Energy Efficiency Awards 2026

Ian is CEO of MCS, a profit for purpose organisation operating at the heart of the UK's adoption of renewable energy sources for our homes and small businesses. MCS is responsible for the national Standards that cover low carbon products and their installation, used to produce electricity and heat from renewable sources.

He started his career in telecommunications with BT and has held managing director roles for the Environment Agency's National Laboratory Service and for CSA Group's UK operations as the world leader in explosion safety and environmental product certification. His career underpins his passion for quality and the role that standards play in protecting consumers.

Ian is currently leading MCS through a period of transformational change as the organisation strives to inspire a next generation of home-grown energy, fit for the needs of every UK home and community. As well as being a member and chair on a number of certification body's governing and impartiality committees, Ian serves as an inaugural member of Liverpool City Region's Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) - Clean Growth Board.

Steve has worked within the Social Housing Construction Sector for over 24 years. He has a Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management background, then became Head Of Sustainability at EQUANS in 2010 to head up their low carbon retrofit strategy. Steve now leads on the delivery of zero carbon solutions for EQUANS and has a wealth of knowledge around low carbon retrofit solutions, helping EQUANS’ clients bring retrofit schemes to reality having delivered and managed over £250m of funding to clients over the years including CESP, ECO, FIT, RHI, GHG LAD, SHDF, and ERDF funded schemes.

Thirty Years Experience in Plumbing and Heating Industry Advocate of NetZero and the reduction of fuel poverty

Dr KT Tan is the Technical Director at Viridian Solar, a UK company based in Cambridge with their renowned innovative Clearline Fusion products. He has been devoting his professional life for over a decade to developing products and technologies for the renewable sector. He started to work with solar thermal well before the PV became a mainstream renewable solution. As a Chartered Engineer, he specialises in solar PV new technologies with a particular interest in roof-integrated systems, advanced cell technologies and innovative mounting solutions. He is a member of the Industrial Advisory Panel of the Centre for Doctoral Training in New and Sustainable PV, and a member of the GEL/82 Standards Policy and Strategy Committee for PV Systems. He is also the Chair of the MCS Solar PV Technical Working Group. He graduated with an Engineering PhD from University of Cambridge.

Gary Spiers career spans over 22 years, covering all aspects of management, auditing, and Installations measures within the industry.

Rachel Jones is the Chair of West Midlands Association of Local Energy Officers which is a not-for-profit organisation supporting local government officers and housing professionals with a remit for reducing all aspects of the UK’s domestic-sector carbon footprint and tackling energy poverty. Rachel is an experienced energy professional specialising in the delivery of energy efficiency measures across communities and working with UK home energy policy to achieve this. Rachel has worked with numerous local authorities and other organisations to develop and embed energy and energy efficiency into their strategic plans with a focus on home energy. Rachel has been working in the energy sector for over 15 years and is CEO of Act on Energy.

Dani Putney has over 14 years’ experience in the Building Engineering Services Sector, working within a leading Certification Body providing UKAS accredited certification services. She has held several positions within Certsure (NICEIC and ELECSA) and is currently responsible for ensuring that accreditation is maintained for the Group’s activities. She represents Certsure (NICEIC and ELECSA) at various industry committees including Chair of the MCS Competency Working Group, member of PAS2030 Steering Committee and participating in the Each Home Counts Work streams

Steve Gapik with over 10 years’ experience in leadership positions in energy efficiency and managing obligations in British Gas, I want build on that experience in energy efficiency industry outside of utilities. I’m delighted to be able to undertake a new role as Managing Director of Soltherm and follow my passion in tackling fuel poverty, and continue the critical role improving life, health and the community outcomes and reducing carborn emissions.

Alan leads on the delivery of innovate IES climate technology including Digital Twins to help companies decarbonise and make their buildings, campuses and cities more energy efficient. AIan is also responsible for the generation and commercialisation of new products for IES targeted at the engineering, renewables and sustainability market.

Ian has 19 years industry experience bringing a wealth of sector knowledge, Starting his career in the industry at British gas where he held several roles in both the consumer and public sector teams, latterly leading on business readiness and business development for their social housing business supporting both the PH Jones team and their clients in the transition to net zero. Ian Joined the Robert heath team in February 2024 as part of them joining Daikin, where his role is to support the business and their clients in the transition to net zero. He is a qualified retrofit assessor and coordinator with a passion for the natural environment and the net zero transition.

