. We also cover a record year for Thames Water apprenticeships and AMP8 awards for Costain and Marshalls.

Teams across the supply chain are failing inspections on basic, sometimes mandatory requirements. The standards being missed aren’t complicated. They just need someone who cares enough to do the small thing every time, not only when someone’s watching.

The water industry needs thousands of new people just as many of its most experienced are getting ready to retire. Live Mains is one email a week for the water supply chain, helping everyone deliver the same standards on every site, every day.