Run by volunteers, our nine regional groups offer unique opportunities to share experiences, develop knowledge and network with each other across the UK and in the Far East.
We also have a Section dedicated to the needs of our Company Members and our Young Persons Network is there to support the next generation of gas professionals.
Irish Section
The Irish Section covers Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, hosting events in Belfast, Dublin and Cork. Key themes of our events include: the activities of the gas network operators in Ireland and renewable sources of energy.
Chair: Conor O'Reilly
Established in 1996, Phoenix’s modern gas network has delivered significant carbon savings to homes and businesses across its licence area. Phoenix are collaborating with all NI Gas Network Operators to support the province’s net-zero target by 2050, by transitioning the network to 100% renewable gases.
Email: [email protected]
London, Southern & Eastern Section
A diverse region that includes the English capital and a large expanse of coastline, the London, Southern & Eastern Section offers a range of events including technical talks and tours to facilities such as the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Isle of Grain.
Chair: Simon Joyce
Simon is the Principal Engineer for Future of Energy at SGN. His role in the Future of Energy involves: driving engineering and safety best practice; safe delivery of projects; developing new standards, working with stakeholders across the industry to safely engineer the net zero transition. He has been in the gas industry for over 20 years.
Email: [email protected]
Midlands Section
The Midlands Section has the largest number of IGEM members in its region, with the vast amount of IGEM Industrial Affiliates being based in this area. This provides a great opportunity for technical visits and tours, as well as the chance to hear from industry experts at technical paper evenings.
Chair: Peter Sykes-Tucker
Peter has over 16 years of experience in the gas industry. Peter transitioned into leadership-focused positions within Multi-Tech, Capita, and eventually joined Saith in 2017, where he is currently the Managing Director. Additionally, holding a committee position at The Pipeline Industries Guild, and is a registered CDA assessed Civil/Structural G/17, G/35, and PS5/6 approver and appraiser.
Email: [email protected]
North East & Yorkshire Section
The North East & Yorkshire Section hosts a range of successful events and tours that review innovation and the future of gas, providing insight into the work on hydrogen taking place in the area and linking with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), operator of the gas distribution network in the region.
Chair: Lynsey Stevenson
Lynsey is a Chartered Engineer with over 10 years of experience within the gas industry. Lynsey joined National Gas Transmission in 2021 and currently works as a Senior Integrity Engineer authorising repairs, modifications, and new works. Lynsey has predominantly worked in engineering consultancy roles gaining experience in design, integrity management and innovation whilst working at DNV and ROSEN.
Email: [email protected]
North West Section
The North West Section host a series of events ranging from technical paper evenings with keynote speakers, to industry site visits across the region. Its popular Christmas lunch takes place the second week of December and is a great opportunity to network with colleagues from across the industry.
Chair: Nick Jerman
Nick is Head of Customer Operations at Cadent Gas Limited. He has worked with Cadent for over six years beginning his career in the gas industry as a Construction Engineer in 2009 at National Grid and then remaining with Cadent in 2016 when the gas distribution arm was sold. Nick is currently responsible for delivering Emergency, Repair and New Connection operations in the North West.
Email: [email protected]
Scottish Section
The Scottish Section's event calendar provides a range of learning opportunities across Scotland. Our events cover a number of specialisms, and we like to vary the format by including paper evenings, showcase events, technical talks and social and networking events in our programme.
Chair: David Frost
David started his career in 2013, working in upstream process and pipeline services (PPS) covering continental Europe, before joining the gas industry in the UK in 2016. Working at WSP David is a Chartered Engineer and manages a diverse team of engineers in the energy and industry sector.
Email: [email protected]
Far East District Section
The Far East District Section covers Hong Kong and China and is an extension of the Institution designed to support members by connecting them with fellow professionals and organisations working on the gas network within their geographical area.
Chair: Mr. Hengxiang Zhou
Mr. Zhou has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry with sound management skills. He has worked in the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited since 2002. He now serves as Executive Vice President (Gas), Head of Strategic Development Department of the Group in Mainland China and General Manager of Jiangsu，Zhejiang and Shanghai Regions.
Email: [email protected]
South West Section
The South West Section host two showcase events a year, one in the spring and the other in the autumn. The events provide a great opportunity to hear from a range of industry speakers who will cover one particular theme at each event. These popular events also provide a wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues from across the industry.
Chair: Josh Williams-Trim
Josh’s background is in National Gas Distribution. He has been involved in the gas industry since 2009, starting as an apprentice with Wales & West Utilities. Following his apprenticeship, he was qualified as a First Call Operative, during this time further trained in Field Rhinology, Industrial and Commercial and Network Maintenance. He is currently Operational First Line Manager at Wales & West Utilities.
Email: [email protected]
Welsh Section
The Welsh Section’s activities include technical paper evenings and an interesting array of site visits to facilities across the country. We try to make the most of the variety of gas related facilities within Wales, such as the Cardiff Energy Recovery Facility, peaking plants and coke ovens. Our annual dinner takes place in the autumn and is a wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues from across the industry.
Chair: Henry James
Henry James is Wales & West Utilities’ Net Zero Portfolio Manager for Industrial Clusters. He is a Chartered Engineer and responsible for delivering the company’s contribution to industrial cluster projects like the South Wales Industrial Cluster, including infrastructure development and modelling support.
Email: [email protected]
Young Persons Section
Members aged 35 and under are automatically assigned to our Young Persons Network (YPN) in addition to their local Section. Designed specifically to support individuals early in their career, the benefits of the YPN include: career mentorship, technical paper evenings, best practice industrial visits, opportunity to enter the annual YPPC Competition formally known as the Young Persons Paper Competition, networking with like-minded peers and social events.
Chair: Harriet Guiry
Harriet is an Operational Strategy Engineer for National Gas working in the System Operator. After joining the industry in September 2021, she has begun building up her CPD and working towards chartership whilst keeping up with the energy transition as best as possible. Her role at NGT looks at the short-term risk on the NTS and operational delivery of maintenance on the network.
Email: [email protected]
Company Members
The Company Member Section is designed to support the organisations affiliated to IGEM. Whether you’re a sole trader or large multinational corporation, our Section activities can help you raise the profile of your organisation, recruit talented individuals and develop the skills and expertise of your workforce enabling you to thrive and grow.
Chair: Tony Wimpenny
Tony is the Director and co-founder of Bohr, established last year to enable renewable gas production and utilisation through development and supply of blending, measurement and control technologies and solutions. Tony previously managed a leading gas systems integration company and has been in the gas industry for over 10 years, prior to which he worked for several years in aerospace engineering. He serves on numerous gas quality forums in the UK, Europe and internationally, focussing on standards and implementation approaches for natural gas, biomethane, hydrogen and other related topics.
Email: [email protected]