The brightest emerging talent in the energy industry was again recognised last night as the Young Energy Professionals (YEP) Forum held its annual awards ceremony.
It was a particularly special occasion as this is the 10th year that the YEP Awards have celebrated the exceptional achievements of young professionals with up to a decade of experience in the energy sector.
As ever, the event brought together industry leaders and promising young innovators, with the awards presented by climate comedian Stuart Goldsmith and inspiring speeches from Colm Murphy, Director of Transformation and Major Projects at NESO, and Yumann Siddiq, YEP Forum Chair and Policy Manager at Smart DCC.
The seven awards, ranging from Team of the Year to Rising Star, were judged by a panel of experts and featured a brand-new category – STEM and Innovator for Net Zero – to recognise those challenging the status quo within the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and thinking creatively about how to solve the problems facing the energy industry.
The full list of this year’s winners is:
Rising Star Award (sponsored by Arup & judged by Susan McDonald from Deloitte)
Steven Waggott, Centrica
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Focus Award (sponsored by Policy by Murray & judged by Loraine Martins OBE FRSA from Arup)
Jesusoorefunmi Olaoye, OVO Energy
Customer Champion Award (sponsored by National Gas & judged by Abigail Ward from Energy Saving Trust)
George Snape, So Energy
STEM and Innovator for Net Zero Award (sponsored by RWE & judged by Guy Newey from Energy Systems Catapult)
James Bain, RWE Generation UK
Team of the Year (sponsored by NESO and judged by Yujia Du from The Climate Circle)
Battery Box Team, AMP Clean Energy
Audrey Gallacher Award for Excellence (judged by Jag Basi from ESB)
Nathan Hunt, NESO
YEP of the Year Award (sponsored by Modo Energy and judged by Emma Pinchbeck from Energy UK)
Steven Melens, Mott MacDonald and Rebecca Pike, RWE
Dhara Vyas, Energy UK’s CEO-designate, said:
“The YEP Awards are a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the impressive contributions of young people who will play a vital role in an industry focused on the future. As we strive to achieve Net Zero and other future goals, one of our greatest challenges is building a workforce equipped with the right skills to drive innovation and progress. It’s so important to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds can see a future for themselves in the energy sector and we hope these awards – and the work of the YEP Forum – help do exactly that.”
As part of Energy UK’s ongoing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, all the categories in the YEP Awards were judged blindly to remove any bias and barriers.
A big thank you to NESO for sponsoring the YEP Forum as well as our award category sponsors. If you are interested in discussing our wider sponsorship opportunities, please contact membership@energy-uk.org.uk.
Notes to editors
- Energy UK is the trade association for the energy industry with over 100 members – from established FTSE 100 companies right through to new, growing suppliers, generators and service providers across energy, transport, heat and technology. Our members deliver nearly 80% of the UK’s power generation and over 95% of the energy supply for 28 million UK homes as well as businesses. The sector invests £13bn annually and delivers nearly £30bn in gross value – on top of the nearly £100bn in economic activity through its supply chain and interaction with other sectors. The energy industry is key to delivering growth and plans to invest £100bn over the course of this decade in new energy sources. The energy sector supports 700,000 jobs in every corner of the country. Energy UK plays a key role in ensuring we attract and retain a diverse workforce. In addition to our Young Energy Professionals Forum, which has over 2,000 members representing over 350 organisations, we are a founding member of TIDE, an industry-wide taskforce to tackle Inclusion and Diversity across energy.
- Energy UK is proud to host the secretariat of the YEP Forum.
- The Young Energy Professionals (YEP) Forum is a community to promote and inspire the next generation of energy industry leaders, providing opportunities to connect, develop and recognise success. Free to join, we have over 2,300 members from across 350 different companies. We run insightful events and initiatives throughout the year which cover the whole spectrum of the energy sector – from panel sessions and interviews with the sector’s senior leaders, to networking receptions, informal social events and site visits to some of Great Britain’s most significant energy infrastructure facilities. Check out the Annual Report from 2023 for more detail on what we got up to last year.