Board of Directors for Reading Community Energy Society
Tony Cowling (Chair)
Tony graduated from Reading University in the 1970s with a PhD in Chemistry. Even at that time he was interested in sustainability and reducing energy consumption and recalls clearly his visits to the Centre for Alternative Technology and to the Saskatchewan Conservation House and how impressed he was with their approaches both to reducing energy use and to generating renewable energy. Tony is keen for as many organisations as possible in Reading to benefit from solar energy and for this Project to bring further benefits to the local community. He is known as the founder of Reading Hydro and leads the DraughtBusters project in the town.
Andrew Nind
Andrew Nind has worked in the UK and European power sector since 1988 including most recently as a Director at the energy consultancy Baringa based in London. He has been involved in numerous feasibility studies for power stations, including wind, solar and hydro projects, and electricity interconnectors to neighbouring countries; and has worked for a wide range of clients including developers, transmission system operators, government and industry regulators. He has degrees from Cambridge University and London School of Economics.
Dan Fernbank
Dan works as Energy & Sustainability Director at University of Reading, where he has managed the delivery of operational sustainability since 2011 and led the University to be named Sustainable University of the Year 2025 by the Times and Sunday Times. He has overseen 64% cuts in the University’s carbon emissions, saving £56 million in energy costs cumulatively. Dan is a Fellow of the Energy Managers Association, a Member of the Energy Institute and has a first-class honours Environmental Studies BSc.
Rachel Eden
Rachel was first elected to Reading Borough Council in 2010 and represents Whitley ward. She is currently Lead Member for Public Health and Education and is a former Mayor of Reading. Rachel has a keen interest in renewable energy having proposed the original plan to install solar panels on council owned buildings in 2010 and has served on the RCES Board since its creation.
Professionally Rachel is the founder of local accountancy practice Holy Brook Accountants. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Elizabeth Terry
Liz was first elected to Reading Borough Council in 2012 and was elected Leader of RBC in 2024. She represents Coley Ward. Liz previously held a number of roles in Local Government and was Chief Executive for Berkshire Women’s Aid for 7 years. Liz has a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management.
Mike Landon
Michael Landon has been a Director of RCES since 2019. He worked for many years as a consultant, advising companies on employee share ownership, and more recently completed a master's degree in the Economics of Climate Change at Reading University. He chairs the Accounts sub-group of the Board.
Anudeep Shivaram
Anudeep is a transformation and program management professional with experience in operations, consulting, and enterprise solution implementations across global organisations. His supply chain expertise spans retail, distribution, inventory management, and supply and demand planning. Anudeep has worked with organisations across diverse industries such as finance, healthcare, information technology, aerospace & defense and manufacturing, supporting complex programs and operational improvement initiatives.
Paul Phare
Paul is the Regional Development Manager for Energy4All Ltd. Paul has a degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Bristol University. His dissertation studied the feasibility of domestic wind systems. Paul joined the renewable sector in 2003 with Vesta Celtic, and later that year started working with communities in the development of renewable energy projects. Paul has worked with many communities across the range of technologies and at all scales, but particularly with biomass and wind.
Annette Heslop - Company Secretary
Annette Heslop is the Finance and Administration Director of Energy4All, which she joined in 2002. She is responsible for the professional management and administration of all the Energy4All co-ops. As Finance Director of Energy4All, she leads on financial control, modelling, costing, projections, banking and treasury.