BUILDING A SAFER FUTURE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chartered Chemical Engineer
Andrew is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with over 30 years operational, engineering and leadership experience working for large oil and gas exploration, energy and chemicals manufacturing companies including Monsanto, BP, Chevron, and Centrica.
His most recent roles include Head of Health, Safety Environment and Quality, Head of Production and Head of Asset Performance for a large offshore gas storage and terminal operator. Andrew has extensive experience of designing and using process safety management systems in hazardous environments, incident investigation and safety leadership. He is also a visiting academic at the University of Hull.
Darren has more than 20 years' experience in Oil and Gas operations. He was latterly the Operations Director for Centrica Storage Ltd (CSL) with accountability for the Easington onshore gas terminal and Rough Gas Field offshore platforms.
Darren has a passion for process safety. He successfully implemented CSL's behavioural safety ‘Culture of Care' programme, driving significant improvement in operational safety and cultural maturity throughout the business. In previous roles of Terminal Manager and Offshore Asset Manager he was a safety case duty holder and has a deep understanding of the legislative framework for operating in a major accident hazard environment.
Darren has a demonstrable career and reputation for delivering effective solutions in a positive and constructive way, doing so with authority, integrity, safety leadership and technical expertise. Darren has previously held several board positions with significant experience of leadership in complex, high hazard environments.
David is a chartered chemical engineer with 37 years' manufacturing experience in the chemical industry, mainly with Royal Dutch Shell, centred on managing the operations of ‘Major Accident Hazard' facilities.
Alongside senior executive leadership positions, he has served as a Non-Executive Director within Joint Ventures, a specialist neuroscience hospital, and of the Chemical Industries Association where he chaired the Responsible Care Strategy Group for 12 years. Under his leadership a strong focus was placed on Process Safety Leadership, and a ‘Responsible Care Verification' (peer-review/assessment) scheme was devised and implemented across the chemicals sector.
Amongst a number of voluntary roles, David is a Street Pastor and a Debt Counsellor within a community-based Debt Advice Centre. Leisure interests include rowing and golf.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer - Construction Products Association
- Chief Operating Officer of the Construction Products Association
Dr Diana Montgomery was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Construction Products Association (CPA) in May 2019, having successfully led the CPA as Chief Executive since 2012. She is a director of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, the Building a Safer Future Charter and chairs the advisory group for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Before joining the Construction Products Association, Diana was Deputy Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association where she raised the profile of chemical manufacturing in the UK, led the Responsible Care Programme and established its pivotal role in the delivery of the UK government's sustainability targets.
In October 2014, Diana was appointed by HM Treasury to chair Infrastructure UK's Supply Chain Capacity and Skills Group. She chaired the board of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment until 2019 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Diana has degrees from Oxford University and Imperial College in Chemistry and Environmental Management.
Job Titles:
- BSF Interim Chief Executive
Gary has over 25 years experience of working as a senior executive in the public, central and local government and not-for-profit sectors in a range of strategy, communications, corporate affairs and organisational development roles. He was formerly Deputy Chief Executive at Creative Skillset the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Industries.
He joined Building a Safer Future at the outset and worked with Chief Executive Amanda Long to develop the detailed proposals to Early Adopters and MHCLG to become administrative partner of the Building a Safer Future Charter. Gary has been leading the work to develop the Charter's benchmarking and independent verification framework and Building a Safer Future Champion Status.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive - Construction Industry Council ( CIC )
Graham has been involved with CIC since 1989: initially, as a member of the Council and its Executive Board, then as a Director. He was appointed Chief Executive and Secretary in October 1991.
Graham is responsible for the general policy and direction of the Council, for maintaining effective communication with Government, other external agencies and with members and for establishing and maintaining the CIC Secretariat and office.
He is an Honorary Fellow of RIBA, CIBSE, CABE, ICWCI, BIID, CICES and the Faculty of Building and an Honorary Member of the RICS and CIAT. He was awarded the President's Medal of the CIOB in 2000 and the Peter Stone Award of the Association of Building Engineers in 1996. He was appointed OBE in 2008 for services to construction.
He is currently a Board member of CICAIR Ltd, Constructionarium, CUB (Holdings) Ltd, the Considerate Constructors Scheme and Building a Safer Future Ltd; and was formerly a trustee of the Happold Trust and the Sir Ian Dixon Trust. He is a Council member of the NHBC. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria for twelve years from 2000. He has been Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment since 2010. He is also Chair of Trustees for the Spanish Theatre Trust and the Cervantes Theatre.
