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.

Meet our 2021 judges

Jane Gray

Jane Gray
Content Director
Utility Week

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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.
Philip-New

Philip New
Chief Executive Officer
Energy Systems Catapult

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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

Laura Sandys
Chief Executive
Challenging Ideas

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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
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Robert Light
Chair
CC Water

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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

Maxine Frerk
Director
Grid Edge Policy

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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.
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Stuart Newstead
Director
Ellare

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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.
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Jim Watson
Professor of Energy Policy
UCL

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‘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’
Anthony Conway

Professor Tony Conway
Professor
University of Sheffield

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Tony is a former Executive Director of United Utilities and has led Asset Management, Operations and Engineering functions, as well as business transformation programmes. As Strategic Asset Planning and Engineering Director he led the creation of the company's systems thinking based “Future Concept of Operation”. With the informal title of Director of Curiosity, he focused on identifying world leading water utility innovation, engaging with hubs around the globe. Tony is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, chairs the Leadership Board of the TWENTY65 Water Research Programme and is co-author of the TWENTY65 Industry Guide for Collaborative Innovation. Serving on the Leadership Council of the UK Water Partnership, Tony was lead author of the white paper on Digital Water. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Director of British Water and of the Water Industry Forum. Tony provides strategic advisory services to organisations operating across the water sector, from global enterprises to start-up innovators.
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Sue Ferns
Deputy General Secretary
Prospect

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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

Steve Johnson
Director
Infracapital

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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.
Matthew Vickers - Ombudsman Services

Matthew Vickers
Energy Ombudsman

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Matthew Vickers is Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman of Ombudsman Services (OS), the UK’s energy and telecommunications ombudsman. OS provides independent dispute resolution which is open to consumers and microbusinesses in these key regulated sectors. OS works closely with government, regulators, industry bodies and consumer advocates in identifying trends and risks and in promoting fairness in business practice. Matt was recently appointed to the Independent Expert Panel responsible for hearing complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment against Members of Parliament, He is a Trustee of Human Rights at Sea and his former roles include CEO of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and British Consul in Madrid with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He holds a doctorate in the history of Victorian and Edwardian Liverpool.
Randolph Brazier

Randolph Brazier
Head of Innovation & Development
Energy Networks Association

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Randolph is the Director of Innovation & Electricity Systems at the Energy Networks Association, and has over ten years of experience in the electricity and energy sector in the UK, Europe and Australia. Randolph leads teams looking at Digitalisation, Engineering, Future Networks (Open Networks Project), Innovation, Low Carbon Technologies and Resilience. He is responsible for co-ordinating and delivering a broad range of strategic initiatives, including how networks can help to deliver Net Zero. He has previous experience in the design and management of multi-disciplinary power projects in the power and renewables sectors. Randolph has an M.Phil in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and has presented at a wide range of events and conferences.
Keith Maclean

Dr Keith MacLean OBE
Managing Director
Providence Policy

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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.
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Nigel Hawkins
Infrastructure and Renewables Specialist 
Hardman and Co

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Nigel Hawkins is the Infrastructure and Renewables Specialist at Hardman & Co. Nigel specialises in the energy sector, with a particular focus on the expanding renewable generation market, both in the UK and overseas, about which he has written several reports assessing the sector’s finances. He has been involved in analysing the utilities sector since the 1980s. He covered the privatisation of the water and electricity companies for Hoare Govett between 1989 and 1995. Subsequently, he researched the UK and EU telecoms sector for Williams de Broe. He has also written many feature articles for Utility Week magazine since the mid-1990s. Between 1984 and 1987, Nigel was the Political Correspondence Secretary to Lady Thatcher at 10 Downing Street. Nigel joined Hardman & Co in February 2016. He holds a BA (Hons) in Law, Economics and Politics from the University of Buckingham and is a senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute.
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Chris Train

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Former CEO of Cadent, Britain’s largest gas distribution network, Chris is spearheading ENA’s Gas Goes Green programme as the UK’s Green Gas Champion, to create the world’s first zero carbon gas grid here in the UK, to hit our 2050 net zero carbon target. · Chris has 38 years’ experience of working in the UK energy industry, also serving for 8 years as National Grid’s Networks Operations Director, where he was responsible for the real-time running of Britain’s energy networks, ensuring that the country’s electricity and gas needs were met 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. · During this period, he also worked closely with industry and Government to implement some of the most radical changes to Britain’s electricity system since privatisation, which have led to Britain’s position as a world-leading producer of renewable electricity, including through offshore wind.
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Ashleye Gunn
CMA

