Ofgem welcomes announcement of preferred candidate to be new chair

6 Sep 2023 10:42 PM

Ofgem has welcomed the Government naming Mark McAllister as the preferred candidate to be the next Ofgem Chair.

Mr McAllister will chair Ofgem’s governing body, the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA), subject to confirmation by Parliament.

He has been the Chair of The Office for Nuclear Regulation since April 2019 and has had a forty year career in the engineering and energy industries.

The Energy and Net Zero Select Committee will announce the date for a pre-appointment hearing. He is expected to take up post in November, if confirmed.

The current Chair, Professor Martin Cave, will finish his five year term this autumn.

BACKGROUND

Ofgem’s governing body is the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and is referred to as GEMA, the Authority or the Ofgem Board. It comprises non-executive and executive members, and a non-executive chair. Members are appointed by the Secretary of State at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

BIOGRAPHY

• Mark McAllister has been Chair of the Office for Nuclear Regulation since April 2019 and serves on the Management Committee of the Public Chairs Forum.
   
• During a forty-year executive career in the upstream energy industry Mr McAlister was on the executive board of two of the UK’s most successful independent companies, Monument and LASMO. He also founded and served as CEO of two North Sea start-up businesses, Acorn and Fairfield Energy, and was most recently CEO of PA Resources, listed on the Scandinavian NASDAQ.
   
• He served as Chairman of OSPRAG (Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group) which formulated the joint response of the North Sea oil industry, trade unions and government to the Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Technology from Robert Gordon’s University for services to the oil industry.
   
• Over the last twenty years, he has held a number of non-executive roles in the charitable sector. He is currently Chair of Oasis Charitable Trust, who work across the UK to transform communities through a wide range of services including education and housing.