8 December 2025
8-9th, December Board Meeting, Edinburgh
NOTE: These Minutes are yet to be formally approved by the full Board. They will be formally approved at the next Great British Energy Board meeting.
Attendees:
- Juergen Maier CBE FRS, Chair, Great British Energy
- Dan McGrail, CEO, Great British Energy
- Emma Floyd, Shareholder Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Chris Stark, Director, Shareholder Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Kate Gilmartin, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Frances O’Grady (virtual), Baroness of Upper Holloway, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Frank Mitchell, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Nina Skorupska (virtual), CBE FEI, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Valerie Todd, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Beverley Gower-Jones OBE FEI, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Graeme Sword (virtual on 9th), Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Alison Presly, General Counsel, Great British Energy
- Catherine Murphy, Finance Director, Great British Energy
- Paul Addison, Policy and External Affairs Director, Great British Energy
- Tim Cullen OBE, Business Development & Partnerships Director, Great British Energy
- Rob Gilbert, Supply Chain Director, Great British Energy
- Helen Seagrave, Local Power Director, Great British Energy
- Laura Menzies, Operations Set Up Lead, Great British Energy
- John Waldron, Head of Office, Great British Energy
- Pamela Nichol-Littlejohn, HR Director, Great British Energy
- Jocelyn Shaw, Programme Director, GBE Set-up and Programme
Chair’s Welcome & Introductions
Juergen Maier (JM) welcomed the Board, reflected on the GBE Board’s afternoon visit to the Harlaw Community Energy hydro project. DM and JM updated the Board on the successful publication of GBE’s Strategic Plan.
Safety Moment
FM delivered a safety moment to the Board on importance of prior planning and use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Quorum, Agenda, & Declaration of Conflicts
JM confirmed the Board was quorate and the Board approved the agenda.
Alison Presly (AP) took the Board through the updated conflicts recording and management policy. The Board approved the policy and all confirmed no conflicts with respect to the December agenda.
Review & Approval of Previous Board Minutes, Actions, and Decisions
JM introduced the September Board minutes, and AP gave the Board an update on the action log. The Board approved the September minutes and action log.
GBE DESNZ Framework Document
Jocelyn Shaw (JS), Catherine Murphy (CM) and AP presented the key facets of the Framework Document (FD) to the GBE Board.
The Board welcomed the FD and the intention to publish the document in the first half of 2026 was clarified, following the required government approvals.
JM confirmed the Board’s formal approval of the FD and stated that he and the Board recognised the excellent collaboration between DESNZ and GBE.
GBE Local
Helen Seagrave (HS) and Dan McGrail (DM) updated the Board on GBE Local activities, including the 2025/26 delivery schemes and work on the upcoming Local Power Plan (LPP).
The Board discussed the delivery of the 2025/26 schemes, including measuring value for money, assurance, utilising procurement to drive desired outcomes and the importance of data collection on key metrics. The Board commended the work to-date, noting the positive impact of the schemes, and the Board endorsed an extension to devolved funding with respect to the delivery of Local Schemes.
The Board discussed the Local Power Plan (LPP), including strategic narrative and publication timelines, and how the LPP would enable GBE to meet its target of supporting over 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030.
The Board agreed work on the LPP was moving forwards in the right direction and JM confirmed further Board time would be added in early 2026 to discuss and approve the final LPP.
CEO Report
DM introduced GBE progress this quarter noting particular highlights such as the publication of GBE’s Strategic Plan and the GBE investment into the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind project.
DM updated the Board on upcoming milestones, including work on opening GBE’s Aberdeen HQ and the upcoming launch of GBE’s Energy, Engineered in the UK programme, including the launching of the £300m Supply Chain fund.
DM described key delivery risks and the Board discussed organisational challenges such as resourcing and corporate service provision, agreeing key mitigations.
Resourcing
DM set out the resourcing strategy, updated the Board on the progress towards securing government’s approval of the GBE pay cases, and the appointment of an interim HR Director. He set out plans for further work on the employee value proposition and a full workforce strategy that would return to the Board before the end of the financial year.
The Board discussed how to attract and retain the talent in the organisation and various aspects of the resourcing strategy and looked forward to the future items.
HR Strategy
Pamela Nichol-Littlejohn (PN) introduced the item, summarising the key workstreams across GBE including company culture, the employee value proposition, GBE HR policies, and a GBE people update.
The Board discussed matters such as locational focus of recruitment, GBE as a driving force for energy sector diversity, and union recognition.
The Board noted the importance of these topics and welcomed the focus on Aberdeen recruitment.
GBE Governance and Operating Model
DM, AP, Laura Menzies (LM), and Catherine Murphy (CM) updated the Board on governance, sub-committee establishment, target operating model, and delegations.
JM summarised the progress on sub-committee creation and the Board confirmed they were happy with allocation of sub-committee roles. JM gave thanks to Beverley Gower-Jones (BG), Nina Skorupska (NS), and Valerie Todd (VT) for their commitment to lead the individual sub-committees.
The Board discussed and welcomed the proposed operating model, confirmed Board approval of the delegation and authority limits, noting these should be reviewed regularly as the organisation matures and noted the update on risk from CM.
Transparency
AP update the Board on GBE’s proposed approach to its public sector transparency obligations.
The Board agreed to the importance of transparency and approved the proposed approach to GBE’s publication scheme under freedom of information legislation and the importance of in-house expertise to effectively manage disclosure requirements.
GBE Budget Update
CM summarised the budgetary situation of GBE and explained the future level of detail planned for both the Board and the Audit, Assurance and Enterprise Risk Committee (AAERC).
JM noted the close alignment to initial forecasts and the Board confirmed they were comfortable with the presented material coming to the Board quarterly, with more detail via AAERC.
GBE Communications Update
Paul Addison (PA) talked the Board through GBE’s planned communications approach for the period following the Strategic Plan publication, summarised the analysis of GBE press coverage and the GBE polling to-date, noting positive public attitudes to both renewables and to public ownership of energy.
The Board discussed how to approach different audiences, the importance of tangible stories, the potential options to increase reach, and the need for a wider digital-first campaign.
JM summarised the discussion, noting the importance and the Board’s desire to commit the correct level of resource to this important area.
Investment Update
Tim Cullen (TC) gave an update to the Board on the investment framework.
TC explained the approach to portfolio-wide returns, balancing near-term and long-term priorities across multiple technologies and set out how GBE would monitor how the investment portfolio is performing with respect to all the objectives of the Strategic Plan.
The Board discussed key parameters for future modelling and how the portfolio would best meet the objectives set out in the Strategic Plan.
JM thanked TC and the team for the work and confirmed the Board’s approval of the general direction, noting the major progress over the last 12 months.
The Board noted a short update from TC with respect to timebound considerations around ongoing investments.
Supply Chain Update
DM and Rob Gilbert (RG) updated the Board on the upcoming plans for launch of GBE’s Supply Chain initiative, Energy Engineered in the UK (EEiUK), on 11 December. RG set out GBE’s plans across the three pillars of EEiUK.
The Board discussed ticket size across the three pillars, the proposed technology focus, the interplay with the wider policy ecosystem and the approach to due diligence.
JM and the Board noted the updated, commending the culture and commitment of the team and the collaboration with DESNZ.
Close
JM confirmed there was no AOB and closed the meeting. He thanked the Board for their input across a wide range of important agenda items.