Joint Office Staff

 

The Joint Office currently has ten staff members, all of whom are seconded by the Gas Transporters. They have extensive experience of the governance processes surrounding development of the commercial arrangements which underpin the gas industry in GB.  Brief details of each staff member are provided below.

All can be contacted via enquiries@gasgovernance.co.uk or 0121 288 2107.

 

Penny Garner

Chief Executive

Penny was appointed to the role of CEO of the Joint Office in September 2017. She has come from National Grid/Cadent Gas where she has worked for nearly 20 years building up a wealth of experience in audit, compliance, ethics and regulation. 

Bob Fletcher

Workgroup Chair

Bob has over 40 years' experience in the gas industry, originally joining West Midlands Gas, Distribution. In recent years he has been involved in the development of Siteworks agreements, metering separation and separation of National Grid and sold Networks systems.  He is Chair of the Distribution Workgroup (DWG),  the Offtake Arrangements Workgroup (OAW) and Offtake Committee, the Energy Balancing Credit Committee (EBCC) and is also Secretary to the UNC Modification Panel and the UNC Committee (UNCC).

Rebecca Hailes

Workgroup Chair

Rebecca has over 20 years’ experience working with energy systems and energy technologies, both in the UK and overseas. Prior to joining the Joint Office, Rebecca worked with Synnogy Ltd and E4tech, focusing on new energy strategy, development opportunities, future planning and horizon scanning for blue chips and large public bodies such as BP, E.On, GE, Uniper, WWF, Linde/BOC, Balfour Beatty and HSL with a key focus on fuel cells and hydrogen, in all applications. She previously worked in fuel cell and H2 reformer product development with Nuvera Fuel Cells in the US and at Kodak. She holds degrees in Environmental Technology, Manufacturing Engineering and German from Brunel University and Imperial College and is a Chartered Engineer. Rebecca has previously lived and worked in some of the world's richest and poorest countries and speaks several languages. At the Joint Office, she Chairs the Performance Assurance Committee and the NTS Charging Methodology Forum (NTSCMF) and enjoys the challenge of technical modifications. For more information please see: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccahailes/ 

Loraine O'Shaughnessy

Workgroup Chair

Loraine years’ experience in the gas industry originally joining British Gas PLC back in 1992 supporting the Supply Point Administration Query Resolution team.
Loraine’s key focus was managing the Energy Balancing Credit Risk team at Xoserve to include; Energy Balancing Invoice for 2 years, Cash Call, Debt Management and the Energy Balancing Collateral processes on behalf of National Grid.  Loraine worked very closely with the Customer Life Cycle team engaging with new UNC market participants on their on-boarding experience and aiding their understanding of the Energy Balancing Principles. Loraine also played a key role in the EBCC (Energy Balancing Credit Committee) and Shipper Discovery Days and has experience in the development of Network Code; supporting the implementation of AT Link and many key system enhancements to UK Link and Gemini.
For more information please see https://www.linkedin.com/in/Loraine-o-shaughnessy/ 

Kate Elleman

Workgroup Chair

Kate has over 27 years experience working in the Gas Industry having worked in Metering, Gas Distribution and Transmission businesses within National Grid.  Kate started work as a commercial trainee with British Gas West Midlands and has held a variety of roles including Customer & Contract Management, Network Operations, Asset Management and Business Improvement.

For more information please see https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateelleman/

Helen Bennett

Workgroup Coordinator

Helen has over 30 years’ experience in the Gas Industry, originally joining British Gas on a 6 month Youth Opportunities Scheme and then working in various departments from Customer Services to Performance Reporting. She then enjoyed some time at Npower and Xoserve before moving to National Grid and the Gas Incentive Team managing the Capacity Auction process. Helen joined the Joint Office in February 2017.

Helen Cuin

Workgroup Coordinator

Helen has over 29 years' experience in the gas industry, originally joining British Gas as a Commercial Trainee. Helen joined the Joint Office in 2005.  She Chairs a number of Committees including the Demand Estimation Sub-committee (DESC), the DESC Technical Workgroup, and the Shrinkage Forum, she is also the Secretary to various Workgroups and Committees, as required.

Karen Visgarda

Workgroup Coordinator

Karen joined the Joint Office in March 2015 and although new to the gas industry, she brings a wealth of experience regarding customer account management, communications, stakeholder engagement, product implementation and project management from both the Automotive and Retail logistics industries. She is Secretary to the Transmission Workgroup, and other Workgroups and Committees, as required.
 

Mike Berrisford

Workgroup Coordinator

Mike has over 40 years' experience in the gas industry, originally joining British Gas as an Apprentice Gas Fitter.  He is the Secretary to the Distribution Workgroup (DWG) and the Distribution Networks Charging Methodology Forum (DNCMF).
 

Kully Jones

Workgroup Coordinator

Kully joined the Joint Office as a Workgroup Co-ordinator in September 2017. She has over 23 years experience as a civil servant in the education sector developing, managing and evaluating polices for young people and adults. She brings a wealth of experience in stakeholder management and governance having worked with senior colleagues, commercial businesses, state-funded providers and Ofqual.

 

Maitrayee Bhowmick-Jewkes

Workgroup Coordinator

Maitrayee joined the Joint Office in September 2019. She has come from a legal background and joined npower as a Regulation Analyst in 2014. Since then she has worked as a Regulation Manager at a couple of small suppliers. She has significant experience managing industry codes from a supplier point of view as well as leading on a number of regulatory changes. She has built relationships with Ofgem, BEIS and other code administrators and industry parties. Maitrayee is looking forward to bringing her experience and knowledge to this role.