Liv Garfield

Olivia Ruth Garfield CBE (born 10 September 1975) is a British businesswoman. She is the chief executive of Severn Trent, and formerly the chief executive of Openreach, a BT Group business.

Liv Garfield
Olivia Garfield speaking at The London Conference on Cyberspace, 2011
Born
Olivia Ruth Burgess

(1975-09-10) September 10, 1975
NationalityBritish
EducationBootham School, York
Alma materNew Hall, Cambridge
OccupationChief executive
TitleChief Executive of Severn Trent plc
TermApril 2014-
PredecessorTony Wray
SuccessorIncumbent
SpouseMorgan Garfield
ChildrenTwo sons

Early life

Olivia was raised in Harrogate.[1][2] Her parents, who were originally from Liverpool, run a project management and engineering business in Harrogate. Her grandfather was the groundsman at Goodison Park.[1] She was educated at Birklands Belmont School (now Belmont Grosvenor) in Birstwith near Harrogate, followed by the co-educational Bootham School, an independent school in York.[3][4] She had an ambition to be a presenter of Blue Peter. She read German and French (Modern and Medieval Languages) at the all-female New Hall, Cambridge, now Murray Edwards.[1]

Career

After graduating, she spent a year working at the British Consulate in Brussels.[5] She then worked at Accenture as a consultant in their communications and high-tech market division for six years.[6]

BT

In January 2003, she joined BT as general manager, running a desk-based sales team.[6] She later became BT's director of strategy and regulatory affairs.[6] On 1 April 2011 she was made chief executive of their Openreach division; Openreach had been formed in 2006.[7][8] In that position, she spearheaded and oversaw the £2.5 billion rollout of fibre broadband (BT Infinity service) to two thirds of the UK.[6] In March 2017, BT received the biggest Ofcom fine ever of £42 million due to inappropriate use of the Deemed Consent to delay Ethernet provision to other providers, which started and continued in January 2013 through to December 2014 while she was CEO.[9] In 2013, Garfield was identified by Fortune Magazine as one of the world's fastest-rising corporate stars. In 2014, Fortune called her the 14th Most Powerful Woman in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.[10]

Severn Trent

In April 2014, she became the chief executive of Severn Trent.[11] In July 2015, while she was the chief executive of Severn Trent she oversaw the takeover of Severn Trent Water Purification, a subsidiary of Severn Trent Plc, by Italian company DeNora [12] which resulted in redundancies. Then in November 2017, the company announced plans to sell its surplus land.[13] As of May 2018, Garfield's role at Severn Trent made her the youngest female CEO of a FTSE 100 company.[14][15]

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to the water industry,[16] whilst at the same time the aggregate annual spill durations to rivers and streams from Severn Trent's sewer overflows totalled 64 years.[17]

In 2021 the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committe described some of the evidence Liv Garfield gave before the committee as "disingenuous".[18]

Tesco

In February 2013, she became a non-executive director at Tesco. She stepped down in February 2015.[19]

In May 2018, Garfield was announced as the 2018 winner of the prestigious Veuve Cliquot Business Woman Award.[14]

Personal life

Her husband Morgan Garfield (born 22 January 1976), whom she met at university when he was at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, runs a property investment fund. She married in 2002 in North Yorkshire.

See also

References
  1. "Profile - Olivia Garfield: A winning strategy pays off for a woman on her way to the top". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. "Liv Garfield, Chief Executive, Severn Trent". CBI. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  3. "Former York school girl rises to the top". York Press. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  4. "Harrogate Success Stories – Top Businesswoman Liv Garfield". Harrogate Informer. 20 June 2017.
  5. "Telecom star Liv Garfield set for splash landing". Independent.co.uk. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. Saigol, Lina (18 November 2013). "Hotshot takes helm at Severn Trent". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  7. "Liv Garfield to become CEO of Severn Trent". Managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  8. "BT Today: New chief executive to take charge of Openreach". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  9. "BT fined record £42m for delayed installations". News.sky.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. "Liv Garfield". Fortune. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  11. "Severn Trent's Liv Garfield vows to keep 'lowest bills' after". Independent.co.uk. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  12. "De Nora takes over Severn Trent Water Purification". Water World. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  13. "Severn Trent announces plans to sell surplus land". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  14. Johnson, Jamie (10 May 2018). "Liv Garfield wins business woman of the year title". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  15. "It's not every day that a FTSE 100 boss tells you about her nightly hot flashes". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  16. "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B9.
  17. "64 years worth of raw sewage dumped into rivers and streams by Severn Trent". April 2021.
  18. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8460/documents/88412/default/
  19. "Two NEDs say 'bye bye' to Tesco". Management Today. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
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