The Team

Members of the team have been working together in the energy industry for over 25 years, giving us experience and knowledge which is probably unrivalled.

John Wearmouth

John Wearmouth has worked in the UK power industry for more than 40 years and has helped to develop a number of power stations in the UK and overseas. Early in his career he became Chief Chemist for the Northern Gas Board, before moving to Merz and McLellan, an international power station engineering consultancy. At Merz and McLellan he held a number of roles; first as a Power Station Water Treatment Engineer and subsequently as Chief Power Station Chemist, and then Technical Director of the Environmental Engineering group. A major part of his work was identifying and consenting power stations overseas and in the UK. He has been involved in the majority of the gas fired power plants constructed in the UK since 1990, either acting on behalf of the developer, identifying sites and obtaining consents, or acting for banks financing the projects carrying out environmental due diligence. In 2000 he became an independent consultant, providing advice across the world to power station and water treatment clients. He has advised the Environment Agency on the role of coal fired power stations in the period from 2012 onwards and also the UK government on Carbon Capture and Storage, working as part of the team that initiated the competition for the first CCS plant in the UK.

Michael Armstrong

Michael Armstrong spent 14 years with the AES Corporation where he served as Vice President and had regional responsibility for operating power generation businesses, plant construction and new business development across a European fleet of over 6GW. Since leaving AES, Michael has been developing and advising on energy projects in the USA, Europe and Africa, with a special focus on renewable projects in the UK. He is also Vice President of Sidero Bioscience LLC, which is developing an iron repletion product for human beings. He is a chartered engineer, has a degree from Cambridge University, and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Alan Kerr

Alan Kerr has been responsible for investments into the utility and infrastructure sector for over 30 years. He began his career in investment management and has worked with some of the leading names in the industry, managing over £1bn of investment funds mostly listed on the London Stock Exchange. He went on to found a number of companies in a range of industries including renewables. He holds degrees in Law, in Finance and qualified as an Associate of the CFA Institute.

Johnny Wearmouth

Johnny Wearmouth has project managed Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for numerous power generation projects, including CCGT, wind farms, biomass plants and diesel generators in the UK and overseas. He project-managed the EIA and post-application works for the 1,320 MW Trafford Power CCGT, which was the first “carbon capture ready” power station to be awarded consent in the UK. He has also undertaken environmental permitting work on behalf of clients for power generation and industrial projects. With a degree in accounting, he also has skills in financial and economic modelling and has been involved in strategic/economic planning work undertaken on behalf of organisations such as the Carbon Trust and National Grid Offshore Ltd.

Charlotte Peacock

Charlotte Peacock is an environmental consultant with experience of consents and permitting across many development sectors including aviation, highways and public and private sector buildings. She has extensive experience in the power generation sector and has completed numerous Environmental Impact Assessments for installations in the UK. She has direct field experience in ecology, air quality, noise and contaminated land and has recently obtained a qualification as a CEEQUAL Assessor for civil engineering projects. Charlotte has considerable experience of liaising with statutory and non-statutory consultees including public exhibitions when developing and assessing potential projects and also has experience of preparing evidence for Public Inquiries.

Ron Owen

Ron Owen spent 20 years with ICI, starting on the design and commissioning of a computerised chemical plant then moving into Safety, Health and Environment. On leaving ICI, he joined Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution (latterly becoming part of the Environment Agency) regulating major industries in Wales and the West of England as well as spending some time as the National Health and Safety Manager. Ron left the Agency in 2001 to set up his own S,H&E consultancy business, WISHES Ltd, advising a number of well-known companies in and around the Bristol area. Ron has a Degree in Applied Chemistry, a Masters Degree in Occupational Health and Safety, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Environmentalist, and a member of IOSH and IEMA. Ron has experience in identifying sites for gas fired CCGT power plants, biomass power plants, wind farms and solar energy projects.

Richard Wearmouth

Richard Wearmouth was Head of Renewable Energy for Europe, North Africa and the Middle East for consultant engineering firm PB Power before leaving his position to work with Wessex Solar Energy. He has a broad and extensive knowledge of the renewable energy sector having worked on many renewable energy projects during the course of the last decade including wind energy, solar, tidal stream, ocean thermal energy conversion and new build and biomass conversion projects totalling some 6 GW of capacity. Richard is particularly experienced in the consenting and development of energy projects, having led the consenting and permitting of many projects across the world. He is also a County Councillor in Northumberland with responsibility for economic development and regeneration.

Sue McGinty

Sue McGinty's career began at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and included overseas assignments in India, Egypt and Belgium. She then moved to the private sector and has since worked in corporate administration and compliance. Sue is the company secretary for the Wessex group of companies and is responsible for various legal and accounting matters. She holds a PhD and is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).

For a full breakdown of our team’s involvement with power projects, please click here