Neil has been in the Construction, Training and Education sector for over 40 years and has built a reputation of setting and maintaining high standards. As the founder of OSCAR-onsite he continues to work with Certification Bodies, Awarding Bodies and National Occupational Standards in developing formal NVQ Qualifications further raising standards, this ensures that installers achieve the recognition for their skills and produce high quality installations. Cavity Wall Extraction has been of particular interest as this is key along with property condition to ensure that the insulation performs to its optimum. Now working as an independent consultant and a Lecturer in Further Education providing expert advice on all matters of training and development within Energy Efficiency Measures and the wider Construction methodologies. Neil has been in the Construction, Training and Education sector for over 40 years and has built a reputation of setting and maintaining high standards. As the founder of OSCAR-onsite he continues to work with Certification Bodies, Awarding Bodies and National Occupational Standards in developing formal NVQ Qualifications further raising standards, this ensures that installers achieve the recognition for their skills and produce high quality installations. Cavity Wall Extraction has been of particular interest as this is key along with property condition to ensure that the insulation performs to its optimum. Now working as an independent consultant and a Lecturer in Further Education providing expert advice on all matters of training and development within Energy Efficiency Measures and the wider Construction methodologies.

Andy is a Chartered Environmentalist and has worked in the domestic and commercial property sectors for over 20 years focusing on the energy performance of buildings and implementing strategies to decarbonise homes and offices. Prior to this Andy worked in the rail and aviation sectors in the UK and Middle East overseeing environmental mitigation programmes on major infrastructure projects such as High Speed 1 and New Doha International Airport.

Having worked with Bechtel, Arup, ENGIE and now United Living Andy has a wealth of knowledge across a wide range of energy, low carbon and environmental related topics. Andy currently leads on the delivery of low carbon housing retrofit strategies for United Living Property Services.

Elinor was employed by City Energy after completing a Master's degree in Business Economics with Finance. Elinor has been with the company as it first started utilising the Green Deal Finance Company and accessing ECO Funding. As Compliance Manager, Elinor ensures that City Energy adheres to the changing rules and regulations. She has recently become Technical Director for City Energy

Adrian Prestidge is the Green Growth Project Manager at the East Midlands Combined County Authority, leading regional work on retrofit, energy transition, and the development of the East Midlands Retrofit Strategy. He has played a key role in coordinated multi authority retrofit initiatives, including the joint Nottinghamshire–Derbyshire bid to the MCS Foundation’s Local Authority Retrofit Accelerator Pilot. Adrian also contributes to academic practice collaboration, supporting research into devolved governance for warm, efficient homes, and is a community supervisor for a Collab PhD. Having worked as an installer for a Derbyshire based SME while studying for his MSc, he brings practical and technical insight into accelerating place based decarbonisation across the East Midlands.

Karl Drage has overseen the installation of over 1000 ground source heat pumps, ranging from small installations to some of the largest installations in Europe. This includes a number of multi-megawatt schemes, the largest of which is a 5.4MW Hospital scheme, one of the largest renewable heat systems in Europe. He has delivered funded solutions for blue chip clients under an ESCO arrangement over a 25 year term, installed sustainable district heating systems for local authority social housing clients and constructed multivalent systems for some of the highest profile building and infrastructure developments in London and with a number of leading University clients. His Maintenance and Service business continues to work with - and remote energy monitor - installations over the life of their buildings. He established a team in the US that has gone on to complete some of the leading Sustainable Energy systems in North America and developed a business in Spain in partnership with a leading Utility Company and National Contractors.

Karl is a member of the Council of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association and previously spent four years as its inaugural Chair Person, establishing the association and influencing the early formation of the industry. Karl has been involved in the development of the MCS standard for Heat Pumps, and continues to work to develop both the market and the professional standards of the industry.

After working for 14 years at Glasgow City Council as an inspector of privately let properties in multiple occupation, I decided to make use of this experience and expertise in property and energy assessment. I became a fully qualified domestic and commercial energy assessor and set up the Ian Naismith Energy Assessor business in April 2009. Also in 2009, I became a distributor for the Utility Warehouse Discount Club, a logical extension to my main business. Local Surveyors Direct The Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) A member of BNI Glasgow Alba Chapter A member of Synergy Business Services Club And when I get some time off, I’m a member of Strathaven Golf Club And of course, I’m a member of 4Networking in Glasgow.

Carl Harvey works as an independent retrofit coordinator at My Home Survey Ltd, a business that Carl established in 2006 and now delivers a full suite of retrofit coordination services including Pulse air permeability testing, and as the senior retrofit coordinator at Osmosis ACD Ltd overseeing the PAS 2035 process within the business and promoting best practice in the industry.

Nick has worked in the Energy Efficiency and Sustainability sectors for over 14 years, initially co-founding his own Environmental Consultancy company and currently being on the Leadership Team of EWI Pro Insulation and Render Systems (having joined in late 2015). Within EWI Pro, he runs the Commercial and R&D departments, which are ultimately responsible for bringing insulating solutions to homes and businesses around the country. Nick is also passionate about developing 'green skills' and helping improve people's participation in the low-carbon job market.

Gregory Elliott is Property Services Director for Vibrant Energy Matters, the largest EPC supplier in the UK carrying out over 160K instructions per year. He hass been involved in the EPC industry from conception, with over 10 years in the property sector and overseen many changes. The most exciting has being within the energy sector, having worked with Birmingham Council with the first go early EPC scheme in 2007 to one of the first Green Deal Advise Reports. Experience gained from working with most of the Big Six energy companies on several ECO projects has given him both insight and an understanding on the opportunity that ECO and the Green Deal brings to the industry.

