Our structure and leadership
GEMA members
Martin Cave was appointed in October 2018 for a term of five years as Chair of the UK Gas & Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA). Martin Cave has worked in government and academia as an economist specialising in competition law and the regulation of network industries.
From 2012 to 2018 he was a panel deputy chair at the Competition and Markets Authority or its predecessor, chairing market investigations, merger inquiries and regulatory appeals.
He carried out five independent regulatory reviews for the UK Government and has advised many regulators in the UK and internationally.
He has held chairs at various UK universities, including Warwick and the London School of Economics, and is the author of several books and articles on regulation.
Jonathan Brearley was appointed as an executive member of GEMA in 2018 and this appointment runs until January 2025. Jonathan became Ofgem's Chief Executive Officer on 3 February 2020. This follows his previous appointment as our Executive Director for Systems and Networks in April 2018.
He has wide-ranging energy sector experience, having led Electricity Market Reform as the Director for Energy Markets and Networks at DECC.
Prior to this, he was Director of the Office of Climate Change, a cross-government strategy unit focussed on climate change and energy issues, where he led the development of the Climate Change Act. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics from Glasgow University and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
John was appointed to GEMA in December 2018 for a term of five years. He has a wealth of experience in the energy sector, and other regulated industries. He is a Chartered Engineer, who spent his early career designing, building and operating power stations. Subsequently he has run IT, business services and energy services businesses for international energy companies. His last full-time role in the sector was as managing director of Central Networks, the UK’s second-largest distributor of electricity, then owned by E.ON UK. He retired from the E.ON UK board in 2011.
He has held non-executive roles at the Office of Nuclear Regulation and in a telecoms company. He has been a member of the Army Board, he advises MOD on electricity generation and distribution, and is involved in housing and veterans’ charities.
Lynne was appointed to GEMA in May 2018 for a term of five years. She brings a wealth of strategy, customer and operational experience gained in the aviation sector. She is a member of the management committee of International Airlines Group and is currently CEO of IAG Cargo and a non-executive director on the board of British Airways.
Previous executive roles include Managing Director of BA’s business at Gatwick Airport and BA Director of Strategy, where she had responsibility for economic regulation. Former non-exec roles include chairman of BA CityFlyer Ltd and non-exec of British Midland Airways Ltd.
Lynne has a BSc in mathematics, an MSc in management science and an MBA.
Myriam was appointed to GEMA in January 2020 for a term of five years. She has held senior executive finance and operational positions in global technology companies, financial services in the UK, US and Europe, as well as the public sector. An experienced Executive Director, Myriam specialised in business transformation, operational restructuring and finance in both the private and public sectors.
Myriam is a chartered management accountant and a Board member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). She is a Board member of Home Group, chairman of their Scottish subsidiary, a board member of the Traverse Theatre and chairman of their Audit committee.
Myriam previously served as a non-executive member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee of BEIS. She was also a Board member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, both global accounting bodies.
Barry was appointed to GEMA in March 2020 for a term of five years. He specialises in data and digital transformation and has worked in data for the whole of his career. He is currently Chief Data and Insight Officer for John Lewis.
Prior to John Lewis, Barry spent the majority of his early career at Ernst & Young helping to lead the data and analytics practice and has subsequently headed up data and digital teams in organisations such as Bupa, Virgin and Lloyds Banking Group.
Barry champions the power of data, not just for organisations but for society as a whole and has worked on numerous initiatives across both private and public sectors as well as promoting the importance of digital skills in our society.
Ofgem Executive Committee (ExCo)
Jonathan Brearley was appointed as an executive member of GEMA in 2018 and this appointment runs until January 2025. Jonathan became Ofgem's Chief Executive Officer on 3 February 2020. This follows his previous appointment as our Executive Director for Systems and Networks in April 2018.
He has wide-ranging energy sector experience, having led Electricity Market Reform as the Director for Energy Markets and Networks at DECC.
