Our leadership

Barbara has over 20 years’ experience as a non-executive director and chair and currently also chairs the British Smaller Companies 2 VCT. She is also a board member for both the British Business Bank and SmartDCC, the UK’s smart meter data network provider. She has previously held board roles at Sovereign, one of the UK’s largest housing associations and Re:London, a partnership to reduce waste and improve recycling in the capital.

With an extensive background in venture capital and corporate finance, Barbara has a track record in driving growth, strategic partnerships, technology-led change and embracing positive change in support of environmental, social and governance factors.

Barbara has a longstanding personal interest in sustainable communities and responsible design, having received both an MPhil and her MA and Diplomas in Architecture from the University of Cambridge. She also has a passion for music and is Trustee of the London Youth Conservatoire.

Dr Joanne Wade OBE has over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector. She is currently chief strategic advisor at the Association for Decentralised Energy and also works as an independent consultant. Her expertise spans energy sufficiency, local energy systems and their supply chains, and energy use in buildings

Joanne was previously CEO at the Association for the Conservation of Energy. Prior to this, she was CEO of Impetus Consulting, which is an energy and environmental consultancy specialising in work with local authorities.

She chairs the advisory board for the Centre for Research on Energy Demand Solutions and the UK Energy Research Centre’s Research Committee. Joanne is also a member of the CEO’s panel for UK Power Networks; the Scottish Government’s heat decarbonisation external stakeholder group; the advisory boards for the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College London; EnergyREV; and the Sussex Energy Group.

Joanne was appointed an OBE in 2018 for services to energy efficiency and is a fellow and council member of the Energy Institute.

Mike Thornton assumed the role of chief executive in April 2020. He originally joined Energy Saving Trust in 2002 as head of the Scottish team, before becoming group director of operations and now leading the organisation.

Before Energy Saving Trust, Mike worked for Friends of the Earth Scotland and then Lothian and Edinburgh Environmental Partnership (now Changeworks). He has over 30 years’ experience in the environmental, energy efficiency, transport and recycling sectors.

An expert in climate change mitigation, Mike is helping drive forward this agenda across the UK and internationally. Mike has served on several Scottish Government clean energy working groups. Most recently he chaired the Scottish Government’s Heat Pump Sector Deal expert advisory group.

Living by the coast, Mike enjoys the great outdoors, including wild swimming. Indoors he is a keen vegan cook.

Jenny joined Energy Saving Trust in November 2023 to drive its home energy advice services, low carbon transport propositions and support for businesses to reach net zero.

Jenny’s career has focused on the delivery and transformation of public services in the UK and abroad, working for over 20 years to help those who are most disadvantaged.

She has led organisations that have worked closely with UK Government and was previously the managing director of a charity running unemployment, skills and justice programmes. She was also the interim CEO at the Education and Training Foundation, which specialises in improving teacher professionalism.

Jenny believes in continuing professional development, achieving an MBA through Warwick Business School and, since then, undertaking further training on subjects including leadership, strategic finance and diversity. She is a fellow of the Royal Society for Arts.

Outside work, Jenny is a trustee at Barnet and Southgate College where she also acts as the linked governor on sustainability. She loves the theatre, nature, and wildlife.

Laura McGadie leads and develops our energy advice, community and renewable energy, loans and grants management and administration services across the UK. She has more than 30 years’ experience as a manager in the domestic energy field.

Laura joined us in 2009 to establish the advice service for the Scottish Government’s fuel poverty programme and went on to lead Home Energy Scotland.

In addition to sustainable development, Laura has a particular passion for great customer service, high-quality advice delivery, social justice and great customer service. She works to drive ongoing improvements to achieve customer satisfaction levels of over 97%.

A keen gardener, Laura has her own allotment in which she grows fruit and vegetables.

Inga Jirgensone leads our business and market development activities in the UK and internationally. Inga’s main objective is to grow our impact by capturing new business opportunities, developing new propositions and partnerships and generating expert insights and knowledge – all to help us achieve our mission of addressing the climate emergency.

Inga is also our social value champion ensuring that our work delivers wider environment and societal benefits to the communities and regions we operate in.

Inga is based in London. In her free time, she loves cycling, yoga and exploring London’s food markets.

Stew Horne leads Energy Saving Trust’s sector intelligence, comprising:

• Insight and evaluation
• International work
• Policy
• PR and events

A key part of Stew’s role is increasing our influence and visibility by using our insight and impact across a broad range of sectors linked by the climate emergency.

Before joining Energy Saving Trust Stew led Citizens Advice’s Energy Infrastructure team. He’s also worked in energy vulnerability at Ofgem and had several consumer policy focussed roles elsewhere in the civil service. One of the main reasons Stew joined Energy Saving Trust is our mission and net zero vision, bringing his policy and consumer focussed professional expertise.

Stew is also a member of National Grid Transmission’s Independent Stakeholder and a Consumer Affairs advisor to the Bar Standards Board. 

In his free time, Stew enjoys cooking, running and cycling.