Yorkshire Water Boss Nicola Shaw Resigns After Firm Is Downgraded To One Star, With Nicola Medalova Named Successor

Yorkshire Water’s chief executive, Nicola Shaw, has announced that she will step down after four and a half years in the role, a day after the Environment Agency downgraded the company to the lowest possible environmental rating. Shaw will remain in post until 1 January 2027, when she will be succeeded by Nicola Medalova, a former National Grid executive and a current non-executive director of Yorkshire Water. The company has described the transition as an orderly handover.

The regulator’s decision places Yorkshire Water among the weakest performers in the water sector, and it has raised questions about the leadership and governance of the business at a time of sustained public scrutiny over sewage discharges.

Yorkshire Water Boss Nicola Shaw Resigns: Why Was Yorkshire Water Downgraded?

The Environment Agency formally reduced the company’s environmental performance rating from two stars out of four to one on Thursday, the lowest rating available. The regulator classed Yorkshire Water as a “poorly performing company,” and it said the firm was responsible for 260 pollution incidents in 2025, the highest annual total since 2011.

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The findings were published in the Water Industry Performance Insights report, a joint assessment by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the water regulator Ofwat. The report named Yorkshire Water alongside Southern Water, Thames Water and South West Water as the lowest-performing companies on environmental outcomes. Under rules introduced last year, companies with one-star ratings are automatically prevented from paying bonuses to their executives.