Andrew Hockey has four decades of experience, latterly having held numerous directorships and CEO roles across the energy sector.

He has worked in the UK and internationally with European majors Petrofina and ENI and with US and UK independents Triton, Monument and Lasmo.

Until the end of 2021 Andrew was a Non-Executive Director at UK oil and gas exploration and production company, Fairfield Energy, which he co-founded in 2005 and helped to transition to a decommissioning company in 2016. Before joining the ECITB he was CEO at IOG plc, a low carbon footprint gas developer and operator in the UK Southern North Sea.

Andrew was attracted to the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) by the challenge of ensuring the UK has an engineering workforce capable of delivering the energy transition and ultimately delivering Net Zero, which will have to be built.

He is a Non-Executive Director at Chariot, where he was instrumental in the board’s decision to change strategy from being an oil and gas explorer into a company pursuing transitional gas, power and green hydrogen projects across Africa.

Debra is Principal and Chief Executive of Hull College. She was awarded a CBE for services to Further Education in 2026, having previously received an MBE in recognition of her contribution to the sector in 2020.
Debra leads the strategic direction of the college, driving transformation, innovation and civic impact. Under her leadership, Hull College has moved from a period of significant challenge to becoming a nationally recognised leader in digital innovation, green skills and inclusive practice, winning multiple national awards and securing sustained improvements in quality and financial resilience.

A passionate advocate for Further Education, Debra believes colleges are anchor institutions with the power to transform lives and local economies. She is committed to ensuring Hull College is industry-informed and learner-led, equipping students with the skills employers need and the confidence, creativity and digital capability to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Debra holds two Master’s degree’s in Education Leadership and Criminal Justice and is currently completing a Doctorate in Education, focusing on the readiness of English Further Education colleges for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, she is also a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and serves on a number of regional and national boards, contributing to policy development and championing the vital role of Further Education in driving social mobility and economic growth.

Jan Thornton MBE is the Chair of York and North Yorkshire's Food, Farming and Rural Affairs Expert Advisory Panel.
In addition to chairing the YNYCA Food Farming and Rural Affairs Expert Advisory Panel, Jan Thornton MBE is also Vice Chair of the Yorkshire Food, Farming & Rural Network, Vice Chair of the Fix Our Food Commission and a Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commissioner.
Previous roles include Vice Chair of ACRE and Community First Yorkshire.

Lucy Allis leads the Low Carbon & Environment team at the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. The team covers a wide range of areas such as natural capital, adaptation, energy and retrofit. York and North Yorkshire has the ambition to become England's first Carbon Negative region by 2040, to support healthy and thriving communities and drive economic transformation.
Key programmes within the team have focused on taking a place-based approach, such as through the Energy Generation Accelerator Programme (EGAP), and driving innovation, such as through the Carbon Negative Challenge Fund (CNCF). Previously, Lucy led the development of York and North Yorkshire's draft Retrofit Strategy, which positions the region for future devolution, highlights local opportunities and challenges and outlines the system changes needed to increase the pace and scale of retrofit.

As Chief Executive Andrew is responsible for all aspects of the Fera business, including the setting and execution of its growth strategy from a wholly owned agency of Government to a thriving public-private-sector Joint Venture business. An accomplished leader of international science teams, Andrew's expertise is rooted in analytical chemistry and the life sciences. He is an entrepreneur and scientific visionary which he couples with strong commercial acumen to consistently deliver business success and impact in science-based expert services businesses.

Mark Wilson is Sustainability Manager at Zenith, leading the design, delivery, and reporting of the organisation’s sustainability strategy.

His role spans stakeholder engagement, oversight of Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) net zero target-setting, and the delivery of carbon literacy training.

With a strong focus on embedding sustainability across business operations, Mark works to ensure measurable impact, transparency, and alignment with evolving environmental standards and expectations.

Sean Lewis is a Strategy and Policy Officer at York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, working across skills, education and employment. With a background spanning further education, adult skills and regional skills programmes, Sean has over a decade of experience in education and has more recently worked on programmes including Multiply and Skills Bootcamps. His current work focuses on how policy, evidence and regional intelligence can support strategic decision-making, including how skills provision can respond to emerging economic priorities and the transition to a greener economy.

Jo champions building climate resilience in public services and has been leading a stronger preventative approach following last year’s Langdale/Fylingdales wildfire.

Alongside Mayor David Skaith, she campaigned to ban disposable BBQs and continues pressing for greater investment in national resilience to prevent and respond to future major incidents.

Karen leads the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, which is part of a national network of funded and directed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Great British Energy to support local areas to implement their local energy strategies and delivery of the government’s Clean Energy 2030 ambition and key national policy such as the Warm Homes Plan and the Local Power Plan. The Hub’s work has so far seen almost 20,000 homes from across the region made warmer, healthier and cheaper to run, and a 1200% growth in the number of community-owned energy projects in the region.

Prior to joining the Hub, Karen manged the capital investment programme at the former Humber Local Enterprise Partnership.

James Mitchinson is the Editor of The Yorkshire Post and Editorial Director for National World Yorkshire, a role to which he was appointed in 2016. He has been a journalist for 23 years, the majority of which he has held editor roles at numerous titles. James has led The Yorkshire Post team to myriad industry awards, including campaign of the year for the Power Up The North initiative - bringing together rival publishers in a way not done before or since - Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain (PAMCo) and Regional Newspaper of the Year, the latter not having been achieved by The Yorkshire Post for some 20 years prior. He is a married dad to two boys and a grassroots football coach and volunteer.