Our Team

Appointed as Group chief executive of YES Energy Solutions CIC in late 2016, to lead the company’s strong social purpose – addressing fuel poverty and reducing the impacts of climate change. This role built on extensive commercial, utility, customer and energy efficiency sector experience. In the first three years, Duncan led a trebling in turnover and raised customer satisfaction to 91%. In the last three years he had doubled turnover again in two successive years and reinvigorated a clear culture of ‘Green, Great and Gracious’, making YES a great place to work, while delivering the core purpose of supporting more customers out of fuel poverty.

The visible and continued success saw Duncan and YES teams collect multiple regional and national awards, recognising their focus of delivering fantastic projects and providing in-depth support for householders to reduce their energy bills. These include edie Sustainability Leaders Awards 2022 – Energy Management Project of the Year; EEA National Energy Efficiency Champion 2024; Utility Week 2019 – Utility partner of the Year and Women in Housing – Compliance team of the Year.

Prior to YES he had a diverse career in energy efficiency at Energy Saving Trust and the water sector dealing with both drought and flooding for Thames Water. He has also delivered strategic roles: working across the utility sector; business; NDPB; and skills sector, delivering a broad range of extensive and successful projects, in the UK and abroad. With a desire to learn, he undertook the Help to Grow: Management programme at Sheffield Hallam University and is training as an executive coach.

Taking the golden thread of customer expectations and needs to the heart of businesses, he is currently Chair of the Customer Engagement Group focussed on National Grid Electricity Distribution’s RIIO-ED2 business plan delivery, co-chair of the Retrofit coordinator trailblazer apprenticeship and Board member of the Small Business Charter. He was also previously on the Welsh Water Customer Challenge Group, a Climate Change Commission member for Wales, Chair of the Existing Homes Network, member of the Welsh Transport Ministers Low carbon steering group and provided evidence to Government committees and scrutiny panels

Duncan’s endless passion about tangible delivery and seeing through sustainable improvements provides concrete benefits for people, businesses and communities and embeds positive change in the culture of the organisations he leads.

Robin Martin, Global Head of Investment Strategy & Research, leads the development of global investment strategy across real estate, infrastructure, private credit and venture capital, in the context of private markets as a whole. Leading a team of researchers and analysts, he is responsible for supporting the integration of market themes into client portfolios, assisting clients in their strategy formation through thought leadership and in guiding L&G’s commercial strategy for private markets.

He is also responsible for investment performance measurement, identifying appropriate benchmarks and working to ensure that portfolios meet risk and return objectives. Rob sits on the UK and US Property, Private Credit and Infrastructure Equity investment committees, the Private Markets Investment Oversight Committee and is a member of the Private Markets Management Committee.

Rob currently sits on the Board of the Investment Property Forum and was the chair of its Research Steering Group from 2015-18. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Academy of Real Assets, a members’ entity and social enterprise which connects the country’s leading real estate and real assets firms with students at UK state schools. Rob sits on the Board of Energycloud England, which helps people in fuel poverty by diverting renewable electricity that would otherwise go to waste.

Rob joined L&G in 2006 from Hammerson plc, where he spent 5 years, progressing to the role of Head of Research. Prior to that he was an economist with the CBI, and previously spent 3 years in a consultancy role in the oil & gas industry. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Economics & Economic History and is a CFA charterholder.

Amelia is a technology and strategy consultant at Verdantix, a research and advisory firm based in London. She leads a range of engagements across smart buildings, ESG and energy transition domains, advising software and services firms on product, market and growth strategy.

Prior to joining Verdantix, Amelia practiced as a façade engineer at Arup, working on sustainable building design and construction. She holds a MEng in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, where she authored a published paper on strategies to achieve net-zero energy buildings.

Driven by a belief that the energy transition must be inclusive, Amelia is committed to aligning technical innovation with meaningful social impact.

Fiona is an experienced and purpose driven leader, known for her incredible ability to seamlessly operate across spectrums of highly strategic and hands on execution, bigger picture visioning and granular detail, analytical and creative, and within structure or ambiguity, as well as delivering meaningful results that create positive commercial and social impact.

