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Meet the Team

Our Board Members and Executive Management Team, their roles and responsibilities

Executive Management Team

Kailash Chada

Group Chief Executive Officer

Kailash has been Group Chief Executive Officer at Phoenix Energy since April 2023, having previously been the Group Chief Finance Officer.

In a career spanning more than 20 years, Kailash began work with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Edinburgh before undertaking a number of senior roles in leading financial institutions in London, including Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was Chief Finance Officer and interim CEO for a division of Ulster Bank.

Joining the Group in July 2017 as Chief Finance Officer, Kailash was responsible for all financial and funding requirements of the Group as well as for Support Services across the business, including Business Planning, Compliance, IT, Finance and HR. Kailash also leads the Phoenix Energy Services division who play an important role in delivering a high-quality customer experience through the delivery of the gas emergency service and asset repair and replacement programmes.

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Joanne Quinn

Director of Regulatory Affairs

Joanne has 32 years' business experience gained in the retail, banking and regulated utility industries.

As Director of Regulatory Affairs, Joanne has responsibility for ensuring the business complies with its regulatory and statutory requirements. Having held several key positions in Phoenix throughout her 24 years with the company, four years of which have been at Director level, Joanne previously held the position of Transportation Services Manager where her primary objective was to deliver a 24 hour gas transportation platform which would support the introduction of and facilitate a competitive natural gas supply market ensuring consumer choice.

Joanne has extensive experience in the areas of operational and strategic regulatory negotiation, stakeholder and consumer engagement, Network Code management, gas retail markets operations, network development, business planning and gas trading.

Joanne graduated from Queens University with a BSc in Pure and Applied Mathematics.

Jonathan Martindale

Director of Business Development

Jonathan has been with the company for the past 21 years, with a background in communications and business development.

With a focus on delivering customer growth across all tenure sections within the Phoenix Energy licence area, Jonathan leads the customer service, marketing and sales divisions and oversees strategic campaign development.

Jonathan also manages the business development strategy for network extension infrastructure investment and supports stakeholder and partner engagement on energy transition and role of natural gas in delivering a lower carbon future.

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Denver Wasson

Director of Engineering

Denver is a Chartered Engineer with over 16 years’ experience, having joined the Phoenix Energy engineering team in 2004 after graduating from Queens University with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering.   

Throughout his career Denver has held multiple senior engineering and management roles within the business.

As Director of Engineering, Denver is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance requirements of the Phoenix network, including the provision of additional customer connections and the emergency services operation. He is responsible for the development and delivery of the ISO accredited Health & Safety, Environmental and Asset Management Systems, which underpin all of Phoenix's engineering activities.  

Denver is a member of the Institute of Gas Engineers & Managers and Engineers Ireland.

Gareth Wright 

Business Services Director

Gareth is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years' business experience gained in professional and consultancy services and regulated utility industries.

Gareth began work in Enterprise Risk Services with Deloitte in Belfast, then moving to their consultancy service in London, before joining the Phoenix Group in 2010.

Having held several key positions in Phoenix throughout his 13 years with the Group, Gareth has extensive experience in the strategic and operational areas of the business, including business planning, compliance, regulation, business improvement and project management.

Gareth is responsible for leading on customer service delivery and for governance and risk management processes. He is also responsible for leading on ESG and sustainability on behalf of the Phoenix Group.

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Peter Markwell

Director of Finance

 Peter is a Chartered Accountant with more than 17 years’ experience working in the energy sector. He began his career with Ernst & Young, before joining Energia Group in 2006 to head up Power NI’s trading and finance departments. Peter has significant financial and treasury experience and has held a number of senior positions in regulated utilities for 10 years.

 

As Director of Finance, Peter has responsibility for the company's long-term financial health and growth and for ensuring all accounting activities comply with relevant regulations. Peter also leads the Human Resources, IT and Procurement departments.  

Board Members

Jeremy Bending

Chairman, Phoenix Energy 

Jeremy has over 40 years’ experience in the gas industry. He was the COO of the National Grid’s Gas Distribution business in the UK and successfully led the organisation through some critical strategic changes in order to prepare the business for the start of the challenging regulatory period that started in 2013.

On leaving National Grid in 2014 Jeremy founded Armco Solutions Ltd and now advises a range of clients from the energy and utilities sector.

Jeremy has recently been involved with some major M&A transactions. In addition to his new role as Non-Executive Director with Phoenix Energy, he also holds non-executive roles with Glover Gas and Power B.V. and Skills2learn (Babcock).

Jeremy is a Chartered engineer and past President of Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers and Past Chairman of the International Gas Union Gas Distribution Committee.

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Stephen Kirkpatrick

Stephen Kirkpatrick

Non-Executive Director, Phoenix Energy 

Stephen has a strong track record as both an executive and non-executive director in a number of regulated businesses including the energy sector and financial services. Having qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG Stephen spent a significant part of his career with Bank of Ireland. He was CEO of the Northern Ireland business and Head of Retail Credit for the Group. On leaving Bank of Ireland Stephen was appointed CEO of a large real estate investment group. 

Alongside this executive role Stephen joined the Boards of a number of companies as a non-executive director. He spent 6 years as Audit Committee Chair of Mutual Energy. He has also chaired the Audit Committee for 2 listed companies and was Board Chair of a regulated consumer finance business and a professional services practice. Stephen currently chairs the Scrutiny Board of the Northern Ireland Investment Fund which is focussed on economic regeneration and decarbonisation.

 

Stephen brings to the Board considerable experience of risk management, corporate governance and corporate finance together with well-grounded understanding of the Northern Ireland economy gained over a career of almost 40 years. 



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