Graham had a long involvement in the sport of fencing and his competitive career culminated with a Commonwealth Medal in 1990. In 1992, he captained the British Sabre team at the Barcelona Olympic Games. He was the Manager of the British Fencing Team from 1996 and the Performance Director of the British Olympic Fencing Team for 10 years from 2000 to 2010, and Team Leader at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.
Outside of CIC, he is an established international dance writer and critic. He is a member of The Critics' Circle, the UNESCO Dance Council, One Dance UK and the Society of Dance Research. He has been Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics' Circle and of the National Dance Awards since 2010. He is the published author of three books about dance.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- CEO of Empirisys Ltd
Gus Carroll is CEO of Empirisys Ltd, a tech start up that uses applied data science to improve process safety and operational risk in complex, high hazard sectors such as oil & gas, chemicals and refining. Prior to starting Empirisys, Gus was Chief Engineer at Centrica, the energy giant where he had functional responsibility for process safety, capital assurance and engineering standards for Centrica's oil & gas, power and industrial businesses, as well as providing technical assurance over Centrica's 20% stake in the UK civil nuclear fleet.
Gus is a chartered chemical engineer, and a recognised expert in process safety in high hazard sectors, with over 30 years' experience in chemicals and oil & gas sectors. He has served as a Director of the European Process Safety Centre in Brussels, as Head of the Energy Institute's Safety Management Group and has recently been appointed as Chair of the COMAH Strategic Forum. Gus used this knowledge in 2020/21 as the lead technical author of the Building a Safer Future assessment and verification framework.
Job Titles:
- Director of Health and Safety Compliance - E & M
As Director of Health and Safety Compliance at E&M - one of the UK's largest freeholder property agents, having over quarter of a million homes in their portfolio, John has continued to enhance his reputation as a key national influencer of building safety reform, adding to his proven career record of leading safety, risk and assurance across numerous public and private sector organisations.
With a passion for enabling behavioural change, John has successfully delivered strategic safety leadership for over 25 years - complementing his extensive NHS, Housing and Local Government background with a number of senior roles with multinational and global organisations including British Airways, Balfour Beatty and Amazon.
In recent years, John has worked closely with the Government in helping to shape the new Fire and Building Safety Bills. In his previous role, being the first Local Authority Early Adopter with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and actively participating in their Policy Design Trials, through to current work with the Home Office Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) regarding various aspects of fire and building safety reform - including the Golden Thread Initiative.
John holds an MBA with Distinction, an MSc in Safety, Health and Environmental Management and a BSc(Hons) in Design Engineering and Business. He is a Chartered Member of IOSH, Specialist Member of IIRSM and Technical Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers.
Job Titles:
- Director of Safety and Security - British Airways
A qualified commercial pilot, John has over 28 years' experience in commercial aviation flying various types of commercial aircraft. His career has included leadership roles various areas and he has extensive experience in recruitment, training and safety and security. His current role is as Director of Safety and Security at British Airways.
He has worked extensively with aviation regulators to support the development of aviation regulation on several subjects to facilitate the continuous improvement in the safety and operational performance of the industry. Other roles currently include acting as a specialist advisor to the Safety Review Committee of NATS Plc the UK's leading provider of air traffic services and as Vice Chair on the Industry's Safety, Flight and Ground Operations Advisory Council.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Office Manager
- Charter Coordinator
Kate is a highly experienced Office Manager and Executive Assistant with a strong background in managing and delivering international multi-stakeholder projects and events effectively. Working for both commercial and not for profit organisations, such as Consumers International, Centaur Communications and Forte Hotel.
Lorna is a Civil Engineer with 19 years of site engineering, quality management systems and leadership experience within the construction industry. She has worked on some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK and has been involved with delivering projects within the nuclear environment.
Her ethos and positive approach to collaborative working is always present. Lorna is an advocate of digital driven solutions to support and modernise the construction industry. She is a ISO 9001 Lead Auditor, Chartered Quality Professional and previously worked as Head of Quality, managing a large portfolio of civil engineering projects.
She is a qualified education and training instructor, and provides training and consultancy services through her business ConstructionTuition Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Framework and Operations Delivery Manager
Louise has eight years of experience working in the construction industry. Throughout her career, she has managed the introduction and integration of several new processes and systems, especially in relation to Building Information Modelling (BIM) and document control.
