SNS2026: The Next 25 Years – Conference Speakers

Rob Gilbert serves as the Director of Supply Chain at Great British Energy, the UK’s publicly backed clean energy investment company. In this role, Rob leads the development and delivery of national supply chain strategy to support the UK’s energy transition. His remit includes driving industrial capacity, supporting local content and workforce development, and securing resilient supply networks across offshore wind, solar, and transmission infrastructure.

Rob brings over a decade of experience in energy, infrastructure, and government advisory, having previously been a Partner at Baringa, where he led major engagements across energy market design, procurement strategy, and public-private investment programmes. He has worked with leading utilities, policymakers, and regulators to address systemic supply chain bottlenecks and accelerate clean energy delivery.

An established voice in the energy sector, Rob has contributed to high-impact industry publications and serves as a frequent speaker at national forums on infrastructure resilience and sustainable energy growth. His current work at Great British Energy plays a pivotal role in aligning investment with UK industrial capabilities, while delivering on the country’s net-zero ambitions.

Tom Wheeler is the Director of Operations at the NSTA. Tom became Head of Commercial for DECC’s upstream oil and gas team in 2014 and then moved to the NSTA when it was established in 2015.

Tom previously trained as a solicitor and spent seven years working in private practice before taking a role as in-house counsel in the oil and gas industry. Tom was previously the NSTA’s Director of Regulation.

The Operations Directorate is responsible for the overall stewardship of oil and gas exploration and production on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), and oversees the delivery of offshore carbon transportation and storage developments. It is responsible for the asset stewardship process, and development of area plans on the UKCS, working closely with operators and licensees to ensure economic recovery, whilst supporting the drive to net zero carbon by 2050 including by issuing permits for geological carbon storage projects and stewarding those projects through their lifecycle.

Enrique is OEUK’s Energy Policy Director, a role he has held since January 2026. He leads the development and advocacy of forward-looking energy policy for the offshore energy sector. His team draws on robust data, market intelligence and industry insight to shape policy direction,  and support the UK’s energy security objectives. Enrique is responsible for OEUK’s energy policy agenda and also oversees the market intelligence function. He joined OEUK in 2023 as Head of Policy.

Enrique brings over 14 years of experience in energy and climate policy, with senior domestic and international roles across the UK government. His career has spanned oil and gas, renewables and climate policy development. He has led the Energy Team at the British Embassy in Mexico, delivered the oil and gas exports strategy for the Americas and Africa at the Department for International Trade, led the technologies strand of the UK government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy covering CCUS, hydrogen and electrification, and headed the CCUS Supply Chains work at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Hazel has over 20 years’ experience in education, training and development for the engineering and energy sectors with significant experience in designing and delivering learning and competency projects for major energy companies.

Based in the UK, Hazel joined OPITO is 2024 as the Strategic Partnerships Manager for UK and Europe before being promoted to Vice President for UK and Europe in 2025. 

Hazel’s role focuses on developing strategic relationships with national and international energy companies, OPITO approved training centres, governments and industry bodies in the UK and Europe, with the aim being to identify and implement solutions to support the safety of the workforce.

Laura McNaughton is a Product Development Manager at OPITO, the industry‑owned, global, not‑for‑profit skills authority at the forefront of workforce safety and skills development across safety‑critical industries. With a strong background in learning technology and development across the education, public, and corporate sectors, Laura brings extensive experience in the design and delivery of digital learning solutions.

At OPITO, she supports the development and evolution of safety‑critical training and competency standards, working closely with industry and training providers to ensure products are innovative, robust, and aligned with the needs of a global workforce. Her work contributes to OPITO’s mission to strengthen the workforce of tomorrow and support a safer, more competent future as the energy landscape continues to evolve.

Julian started his career in1990 after joining Baker Hughes in operations providing both well, process and pipeline services to the oil and gas sector.

Julian is CEO of the PARADIGM an international Oil and Gas technology suite of companies that all provide disruptive technology solutions and services to reduce total operational cost whilst lowering carbon impact during the production and transportation of hydrocarbons.  Julian is currently based and lives in the Netherlands.

