Meet our leaders
Ian Smyth
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer 12 January 2026
Ian joins SMS with significant experience in the energy transition and electricity network sectors, most recently serving as CEO of Electricity North West, where he led the business through a period of accelerated growth.
Previous roles also include senior leadership positions at UK Power Networks, Navigant and EY, with a track record of delivering business growth and innovative joint ventures across the energy system.
Neil Jordan
General Counsel & Company Secretary
December 2024
Neil is an experienced General Counsel with over a decade’s experience working at senior levels within companies operating in the industrial engineering and financial services industries.
Prior to joining the Company, Chris spent seven years at David Brown Santasalo providing leadership of the group’s Legal & Compliance team.
Richard Rose
Interim Chief Financial Officer
July 2026
Daniel Reilly
Chief Customer Officer
May 2026
Benjamin Grunfeld
Chief Business Officer, Decarbonisation Solutions
November 2025
Benjamin is a senior leader with extensive experience across the global energy and utilities sector. He previously served as Strategy and Growth Director at Electricity North West and was a Partner in Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability and Infrastructure practice.
Before joining SMS, Benjamin held a series of senior roles at Navigant across Europe, the Middle East and North America, leading utility and energy sector teams and advising on large‑scale transformation, decarbonisation and market reform.
Benjamin brings deep strategic, commercial and technical expertise and a global perspective on the transition to a low‑carbon energy system.
Judy Keir
Chief People Officer
March 2022
Judy joined the business in 2019, her remit includes leading the people strategy and driving the culture, whilst ensuring that employee engagement, well-being, development, transformational change, and equality, diversity and inclusion are paramount. In addition, leading communications across the group. Judy’s HR experience of more than 20 years includes having chartered fellow membership of the CIPD and being a trained workplace mediator, and spans across the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors including the manufacturing, construction and financial services industries within the UK, Ireland, Germany and internationally.
Kirsty Gascoyne
Interim Operations Director
March 2026
Oriana Lietar
Non Executive Director
2026
Ana Szabo
Non Executive Director
2026
John Lockett
Interim Chief Information Officer
2026
Andrew Furze
Non-Executive Director
April 2024
Andrew Furze joined KKR in 2021 and is Managing Director in the Infrastructure team. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Furze spent fourteen years at Macquarie, where he was a managing director focused on the European infrastructure sector.
He holds a BSc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MSc. in Finance from INSEAD.
Aadhaar Mehra
Non-Executive Director
April 2024
Aadhaar Mehra joined KKR in 2019 and is a Principal in the Infrastructure team. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Mehra was a member of the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley, focusing on M&A and financing transactions in the transportation and infrastructure sectors.
Mr. Mehra holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Economics from the University of Warwick.
Discover more
Striving for excellence
We strive for excellence in every facet of our business, reflected by the range of best-practice certifications that underline our commitments to quality, safety, and sustainability.
Accreditations OUR PEOPLEPutting our people first
Our people are the beating heart of our business. That’s why our philosophy is to always put our people first, defined by a well-established culture of engagement, recognition, and reward.
Our People SUSTAINABILITYCreating a sustainable and low-carbon environment for all
We are committed to improving our impacts on the environment, our communities, and wider society around us through responsible operations and best-practice corporate governance.
SustainabilityDiscover more
ACCREDITATIONS
Striving for excellence
We strive for excellence in every facet of our business, reflected by the range of best-practice certifications that underline our commitments to quality, safety, and sustainability.
Accreditations
OUR PEOPLE
Putting our people first
Our people are the beating heart of our business. That’s why our philosophy is to always put our people first, defined by a well-established culture of engagement, recognition, and reward.
Our People
SUSTAINABILITY
Creating a sustainable and low-carbon environment for all
We are committed to improving our impacts on the environment, our communities, and wider society around us through responsible operations and best-practice corporate governance.
Sustainability