Louise aims to refine both Building a Safer Future's Registered Signatory and Champion process to improve accessibility, import and benefits. She is also excited about the positive leadership and culture change driven by Building a Safer Future and is dedicated to working to improve building safety in all branches of the industry.
Job Titles:
- Group BIM Director
- Head of Information Management at Effiage, Kier, Ferrovial, Bam ( EKFB )
Lucy has worked within the construction sector for 19 years, having commenced her career in Architectural practice before joining main contractor Wates, where she specialised in Design Management, delivering a wide range of commercial refurbishment projects from the initial design concept phase through to construction and delivery stage.
Lucy is a passionate advocate of digital transformation within the built environment, and understands the importance of evolving the culture and capability of the construction industry, in order that robust information management and digital construction processes are universally adopted to deliver transparent, robust information; which will serve to mitigate risks in the design, construction and management of assets.
Most of Mark's career was spent in the Health and Safety Executive where he worked for 35 years undertaking a wide range of enforcement, policy and managerial roles.
Michelle has spent over 25 years working in the construction industry as an Independent HSEQ Consultant/Trainer through her business - M-Safe NI. She is extremely passionate in making the workplace a safer place to work attained by assisting with the reduction of significant hazards and risks.
Michelle is a confident, communicative, and qualified health, safety and environmental trainer delivering courses to the industry such as Nebosh National/Construction/Environmental/Fire Certificates and Nebosh Diploma.
Michelle is heavily involved with assisting organisations in developing and implementing ISO 45001/14001 and 9001 International standards. Her ability to work with all levels of personnel within any business structure has made her an effective auditor and always achieves the desired results.
Michelle also works with Lead Architects and Designers as a Principal Designer Advisor in the UK and as a Project Supervisor Design Process in the Republic of Ireland which gives her an opportunity to achieve the goal of "Building a Safer Future"
Job Titles:
- New Homes Delivery Director - Platform Housing Group
Paula has worked in a range of roles in social housing for registered providers both large and small. Her experiences vary from contract management, customer service and development. Whatever her role, her passion has always been ensuring that residents are at the heart of what she does.
Her current role is New Homes Delivery Director at Platform Housing Group, the largest housing association in the Midlands and one of the largest in the country, owning over 45,000 homes. The group is one of countries largest developers of social and affordable housing, Paula leads a multidisciplinary team of construction professionals to deliver the highest quality homes across a range of tenures. Her main responsibilities are for housing delivery, construction quality and contract management across Platform's ambitious development programme.
In recent years, Paula has taken a proactive role in improving building safety legislation, culture, and competence in the built environment industries. During her time working for Peabody, one of London's oldest and largest housing associations, she played an active role in MHCLG's Early Adopter Programme; and was a member of the National Federation of Housing National Building Safety Group. She has also worked with BSI as a member of their Build Environment Competence Standards Strategy Group. She is a member of the Charter Institute of Building (CIOB).
Paula is thrilled to sit on the board of Building A Safety Future, she is keen to bring her range of skills in construction, housing and customer service to help ensure the Charter's offer and governance remains focused on those who will be living in the homes that will be built and managed by our members.
Peter is a chartered engineer who spent 11 years working in the manufacturing industry before joining the high pressure gas storage and production industry, where he spent 28 years with Centrica. He was employed in a number of positions including Electrical Technical Authority, Onshore Asset Manager, Offshore Installation Manager, and Operations Manager.
Peter is a parish councillor, and a member of the flood defence volunteer team for his local village. He is also a volunteer dog walker with the national charity, The Cinnamon Trust, a charity offering support to frail or terminally ill pet owners. His recreational activities include cycling, running and writing.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IMechE
Phil is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IMechE, He started his 22yr corporate career with Shell in upstream oil and gas and has worked domestically and overseas in a range of senior leadership positions, including Head of Drilling, UK where he was accountable for all UK drilling operations involving significant process and personal hazard risk profiles.
Although a line leader, he has experienced safety from a range of perspectives - site supervisor, senior leadership and corporate safety roles, and has successfully transformed the safety and business performance of large teams.
