Between 2025 and 2030, Anglian Water is delivering its largest ever programme of investment across the East of England, with upgrades and new infrastructure worth £11 billion. Norfolk is a hotspot for the programme, with the county set to benefit from around £1 billion of investment by 2030.

Much of the investment planned for Norfolk will be delivered by Anglian Water’s @one Alliance, which brings together industry-leading partners Balfour Beatty, Barhale, Binnies, Mott MacDonald Bentley, MWH Treatment, Skanska and Sweco to deliver major capital investment on behalf of Anglian Water.

Anglian Water and its @one Alliance already have more than 700 employees who live in Norfolk and commute to existing offices in Cambridgeshire.

With significant investment planned in and around Whitlingham, Heigham and many other locations across Norfolk, effective delivery depends on strong collaboration between Anglian Water operational teams, @one Alliance colleagues and their key supply chain partners.

Located at Lakeside 400, Broadland Business Park, to the east of Norwich, the hub will bring together Anglian Water colleagues and members of the @one Alliance project delivery teams in a single, purpose-designed office environment. By bringing these teams together under one roof, Anglian Water says the Norwich hub will enable year-round collaboration, faster decision-making and improved coordination.

Investment to be delivered to overhaul Norfolk’s water and sewerage infrastructure by 2030 will include:

Major upgrades at Whitlingham Water Recycling Centre, which treats the wastewater for the wider Norwich area, to accommodate the city’s population growth

Improvements to reduce storm overflow spills across the county, including at Caister, Wymondham, Great Yarmouth and Norwich, protecting Norfolk’s precious natural environment and coastline

Key sections of Anglian Water’s flagship strategic pipeline, which will transport water from wetter parts of the company’s region in the north, to the drier areas in the south and east – such as Norfolk – that need it most.

The East of England is one of the driest parts of the UK, but also one of the fastest-growing, with more than 720,000 new residents expected to move to the region by 2043.

Research has shown that over the same period, temperatures in Norfolk are set to increase by more than the national average as rainfall hits record lows and the county is likely to see more extreme weather. Anglian’s plan is designed to deliver the investment needed to prepare the region for this level of growth, as well as navigating the challenges, extremes and uncertainties that climate change will bring.

At a local level, data suggests that developing a skilled workforce to respond to a changing climate will be Norfolk’s biggest challenge over the next two decades. There is a huge opportunity to expand the renewable energy sector in the county, and with a growing population and increasingly extreme weather, investment into the county’s water and sewerage infrastructure will be vital to protect Norfolk’s customers and environment.

The East of England will be home to several major infrastructure projects over the next decade, including Sizewell C, the new Universal Studios theme park, and Anglian Water’s two proposed new reservoirs, in the Fens and Lincolnshire.

To take advantage of these economic opportunities and deliver at scale, the region needs the right skills pipeline – bringing people in, developing them properly, and building long‑term careers.

The water company hopes this new local base will help attract Norfolk-based candidates for the hundreds of new roles it will need to recruit to deliver its plans across the East of England.

Jason Tucker, Director of Commercial Operations for Anglian Water, said:

“Between now and 2030, we’re making our biggest ever upgrade to the East of England’s water and infrastructure – and we’re investing more money into Norfolk than any other county in our region. That’s why we’re really pleased to be opening this new hub in Norwich, to bring our teams closer to some of the most important and exciting projects we’re working on.”