Prior to this, he was Director of the Office of Climate Change, a cross-government strategy unit focussed on climate change and energy issues, where he led the development of the Climate Change Act. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics from Glasgow University and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Rebecca joined Ofgem in 2012 and is currently Interim Director of Networks, responsible for the economic regulation of Great Britain’s energy networks.
As a Deputy Director she has led Ofgem’s work relating to the offshore transmission regime, offshore coordination, delivery of interconnectors, introducing competition to onshore networks, development of new regulatory models for supporting low carbon infrastructure (e.g. nuclear and carbon capture and storage) and most recently reviewing the financial resilience and controls of suppliers.
Prior to joining Ofgem, Rebecca spent 10 years at Herbert Smith in their energy and infrastructure practice, leading on projects such as the design and implementation of Ofgem’s OFTO regime and specialising in the public/private interface and investment into infrastructure.
Rebecca studied Pharmacology at Edinburgh University before training as a lawyer.
Peter joined Ofgem in 2017 as Chief Engineer and is currently Interim Director of Analysis and Assurance, looking after the Regulatory Finance, Office of Research & Economics, and Engineering Hub functions. Before joining Ofgem, Peter had a long career with National Grid, working in both Gas and Electricity across Transmission and Distribution networks in a variety of interesting roles, followed by a period working in consultancy with Baringa and PA Consulting.
Peter is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET). He has an Engineering Degree from Imperial College and an MBA from Warwick Business School.
Priya joined Ofgem in early 2021 as Director of Communications where her team covers internal communications, media relations & public affairs, stakeholder engagement, strategic communications as well as the regulator’s web and digital output.
Priya is a senior veteran in the communications profession with her career spanning many high-profile issues and crisis working across government and politics. She has been named in PR Week’s UK Power Book 2022 (which ranks the top communications professionals in each sector) two years running.
Prior to joining Ofgem, Priya operated at the heart of Whitehall for over 15 years, acquiring a wealth of leadership experience in government communications. Her career began as PR officer for the Royal College of Surgeons of England, moving on to work for government departments including the Department for Transport, the Home Office, the Department for Education and Skills. More recently, Priya was Deputy Director of Communications at the Department for Culture Media and Sports, Deputy Director for Strategic Engagement at BEIS, and Director of Communications at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
View my profileRohan joined OFGEM in March 2023 as the Interim Director for Financial Resilience and Controls.
Prior to that Rohan spent over 20 years at the Bank of England. Between 2014-17 he led the division responsible for concurrent stress testing of the UK banking system and the development of the stress testing framework. Between 2017-22 he led the division responsible for managing the UK’s foreign exchange reserves. He chaired the Global Foreign Exchange Committee Disclosures Working Group and was a member of the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee. He also co-Chaired a Bank of International Settlements Markets Committee study group into monitoring of fast-paced electronic markets. During 2022-23 he created and led a project unit to deliver a new design, strategy and composition of the Bank of England’s future balance sheet.
He has written various articles on policy and financial market issues, including Stress Testing and the impact of Unconventional Monetary Policy. Rohan obtained an MA in Economics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Economics and Finance from Warwick Business School.
Christina has a wealth of experience leading corporate functions and transformation in the public sector and has recently returned from a career break where she spent a year with her family in Hong Kong. Her most recent roles in the Civil Service have included leading the People, Change and Internal Communications functions at the Department of Transport, leading significant Change programmes as Director of Transformation at the Ministry of Justice, and leading the HR, Estates, Technology and Security functions as Director, People and Operations at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Prior to joining the public sector Christina worked in Accenture plc’s consulting practice for a number of years, after starting her career at the Halifax plc.
Akshay joined Ofgem in 2017 and is currently the Interim Director of Infrastructure and Security of Supply. His remit covers Winter preparedness and Security of Supply, as well as oversight of Systems and Network Regulation, Wholesale Market Regulation and Cybersecurity. Prior to his temporary promotion, Akshay was Director of Networks responsible for the economic regulation of Great Britain’s energy networks. This includes the development of the next generation of onshore network price controls called RIIO2, the regulation of offshore transmission infrastructure, and the delivery of an ambitious cross-border interconnection programme through the cap and floor regime.
