On the Move: Heat Trust appoints new MD

In Utility Week’s latest round-up of people moves across the sector, the Heat Trust gets a new managing director; a former Centrica director is to head up Energy UK’s Vulnerability Commitment; the first chair of the UK Infrastructure Bank is unveiled and a new deputy inspector joins the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

Heat Trust

Stephen Knight has taken on the role of managing director at the consumer body for heat networks.

Knight joins from London Trading Standards, where he was the director leading the London-wide partnership of Trading Standards services.

He served as an elected councillor in Richmond upon Thames for 20 years, including time as deputy leader of the council and as a London Assembly member, chairing the Assembly’s environment committee.

He replaces David Watson, who joined Cadent last month as its head of energy transition.

Knight said: “This is a very exciting time for the heat network sector. The industry clearly has a vital role to play in de-carbonising heating and is therefore preparing for large scale investment and growth.

“At the same time, it is readying itself for the introduction of statutory regulation, which will give its consumers similar protection to gas and electricity customers. Heat Trust has been putting customers at the heart of changes in the sector over the last six years, and I’m delighted to be given the chance to build on that track record at this crucial time.”

Energy UK

Steve Crabb has been appointed to chair the industry Vulnerability Commitment.

The Commitment came into effect at the start of this year with suppliers serving nearly three quarters of the domestic market committing to improving the support they provide to vulnerable households.

Each supplier’s performance against the different elements of the Commitment will be assessed each year by an expert panel chaired by Crabb.

He will also be responsible for ensuring the Commitment is kept up to date and evolves to reflect the latest trends in vulnerability, with the support of an advisory board.

Crabb spent five years as director of consumer vulnerability at Centrica and has most recently helped to develop vulnerability strategies at Ofwat and Affinity Water.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to drive the Vulnerability Commitment forward. It has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of energy customers who are at risk of vulnerability by encouraging suppliers to innovate, collaborate with charities and other experts, and work with customers themselves to drive continuous improvement in the services they offer.”

Crabb has also been appointed as chair of the customer scrutiny panel at SES Water.

UK Infrastructure Bank

Chris Grigg will be the first chair of the bank when it launches in an interim form on 17 May.

The Treasury has announced that Grigg will serve in the part-time role for an initial three-year tenure with possible reappointment for one further term of the same length.

Grigg has more than 30 years’ experience across the real estate and financial services industries, most recently as chief executive of quoted property company British Land. Before that he was chief executive of Barclays Commercial Bank.

The announcement was welcomed as a “great appointment” and a “key milestone” for the new organisation, which will be based in Leeds, by Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

RPC

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has named Stephen Gibson as chair of the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC).

Gibson has been interim chair of the RPC since December 2019 and a member since May 2018.

He has over 25 years’ experience as a professional economist across a range of regulated sectors, including a spell as interim chief economist at Ofwat. Since 2011, he has run his own consultancy SLG Economics.

The RPC is an independent body, sponsored by the BEIS department, which assesses the quality of evidence and analysis used to inform regulatory proposals.

Electralink

The energy market data hub has chosen Jonathan Purdy as its new chair, following Kevin Lees’ retirement.

Purdy has served as a non-executive director on the Electralink board for seven years and the company said he had “played a significant role in facilitating the expansion of Electralink’s regulated and commercial services”.

He is currently income compliance manager at UK Power Networks, one of Electralink’s six DNO shareholders.

He said: “My tenure on the Electralink board has been interesting and dynamic so far. Things never stop changing in the energy market and Electralink’s position as a central provider of solutions across metering, governance, data transfer and analysis, market monitoring and change management means we are in the thick of transformation. My dual priorities going forward as chair are to ensure Electralink continues to add value throughout the market to keep costs low for end users and maintains the focus on Net Zero innovations.”

Electralink also announced that Paul Geddes is leaving its board after seven years, while Tracy Pitcher of Western Power Distribution, Nigel Bessant from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Paul Bircham at Electricity North West have all joined as non-executive directors.

Drinking Water Inspectorate

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) appointed Nicholas Adjei as deputy chief inspector. Adjei, who formerly worked at Ofwat as head of climate change and water quality as well as resilience in the sector, has more than 16 years’ regulatory experience in the water and environmental sector. The DWI said the appointment brings key skills in support of its vision and strategic objectives.

Prior to Ofwat, Adjei’s experience included delivering flood management schemes at the Environment Agency and engineering and consultancy roles at an international sustainable community-based NGO delivering projects in the southern hemisphere.