His career includes working directly on onshore and offshore facilities, operations engineering, technical sales and over 30 years of direct business management covering the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

Julian has been active for EEEGR since 2013, and currently co-chairs the Gas Transition Sector Council and is a Conference Advisory Board member for Offshore Energy, The Netherlands leading Energy conference.

Jonathan (“Jo”) White has 35 years of experience in the E&P business. With a background in geology and geophysics, he has served in a variety of technical and leadership roles at team leader, functional chief and senior management levels, working for operators and service companies on exploration, development and production projects in diverse settings worldwide, including the UK, Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. 

He currently serves as a Director & General Manager of Perenco UK’s Southern North Sea (SNS) business unit, which operates 24 active gas fields off the east coast of England, consisting of over 200 natural gas wells, and 2 gas terminals on the East coast of England. All told, Perenco handles around one sixth of the natural gas production from the UK’s offshore gas fields.

Since Feb 2024, Jo has also served as an industry representative and Co-Chair of the Asset Stewardship Task Force, which includes membership of the North Sea Transition Steering Group, acting as the North Sea Transition Forum when meeting with Government Ministers.

In early 2025, Perenco successfully completed the UK’s first carbon storage injection trial, as part of their Poseidon Project.  At the Leman platform 27H, 25 miles off the coast of Norfolk, approximately 4000 tonnes of food-grade CO2 were safely pumped into depleted reservoir rocks 2 miles beneath the seabed, with sustained rates of over 1 Mega-tonnes per annum achieved, proving project viability.

Jo says, “I believe in the power of high performing teams to drive business results. With an open and collaborative style, I engage in honest discourse to find common ground and build alliances across boundaries, developing productive internal and external business relationships. I try to ensure that goals and expectations are clearly defined and effectively communicated. I enjoy working with colleagues who engage their creative energies to find and deliver innovative solutions, rather than just identify problems.  The future is bright!”

Jane champions RenewableUK’s close to 500 members to drive awareness of policy challenges, galvanise support and delivery of renewables, and publicly highlight the sector’s benefits.

As a leader in the renewable energy industry, she works closely with the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and the Onshore Wind Industry Council (ONWIC) to align the Government’s ambitions with industry deliverables.

Over the last decade, Jane has built a deep, sector-wide expertise, contributing significantly to landmark collaborative initiatives such as the Offshore Wind Sector Deal and the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership.  

A Chartered Mechanical engineer, Jane previously served as the Director of Regulatory and External Affairs at Ørsted, where she played a pivotal role in shaping industry regulations and fostering strategic partnerships between the Government and the private sector. Jane is Chair of the Aura CDT Strategic Advisory Board and co-Chair of the Floating Offshore Wind Executive.

Andy is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Fellow of the I. Mech. E. with over 25 years’ experience in the development and delivery of energy projects. Having worked on coal and gas fired power station development, onshore wind and offshore wind Andy has worked with the whole range of challenges that project development can bring.

Holding senior development management positions with ALSTOM Power, RES and ESB Andy joined Vattenfall in 2012 as the Co-Project Director for the Vattenfall/Scottish Power joint venture for the ‘Round 3’ East Anglia Zone. He held various development management positions with Vattenfall, including more latterly assessing the feasibility of multi-purpose interconnector projects between the UK and Netherlands. Andy has been a director of EEEGR and was instrumental in the formation of the East Wind Cluster. He has also sat on a number of industry groups, including National Grid Transmission’s Independent User Group where he had unique insight into their plans for engagement and delivery of grid investment plans for the East coast. He is now the independent project director of North Falls, a 50/50 joint venture between SSE Renewables and RWE which is an extension to the operational Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm.

Diane Mailer has worked for RWE for five years managing projects and leading a number of large-scale transactions to successful outcomes before joining the Five Estuaries Team in November 2023.  Prior to coming to RWE Diane worked as a commercial and regulatory lawyer both at Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, and in private practice.  In addition, she has worked as a company secretary and social housing manager. In her work, Diane combines her legal background, and various educations and experience in project management and coaching, with a commercial, pragmatic and empathic approach to her role.   

Diane is originally from Australia but has now settled in the UK with her Belgian husband and British children.

She is passionate about renewable energy and making a positive difference for future generations.