ELUK2026 Confirmed Speakers

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  Bill Esterson has been MP for Sefton Central since 2010 and was elected Chair of the Commons Select Committee for Energy Security and Net Zero in September 2024. 

He has previously held the position of Shadow Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister for Business and Industry, Shadow Minister for International Trade and Shadow Minister for

  Bill Esterson has been MP for Sefton Central since 2010 and was elected Chair of the Commons Select Committee for Energy Security and Net Zero in September 2024. 

He has previously held the position of Shadow Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister for Business and Industry, Shadow Minister for International Trade and Shadow Minister for Small Business. 

Mr Esterson started and grew two businesses between 1995 and 2010 and was a local councillor before entering parliament. He graduated from Leeds University in 1990 with BSc Hons in Maths and Philosophy and trained as a chartered accountant after graduating. 

 Richard Tice is a British businessman and politician. With over 35 years in property investment, he served as CEO of CLS Holdings (2010-2014), tripling its share price. A key Brexit advocate, Tice co-founded Leave.EU and Leave Means Leave. He joined the Brexit Party in 2019, which became Reform UK in 2021, becoming chairman, then leader 

 Richard Tice is a British businessman and politician. With over 35 years in property investment, he served as CEO of CLS Holdings (2010-2014), tripling its share price. A key Brexit advocate, Tice co-founded Leave.EU and Leave Means Leave. He joined the Brexit Party in 2019, which became Reform UK in 2021, becoming chairman, then leader (2021-2024). He was elected MP for Boston and Skegness in 2024, and is currently Reform UK’s Deputy Leader, pushing for higher growth, immigration control, and sensible energy policies. 

  Laura Sandys has been working in energy transformation for 20 years and chairs the Government’s Network Innovation Taskforce, The Green Alliance, The Food Foundation and Electrify Industry. She is an advisor to the International Energy Agency on smart grids and is on the board of SSE Transmission, Ohme Global, Sero Homes and Highview Po

  Laura Sandys has been working in energy transformation for 20 years and chairs the Government’s Network Innovation Taskforce, The Green Alliance, The Food Foundation and Electrify Industry. She is an advisor to the International Energy Agency on smart grids and is on the board of SSE Transmission, Ohme Global, Sero Homes and Highview Power. 

She was the Chair of the UK Government’s Energy Digitalisation Taskforce and is now working globally to spread best practise of the digitalisation of the energy system.  She was also a member of the UK Government’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce chairing the domestic efficiency working group.

She co-founder of POWERful Women and was former Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency.  She chaired the Northern Ireland Energy Strategy Group and is member of the UK Ministerial Council for Carbon Capture and Storage. 

Laura was awarded a CBE in recognition for her work on energy policy, was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by Green Economy by Business Green and Utility Week Industry Champion. She has recently been appointed Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College. 

She was previously a Member of Parliament for South Thanet, and described by The Times as ‘one of the sanest of all MPs’ and as ‘lateral-minded, original and free-thinking’.  

 As the Business Development Manager (Decarbonisation Strategy) at Xoserve, Orlando Minervino leads the company's decarbonisation initiatives and engages with energy professionals to explore the latest innovations in the future of gas. 

With over a decade of expertise in energy consulting, Orlando's goal is to help connect stakeholders in 

 As the Business Development Manager (Decarbonisation Strategy) at Xoserve, Orlando Minervino leads the company's decarbonisation initiatives and engages with energy professionals to explore the latest innovations in the future of gas. 

With over a decade of expertise in energy consulting, Orlando's goal is to help connect stakeholders in the gas sector to accelerate decarbonisation through innovative solutions – such as low-carbon hydrogen, biomethane and CCUS.

As an energy consultant, he has worked with global corporations, SMEs, and startups, developing and executing operational strategies that drive growth and optimise processes. His background includes corporate and business unit strategy, business model development, procurement strategies and operations, and growth strategies.

Beside working as a consultant, Orlando was also a part-time researcher at Cranfield University (engineering economics & emerging technologies), focusing on the net zero transition in energy and aerospace. His research, published in academic journals, covers decarbonisation strategies, public policy, infrastructure investments, and big data in decision-making.

 Emily is the Head of Energy at Icebreaker One. She has a background in R&D with experience across the UK energy system spanning smart systems, data infrastructure, renewable power and heat, governance, and societal engagement. Emily has a PhD which explored governance of the digital energy revolution for net zero by 2050. She is motivate

 Emily is the Head of Energy at Icebreaker One. She has a background in R&D with experience across the UK energy system spanning smart systems, data infrastructure, renewable power and heat, governance, and societal engagement. Emily has a PhD which explored governance of the digital energy revolution for net zero by 2050. She is motivated by the challenge of leveraging data and digital tech to accelerate the systems-level changes we need for a sustainable future.