With many years in the Energy Efficiency industry Clint has Delivered industry leading Financial Protection, and currently leads a whole house retrofitting installer organisation. He has a wide and diverse range of experience including business development, system development, operations management, sales and marketing. Clint is ideally placed within this industry to consider a holistic view and step back to understand the smartest way to position a business to succeed in this often-turbulent industry.

A qualified Civil and Mechanical Engineer, Frank founded HD Services in 1984. A member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a fellow of the Geological Survey he has twice been chairman of the Well Drilling Association (WDA).
H.D. Services Ltd are an award-winning, family run company operating throughout the Southeast of England. Involved in the renewables industry since 2009, H.D. Services Ltd are one of only a handful of companies installing Open-Loop heating options for the domestic market and are specialists in their field. Recently recognised for their Pioneering work utilising groundwater as a heat source for the domestic market, Frank and his team focus on encouraging those in suitable areas to use the water in the ground under their properties sustainably, providing them with additional options such as potable supplies and grey water uses.

The local energy team has been created to help DECC support and develop energy solutions at a local level. From the community through local authority to the Local Enterprise partnerships - sharing best practice supporting strategic and project development and delivery
Previously he has been responsible for the design and implementation of the Domestic RHI. He joined that team in early 2012. Prior to this appointment he was responsibility for community energy. He set up the LEAF project that enabled over 200 communities to set up local energy schemes in 2012. Before joining DECC, Patrick worked for Transport for London and the London Borough of Croydon as well as time working as a journalist and a sustainability consultant.

Peter Sumby has worked at NEA, the national fuel poverty charity, since 1996 and has been Director of Operations since 2006. Peter is a member of NEA's senior management team and is responsible for the delivery of NEA's practical work programmes. These seek to demonstrate innovative ways of bringing affordable warmth to low income and vulnerable households and are delivered in partnership with local authorities, housing associations, the health sector, the community sector, energy company partners and others. Peter leads a team of with expertise in delivering energy advice, tackling fuel debt and delivering income maximisation services. Peter’s role involves developing strategic partnerships to enable the delivery of NEA’s programmes and to manage relationships with those national and local agencies with whom NEA needs to engage in order to deliver projects that tackle fuel poverty. Peter's role is also to ensure that lessons learned from project delivery are incorporated into NEA's policy development process in order to inform NEA's advisory role to government, local government and the wider energy sector.

Marc heads up the TrustMark Compliance team and is responsible for delivering a best-in-class quality assurance programme, that is not only fit for purpose now but also into the future. Working closely with TrustMark Scheme Providers and Registered Businesses, Marc and his team ensure help and support is provided on all compliance issues, whether navigating the evolving world of Retrofit and government obligations or the ongoing drive for improvement in standards for all trades working in or around the home.

Wyatt is Programme Manager on the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (formerly SHDF), where he has been in post since March 2023. Wyatt has led and worked in project teams across Government major projects for over a decade, including supporting the Government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Brexit negotiations.

Jane has worked in the energy efficiency sector for 17 years, with extensive experience delivering retrofit projects across the UK, working across the utility, supply chain and charity sectors. In 2024 Jane founded Women in Retrofit, an organisation dedicated to attracting more women into energy efficiency roles and supporting the progression of women already working within the green sector. In her current role as CEO and Co Founder of Women in Rising Green Careers, she is has created the WinR Green Skills Agenda, which is uniquely focused on how we promote the opportunities of Net Zero to women and girls across the UK; it recognises that unlocking female talent is key a part of addressing the skills shortage and successfully reaching our Net Zero ambitions.

Adam Jones leads E.ON’s Business Development, Bid Management and Pre-Contract team for the E.ON Green Funding Solutions division. He’s responsible for developing and implementing long term projects which deliver key strategic objectives for E.ON's partnering organisations.

Dr Spencer Pitfield OBE is the founder of SPL Strategies, a consultancy specialising in strategic communications, policy development and stakeholder engagement. Spencer has over 30 years of experience helping a diverse range of clients to define, communicate and deliver on their organisation’s needs. In this fast-moving world, his people-centred approach has supported strategic leadership and management development across political, governmental, corporate, educational and charity sectors. Spencer is well-known across the ‘Westminster village, and has supported both UK and International clients at the very highest of levels.

The consumer journey to buying home improvement or renewable products is pivotal to a prosperous sector and my role is to lead our consumer protection organisations (DGCOS/HIES/HICS) with three pillars in mind: (1) Protect consumers purchase (2) Support our installer membership (3) Raise industry standards. With many years’ experience in marketing, project management, research and development, I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Non-Executive Director of NHIC and a member of various industry working groups

We are still confirming our panel of 33 judges for this year's awards.

If you would like to volunteer to join our distinguished line-up of judges, please speak to Gary Braybrooke on 07854 793 710