About Confluence
One sector.
Three programmes.
One conversation.
The next five years will be the most demanding in the history of the UK water sector. AMP8, the Environment Agency's flood and coastal programme, and Ofwat's Major Water Infrastructure Programme are all being delivered at once, drawing on the same people, the same supply chain and the same investor confidence. Yet they are rarely discussed together.
Confluence exists to change that. It is an independent forum for the people who will deliver this work, with a simple purpose: to build the sector's capability, and its confidence among investors and the public alike, that this work can be delivered. Connecting Capability with the Opportunity. From Projects to Programmes.
A forum, not just an event
Confluence is built around an annual flagship event, but the conversation does not wait for it. This site is where the forum happens, all year round:
A weekly briefing: news and analysis on the people, projects, procurement and policy shaping delivery, drawn from regulators, water companies, trade bodies and institutions.
Opinion and blogs: views from across the sector on the issues that matter: capability, capacity, productivity, procurement, technology and investor confidence.
Conversations that continue: podcasts, roundtables and webinars as the community grows, so that the issues raised at the event are worked on afterwards, not left on the stage.
Open by design, candid where it counts
The main stage at Confluence is deliberately open, inclusive and visible to the whole sector. Alongside it, a small number of closed sessions, including an invite-only workshop and a private dinner roundtable, run under the Chatham House Rule. Participants are free to use what they hear, but not to reveal who said it or where they work, so that people can speak candidly about what is really holding delivery back. The conclusions are then shared openly.
Who it is for?
It is not a sales event or a trade show. It builds on the good work already under way across the sector rather than replacing it. Confluence brings four groups into the same conversation:
Contractors, designers and the wider supply chain
Investors and lenders
Government
Regulators, delivery agencies, client bodies and water companies
The 2027 event
3 March 2027, Interchange UK, Manchester Central. Free to attend. An invite-only workshop takes place on the afternoon of 2 March.
