2022 FMB Building Conference: Devolved Nations Retrofit Roundtable

Jim Brown

Director, Energy Skills Partnership

Jim Brown has a wealth of experience in the energy industry with roles including Head of the Whitlock Energy Collaboration Centre at Carnegie College and Head of Renewables at Energy and Utility Skills. Jim was also seconded into Scottish Government to develop and deliver the Renewable Energy Skills Framework for Action.

The Energy Skills Partnership is established to provide the link between industry, government and its agencies and Scotland’s colleges whilst supporting colleges in the development and delivery of programmes to meet the energy sector’s skills needs.

Professor Martin Haran

Professor of Real Estate and Urban Studies, Ulster University

Professor Martin Haran PhD is Professor of Real Estate and Urban Studies at Ulster University. He holds a First Class BA Hons in Business and Finance and a PhD in Urban Regeneration and Property Investment.  Professor Haran has served as Principal Investigator on a series of prestigious national and international housing and real estate research projects over the course of his career as well as designing and developing policy intervention evaluation frameworks for the built environment at EU, National and local government levels. Professor Haran is also a member of the Northern Ireland Better Housing Forum and has worked to promote a more sustainable approach to housing provision within NI. Principal research interests include housing provision and market performance, affordable housing provision, real estate finance, urban regeneration, partnership based property development, decarbonisation of the built environment and infrastructure investment.

Chris Jofeh

Consultant

Chris Jofeh is a consultant to Arup and chair of the Welsh Government advisory group on the decarbonisation of existing housing. Its report, Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World was presented to Welsh Ministers in July 2019 and in September 2019 they accepted every recommendation. Chris is now leading the work to advise Welsh Government on the implementation of a national programme of residential decarbonisation.

Until April 2018 Chris was Arup’s global buildings retrofit leader and led the team that produced the 2016 report Towards the delivery of a national residential energy efficiency programme . This proposes a series of steps to create the right conditions in which to halve the energy consumed in all UK homes within 25 years.

Dr Alice Owen

Professor of Business, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement, University of Leeds

Dr Alice Owen's career spanned private, public and voluntary sectors before undertaking PhD research and joining the University of Leeds in 2013.  She is now Professor of Business & Sustainability and her research explores how the construction industry can make a real difference to energy use in buildings.  Alice trained as an engineer and gained first-hand experience of the chemical industry and waste management before working as an NGO project manager on international capacity building. Public sector experience includes being a member of the UK Sustainable Development Commission from 2005-11, working for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority from 1998-2001 and establishing the sustainable development team in Yorkshire Forward, one of nine English regional development agencies. She also led consultancy firm Arup’s sustainability consulting work from Leeds for five years.

 

Gordon Nelson

Director, FMB Scotland

Gordon Nelson has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles.

Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. 

Gavin McGuire

FMB Northern Ireland Director, Federation of Master Builders

Gavin McGuire serves as NI Director of FMB, he has a strong passion to see improved standards within the Industry. Addressing the Skills shortage, more access to Finance for SME’s to build new homes and a strong supply chain are all key prioritise of McGuire’s role. Having some nearly 30 years’ experience working in the Industry, he has a strong passion to champion the high quality work produced by NI companies.

Ifan Glyn

Senior Hub Director, Federation of Master Builder (FMB)

Ifan Glyn is both the FMB Senior Director for the UK Hubs and the Director of the FMB in Wales. As Senior Director, Ifan balances his responsibilities in Wales with line management duties over the Directors of the other devolved nations and English regions. He is also a member of the FMB Senior Management Team. Ifan holds an MA in History from the University of St Andrews and an MSc in Welsh Government and Politics from Cardiff University. Ifan has held three roles during his time at the FMB. He initially joined as a Public Affairs Executive before becoming the Director of the FMB in Wales and then the FMB UK Senior Director.