Following the success of Wind Week 2022 East of England last month, The East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) has announced the strategic appointment of two key roles to help drive forward its manifesto in 2023. 

Joining the membership organisation, which represents more than 200 organisations ranging from energy producers and developers through to supply chain companies, will be Karim Massaad as business relationship manager and Sophie Skipp as head of energy skills. 

Sophie, who joins the organisation from the University Technical College Norfolk (UTCN), will be vital in uniting the skills agenda in the East of England to ensure industry is speaking in a common language around energy skills. 

With the Offshore Wind Industry Council predicting the need for nearly 100,000 jobs nationally by 2030, the eastern region will deliver a significant portion of anticipated offshore wind farms. Sophie’s transition from UTCN to EEEGR will be a seamless one, using her pre-existing network to link industry and education in a much more streamlined way.

Ahead of her official appointment as head of energy skills in December, Sophie said: "I'm thrilled to be joining the team at EEEGR to champion not only their important Skills for Energy programme but support our members in addressing the skills gap as we hurtle towards net zero.

"I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and connecting with our members to understand their priorities when it comes to skills, alongside increasing EEEGR's impact on students and reaching more educators," she concluded. 

Karim Massaad, who has extensive experience in project management and business development, is already making waves as the organisation’s business relationship manager.

"Since joining EEEGR in October, I have been fortunate to connect with so many of our members and learn about the great things they are doing, whether it’s the important wellbeing services offered by members like KW Life Solutions or the innovative solutions being offered by companies such as PPI Quality & Engineering," said Karim.

"I joined the company just in time for Wind Week 2022 East of England, which was a fantastic introduction to the lively, vibrant energy community we have here in the East of England. I look forward to attending future events the coming months such as our End of Year Awards and Gala Dinner, House of Commons Reception and SNS 2023 and connecting with even more of our members."

The organisation’s role in the East of England’s energy sector has never been more relevant or more important, said general manager Rob Bush: "Our members are the most important and exciting part of what we do here at EEEGR; they’re our reason for existing. With the appointments of Sophie and Karim, this will bolster the impact we have on our region’s skills agenda, the benefits to the supply chain in our region, as well as providing a single voice to drive forward the East of England at Westminster and beyond.

"I have recently made the move from operations manager to general manager and our hope going forwards is that we will offer our members a level of consistency. We have plans to undertake a member survey in 2023, allowing our members the opportunity to have their voice heard and for us to understand how we can best support them going forward." 

As 2023 rapidly approaches, EEEGR’s Customer and Stakeholder Manifesto will be refreshed to reflect the progress made over 2021 and 2022 and what’s to come in 2023. First released in 2021, the manifesto outlines EEEGR’s road map for 2021, 2022, and 2023.

EEEGR is also taking its events to the next level, working with Norwich company Huxley to deliver future events including SNS 2023. The partnership has already seen great success in the form of Wind Week 2022 East of England, with promising prospects for 2023’s suite of events.