Our Board

The LowCVP is steered by a Board whose function is to provide overall strategic direction for the Partnership, agree a rolling work plan and initiate Partnership activities. Board members are drawn from a wide cross-section of interests including the automotive and energy industries, Government, academic and research institutions and consumer and environmental organisations.

Graham Smith, Head of External & Environmental Affairs, Toyota Motor Europe is the Chair of the Board.

Other Board members are:

Graham Smith - Toyota Motor Europe (Chair)

Graham Smith graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, with a Masters Degree in Economics and subsequently gained a Diploma in Business Administration from Manchester Business School.

Graham's career in the motor industry began with Ford Motor Company where he held a number of senior sales and marketing positions. He joined Toyota (GB) PLC in 1993 as a Regional General Manager and was subsequently appointed Marketing Director in May 1994 before becoming Managing Director in May 1996.

Graham was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Toyota Motor Europe in 2006.

 

 Abigail Bristow - Loughborough University

Professor Abigail Bristow leads the Transport Studies Group at Loughborough University. Her main research interests are in the valuation of the environmental impacts of transport; climate change and transport; transport appraisal; the performance of passenger transport and future transport policy and delivery. Abigail is also the Programme Director for the MSc Transport Policy and Business Management and MSc Sustainable Transport and Travel Planning.


Andrew Eastlake - Millbrook

Andy Eastlake is currently Head of Laboratories at Millbrook Proving Ground and chair of the Steering group of the LowCVP

Having graduated in mechanical engineering from Southampton, Andy has worked for over 20 years for Millbrook, primarily in the powertrain area. He was responsible for developing the facilities and test methods for whole vehicle heavy duty emission testing at Millbrook and has lead the team there for the last 8 years.

With time as Head of Legislation and Environment and Head of Sales, Andy has played a key role in the promotion and development of the Emissions research arena and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle market over many years.

Brendan Connor - CENEX

Brendan Connor is Chairman of CENEX -;The Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies based at Loughborough University. CENEX is funded by DTI and led by a consortium of UK automotive systems companies and representative bodies.

He was Chief Executive Officer of Cosworth Racing between 2001 and 2003 during which it provided engines to Formula 1 teams (Jordan , Jaguar , Minardi), IRL (Chevrolet) , CART and WRC. He was the recipient of MIA Business of the Year Award in 2003. Brendan has held senior general management positions in TRW and Lucas and currently holds a number of Non Executive Board appointments. He is a Trustee of the Royal Air Force Museum and a number of other charities.

Darran Messem – Shell

Darran Messem is Vice President Fuel Development for Shell, where he leads the development of new fuel technology and products for Shell’s Downstream business. He is a Director of the LCVP and a Director of Iogen Energy in Canada, Shell’s partner in the development of cellulose ethanol.

Darran joined Shell from Cambridge University and holds a post-graduate diploma in Marketing. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In his spare time he cycles with the Hounslow & District Wheelers and Berkshire Triathlon Squad, and paints in oil. 

Jane Whewell  - Dept of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Jane Whewell joined the Department for Business (BERR) after leaving university. Since then, she has worked on a range of issues within the Department including the privatisation of British Energy. In recent years she has undertaken a year's secondment to Carlton Communications (investor relations), studied for and been awarded an MBA (Imperial College) and negotiated the Working Time and Agency Worker Directives for the UK in Europe. She began work as Director of the Automotive Unit in BERR in the late spring of 2008.

John Lewis - British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association

John Lewis is Director General of the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association, a position he has held since 2000. He has been in the industry since 1984, having held senior positions in the contract hire and fleet management sector working with both cars and commercial vehicles.

To support the needs of the industry’s customers the BVRLA has taken on the role of “supporting the interests of the business and private motorist”. To help in achieving this objective John holds a seat on government advisory body, The Motorist’s Forum, and is chair of the DfT funded work-related road safety programme “Driving for Better Business”.   In addition, John is a member of the governing board for Cars QA (the automotive quality assessment and certification organisation), Automotive Fellowship International and is a Freeman of the City of London.

Joe Greenwell – Ford Motor Company

Joe Greenwell was appointed to the role of Vice President, Government Affairs, Premier Automotive Group and Ford of Europe, on 1 September 2005.

Joe's responsibilities include helping to develop and co-ordinate Ford Motor Company's strategy with Government and other official bodies in the European region. This newly-created role takes into account the significance of recent political developments and the legislative environment in Europe, and mirrors the recent strengthening of Ford Motor Company's Government Affairs executive body in the United States.

