Leadership & Governance
A determined team leading change
Our Leadership Team and Board are responsible for the overall strategic direction and long-term success of the Net Zero Technology Centre.
Peter
Mather
Chair
Peter Mather
After 40 years at bp, Peter has just stepped down from his position as Senior Vice President, Europe, and Head of Country, UK. He has agreed to remain as non-executive Chairman of the bp Europe Supervisory Board.
His varied career has involved many different roles in trading, refining, shipping, upstream gas, B2B marketing, corporate strategy, and power – in London, New York, Paris and Brussels. His last role included: bp’s UK/European integrated business development, particularly focussed on the energy transition to low/zero carbon; corporate governance; advocacy and reputation management; government and external relationships; crisis management; arts, education, and sports sponsorships; and industrial relations.
Peter is now developing a portfolio career with a common thread of supporting the energy transition. In addition to bp and NZTC, he has just been appointed as a non-executive Board member at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He also chairs the Advisory Board of a new VC company, Two Magnolias, which focuses on investments in sustainability and human health.
Peter has an MA (Oxford), an MBA (INSEAD) and an Honorary Fellowship (from King’s College London).
He is married with three children, and his interests cover the arts and most sports, from tennis to triathlons.
Liz
Ditchburn
Liz Ditchburn
Liz Ditchburn is a public sector leader and senior policy maker with more than three decades of experience in the UK civil service and devolved administrations and in diverse geographies. Most recently, she was Director General for Economy for the Scottish Government, leading on all aspects of the economy and the drive towards net zero in Scotland. Prior to this she was the Department for International Development’s (now Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) Policy Director and it’s first Value for Money Director. She has worked on climate change action and finance for many years, on both mitigation and adaptation and in domestic and international settings. Across her executive career she has worked to integrate economic, social and environmental change to secure better outcomes for people, place and planet.
Jeff
Corray
Jeff Corray
Jeff joined Simmons in 2013 bringing with him over 20 years of international oil and gas industry experience, including leading a private equity owned business and significant knowledge in M&A transactions.
In 1987 Jeff joined KPMG and went on to become Partner, running their oil services M&A business until 2007. Following this he was appointed as CEO of ITS Energy Services, an international provider of drilling equipment and services, a post he held until June 2012. Jeff graduated in Economics from the National University of Malaysia and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Jeff is also Chair of The Net Zero Technology Centre’s Audit Committee.
Karin
Hagemann
Karin Hagemann
Karin works with entities intent on optimising their strategy, identifying priorities, achieving organisational efficiency and effectiveness and working towards best-practice standards in governance.
Karin’s professional history spans business and for-profit environments and the world of international development and the not-for-profit sector. She has over 30 years professional experience, of which 15 have been in management consulting at Board- and CEO-level, but also with operational units, working for the Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG and since 2013 in her own company, developing her specialisation in questions of strategic analysis and planning, and operationalisation and management of change.
Her professional assignments have covered the pharma industry, machine-building, investment banking, mining, insurance as well as the health sector, where she has worked both in a consulting capacity and as the Director of Project HOPE Switzerland, an NGO active in health development activities in the Balkans and in Africa. Swiss public sector assignments include work with the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), several Swiss University Hospitals and the State Council and University of Fribourg, where Karin has been instrumental in creating Switzerland’s first Master’s in Medicine programme which specifically promotes family medicine as a student orientation.
In the UN system Karin’s recent clients include UNICEF, UN Women, WHO, WFP, UNHCR, UNESCO, IFAD and she has managed several multi-agency projects, such as the Comprehensive Review of Governance and oversight of the UN, Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies, or the governance module of the UN Treasury Harmonization Study.
Karin holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business of Stanford University, and a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Geneva.
Sian
Lloyd Rees
Sian Lloyd Rees
In a career spanning over 25 years Sian has extensive business experience as a Senior Leader in both Energy and IT industries, having held several leadership roles in both blue chip and start-up Companies.
The domain knowledge and global focus gained in the Energy industry; coupled with the pace of evolving digital strategies and entrepreneurship encouraged in the IT industry, have contributed to a proven track record in developing new and profitable business opportunities. She is UK Managing Director of Aker Offshore Wind and also supports the broader Aker Horizon companies in the UK, a global provider of sustainable solutions across the broad Energy sector.
Sian is Vice Co-Chair on the Board of Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and the industry Supply Chain Champion supporting delivery of the North Sea Transition Deal, sits on the Board of the Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) and is a member of the steerco for the Deepwind Cluster.
Alex
Reip
Alex Reip
Alex is an award-winning tech entrepreneur working in several sectors including nanotechnology, cleantech, biotech and B2B voice recognition. He works with several start-ups around the UK to help their early-stage growth, through investment readiness and development of their ongoing technology strategy.
He is a co-founder and now CTO of Oxford nanoSystems (OnS), a nanotechnology company developing energy efficient coatings for sectors including HVACR and Electrolysers, having led the company for five years raising over £6m worth of equity and grant funding and starting to commercialise.
He has a PhD in nanotechnology from Brunel University and has over 15 years’ experience in the development and commercialisation of advanced nanomaterials. He is a Charted Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry as well as being a member of its Professional Standards Board. Alex is also a member of the NCFE technical advisory board.
As a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence for Brunel University, Alex also works to develop an Open Innovation approach to commercialisation, advises the spinouts and is a member of the university’s Commercialisation Panel.
Alex is also part of The Net Zero Technology Centre’s Audit Committee.
Sarim
Sheikh
Sarim Sheikh
Sarim Sheikh has nearly three decades of international experience in the renewables and energy industry working in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia with General Electric and Shell.
Recognised as a true leader, who has made outstanding contributions to international business growth, Sarim is a recipient of the GE Chairman’s Leadership Award. Under his leadership, Shell Pakistan Limited was awarded the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s “Top Companies Award” for corporate governance, financial performance, shareholder value, and sustainability.
Sarim has served as both chair and non-executive director on boards of several listed and non-listed companies, and government advisory boards, and is currently a non-executive director at Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT).
Our Board
Chaired by Peter Mather, our Board is responsible for the overall strategic direction and long-term success of the Net Zero Technology Centre. It is responsible for making sure we have the resources, controls, and governance we need to deliver our goals.
Audit Committee
Chaired by Jeff Corray, our Audit Committee advises our Board on the effectiveness of our management procedures. It receives reports on risk, control and governance of the Centre, offers advice to the Board and monitors the resulting actions. The Audit Committee oversees the development and implementation of key policies on behalf of the Board.
Nomination Committee
Chaired by Peter Mather, our Nomination Committee reviews the structure, size and composition of the Net Zero Technology Centre Board to ensure the Board is appropriately represented in terms of skills, knowledge, experience and diversity. The Nomination Committee also works with the executive to ensure a robust succession plan for the executive is in place. The Nomination Committee will also ensure appropriate representation on other Board related committees and Panels.
Academic Advisory Panel
Chaired by Alex Reip, our Academic Advisory Panel provides independent expertise and advice to the Net Zero Technology Centre Board through strategic oversight of research trends and validation of research activities. The Panel will also ensure that our activity is aligned to our strategy to develop and deliver technologies for an affordable net zero energy system.