The ECITB Board

Lynda Armstrong OBE

Chair, ECITB

The Chair of the ECITB is Lynda Armstrong OBE. Lynda was appointed Chair in January 2018.

A geophysicist by training, Lynda worked for Shell International for 35 years in roles in oil and gas exploration, and in petroleum engineering and production.

Since retiring from Shell she has held a number of positions on boards as a Non-Executive Director, including Kaz Minerals, Orsted, a renewable energy company, SBM Offshore and CEOC. Lynda also chaired the British Safety Council, a not for profit organisation promoting safety in the workplace. She was awarded the OBE for services to the UK Oil and Gas Industry and is a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

Andrew Colquhoun

“I am very proud to have been appointed to the ECITB Board, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to help UK Industry attract, train and develop the skilled workforce our country needs to deliver its ambitions”.

Having joined the company in 1985 as an apprentice, Andrew built his career at Altrad Babcock in a range of manufacturing, project engineering and operational delivery roles. Andrew gained valuable experience working across nuclear, thermal, oil & gas and petrochemical sectors.

Prior to Altrad, Andrew held a number of executive roles within Doosan Babcock. These include CEO, VP Process Improvement, VP Governance & Compliance, VP Project Management Office.

There are many highlights of his career including major boiler retrofit projects in the USA, major EPC projects in the nuclear industry and a “first of class” project in the pharmaceutical sector.

Andrew has been the company executive sponsor on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects over the past 5 years, in particular he has a close working relationship with the Renfrewshire Foodbank.

Andrew is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer CEng FIMechE and a Full Member of the Association for Project Management (MAPM).

Cameron Gilmour

Director, Laing O’Rourke

Cameron Gilmour is the Director of the Laing O’Rourke group.

Cameron is a chartered mechanical engineer with over 30 years’ experience in engineering and construction, and is responsible for running Crown House Technologies, providing M&E across a wide range of sectors and customers.

Helen Woodward Davies (née Higgs)

Senior Advisor on workforce risk, EDF Energy

“I’m delighted to join the ECITB board to support the growth of engineering construction skills for all levels that will create enormous opportunities for social impact and for increasing productivity of our projects”.

Helen is a Senior Advisor on workforce risk having been Resource Programme Director for EDF Energy at Hinkley Point C working closely with supply chains, international projects on lessons learnt, cross sector projects and with Further and Higher Education providers.

Over the past 25 years she has led on delivery of effective workforce strategies for projects across the nuclear cycle, providing the capacity and capability for the business and projects whilst impacting social mobility.

She is a Board member of Skills England and has served as Chair of the Board for National College for Nuclear and as Co-Chair of Nuclear Skills Strategy Group.

She also sits on the Careers Enterprise Company Employer Advisory Group (independent social enterprise set up by Govt).

Helen spent 15 years as a HR Director in nuclear. Before moving to nuclear she ran a strategy consultancy supporting SMEs and public organisations, including universities and local authorities, on growth strategies.

Helen is a Chartered Fellow of CIPD and Chartered Institute of Marketing and is a qualified coach. She is passionate about uniting business and work opportunities with disenfranchised groups, particularly young people who are failing in education routes and she volunteers with the Youth Justice Service which aims to prevent re-offending through a Government scheme that is an alternative to custodial sentencing.

Mark Fotheringham

Technical Director, Infinity Engineering

“I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to contribute to the excellent work of the ECITB in developing the engineering construction skills necessary to deliver national economic benefit through a period of transition and look forward to working with the Board and senior staff”.

Mark is an Engineering and Project Management professional with significant experience in the Energy Sector.

He is an expert in business, leadership and technical skills delivered with authentic passion for safety, people, results, and progressive improvement in the value created by technology and project delivery.

Mark has several decades of engineering and construction experience in the UK and overseas. He is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Project Professional, holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Engineering and is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management.

Mark is currently Technical Director in an engineering consultancy focused towards energy security and transition and is also a trustee and board member of the North East of Scotland College (850 staff, 21,000 students). Mark lives and works in Aberdeen.

