Sir Ian Charles Rayner Byatt (born 11 March 1932) is a British economist who was the Director General of the economic regulator of the water industry in England and Wales, Ofwat, from its creation at the time of the privatization of the water industry in 1989 until 2000.
[2] During his tenure as water regulator he was responsible for a substantial price reduction imposed on private water companies in 1999 that sent the share prices of these companies tumbling.
Critics have also argued that instead of price cuts, it would have been better to fund improvements to the quality of water company discharges to rivers and the sea.
He recently self-published a collection of articles on the regulation of water companies entitled A Regulator's Sign-off:Changing the Taps in Britain He was born in Preston Lancashire, the son of Charles Rayner Byatt and Enid Marjorie Annie Byatt.
[2] His second spouse is Professor Deirdre Annie Kelly on 12 December 1997 in Birmingham.