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Ashleye is an independent consumer policy consultant and panel member specialising in competition, consumer behaviour and stakeholder engagement in regulated consumer markets. Ashleye is currently a CMA Panel Member, a member of UK Power Networks Customer Engagement Group for RIIO-2 and of Scottish Power Transmission’s User Group for T2, and on the awarding panel for Ofgem’s Stakeholder Engagement and Consumer Vulnerability Incentive. She was previously Policy Programme Director at Which?
Nick Turton

Nick Turton
External Affairs Director 
Energy Institute

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Nick Turton is External Affairs Director at the Energy Institute, the chartered professional membership body that brings together expertise for urgent global challenges. He is working to build the professional status of those working in energy and to reinforce the role of evidence and expertise at the heart of the public debate, so that energy, and its critical role in our world, is better understood, managed and valued. He previously spent more than a decade in Westminster, Whitehall and in consultancy advising government ministers and corporate leaders across the energy sector, dealing with issues as complex and contentious as global climate talks, new nuclear power and home energy bills. He is a board member of the Energy Leadership Panel of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
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Teodora Kaneva
Programme Manager, Smart Infrastructure and Systems
techUK

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Teodora’s rich background varies from working in business development for a renewable energy lobbying association in Brussels to the fast moving technology innovation startup scene in the UK. She has designed the market strategy for a German renewable energy engineering scale up for the UK, listed on Nasdaq private market, and now one of the fastest growing scale ups in the world. Previous experience also includes managing a renewable energy startup in London, which has built a small-scale biomass CHP power plant. Teodora is passionate about cross-industry collaboration and working together with academia to inform the design of future educational models and skill building. Most recently Teodora has ran the commercial activities and business development at Future Cities Catapult, focusing on innovation in cities, digital health and wellbeing, mobility, and infrastructure. Teodora is a passionate STEM Ambassador and a vocal advocate for women in tech.
Dr Elizabeth Blakelock is a Principle Policy Manager at Citizens Advice

Dr Elizabeth Blakelock
Principle Policy Manager
Citizens Advice

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Dr Elizabeth Blakelock is an advocate for consumers in Vulnerable Circumstances. This includes advising the Fuel Bank Foundation, being a Trustee of the Essential Services Access Network and as a Principle Policy Manager at Citizens Advice. Elizabeth is an energy regulation and government policy specialist focused on innovative uses of data to build rigorous insight into energy market outcomes in the UK, particularly for consumers in vulnerable circumstances. Elizabeth's mission is to transform essential services for everyone through incorporating empathy into regulatory decision making. In practice this means delivering insight into the real time impact of markets on people’s lives to decision makers.
Denise Massey

Denise Massey
Managing Director
Energy Innovation Centre

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Denise Massey is committed to driving social progress, improving the quality of people’s lives and securing a safe, affordable and sustainable future for generations to come. Since its foundation in 2008 she has built the Energy Innovation Centre into a respected organisation that is at the forefront of innovation in the energy sector. Through her ability to foster collaboration and partnership, Denise works with innovators, energy companies, regulators and governments, both nationally and internationally, to help meet the social, political, environmental and economic energy challenges we face.
Lawrence

Lawrence Slade
CEO
Global Infrastructure Investor Association

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Prior to taking up his role as Chief Executive Officer with GIIA in January 2020, Lawrence Slade worked with Energy UK since 2011, becoming Chief Executive in January 2015. He has been involved in the energy industry since the late 1990’s working in countries all over the world. Lawrence is a member of the UK Government’s Committee on Fuel Poverty, an Advisory Board member of Connected Kerb, a Board Trustee and Audit Committee member of the Money Advice Trust (who run the National Debtline and Business Debtline) and is also a Fellow of the Energy Institute.
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Mike Foster
CEO
Energy & Utilities Alliance

McMath

Sarah McMath
Chief Executive
MOSL

Pennington

Neil Pennington
Digital Transformation

MJ

Musidora Jorgensen
Head of UK Energy and Utilities
Salesforce

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Musidora is Head of UK Energy and Utilities for Salesforce. This sees her working with customers to digitally transform their businesses and gain greater insights into their own customers. She has been selling and leading teams within the IT industry for over 20 years, both within the UK Enterprise Private and Public sectors. Musidora is passionate about supporting more women in the STEM industries and is an active mentor, coach and sponsor for women in sales. She won the Best Sales Mentor category at the EMEA Women in Sales Awards 2018.
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Phil Beach
Energy & Utility Skills

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Steve Kaye
CEO
UKWIR

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Matt Cole

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Chris Stark
Committee on Climate Change

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Ian McCluskey
IGEM

What's impressed our judges in the past?

The Utility Week Awards in 3 words!