Immediately prior to his new position, Joe Greenwell was Chairman and CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover. Since August 2002, he had been vice president, Marketing and Operations. In that role, he was responsible for Ford of Canada, Ford of Mexico, Worldwide Direct Market Operations and Global Marketing.  Formerly, Joe was Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Ford of Europe. He also performed the same role at Jaguar Cars.


John R Wood – MIRA

John Wood joined MIRA as Managing Director in August 1991 after leaving the RAC, where he was Technical Director and Chief Engineer. MIRA is an independent company employing 400 people worldwide. It provides design, engineering and consultancy services to the vehicle manufacturers and the automotive industry generally.

The early part of John's career was in the Army. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and then went on to read Engineering at Cambridge. After graduating, he returned to the Army and soon afterwards transferred to REME. Throughout his time in the Army he worked with mechanised forces and was involved in the development and trials of new tracked vehicles.

In 1993 John was made Chairman of the Automobile Division of IMechE and is currently a member of the Council of the Institution. He is a member of the SMMT Council and Executive; a member of the Board of the Motorsports Association; a member of the Board of the National Composites Network and a Visiting Professor of Coventry University.


Jonathan Nash – Saab GB

Jonathan Nash is Managing Director of Saab GB which is a part of the General Motors group. After working for Renault UK from 1983, he joined Saab in 1989 as Regional Manager, and was promoted to a number of senior national sales and marketing positions. Latterly he was Sales and Marketing Director, before being appointed to his current position of Managing Director in October 1999.

Led by Jonathan, Saab has been at the forefront of the fast-emerging biofuels movement in the UK.

Professor Julia King - Aston University

Julia King is an engineer with experience in both industry and academia. After 16 years at Cambridge University, she moved to Rolls-Royce where she held a range of senior executive positions including Managing Director of the Fan Systems business and Director of Advanced Engineering for the Industrial Businesses. She returned to academia as Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College and in December 2007 became Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in Birmingham.

Julia is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and was made a CBE for ‘Services to Materials Engineering’ in July 1999. She works closely with Government as a non-executive director of the Technology Strategy Board and the DIUS Strategic Board, and a member of the Ministerial Group on Manufacturing. She has recently been invited to join the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Mobility.

Julia was appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in March 2007 to lead an independent review of low carbon vehicle and fuel technologies that, over the next 25 years, could help to reduce carbon emissions from road transport. In March 2008, alongside the Budget, Part 2 of the King Review of Low Carbon Cars: ‘Recommendations for action’ was published by HM Treasury.

Lord Borwick - Modec UK

Jamie is Chairman of Modec, manufacturers of a battery powered zero-emission urban delivery van. He is also a non-executive Director of Hansa Trust plc, Managing Director of Love Lane Investments Ltd, and Chairman of Federated Trust Corporation Ltd. Lord Borwick additionally serves as Chairman of Route2Mobility Ltd, funding wheelchairs and scooters for disabled people as part of the UK's Motability scheme, and of Oxis Energy Ltd, which is developing a new battery. Lord Borwick was Chief Executive of Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC, known for the manufacture of the London Taxi from 1987 to 2001, and then Chairman until 2003.

Lord Borwick is also Deputy Chairman of the British Lung Foundation.

Lord Oxburgh - D1 Oils

Ron Oxburgh (Lord Oxburgh of Liverpool) trained as a geologist/geophysicist (Oxford & Princeton). He subsequently taught and researched at Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford and Caltech also working as a consultant for the oil industry. He was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence (1987 – 1993) and chaired the investigation into the safety of UK nuclear weapons. Having been on the Board of Shell for a number of years, he became Chairman in 2004 and oversaw the unification of Shell with Royal Dutch to form a single company eighteen months later at which point he stood down.

He was created a life Peer in 1999 and for four years chaired the Science and Technology Select Committee of the House of Lords. He is now an adviser on research and on environmental matters to the Government of Singapore and works with a number of organisations in the general field of energy and environment. He is Chairman of D1Oils and an adviser to Climate Change Capital and to Low Carbon Accelerator.


Malcolm Fendick – Department for Transport

Profile to be added

 

Neil Scales - Mersey Travel

Neil Scales holds a BSc in Engineering, an MSc in Control Engineering and Computer Systems, a Diploma in Management Studies and an MBA. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the Society of Operations Engineers, the Institute of Logistics and Transport and of the Royal Society of Arts.

