The board of Rossendale Valley Energy
Ian Madley
Ian is a widely experienced General Manager and Business Developer. Since 2012 he has concentrated on research and teaching opportunities in the energy systems area and has raised more than £24m for research and training in this area. Between 2013 and 2015 he contributed to the development of the Universal Smart Energy Framework, an EU backed approach to management of electrical demand in distribution systems. He also led the development of the Smart Energy Network Demonstrator on the Keele University Campus and trial of the injection of Hydrogen into a UK gas network. During 2019 and over the Covid lockdown he led the combined academic input from Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester University and Salford University to the development of the GMCA Energy Innovation Agency.
Kate Gilmartin
Kate has a Masters of Science (MSc) in renewable energy and has worked in low carbon project development for many years. Kate has been a passionate advocate within community energy for over a decade assisting and enabling communities to scope, seed and develop locally owned community energy projects. This gives communities a stake in their own energy future; encouraging a move towards the difficult, yet crucial path to Net Zero. Community energy assets bring multiple benefits to communities, including a stake in local energy generation, the revenue it brings and a reduction in CO2 emissions.
Julie Adshead
Julie has had a career as an academic lawyer, specialising in environmental law. She has edited a collection on ‘Green Buildings and the Law’ and published on subjects such as environmental crime, planning law and marine pollution. Now semi-retired, Julie continues to teach on a Masters programme at the University of Salford, alongside her elected role as Councillor for Whitewell Ward in Rossendale. Julie is also active in a range of local environmental activities including Incredible Edible Rossendale and Whitewell Valley Pride as well as being a trustee for two local community centres and governor at Water School.’
Tricia Brindle
Tricia had a career managing International Development projects at the British Council. Moving from international to local, she has focused on communities closer to home; implementing environmental, heritage, employment and community programmes across Pennine Lancashire. Tricia developed Rossendale Borough Council’s Plastics Free Rossendale policy and set up their programme for carbon reduction projects. Tricia was a founder trustee of the Bacup Consortium Trust and currently volunteers with Bacup Pride and Valley Heritage.
Mike Hewitt
Mike Hewitt operates at the frontier of energy, telecoms, and AI, where physical infrastructure meets digital intelligence. A former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Smart Data Communications Company (DCC), Mike has spent three decades designing and delivering systems that underpin modern society. From national connectivity platforms to the UK’s smart metering network, his work has consistently focused on one challenge: how to make complex, large-scale systems work reliably in real time. Today, his focus is on what comes next. He is the creator of EnergyOS, a new operating model for the energy system that places consumers, data, and automation at its core. His work challenges traditional assumptions about markets, infrastructure, and control, arguing that the future grid will be orchestrated, not centrally commanded. Through his writing, advisory work, and leadership frameworks such as “Breakwater Leadership”, he helps organisations move beyond hype, turning AI, data, and digital infrastructure into practical, scalable capabilities. His core belief: the future will not be defined by technology alone, but by how well we design the systems, and leadership, that govern it.
Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor is a Reader at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Enterprise, where he leads work on innovation and supports businesses to develop and adopt new ideas, technologies and sustainable practices. He has been involved in externally funded innovation and knowledge-exchange projects worth over £25 million. Chris has a particular interest in adoption dynamics and in understanding innovation as a social process, shaped by relationships, collaboration and the communities in which it takes place. As a Rossendale resident, he is especially interested in supporting place-based innovation, the transition to net zero and more sustainable approaches to innovation.
