Overview
The energy and utilities advisory panel (EUAP) will help ensure that the current and future skills needs of these industries are captured and reflected in technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
The panel will provide independent employer expertise that will support the development and maintenance of apprenticeships and technical qualifications that are important for the energy and utilities sector.
Members will support and take account of the work and recommendations of the Green Apprenticeships Panel to support IFATE’s work to develop the skills needed to support a green economy and contribute to the achievement of the UK’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The panel will also identify priorities and make recommendations to our Route Panels where standards could be amended to better support emerging occupations.
The EUAP will also work with IfATE to monitor what is working well in the sector, and report back intelligence to understand the changes happening in the sector.
Meet our energy and utilities advisory panel members:
Stephanie Cawley - Head of Water Treatment, Severn Trent Water
Chair
Steph is the Head of Water Treatment at Severn Trent Water, leading an operational team of 600 people to produce clean water for 8.5million customers in the Midlands. The team includes a large number of apprentices, many of whom have developed into highly technical operators and maintainers over the years. This year Severn Trent will welcome over 100 apprentices, many of whom will be taken through a new, insourced technical programme. Steph has taken up the role of Chair of Governors for this insourced scheme which puts learning and safeguarding at the heart of its objectives.
Steph graduated in Management and Business Administration from Reading in 2001 and 9 years ago completed a masters in Major Programme Management at Oxford. Over the last 21 years she has spent 16 years working for BT and Openreach in a variety of business improvement and customer relationship roles. Over the last 10 years, she has led operational field teams and witnessed firsthand the benefits of recruiting apprentices – both for the organisation and the individual!
She is passionate about broadening and supporting apprentices in utilities and is looking forward to working with the panel to learn and contribute.
Selvin Roberts - External Partnership Manager/External Funding Partner, EDF Energy and Head of Zero Carbon Development, National College for Nuclear
Vice Chair
Selvin works in People Development at EDF, supporting the company’s business units in using apprenticeships to train and develop its people. He also works with the National College for Nuclear, expanding their scope to include net zero skills required across the UK.
Having spent most of his career as an engineer in the nuclear sector - both Ministry of Defence and civil – Selvin appreciates the importance of contextualisation of academic principles and of realistic simulated environments to really prepare people for a career in the sector. He also values the benefits a diverse workforce brings, at a time when creativity and innovation are essential to the sector. As a long-term member of Women in Nuclear, Selvin is keen to break down perceived and real barriers to entry into sector in order to access the best talent available.
Elaine Veaudour - Associate, Energy, Water & Resources Mechanical Lead – West, Arup
Elaine is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer leading the energy, water and resource portfolio for the West region in Arup. Elaine has been working as a mechanical engineer with Arup for the past 18 years.
Elaine has worked over different sectors within Arup beginning her career in the buildings team where her focus was on renewables and sustainability. She then moved into the infrastructure team to focus on water projects and subsequently energy projects in infrastructure.
Elaine currently leads the mechanical engineering team within the energy, water and resource portfolio in the West, based in Cardiff. Elaine works closely with the other mechanical and electrical teams across the UK where they share resources and training to help develop each other throughout all stages of their careers.
Elaine is passionate about the development of the new generation and believes that the new trainees, apprentices and graduates coming through have the drive and passion to change the way we work and shape a new future for us.
Gavin Stokes - Managing Director Home Energy Solutions, SMS Plc
Gavin started his working life as an Apprentice Electrical and Electronics engineer where he gained a 4 year apprenticeship and BTEC ONC and HNC in Engineering. He went on to complete a BEng degree with the Open University and since then has gained extensive experience of the energy industry spanning large-scale power generation through to delivering cutting-edge customer energy solutions with companies such as Eon and Shell. This experience led to him becoming a Chartered Electrical Engineer.
His experience for the past decade has been in leading and scaling businesses and has been successful in delivering growth across a broad range of nascent energy technologies by focussing on customer centricity and quality.
Latterly, Gavin joined SMS in 2021 and heads up their Home Energy Solutions business.
Outside of his role, he is passionate about personal development and mentors young people interested in engineering and also advises start-up companies to profitably solve pressing global problems with the energy transition.
He is passionate about the benefits that apprenticeships and vocational skills can bring into business and wants to inform and create opportunities for young people to have career and role choices and continued personal and professional growth. He is proud to be an inaugural member of the Energy and Utilities Advisory Panel (EUAP).
Shervin Maleki - Executive Director, The Welding Institute
Shervin is the managing principal at Progtech and director at GreenEvo Technologies. Before that, he was an executive director at The Welding Institute (TWI), responsible for the international expansion of the company. He started his career as an integrity engineer in the energy sector, where he managed a variety of international projects in the oil and gas and power industries. He has implemented an asset integrity management system on several offshore and onshore oil and gas plants as well as power stations. Shervin has also developed and delivered training programmes internationally to upskill individuals who work in the energy and utility sectors.
Shervin completed his PhD in mechanical engineering at Imperial College, focusing on the life assessment of high-temperature components operating at power plants. He is a Fellow of the Welding Institute and the Charted Manager Institute and has been a member of several national and international standard committees, such as the British Standard and the American Petroleum Institute (API). Shervin also completed an executive MBA with Cranfield School of Management as part of an apprenticeship programme.
Dan Tingle - New Talent and STEM Manager, National Grid
Dan started work installing soft drinks and beer. Although this provided some great experiences, he wanted a role with a longer-term training structure and career opportunities. He began working as a substation apprentice at National Grid in 1999. On completion of the apprenticeship, he worked in transmission substations, carrying out maintenance and safety roles.
Dan has now worked in various roles in the Learning and Development function at National Grid for over 17 years, operating as part of the training function and apprenticeships team. More recently, he has been leading the substation training team and is now heading up UK Apprenticeships.
Dan is a member of Inspire, an employee resource group at National Grid which aims to engage, support, and advocate on the issue of social equity and to promote an inclusive workforce, regardless of social background and attributes. He is passionate about apprenticeships, believing they are vital to the sector to embed the next generation of engineers.
Colin McDermid
Colin started his career with British Gas as an apprentice over 30 years ago. Working there and at Centrica has given him opportunities to be involved in various aspects of apprenticeships across the business, from delivering apprenticeship training, mentoring support and training for engineers, through to designing learning programmes and contributing to standard and framework development.
Colin firmly believes that apprenticeships should be the first choice for delivering and increasing skills and capabilities and developing talent to support industry across the UK. He is delighted to have the opportunity to use his experience and expertise to help shape the quality and breadth of apprenticeships as a member of IfATE’s advisory panel.