Before joining MPTE, Neil worked as an independent Transport & Engineering Consultant working, inter alia, for the World Bank and the European Commission on various transportation projects in Europe and as an Expert Witness for a number of clients in the UK. Prior to that Neil was Managing Director of Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company Ltd. Neil also worked as Director of Engineering for GM Buses Ltd and held various engineering roles within Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive.

Currently, Neil is a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport, advising government on transport policy. He also acts in the role of Chair of the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO) and of the National Travelwise Association.

Neville Jackson – Ricardo

Professor Neville Jackson is currently Technology Director at Ricardo UK Ltd. He is responsible for developing the future vision of powertrain and related vehicle technology at Ricardo and for the strategy, planning and execution of research and development. He has also been responsible for a wide range of future vehicle demonstrators featuring advanced powertrain concepts with cost effective improvements in fuel economy and emissions. He is Vice Chairman of the European Automotive Research Partners Association based in Brussels, a visiting Professor at the University of Brighton and a director of CENEX, the UK Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon Vehicles.

Olly Macé - BP  

Olly Macé is the General Manager for Europe & Africa in BP Biofuels. Part of the BP Group, BP Biofuels was created in 2006 to position BP as a leader in the biofuels industry; defining and implementing a business development strategy, building a network of strategic relationships and establishing a distinctive and progressive voice in the shaping of the industry.

A graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Institut Francais du Pétrole in France, Olly has worked in the Oil Industry since 1990 and has held a range of management positions spanning Refining, Supply & Trading, Sales & Marketing and Corporate Planning. In 2004, he became Sales Director for BP & Castrol Lubricants in Northern Europe before joining the newly formed BP Biofuels business in November 2006.

Originally from France, Olly and his family have been living in England since 1993.

Phillip Sellwood – EST

Philip Sellwood has been the Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust since 2003. He has an extensive commercial background in the retail, food and private equity markets. He spent twenty years with Marks and Spencer, joining as a graduate in 1977 and working in almost every part of the business. Amongst his achievements at M&S were the expansion of the £3 billion food business and the development of the innovative mail order and e-commerce activity. Most recently Philip was Commercial Managing Director for the Thresher Group.

During the last decade Philip has undertaken work with the DTI/Defra, for an educational charity and as a Ministerial Advisor at the Home Office. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at the Improvement and Development Agency. Philip is also on the Editorial Board of Sustain magazine and sits on the UKERC Board and the Advisory Board of the National Consumer Council. He has been a member of several influential Government Task Forces, most recently the Energy Innovation Review.


Philip graduated from Nottingham University and has an MBA (Dist) from the University of Westminster. In addition he is a MBIM and a Fellow the Royal Society of Arts.

 

Shona Johnstone - Cambridgeshire County Council

Shona Johnstone was, until recently, Cambridgeshire County Council's Cabinet Member responsible for environment and transport issues and has been a champion of road safety and integrated transport schemes. She was at the forefront of the campaign to upgrade the heavily congested A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge and is also a member of the LGA Regeneration and Transport Board.

Shona worked for 10 years as a civil servant for both the Home Office and the Serious Fraud Office. She has a degree in modern history and has also extensively studied the local history of Cambridgeshire.

 

Stephen Joseph – Transport 2000

Stephen Joseph has been Executive Director of Transport 2000 since 1988. He previously worked for a range of environmental and voluntary organisations in the UK and abroad, including the British Youth Council, the Civic Trust and the Town & Country Planning Association.

At Transport 2000, he has written or co-authored many publications and has been involved in promoting policies to give priority to public transport, walking and cycling and to reduce road building and dependence on cars and lorries.

He was awarded the OBE in 1996 for services to transport and the environment. He was a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport (1999-2005), having been one of the panel of external advisers on the Transport White Paper 1997-8, and was a member of the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) during its inquiry on Transport and the Economy. He was also on the steering group for the Government’s Road User Charging Feasibility Study 2003-4. In July 2004 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the National Transport Awards.


Tom Delay – Carbon Trust

Tom Delay was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust in 2001.

A chartered engineer with extensive experience of the energy sector, Tom worked for Shell for 16 years in a variety of commercial and operations roles including four years as General Manager of Pizo Shell - a Shell subsidiary in Gabon, Africa. He moved into management consultancy with McKinsey and Co and then as a Principal with the Global Energy Practice of AT Kearney before joining the Carbon Trust.

Tom gained a first class honours degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southampton in 1981 and completed an MBA at INSEAD, Paris in 1988.