The Board
Nick Ainger - Chair
Before his election as Labour MP for Pembroke in 1992, Nick worked in Pembrokeshire’s energy industry from 1973, initially as deputy operations manager of an offshore oil exploration base in Pembroke Dock, then later as a contractor on the Milford Haven oil terminals, berthing and connecting ships. A branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, he was elected to Dyfed County Council in 1981 and served until 1993. After Labour’s victory in 1997, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to three Welsh Secretaries until 2001 when he was appointed a Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury and government whip at the Wales Office and DEFRA, where he was responsible for the Commons stages of the Hunting with Dogs Act. After the 2005 election, he served as Minister at the Wales Office and piloted the Government of Wales Act through the Commons. In 1996 he won the BBC Environment Campaign of the Year Award for his fight to get an independent inquiry into the Sea Empress disaster. He left government in 2007 and served on the Treasury Select Committee until 2010, taking part in the major inquiries into the banking crisis. He now volunteers with the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust.
Sue Barr
Sue has 18 years’ experience in the offshore wind, wave and tidal industries, including 11 years at OpenHydro, a tidal technology developer in senior management, project development, policy and developing marine energy markets. She supported the UK Government delivering the first offshore wind arrays including revision of primary legislation, administering regulatory controls and advised UK Ministers on the first marine energy projects. On the board of all three industry associations (RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables and Marine Energy Wales) and chair of the UK Marine Policy Forum & Council, Sue plays a key role in driving renewable industry policy in the marine area, in the UK and internationally.
Andy Drumm
Born and raised in Haverfordwest, Andy has worked in Britain and internationally for over 30 years in environmental conservation and sustainable economic development in the private sector, with international NGOs and with multilateral agencies. He founded and ran a pioneering and multi award-winning ecotourism business and lead expeditions in the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands for many years. With the conservation NGO The Nature Conservancy, he worked with protected area systems around the world to harness the potential of nature-focused tourism to contribute to conservation finance and local economic development. As an independent consultant Andy works on integrating biodiversity conservation into economic development strategies working principally as an environmental safeguards specialist for the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank and others on agriculture, coastal development, and forestry projects. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and is an experienced scuba divemaster.
John Jenkins
John is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years’ experience with leading consultancies, banks and advisory firms. He specialises in providing support for offshore renewable energy projects, and early stage technology companies. This includes work for the UK’s first commercial scale tidal energy project, wave energy projects and several large (1 GW+) offshore windfarms. He has also worked on the Offshore Wind Accelerator programme identifying future improvements that could reduce the costs of marine energy. Among his other roles, he is a member of the ICAEW Strategy Board for Wales. John has strong family links with Pembrokeshire having been born and raised here.
Tam Bardell
Recently appointed Chair of Marine Energy Wales and Non-Executive Director at PCF, Tam brings significant expertise from the Port of Milford Haven and a deep passion for marine energy, aiming to drive sustainable coastal management and the sector’s growth in Wales. Originally from the Shetland Islands, Tam will play a crucial role in guiding these efforts, helping to advance the Marine Energy Test Area (META) around Milford Haven and supporting technology developers.
David Tudor
David has worked in marine management across the world for over twenty years. His experience includes: running environmental campaigns on the beaches of Australia, researching marine plastic pollution in the Pacific, leading on policy advice at a pivotal time for the UK’s marine legislation, and working on the world’s largest offshore renewable energy programme. He has gained a wide range of knowledge and skills from working within a diverse range of organisations – including NGOs, industry, universities and government agencies. David headed development and asset management teams in the Crown Estate and he previously led the strategic advice to the business portfolios on topic areas such as marine spatial planning and marine policy. Prior to this, his work focussed on marine pollution; specifically, bathing and shellfish water quality for the Environment Agency. He now leads a global suite of ocean conservation projects for the Blue Marine Foundation. David has a marine science PhD and is a Fellow of the IMarEST.
Kath Wellard
Kath has 20 years’ experience in environmental management and assessment, specialising in marine, fisheries and coastal issues. Kath has managed and worked on coastal and maritime EIAs, policy reviews and coastal and marine planning projects in Wales, the UK and overseas. During her career, she has worked for large and small consultancies as a fisheries and marine consultant and for Tidal Lagoon Power on the development of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. Kath worked on the development of the Marine and Coastal Access Act as part of a previous role in marine and coastal policy and legislation at the Welsh Government and has also worked in Assembly Parliamentary Service, gaining experience of policy and legislation from both sides – political and civil service. Kath loves the sea, the people that use it, the things that live in it and wants to make the way we manage and regulate it better in whatever she does. Kath joined as Director of Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF) to help support an organisation that does good things for marine and coastal management in Wales.
Charlotte Wood
Following the completion of her 1st class degree in Geography at Bristol, Charlotte first began her career in a Transport Planning Consultancy in Swindon but later moved home to a post in the European Team in Pembrokeshire County Council. She later progressed onto managing a large EU RDP project for Pembrokeshire Business Initiative. Whilst in her current role as Business Development Manager for marine engineers Mainstay Marine Solutions Ltd; Charlotte has worked directly with Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum on several projects including Marine Energy Wales, the Marine Energy Test Area (META) as well as supporting various educational visits. Charlotte is also a Business Wales mentor and a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). She lives locally with her husband and triplet daughters and, is major advocate for sustainable rural/coastal development.
Ann humble
Head of Strategic Analysis – Environment & Rural Affairs (ERA) Department, Welsh Government
Ann is a trained ecologist, first working at Countryside Council for Wales and then for the Welsh Government. She worked for 10 years delivering Agri-environment schemes in Wales, where she ran the Tir Gofal scheme and designed and implemented the Glastir Advanced scheme. For the last 10 years she has been working in evidence engagement across the ERA department. The majority of her work currently is understanding the strategic challenges of tackling the climate and nature crises in terms of land use and whilst ensuring we have vibrant, net zero food, farming, fishing industries and rural communities. She does this through a programme of cross-cutting projects, including behaviour science insight and scenario planning. What does the future look like for Rural Wales, where we are adapting to embedded climate change, mitigating further climate change, reversing the decline in nature and adopting the latest technology? And how are we going to get there?
Ann lives in Pembrokeshire and spends a lot of time being windswept. She enjoys sea swimming, walking her dogs (or carrying her Dachshund) along the stunning Pembrokeshire coast path.