Our experienced, skilled and committed team works across our Combined Authority and LEP areas, offering practical support, raising awareness of local energy schemes, attracting investment and developing innovative projects.
Net Zero Hub Manager
As the Hub manager, Karen leads the strategic delivery of the Hub co-ordinating its day to day functioning and acting as a key node in terms of reporting to the Hub Board. Karen also acts as the primary channel through which the Hub communicates with central government officers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Karen joined the Net Zero Hub from the Hull and East Yorkshire and formerly Humber LEPs where she spent 8 years managing over £150m capital investment programmes, providing effective strategic and operational management of key programmes and ensuring exceptional delivery for economic and social benefit.
Karen brings determination, rigour and attention to detail to her work and cares passionately that the best possible energy outcomes can be achieved for the North East and Yorkshire.
Net Zero Hub Project Manager
Abbie manages the Hub’s regional funding and support programmes, including the Rural Community Energy Fund and Energy Project Enabling Fund.
Abbie joined the Net Zero Hub in June 2021 after relocating, from Edinburgh, back to her hometown of Middlesbrough. Her background is in environmental geography, housing retrofit schemes, and home energy efficiency and renewable technology programmes, which she managed while working with Energy Saving Trust. The Coronavirus pandemic has further highlighted the need for safe and comfortable energy efficient homes - which Abbie is keen to strive towards within her role in the Net Zero Hub.
Housing Retrofit Project Manager
Nicole leads the Net Zero Hub’s housing retrofit activity, including managing the Local Authority Delivery Housing Retrofit Programme (LAD2).
Nicole has worked in roles across the housing and third sector for the past 10 years, both for Local Authorities, Housing organisations and charities, mainly in community, tenancy, sustainability, energy, environmental fields. She worked as a Project Development Coordinator at a national charity (NEA) part of the team managing a £26 million Redress fund on behalf of Ofgem and Central Government. This involved working on over 100 projects across the UK, working with Local Authorities and Housing Associations to deliver energy improvements to over 8,500 homes. Nicole joined the North East and Yorkshire Energy Hub in July and her main work involves supporting North East Local Authorities to deliver the Green Homes Grant Phase 2 Funding.
Programmes Manager
Louise has experience of working with multiple stakeholders to deliver projects on time and within budget and is very methodical, process driven and organised.
Louise joined the Net Zero Hub from TVCA, her background has been working in the education, employment, and skills sector for over 14 years for both private and public sector organisations. She has also worked within TVCA supporting projects and programmes, ranging from festivals to capital builds.
West Yorkshire Project Manager
Femi is the Hub-funded provider of local capacity support for the West Yorkshire area, helping to deliver local strategy in his area.
Femi joined the team in June 2022, He has previous experience working on scientific projects on the energy transition particularly the uptake and distribution of Hydrogen and biomethane for heat and transport applications. He is also an associate member of the institute of chemical engineering, a published journal author and has carried out research on optimising the production process for energy gases particularly hydrogen from renewable sources.
South Yorkshire Project Manager
George is the Hub-funded provider of local capacity support, for the South Yorkshire area, helping to deliver local energy strategy.
George joined the Hub in late 2021 from a role in energy and sustainability project development and delivery at Barnsley MBC. George has specialised in built environment, energy management, EV charging, and carbon accounting and net zero pathways, as well as dabbling in community energy. George is responsible for working with the local authorities and stakeholders across South Yorkshire and the Hub region to develop innovative projects and deliver on our ambitious net zero commitments.
Hull and East Riding Project Manager
Harry is the Hub-funded provider of local capacity support for Hull and East Yorkshire, helping to deliver local strategy in his area.
Harry joined us from North Yorkshire Council where he was Climate Change Programme Manager for the former Scarborough Borough Council providing programme management and leadership on the Council's response to meeting its Net Zero targets, including analysing data, developing strategy, and delivering projects to help decarbonise the Council and the local area.
Prior to this he was Climate Change and Carbon Reduction Officer for the North York Moors National Park Authority, working to bring organisational carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2030 through energy saving and a green energy transition.
Strategic Stakeholder Manager
John’s role is to promote wider visibility of the Hub and deliver better understanding of the Hub’s activity.
John joined the Hub in March 2023 from Tees Valley Combined Authority, where he co-ordinated and authored the Regional Net Zero Strategy. The role also saw him manage the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership, the authority's principle forum for engaging with the local business community and subsidiary group. He was previously an elected member for Durham County Council and has also worked as Communications Manager for Sunderland Software City, Associate Writer for the Local Government Information Unit, Press Officer for Newcastle City Council and as a freelance journalist.
Project Data Officer
In his role as Project Data Officer, Greg provides support with data collation, reporting and interpretation across the Hub with a particular focus on retrofit programmes as well as utilising the data across the Net Zero Hub to monitor performance and aid strategic decision making.
Greg is a motivated, passionate researcher and former teacher with over nine years of experience in higher education, including in-depth economic data analysis and report writing for UNESCO, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and Business Durham.
Net Zero Projects Officer
As Projects Officer, Kay provides support to the Hub’s programme delivery including the monitoring and reporting functions of projects.