 Sarah founded Developing Experts in October 2015. Since then, the company has grown from strength to strength, winning Tech Nation's Rising Star award in 2019 and being selected as one of 10 UK companies for Google's Immersion Growth Program in 2020. In 2021, the company was featured in @J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s report on the Top 200 F

 Sarah founded Developing Experts in October 2015. Since then, the company has grown from strength to strength, winning Tech Nation's Rising Star award in 2019 and being selected as one of 10 UK companies for Google's Immersion Growth Program in 2020. In 2021, the company was featured in @J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s report on the Top 200 Female-Powered Businesses in the UK and recently secured a place on Tech Nation's Upscale programme. Developing Experts also won the BETT Awards for Best Classroom Resource - Teaching Aid in both 2022 and 2024. In addition, Sarah was recognised as an 'LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leader' in 2022. In 2024, the company won the Best AI Product and Best AI Product for Education categories at the National AI Awards and was a finalist for Best AI Product for Energy and Utilities. Sarah herself was a finalist for High Growth Woman Founder of the Year at the UKBAA Angel Investor 2024 Awards.

Developing Experts works with a range of tier 1 brands from the rail, energy, and construction industries to grow, track and build diverse talent pipelines for industry. 

In 2020 Sarah was honoured with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for her services to tech and education and was named by Startup Magazine 'Top 20 Most Influential Female Founder of 2020’.

Sarah is delighted to be working with thousands of schools and clients such as the EDF, Network Rail, Rolls Royce, BEIS, National Nuclear Labs, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Ministry of Defence.

 Daniel Norton is Commercial Director at Ohme, leading innovation in EV charging and smart, consumer-focused energy solutions. With over 20 years in the energy sector, he brings deep expertise in regulation, pricing and market design.

At Ofgem, he served as Deputy Director for Pricing Strategy and the Price Cap, tackling major reforms in e

 Daniel Norton is Commercial Director at Ohme, leading innovation in EV charging and smart, consumer-focused energy solutions. With over 20 years in the energy sector, he brings deep expertise in regulation, pricing and market design.

At Ofgem, he served as Deputy Director for Pricing Strategy and the Price Cap, tackling major reforms in energy affordability. Previously, at Centrica, he managed one of the UK’s largest energy hedging portfolios and led commercial strategy for British Gas. Daniel combines regulatory insight and commercial experience to support the transition to a secure, flexible, and decarbonised energy system.

  Adrian is the global energy advisory lead at AECOM. He advises a portfolio of clients ranging from technology companies, utilities and oil and gas operators to low carbon developers, start-ups, investors and government.

The topics he covers includes data centres, fusion energy, low carbon investments (such as offshore wind, EV charging, 

  Adrian is the global energy advisory lead at AECOM. He advises a portfolio of clients ranging from technology companies, utilities and oil and gas operators to low carbon developers, start-ups, investors and government.

The topics he covers includes data centres, fusion energy, low carbon investments (such as offshore wind, EV charging, hydrogen and carbon capture), energy security and navigating the energy transition. He regularly speaks at conferences, round tables and to the media and presents to clients, discussing macro trends in energy.

Adrian has undertaken senior roles in the management consulting industry, including PwC Strategy&, Booz Allen Hamilton and EY. He was also the managing director of a boutique energy consulting firm where he worked with the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond and Lord Moynihan.

Adrian has a degree in French and Spanish from Southampton University and a Masters in International History from the London School of Economics. He is an advisor on multiple boards, lecturer and is a fellow of the Energy Institute.

 Richard has been employed in the electricity distribution and transmission sector for the past 35 years and is a true subject matter expert. He gained operational management experience working for a DNO and various overhead line contractors throughout the UK and into Europe. Projects ranged from low voltage network refurbishment to 132kV

 Richard has been employed in the electricity distribution and transmission sector for the past 35 years and is a true subject matter expert. He gained operational management experience working for a DNO and various overhead line contractors throughout the UK and into Europe. Projects ranged from low voltage network refurbishment to 132kV Trident wood pole and tower construction, included a significant amount of 11kV BLX rebuild and also a 70km underground fibre optic cable installation. Now working with Osmose, he collaborates strategically with UK DNOs and contractors providing expertise on grid asset life extension solutions such as trussing and supporting DNOs in their goal of restoring their wood pole networks across the UK.

 Elina is a physicist with over 20 years of experience in fusion plasma physics research and who has worked at several national laboratories across Europe. In 2012 Elina joined UKAEA, where she is successfully leading a group consisting of 10 scientists. In addition, she is now Events Lead at Destination Nuclear, a UK-wide recruitment cam

 Elina is a physicist with over 20 years of experience in fusion plasma physics research and who has worked at several national laboratories across Europe. In 2012 Elina joined UKAEA, where she is successfully leading a group consisting of 10 scientists. In addition, she is now Events Lead at Destination Nuclear, a UK-wide recruitment campaign to provide the Nuclear Sector with the workforce required to deliver the sector’s ambitions and growth. Before that, Elina was leading a highly complex modelling project to improve the understanding of how to optimise the fusion energy production of ITER, a critical next-step multi-billion international fusion experiment that is being built in France. 

Elina is a mum of two and as WiN UK Network Executive (job share), she is taking positive actions across the nuclear sector to create workplaces where everyone can thrive and reach their true potential.