Our 2020 judges

All award entries will be put through a rigorous two-stage judging process, reviewed by our panel of independent experts.

Stage one:

All entries are reviewed and scored against the criteria by our independent panel of industry experts

Stage two:

Our judges, chaired by Jane Gray, Content Director, Utility Week will come together for an all-day judging session where the top entries will be put forward for further discussion and debate. The panel will select a shortlist and a final winner.

Our Lead Judges

Jane Gray
Content Director
Utility Week

Jane joined Utility Week in 2014. In a variety of roles, she has supported the development of news and features for water and energy readers and she now leads the magazine’s premium content agenda. In 2015, Jane also led the launch of Utility Week’s sister title Network. Before joining Utility Week, Jane was editor of The Manufacturer magazine, an engineering and manufacturing title.

Dr Keith MacLean OBE
Managing Director
Providence Policy

Keith is a Chemistry graduate and postgraduate from Heriot-Watt and Hamburg Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Energy Policy at the University of Exeter. He has worked in a broad range of roles in the energy industry, including 20 years at energy utility SSE where he was Policy and Research Director. Keith has acted as an advisor on energy policy to both the UK and Scottish Governments. He is Chair of UKERCs Advisory Board and of UKRIs Scientific Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Public Inquiry Team in Northern Ireland investigating the controversial Renewable Heat Incentive. Keith is founding director of Providence Policy where he works as an independent energy advisor and has published a number of papers on decarbonising the energy system with a particular focus on the challenges of the heat sector. He was awarded an OBE for services to the energy industry in the 2017 New Year Honours list.

Philip New
Chief Executive Officer
Energy Systems Catapult

Before joining the Catapult Philip worked for BP for over 30 years in a range of commercial and general management positions, mostly in customer-facing businesses, operating in Asia, North and South America, and Europe. He started working in the cleantech sector in 2002, initially building BP’s portfolio of Biofuels businesses and technologies, latterly becoming CEO of BP Alternative Energy, during which time he wrestled with, and became fascinated by, the dynamics of the interplay of markets, technology and policy created by the emergence of new energy sources and uses, and the opportunities to create new businesses. Philip is a Commissioner at the global Energy Transitions Commission, a member of the Global Futures Council on Energy at the World Economic Forum, and a non executive director of FRV. He has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, and lives in Oxford with his wife. His three children are now at University.

Laura Sandys
Chief Executive
Challenging Ideas

Laura Sandys runs the 21st Century Energy Regulatory Commission with Imperial College and is Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency. She is on the CCUS Council and Taskforce as well as having served as a member of the Advisory Panel for the Government’s Cost of Energy Review. She is co-founder of POWERful Women, a Visiting Senior Fellow at Kings College and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. She was previously a Member of Parliament for South Thanet and was a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Energy and Climate Change

Robert Light
Chair
CC Water

Rob was appointed as CCWater Chair in June 2019 by Defra and Welsh Government. Rob has championed the interests of consumers as our Northern Chair for the past four years. Rob is Chair of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN). He served as a councillor on Kirklees Council from 1987 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2018. He was Council Leader from 2006 to 2009 and was the first Chair of the Leeds City Region. He also served on the Board of the Audit Commission from 2011 to 2015 and the Environment Agency from 2009 to 2015 where he was Deputy Chair from 2012 to 2015.

Maxine Frerk
Director
Grid Edge Policy

Maxine is Director of Grid Edge Policy working as a thought leader and consultant on the challenges around decarbonisation of the energy system from a consumer and regulatory perspective. Maxine previously worked at Ofgem where she had a number of roles including most recently as Senior Partner Networks where she oversaw the RIIO ED1 price control decision as well as the launch of Ofgem’s work on flexibility and the future of gas. Prior to joining Ofgem she was at BT as Head of Regulation.

Stuart Newstead
Director
Ellare

Stuart Newstead is a digital expert. He's been an expert for so long that he remembers when digital was called telecoms. He founded independent consultancy Ellare in 2002 and has been its CEO ever since. He builds on a 30-year record as a senior corporate executive and a consultant and provides strategic and analytical advice to clients in over 20 countries. Clients include the BBC, Bell Canada, Gigaclear, Squirro, Nominet, Mi-Pay, BlackBerry, BT, Oxfam, Esprit Capital, Elliott Advisers, Albion Ventures, plus a number of startups. Stuart was a Vice-President at European mobile operator Telefonica O2 until 2002 and, prior to that, a General Manager at BT. Stuart has been involved in data, analytics and intelligence throughout his education and career. As well as an MBA, he has an MPhil in Statistics from Yale University, where he was the Mellon Fellow, and an MA in Mathematics from Cambridge University. In 2019, Stuart also gained a Certificate in Deep Learning from Stanford University. Stuart is a regular Chair and moderator at cross-industry events. He is a Global Leader for Gerson Lehrman Group Telecommunications Council and a member of the Brunel Unversity MBA Advisory Board. He was also Chair of the London 2012 Olympics Mobile Experience Group and is a Director of Qorteq, an early-stage software company.

Jim Watson
Professor of Energy Policy
UCL

‘I’m delighted that there will be a Net Zero Award for the first time this year. The UK is one of the first countries to set a net-zero emissions target. Meeting it will require changes across our economy and society, and leadership from government, business and civil society. This award will recognise activities that could make a significant contribution to meeting that target’

Sue Ferns
Deputy General Secretary
Prospect

Sue is Senior Deputy General Secretary at Prospect, the union for professionals. Her responsibilities in Prospect include leading the union’s work across the energy sector and on gender equality. Sue is a member of the TUC General Council and Executive Committee, deputy chair of the Women’s Committee and a TUC Aid Trustee. She is the General Council’s lead on environment and sustainability. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Chair of Unions 21, and a board member of Talent Retention Solutions (TRS).

Steve Johnson
Director
Infracapital

Steve is an Independent Chairman and Advisor with over 35 years’ experience in the utility, infrastructure and support services sectors. His executive career includes CEO of Electricity North West, MD of Morrison plc, the contracting and support services group and executive roles within the water sector. Steve now Chairs a number of boards in the UK and Europe for PE investors and is an Advisory Board member for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. He was awarded a MBE in 2016 for services to energy networks and was recognised as Utility Champion of the year at the 2016 UW awards.