Prior to joining Ofgem, Akshay was on secondment from HM Treasury to Transport for London, where he led TfL’s work on funding transport infrastructure in London by capturing the uplift in land and property values associated with transport projects such as Barking Riverside Extension, Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo Line Extension.
This followed a spell of five years at HM Treasury, where Akshay directed energy and transport projects for Infrastructure UK. He has been involved in the design and delivery of electricity market reform, the competition for carbon capture and storage, the development of the new nuclear energy programme, the reform of the strategic roads network and regeneration projects such as the Northern Line extension to Battersea Power Station in London.
Akshay studied economics, finance, management, and bioscience, at the London School of Economics, the universities of London and Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Management.
Neil has been Ofgem’s Director for Strategy and Decarbonisation since April 2020.
Prior to this, Neil spent five years as head of Energy and Environmental policy and spending at HM Treasury. This followed a range of energy, economic, and strategy roles across the UK government, including working in Tony Blair’s Strategy Unit, running the Foreign Office economics network, and head of Globalisation and Emerging Markets in the Treasury.
Neil started his career in the private sector, as a consultant on energy and public policy questions, and is an economist by training.
View my profileNeil joined Ofgem in July 2021 to lead the Retail directorate. His team are responsible for regulating the retail market that operates today, and for changing the regulatory framework to support the market of tomorrow, as we experience disruption through rapid decarbonisation and digitisation of the sector.
Prior to working at Ofgem, Neil spent nine years at Deloitte providing professional services to clients across the Energy and Resources sector. Neil started his career in Energy Retail in 1996 and went on to work for a number of integrated energy companies across the energy value chain.
Neil holds an MBA from Henley Business School.
Prior to joining Ofgem as General Counsel in August 2021 Sinead was a Director at the Government Legal Department (GLD) and Legal Adviser at BEIS from January 2019. She jointly headed the Division, mainly leading on energy, intellectual property, science and space. Sinead was also the Champion for Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing at GLD.
Prior to joining GLD Sinead was the Director of Personal Tax and Corporate Services at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Solicitor’s Office.
Sinead joined government from the independent bar in 2000 and in her early career led on projects such as the Olympic Bid, setting up the UK Border Agency and advising on international criminal matters.
Philippa Pickford, previously regulatory director for retail, has led the Delivery and Schemes directorate since 1 February 2021.
Philippa has been at Ofgem for more than a decade. Prior to her current role, she led our work to regulate the Electricity System Operator and to deliver legal separation of the Electricity System Operator within National Grid plc. As part of this, she oversaw the introduction of a new regulatory and incentives framework for the Electricity System Operator.
She has previously led Ofgem’s work relating to the evolving distribution system operator role; security of supply, wholesale market design, including the Capacity Market, wholesale market conduct and smart metering.
Cathryn joined in 2013 as the Legal Director for E-Serve environmental schemes and our offshore transmission tenders regime. Between 2016 and 2018, she was Partner for Wholesale Markets and Legal in the Energy Systems division, leading on the provision of legal advice and on Ofgem’s oversight of the wholesale energy market, gas systems issues and settlement reform. In April 2018, she was appointed Director of Wholesale Markets and Commercial, and in August 2020, Director of Enforcement and Emerging Issues.
Before joining Ofgem, her public sector experience includes the Deputy General Counsel at the Department for Transport, heading up teams advising on aviation and rail regulation. She has extensive competition, regulatory and procurement law experience, having also worked for the Competition Commission and Linklaters EU and Competition Group. Previously, she worked in the litigation division of the Treasury Solicitor’s Department and as Assistant to the European Speakers Counsel at the House of Commons. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence.
An engineer by background, Richard Smith worked at National Grid for many years where he carried out an array of roles gaining extensive leadership experience. In his most recent roles, which include Head of Networks, Head of Market Change and Head of Commercial, he sat on the executive team of the NG ESO, contributing to the corporate strategy agenda.
Richard’s business portfolio also includes leading the creation of the first UK-wide Future Energy Scenarios energy system, promoting political, regulatory and industry-wide stakeholder engagement.