Mark Riley

Project Controls Lead, Emerging Energy, Phillips 66 Limited

“I am honoured and proud to have been appointed as a Board member of the ECITB.

I look forward to being able to support the ECITB executive in meeting the skills needs of industry as we embark on our journey to Net Zero.”

Mark has held several leadership positions within the Refining Business, spanning, Capital Project & Construction Delivery, Turnaround Planning and Execution and Tank Maintenance Program Lead.

Mark has been at the forefront of Contractor & Resource Management policies and practices throughout this period developing best practice documents and Regional Strategies.

Professor Joe Howe

Net-Zero Humber Academic Cluster Lead at the University of Lincoln

Joe has received numerous research contracts from government departments, RCUK and the EU and has published more than 100 peer reviewed articles.

He has extensive experience in working interchangeably with industry on major environmental projects and initiatives across the UK.

Joe is pro-actively engaged with the UK’s emerging clean growth agenda including his roles on the UK Decarbonised of Gas Alliance and being the North West academic lead for the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.

Professor Paul de Leeuw

Director, Energy Transition Institute – Robert Gordon University

“I’m delighted to join the board of the ECITB at this crucial time. With the requirement to re-plumb, re-wire and re-purpose the UK’s energy system over the coming decades, the work of the ECITB is absolutely critical to successfully prepare the workforce for our new, net zero future.

I’m very much looking forward to working with the ECITB team, board colleagues and our partners to set this up for success.“

Paul is a senior industry leader and executive with over 36 years’ experience in the global energy sector. He has worked for a wide range of companies and organisations, including Shell, Marathon Oil, Amoco, BP, Venture Production and Centrica.

He is currently the Director of Robert Gordon University’s Energy Transition Institute, a Board member of the International School in Aberdeen, a government and industry advisor and a Professor at Robert Gordon University.

Paul is also an experienced non-executive director, with over 25 years of involvement in public, private and voluntary sector organisations.

He is a regular contributor to net zero activities, climate change discussions and industry events and a media commentator on issues and developments in the international energy sector.

Richard Law

Managing Director, Technica Measurement and Director of Business Development, Technica Group

“As a representative of a SME business and a military veteran, I am really pleased to be appointed to the Board of Trustees at the ECITB. It is clear that we need to attract more talented individuals into engineering and construction careers as we continue to deliver the various nuclear, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen networks and other net zero initiatives as well as keeping some existing and aging infrastructure working. The role of the ECITB is vitally important and I am looking forward to working with the Board and Senior Leadership Team to help them deliver their current strategy and inform future decisions and policy”.

Richard has worked within the UK gas transmission and energy sector since 2009. He has held various technical and senior roles within SME organisations supporting major clients such as National Gas Transmission, Centrica, SGN, Gassco and J Murphy and Sons. He was UK President of a US owned NASDAQ trading system integrator from 2015 to 2017 before joining Technica in the summer of 2017, as Director of Business Development. He then spent two years as Managing Director from 2021 before stepping down to become a founder and Managing Director of Technica Measurement in the summer of 2024.

Prior to entering the energy sector, Richard served for 15 years as a Weapon Engineer Officer within the Royal Navy having joined under an engineer scholarship pathway. His military career saw him undertake a variety of roles including recruitment, engineering policy, engineering operations and head office appointments within the Ministry of Defence. He graduated with a BEng(Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and holds a MSc in Guided Weapons from Cranfield University. He is a Chartered Member of the IET.

Simon Hicks

Chief Operations Officer, Hargreaves Services plc

Simon is Chief Operations Officer at Hargreaves Services plc.

Simon was previously CEO of Evero Energy, an owner-operator of waste-to-energy facilities. Prior to this he was the Managing Director, Recycling, of Viridor and Managing Director of Altrad Services UK.

He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Engineering Technology.

Steve Hunt

Regional Director, Altrad Integrity Services (formerly Stork)

Steve is Regional Director for Stork. Steve started his career as an EITB Engineering Apprentice with Babcock & Wilcox. He progressed rapidly through increasingly senior management roles to senior executive level positions, with a number of major energy companies both within the UK and internationally.