MEET THE TEAM
THE WNF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sasha Davies
Sasha Davies, Chair, Director
Sasha is an experienced and effective economic and community regeneration and development professional having worked in both the private and public sectors in senior positions over the last 30 years, across Wales, the UK and overseas. Sasha has worked with and in the nuclear sector for the last 15 years in Wales and wider UK having previously held the role, Head of Strategic Development Wales for the former Horizon Nuclear Power Wylfa Newydd project. Sasha was also instrumental in establishing Anglesey Energy Island and was the inaugural Programme Director. Since January 2021 Sasha now runs her own organisation in business, community development and stakeholder engagement consultancy, focusing predominantly on the nuclear and low carbon energy sector. She is passionate about maximising the socio-economic opportunity for Welsh and Wales based businesses to the benefit of Wales and wider UK. Sasha is a fluent Welsh speaker and has good French.
Sasha has chaired a number of key North Wales regional skills and employment partnerships and is currently a voluntary Board Trustee of the Wales Nuclear Forum and Nuclear Institute. Sasha is also the Vice Chair of ‘Adra’ (a leading North Wales Housing Association)
Jason Thomas
Julian Vance-Daniel
Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies, Director
Gareth is a lawyer with 20 years commercial experience in the nuclear sector. He worked on-site at Imperial College’s Research Reactor then moved to the nuclear team at Burges Salmon. Gareth now co-owns a niche nuclear M & A consultancy.
Gareth advises domestic and overseas nuclear clients and has worked with most UK licenced sites. He sits on various Boards and committees, advising on compliance, strategy and corporate growth. He chairs the DIT/ NIA International Group and previously chaired the NIA Decommissioning and Waste Group. He is a Trustee of the Nuclear Institute.
Finally, Gareth is an industrial Fellow at Bristol University and has been involved in the SME and diversity agendas for several years, most recently setting up the not for profit WiN UK Ltd and Inclusion and Diversity in Nuclear Ltd. Gareth has a keen interest in SMEs having set up and run the NDA SME mentoring scheme, and enjoys mentoring small businesses.
Tony Davies
Tony Davies, Director
Tony has been involved in the Nuclear Industry for 33 years. Prior to this he spent 15 years in the Royal Navy. He has experience working in the military, new build, existing generation and decommissioning markets. Since 2012 he has worked at Costain where he was the Business Development Director for the Energy sector which covered the Nuclear, oil&gas and the emerging decarbonisation market. Previously, whilst at EC Harris, Tony worked on the new nuclear project in the Czech Republic; at Temelin and Prague. He has also worked as an Account Manager/Director for organisations including: UKAEA; Babcock, QinetiQ, AMEC and NNC Ltd where he secured opportunities across Winfrith; AWE; Devonport, Dounreay; Sellafield and Magnox sites.
In April 2022 Tony ‘semi-retired’ from Costain and created his own consultancy business Stacemark Developments Ltd where he currently provides strategic advice to organisations. Tony is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) and of the Nuclear Institution (FNI). He also has an MBA from the Open University. Tony is currently a Non-Executive Director at Machtech Energy Group. Outside of work Tony is passionate about rugby, sailing and photography.
Emily Sharp
Emily Sharp, Director
Emily is one of the decommissioning leads at Orano Ltd and has worked on a number of major nuclear sites in the UK, including Sellafield Ltd and Dounreay, since graduating Swansea University with a degree in Chemical Engineering back in 2015. Emily brings with her a great deal of enthusiasm for supporting the WNF mission and shining the spotlight on Wales as a key player in the nuclear sector.
Angharad Rayner
Stephanie Mckenna
Stephanie McKenna, Director
Stephanie joined the Nuclear Industry Association in 2007 and is Head of Membership Services and Events. Stephanie is responsible for the 280 member companies and leads on the NIA business group and event programmes. Prior to joining the NIA Stephanie organised events for a leading publishing organisation.
Dr Debbie Jones
Dr Debbie Jones, Director
Debbie is the Low Carbon Innovation Manager at Menai Science Park (M-SParc) on Anglesey and is also the lead for the North West Nuclear Arc and a senior member of the Offshore Energy Alliance.
She completed a PhD in nuclear biochemistry at the University of Manchester in 2016 and as part of her studies did a 3 month placement with Hitachi in Japan supporting some of the Fukushima clean up work.
Debbie previously worked at Bangor University supporting a range of projects including the BWR Research Hub, the North West Nuclear Arc and the Nuclear Futures Institute. As part of her role at Bangor she developed business cases for the North Wales Growth Deal and is a qualified Better Business Case Practitioner.
Her current role see’s her manage the Low Carbon Innovation team at M-SParc who are working to support a range of low carbon opportunities across North Wales. Debbie is passionate about saving the planet by encouraging everyone to help on the quest to net zero.