Inspired Testing champions quality excellence at Yorkshire Water

Team, Inspired Testing.

---

At Inspired Testing, quality through excellence drives its mission to transform software testing practices. This commitment has delivered remarkable achievements and highlights the sustained excellence of its collaborative journey with Yorkshire Water.

Within the past two years, Inspired Testing’s unwavering focus on maturing a quality mindset with Yorkshire Water earned the partnership a finalist recognition for “Testing Team of the Year” at the 2024 European Software Testing Awards (ESTA).

In 2023, Stephen Platten, now Principal Consultant at Inspired Testing, was honoured with the "Best Newcomer" and "Best Overall Winner" at the same prestigious awards ceremony.

"It was an honour and a privilege to be nominated and to win two awards at TESTA 2023. I wouldn't have been nominated without the team of testers working with me and my peers. Inspired Testing provided me with some excellent, skilled people who really helped me to manifest my vision for testing in my portfolio; their hard work and support allowed me to achieve something truly special; thank you to them,” says Platten.

Guided by the vision to be the first-choice software testing consultancy in the UK, Inspired Testing strives to deliver exceptional value through innovative technologies, attracting top talent and nurturing local potential. The partnership with Yorkshire Water has delivered significant improvements in quality assurance (QA), achieving measurable outcomes that highlight Inspired Testing's commitment to excellence:

• £1 million annual cost savings: Streamlined QA processes, improved resourcing models and better skills alignment delivered significant reductions in operational expenses.
• Eighty-six percent reduction in test environment downtime: Through the best use of technology and specialist advice delivered by an exceptional service team, downtime dropped from 50.8 days to just seven days within five months.
• £350 000 saved through automation: Over 100 000 automated test scripts were executed in one business area in 2024, cutting regression testing time from weeks to hours.
• Defect reduction: Average defect leakage per release improved dramatically, from 2.19 in FY 2020/21 to 0.67 in FY 2024/25. Two major 2024 projects with 2 000 defects found in test. Only nine minor leaked defects to live. No major defects were found.

Inspired Testing’s strategic partnership with Yorkshire Water introduced a robust QA framework that transformed the company’s approach to quality. Key initiatives included:

• Horizontal services framework: A subscription-style managed service enabled cost-effective access to shared resources like test environment management, test data management and performance testing, reducing duplication and enhancing resource availability.
• Shift-left testing approach: Early identification of potential issues improved project readiness and quality through enhanced collaboration with business analysts.
• Shift-right testing initiatives: Conducted post-project retrospectives to identify and resolve gaps, improving testing strategies for future projects.
• Identification and utilisation of test tools: Analysis of existing test tools to ensure fit for purpose and evaluation of new tools to bring added value and improved delivery to project delivery.
• Proactive problem-solving: Early identification of regulatory and data management challenges ensured compliance readiness, preventing future disruptions.

These initiatives established Yorkshire Water’s QA team and strengthened project delivery, ensuring high-quality outcomes while reducing operational risks and costs.

Achieving testing maturity required a multifaceted approach led by Inspired Testing’s expert team. Innovations and best practices included:

• Governance and transparency: Independent QA teams were integrated into every project stage through the "Stage Gate" governance model, ensuring quality from inception to completion.
• Automation strategy: AI-enhanced test automation optimised workflows, prioritised critical cases and achieved significant time and cost savings.
• Knowledge management: A structured buddy system and centralised knowledge repository ensured continuity and skill development, fostering a learning culture.
• Agile testing practices: Techniques like Three Amigos sessions and effective retrospectives improved agility and collaboration across teams.

Before the transformation, Yorkshire Water faced fragmented testing processes and a lack of transparency. Inspired Testing introduced a unified QA function that prioritised efficiency, governance and innovative technologies. This has enabled Yorkshire Water to confidently serve its 5.5 million customers, meeting regulatory requirements while optimising service delivery.

"Having worked across numerous organisations, I can confidently say this QA practice is the best I have encountered. The results speak for themselves, and Inspired Testing has been instrumental in fostering a culture of quality and innovation,” says the Head of Technology at Yorkshire Water.

The partnership continues to thrive, setting benchmarks in the utilities sector and showcasing the transformative power of a quality-driven mindset. As Yorkshire Water looks to the future, its collaboration with Inspired Testing serves as a model for excellence in software testing.