Derek is a seasoned Manufacturing and Process Engineer with a distinguished background in toolmaking, having won 2 all Ireland medals and represented Ireland at the World Skill Olympics. His career took a pivotal turn as he developed a deep interest in tackling the challenges of global warming. This passion led him to co-found EnergyCloud.org, a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to diverting surplus renewable energy to citizens in need.

Derek has focused on assembling a robust team in each jurisdiction, comprising directors from various sectors, including Wind & Solar Farm Associations, Electrical Transmission and Distribution System Operators, Local Authorities, Social Housing Providers, Energy Retailers, Manufacturers, Universities, and organizations addressing fuel poverty. Together, they work to create innovative solutions that drive sustainable energy practices.

In addition to his work with EnergyCloud.org, Derek co-founded climote, a home energy management company. Climote was established to provide cutting-edge technology solutions that manage energy consumption, enabling users to transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon renewable energy.

Before climote, Derek co-founded Smarthomes, Ireland’s largest home technology company. A serial entrepreneur, Derek is deeply passionate about social enterprise and is committed to building teams that make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

David comes with over 30+ years of experience in the energy, utilities, residential, industrial and commercial buildings, and mobility sectors globally. He has led £200m – £3.6Bn+ businesses globally in automation, electrification, lighting and energy transition companies. He is currently chairman of ExergInc Group, and Butterfly Eco, and previously was the Chairman of eEnergy. He also works as Managing Director for myenergi in GB.

He supports clients to achieve energy security, net zero, and manage their energy transition journey with home energy management systems, fully funded financial business models and supports communities in fuel poverty.

An experienced Board Member and Non Executive Director (INED), Cathal is a Senior Advisor in Government Affairs, Strategy and Corporate to a wide range of companies and organisations.

A co-founder of EnergyCloud.org, Cathal has over 25 years’ industry experience in public affairs and corporate communications, having previously served as a political adviser in the Houses of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) and then managing public affairs for the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). Until 2019, he was Chief Executive Officer of Lee Communications, a company he established to provide public affairs and corporate communications support to a large number of organisations and businesses. Most recently Cathal was Managing Partner with Instinctif Partners, an international business communications consultancy.

Over the course of his career Cathal has advised businesses of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to high growth technology start-ups, as well as business associations, member organisations, non-governmental organisations and political leaders on public affairs strategies and corporate communications.

Cathal is an advisory board member of Asia Matters and is a graduate of University College Dublin with an MA in History of International Relations and a BA in History and Politics. He is a graduate of the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) University and represented Ireland at the 9th Asia-Europe Young Leaders Symposium held in Beijing, China.

Cathal is a former Board Member of the National Youth Council of Ireland and previously represented Ireland as a member of the European Youth Parliament. Cathal is currently an Advisory Council member of the Global Economic Summit.

Ian Rose joined Passiv in 2012 as Professional Services Director, bringing 15 years’ experience in the European energy sector focusing on software and technology development. Since the start of 2023 he has led Passiv’s business as Sales and Strategy Director, overseeing their heating, solar and innovation consultancy activities.

He has worked with major UK and international utilities and delivered multi-million pound, multi-stakeholder innovation projects that have advanced smart control technologies to provide demand management services, residential heating controls and to facilitate the smart grid. He has advised the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Office, senior civil servants and regulators on the reforms required to deliver a flexible energy market and is a leading figure in the evolution of the UK’s residential demand management market.

Felix Cassel is the Europe Representative for Plenary Group, a global investor, developer, and manager of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure, recognised for its long-term approach and deep asset management expertise.

With over a decade at Plenary, including seven years in the Melbourne office, Felix led the establishment of Plenary’s European and UK activities, driving the Group’s expansion in these markets. He has extensive experience in delivering and managing major infrastructure projects across a wide range of asset classes.

Before joining Plenary, Felix built his career in private equity with a UK-based asset manager, where he focused on investments across the EMENA region.