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 has 24 years in the wind, wave and tidal sectors. An experienced leader, her roles have included tidal technology development, commercial and joint venture management, operations management, delivering complex projects, policy advocacy, financing and developing global markets.

Sue is the Executive Director the UK Marine Energy Council, is a Director of the Global Underwater Hub, Board member of Marine Energy Wales and Non-Executive Director of Marine Power Systems. Sue is also acting as a Commissioner for the Severn Estuary Energy Commission. The recipient of the 2018 SUT Award ‘Outstanding Contributions to Marine Energy’ and awarded Ocean Energy Europe’s Vi Maris 2019 award, Sue has a key role in the marine energy sector both nationally and internationally.

Born and raised in Haverfordwest, Andy has worked for over 30 years in environmental conservation and sustainable economic development in a number of roles. He founded and ran a pioneering and multi award-winning ecotourism business leading expeditions in the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands and lead the ecotourism program at The Nature Conservancy, working with national parks and the tourism industry around the world to harness the potential of nature-focused tourism to contribute to conservation finance and benefits for local communities.

Andy works as an environment specialist  consultant with the World Bank, integrating biodiversity conservation into economic development projects in agriculture, coastal development, tourism and fisheries projects. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and is an experienced scuba divemaster.

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.

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 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 works for Royal Haskoning DHV and has 25 years’ experience in marine, fisheries and coastal environmental management and assessment, working on planning, policy and development projects.  Kath’s experience spans a wide range of disciplines in the coastal and marine technical area, including marine renewables, ports, Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management, energy, stakeholder engagement, marine planning and policy and broad marine ecology 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 the Welsh Assembly Parliamentary Service (now the Senedd), gaining experience of policy and legislation from both sides – political and civil service.  Kath loves the sea and is very supportive of stakeholder engagement, improving communication and dialogue and trying to get as many people involved with the seas and coasts as possible to access all the benefits it can bring.

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 acts as the Commercial Manager at Mainstay Marine Solutions, a leading Marine Engineering Firm in Pembroke Dock, South West Wales. As a key member of the senior management team, she is responsible for all commercial activities of the company’s portfolio of commercial workboat building, marine engineering and marine renewable energy projects.

Communicating a concise, transparent and compelling value proposition, she has become the figurehead and ‘face of the business’ and strives to continually raise the profile and develop strong working relationships with new and existing clients, stakeholders and key influencers alike. Charlotte’s influential contributions have been crucial in the company’s strategic expansion into new market sectors, including marine renewable energy, defence, offshore wind support craft, and autonomous craft.

Her advocacy for the blue economy, promotion of British Manufacturing, and the enhancement of local supply chain contributions have led her to engage with various government entities. Additionally, she serves as a Board member on the UK Government’s National Shipbuilding Office’s , Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth (SEG) Board.

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.