Kay joined the Net Zero Hub in April 2023 from TVCA where she coordinated a number of programmes to support businesses within the Tees Valley. Her role saw her overseeing the SME Energy Efficiency Scheme which provided fully-funded energy audits to SMEs resulting in carbon savings for the business. Kay previously supported the Hub with the Rural Community Energy Fund, providing additional capacity and provision for successful delivery.
Net Zero Projects Officer
As Projects Officer, Jo provides support to the Hub’s programme delivery with a particular focus on delivering the Hub’s Local Energy Advice Demonstrator programme. Jo brings her organisational and relationship management skills to ensure the programme is managed well and delivers its objectives.
Jo has joined the Net Zero Hub from TVCA where she was the Business Gateway’s initial point of contact for external and internal enquiries. Jo monitored operational performance of the TVCA Business Gateway and associated business support programmes. Her role involved working with stakeholders and funders to maintain high levels of delivery performance as well as assistance in the development and delivery of the Business Gateway Team.
Net Zero Projects Officer
Katie provides support to the Hub’s programme delivery, particularly around stakeholder engagement and promoting the work of the Hub.
Katie joined the Hub in July 2023 from HM Treasury where she was an Apprentice Project Manager. In this role she supported on the Darlington Economic Campus programme whist carrying out a Project Management Apprenticeship. This gave her technical project knowledge with a focus on governance and stakeholder management which she can apply to her role. As well as this knowledge, she picked up a range of transferrable skills through liaising with high-level stakeholders, such as strong organisation and communication.
Community Energy Development Officer
Sue’s role is to identify potential community energy projects within local communities and provide advice, support and signposting to help communities develop local-led community energy projects and investible business cases for saving, managing and generating energy.
Sue joined the Hub team in January 2024 from TVCA where, as Project Coordinator she helped set up the Trees on Tees initiative to plant 1 million trees in the Tees Valley. Prior to this she has worked as a project officer on a wide range of landscape, environmental and community engagement projects for the public and charity sectors where she has helped support, fund, raise awareness of, develop and deliver a variety of projects. These have also involved supporting volunteers to develop skills and networks to share best practice, learning and resources.
North East Project Manager
Lizzie is the Hub-funded provider of local capacity support for the North East area, helping to deliver local energy strategy. Lizzie joined the hub in September 2023 from the North of Tyne Combined Authority, where she was Policy and Economy Advisor working on energy, climate change and green growth projects and programmes in the North of Tyne region. Lizzie has over ten years’ experience working in the energy sector, having previously worked in energy policy and public affairs for Energy Networks Association (ENA) and as a Renewables Analyst for the Energy Industries Council (EIC).
Lizzie works with public sector organisations, their stakeholders and communities to develop fundable net zero projects and to deliver local net zero strategy in the North East. Lizzie has particular interest in decarbonisation of heat, offshore wind and low carbon supply chain and skill development.
York & North Yorkshire Project Manager
Karen is the Hub-funded provider of local capacity support for York and North Yorkshire, helping to deliver local strategy in her area. She has a background in Chemistry and Carbon Management. Karen has worked in academia, developing projects related to atmospheric modelling and radiative forcing, adaptation and smart cities. She also has extensive experience in consultancy and think tanks, where she developed projects focused on carbon removal, net-zero, mitigation and blockchain, supporting governmental bodies, institutions and businesses.
Karen works with public sector organisations, their stakeholders and communities to develop impactful net-zero projects with scalability potential that support the local strategic ambitions within the York and North Yorkshire region. She has a particular interest in innovation for climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration, natural capital, and circular economy.
Net Zero Project Officer
As Projects Officer, Emma provides support to the Hub’s programme delivery with particular focus on the Hub’s Community Energy workstream.
Emma joined the Net Zero Hub in February 2024 from Hartlepool Borough Council where she worked for almost 18 years in departments including Cultural Services and Childrens Social Services.
She brings with her a strong background in administration, audience development and stakeholder engagement. Emma was also part of the Tall Ships Hartlepool 2023 team where she headed up the team of volunteers looking after the visiting ships, supported event delivery, and liaised with other volunteer and Community Groups.
Emma has a degree in Design and Technology, enabling her to bring a fresh, new approach to the Hub and Community Energy support and has a strong personal interest in renewable energy technologies.
Tees Valley Project Manager
Joining the hub in November 2024, Dani is the Low Carbon Pathways Manager (Tees Valley Regional Project Manager), leading net-zero initiatives across the Tees Valley region, including Darlington, Stockton, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, and Redcar & Cleveland. In collaboration with local authorities, strategic partners, and industry stakeholders, she plays a vital role in developing and managing projects that align with the region’s sustainability goals and provides local capacity support to drive forward the region’s environmental ambitions.
Before this role, Dani was a Business Consultant at an IT and business consultancy, gaining experience in client relationships, IT strategy, business analysis, and project management across multiple sectors, including Higher Education, and Social Housing. Her earlier experience in business continuity and emergency planning within the utilities sector further refined her skills in local authority stakeholder engagement.
Dani holds a First Class Honours BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Exeter, specialising in Mathematics and Biology, with a focus on data analysis and the application of mathematics to climate change.
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