The executive chairman of pubs group Punch Taverns has been appointed as a non-executive director of Anglian Water Services, which supplies 4.3million customers across eastern England.

Stephen Billingham has been at Punch since September 2011 and has overseen a major restructuring of the company’s securitised debt, which was completed recently following one of the most complex and protracted processes of its kind in UK corporate history.

He was previously group finance director at British Energy, then the UK’s largest electricity generator, overseeing its sale to EDF in 2009 for £12.5billion, and before that held a similar role at WS Atkins, the UK’s largest engineering consultancy.

Earlier in his career he also worked in finance roles at BICC (now Balfour Beatty), Severn Trent and the London Underground public-private partnership Metronet.

Mr Billingham is currently also a Government-appointed non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of Urenco plc, one of the world’s leading enrichers of uranium for civil nuclear power stations.

Anglian Water Group chairman Sir Adrian Montague said: “Stephen’s appointment further strengthens our board. He brings considerable relevant experience, including of large-scale infrastructure projects, and rigorous financial management within complex businesses.

“Stephen’s expertise adds considerable value to the independent scrutiny of our business.”

Mr Billingham added: “I am pleased to be invited to join the board of Anglian Water at a pivotal time for the company and the water industry. I look forward to working alongside the management team to deliver a programme of work that promises great value for customers.”

Anglian Water Services (AWS) supplies water to and recycles used water from more than six million homes and businesses across an area stetching from the Thames estuary in the south to the Humber estuary in the north, and from the Suffolk coast in the east to Buckinghamshire in the west.

Other independent non-executive directors on the AWS board include Robert Napier (appointed 2002), John Watkinson (2005), Christopher Garnett (2006) and Paul Whittaker (2013).