Barry Sheerman, Chairman, OWL, WCRAQ
Barry Sheerman is a former British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Huddersfield’s Member of Parliament (MP) since 1979. He retired from Parliament in June 2024. He was Labour’s longest-continuously serving MP in the current parliament. He was Chair of the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee between 2001 and 2010. He is a keen social enterpriser and has started over fifty social enterprises in his career. Sheerman is the chair of the Westminster Commission for Road Air Quality and the President of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.
Claire Shrewsbury, Director, Insights and Innovation, WRAP
Claire Shrewsbury – Director, Insights & Innovation, WRAP
Claire is responsible for WRAP’s policy and insights work, technical support for local authorities and grant management across the UK. The teams support Defra in its implementation of the Resources & Waste Strategy and similar support programmes for the devolved governments in Wales and Northern Ireland. Claire joined WRAP in 2008 and was previously a consultant with AEA Technology.
You can find her on X: @c_shrewsbury.
Vicente Jofré, Fleet Decarbonisation Specialist – Waste Management, Cenex
Vicente Jofre leads waste and recycling vehicle projects at Cenex, offering expert guidance to public and private sector organisations transitioning to zero-emission operations. Since joining Cenex in 2022, he has contributed to projects, including vehicle trials, fleet planning, infrastructure assessment, and market research.
Vicente is a key driver behind the Welsh ULEV Waste and Recycling Programme, has run hydrogen and battery electric RCV trials, and advised multiple organisations on their strategies for fleet decarbonisation. Cenex supports fleets in accelerating and de-risking their transition to zero-emission vehicles by developing tailored strategies, identifying the best-fit technologies, and maximising the impact of vehicle trials and deployments.
Neil Rowland, Senior Research Fellow, Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University Belfast.
Neil Rowland is a senior research fellow at the Administrative Data Research Centre for Northern Ireland, based at Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University Belfast. He is also the UKRI Regional Clean Air Champion for Northern Ireland. As part of a multidisciplinary research team, Neil uses various administrative datasets linked to neighbourhood air pollution data to better understand the health and mortality effects of outdoor air pollution in Northern Ireland.
Duncan Urquhart, Associate Director, Air Quality & Permitting, AECOM
Duncan has extensive experience in air quality monitoring and assessment services, having spent 20 years as a consultant within AECOM. He has worked for numerous regional government clients, including implementing Air Quality Action Plans, strategic emissions studies and appraisals for local and unitary authority clients to implement effective and achievable improvements in local air quality to support Net Zero. He has a remit to support innovation in air quality management and assessment. He represents the AECOM working group discipline, managing cross-discipline and holistic methods to support broader client aspirations.
John Forsey, Head of Highways, Transport & Recycling, Powys County Council
John has over 25 years of experience in the transport industry, including passenger transport and road haulage. For the past 20 years, he has developed transport strategies and policies for local government in mid-Wales, and John managed one of the largest public sector fleets in Wales.
His mantra is to deliver exceptional services. Under his leadership, Powys County Council achieved Earned Recognition (ER) status in August for its fleet operations. Powys is the first organisation in Wales (in both the private and public sectors) to achieve this exemplary standard. It underlines his passion for maintaining high fleet and road safety standards.
Liam O’Malley, Sales Director EMEA, Sensata|Insights
Liam has been with the company for four years and has extensive experience in IoT solutions and services. He is passionate about IoT and digital business transformation and how technology can positively enable better business outcomes. Liam actively understands and supports client requirements and projects through his dynamic team. His primary goal is to help ensure that his team has the right resources, tools, and capabilities to enable partner success and provide the best customer experience.
Amanda Lyne, MD, ULEMco
Amanda has over 20 years of experience in the hydrogen industry, having previously founded fuel cell company ACAL Energy and, through her consultancy business Burgundy Gold Ltd, is a specialist in commercialising clean tech. She founded ULEMCo in 2014 to commercialise globally unique UK capability in hydrogen technology to convert commercial vehicles (from LGV to HGV and specialist utility vehicles like refuse trucks, gritters and sweepers) to run on hydrogen, either using the company’s technology for hydrogen dual fuel or applying their know-how and experience to developing zero-emission engine vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell integration. She is also Vice-Chair of UKFCA and a member of the Liverpool City Region’s Clean Growth board.
Mick Sweetmore, Head of Fleet and Engineering, Merseyside Police
Mick is a very experienced senior manager currently working in the public sector with over 38 years of involvement in the road transport industry.
He is currently introducing alternative technology vehicles to meet local, national and Government targets.
He is a keen promoter of diversity in the workplace, and his passion is to encourage and promote women in engineering and encouraging a diverse workforce.
Mick is associated with the Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE) locally and nationally. He is the current Honorary Secretary of the North West Goods Vehicle Maintenance Advisory and Liaison Committee (NWGVMLC).
Mick is a fully qualified vehicle engineer, having served a recognised apprenticeship in commercial vehicle engineering.
Charlene Quayle, Group Fleet Manager, Pivotal
Charlene has been in the transport Industry for 15 years after changing careers from an IFA. Her financial background provided Charlene with an excellent basis for the budgeting/financial reporting side of the fleet manager role.
Charlene was a Compliance Adviser/Auditor for FTA for ten years. She travelled around NI/ROI/GB, visiting many different types and sizes of companies. Although this provided her invaluable experience, she realised she wanted to stay in one place instead of travelling daily.
As Group Fleet Manager at Pivotal, she maintains 160 vehicles and seven depots and is the O-Licence holder of its HGV fleet. Charlene holds a TM CPC and Certificate of Professional Competence in the Road Haulage Industry. She has been a member of the Freight Council for the last 13 years and vice chair/chair for the previous five years.
The role of Transport Manager varies significantly from day to day, from ensuring compliance with O-Licence regulations, tachograph infringements, looking after breakdowns, maintenance and Driver Assessing (a unique experience), especially when our 95% male workforce sees a woman approach the Cab.
Jason Airey, MD, CMS SupaTrak
Jason aims to help customers reduce costs, comply, and increase operational efficiency. As a connected fleet specialist, Jason is proud to lead a team of world-leading engineers designing and manufacturing vehicle telematics systems in the UK.
Jason specialises in making a difference and has been instrumental in setting up the Optimised Waste & Logistics (OWL) and Westminster Commission for Road Air Quality. These innovation partnerships are helping shape best practices and increase road safety in the waste, transport, and logistics sectors.
Jason has pioneered telematics systems for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), assisting them in increasing first-time fix rates and helping their customers manage their fleets more efficiently.
Michael Hutchinson MIRTE, Lecturer in Motor Vehicle, South Eastern Regional College (SERC)
Michael specialises in heavy goods vehicles. Michael has 25 years of industry experience with extensive electrical and mechanical maintenance and repair knowledge. Michael is a fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry, an education officer and a committee member for the Institute of Road Transport Engineers in Northern Ireland, and an elected member of the IRTE professional sector council. As a passionate educator, Michael is keen to assist with the transition towards green technologies within the transport industry.