In 2010, Phil left Shell and set up his own consultancy and for the last 13yrs has offered performance improvement in both technical and HSE, as well as a leadership coaching. His clients include oil and gas operators, management consultants, the Oil & Gas Authority (UK regulator), Infrastructure & Projects Authority (part of Cabinet Office) and the Jersey Safety Council. Phil is also a Non-Executive Director of Recorra, commercial recycling experts who find new uses for old resources and support the circular economy.
Robert started work with Bison Concrete Ltd in 1971 and worked as a design engineer on a wide range of precast concrete developments. He spent seven years in the Greater London Council's District Surveyors' service, which culminated with his appointment as District Surveyor for Hackney (Head of Building Control). Robert was one of the last two statutory District Surveyors appointed under the London Building Acts. Following the demise of the GLC, Robert entered local government service, becoming Head of Engineering, Director of Regulatory Services and subsequently Director of Environmental Services, all at Hackney LBC.
Returning to the private sector in 2001, Robert's set up his own business and is now Managing Director of Robert Biggs Associates Ltd. His company specialises in building engineering and management consultancy and has particular expertise in building regulations, carrying out plan checking (including structural checking) and site inspection services on a wide range of building types. In addition to this the company assists organisations with their business plans, human resource and health and safety policies and with quality assurance accreditations.
Robert is a former Trustee of the Shoreditch Town Hall Trust (a Trust set up to refurbish and manage the old Town Hall). He is a former Board Director and Chairman of the National Considerate Constructor Scheme and continues to take an active part in Scheme affairs. He is currently Chair of Trustees of the CABE Benevolent Fund.
Robert is a professional interviewer for the CABE (including CEng), assists the CICAIR in AI Appeals and audits and is a member of the CICAIR Appeals (deputy Chair) and Monitoring and Re-approvals (Chair) Committees. He is a member of the Construction Industry Products Environmental Manual editorial panel and is a contributor to Lexis Nexis Knight's Guide to Building Control Law and Regulations.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive - Chemical Industry Association
- Member of the COMAH
Steve Elliott joined the Chemical Industries Association in 1997, spending four and half years as Head, International Trade with additional responsibility for Sustainable Development. In April 2002, he was promoted to the position of Director, Trade & Competitiveness and subsequently Director, Business Environment. Steve was appointed Chief Executive of the CIA in February 2006.
Steve possesses a first class BA (Hons) degree from Nottingham Trent University, and is an Associate Fellow of the IChemE. Prior to his career with CIA, he spent fifteen years working with the DTI, a South African trade advisory body and Crown Agents as an international trade policy and promotion specialist, as well as in general consulting with the BPI Group.
Steve is currently a member of the COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards) Strategic Forum and a member of the Process Safety Management Competence Board. He also sits on the Board of the Involvement and Participation Association (an employee relations think-tank), is a Trustee of the chemical industry's training body, CogentSkills, and chair of the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) Communications Network. Former roles include Chair of the UK's Energy Intensive Users Group and President of the European Chemical Employers Group.
Job Titles:
- Board Member and Resident of Wandle Housing
Teresa has 10 years experience in local government. Working for the LGA: a national membership body for local authorities who work on behalf of member councils to support, promote and improve local government.
Teresa has a BA (Hons) degree in Media studies and English literature from De Montfort university.
For nearly 35 years, Wendy has contributed to improving safety in high-regulated engineering industries, including: energy, process, defence, rail, aerospace and automotive. She has had an international career mostly in engineering consultancy, also with time in product development, research and regulation. Previous employers include UKAEA, Frazer Nash Consultancy, Aecom, Alstom, Arcadis, Jacobs, Costain and Bangor University.
Wendy has extensive experience in safety and dependability case management (including due diligence, peer review, independent assessment, and audit), projects, bids, business development and team management. She has also long been actively involved in supporting development of safety legislation, guidance and standards.
She is a Fellow of both the Safety & Reliability (FSaRS) and the Women's Engineering Society (FWES), and a Member of the International Council of Systems Engineers (MINCOSE) and the Institute of Asset Management (MIAM). She is currently on the Steering Committee of the Safety-Critical Systems Club (SCSC), where she is also a Working Group lead for security-informed safety. In 2022 she was the co-author of a book "30 Years of Safer Systems".
Willmott Dixon is a privately-owned contracting and interior fit-out group. Founded in 1852, we create value for customers, stakeholders and communities by working in a sustainable and responsible way to shape the built environment and make a positive impact on society's well-being.