Part 8 of the Market Code establishes the governance arrangements for the Market and the CMA. 

The governance arrangements include the role of the CMA Board, its membership, the arrangements for meetings of the Board, and the mechanism for the Board taking decisions.

The Board takes a strategic and risk-based view to ensure that the CMA fulfils its duties under the Market Code in accordance with sound business practice.  It includes a chairman, chief executive, two independent non-executive directors, two Licensed Provider-nominated directors, and a Scottish Water-nominated director.  The Board meets every two months and makes decisions based on a simple majority of directors.

Board Members

David Sigsworth (Chairman)

With an engineering background, David was an executive director on the main board of Scottish & Southern Energy plc until he retired from the company in 2006. Subsequently he was Chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for eight years.  He has wide experience of utility and environmental regulation, of energy trading and customer service as well as being responsible for the development and delivery of large engineering projects. David chaired the property development company Sigma Capital Group plc for twelve years and stepped down from the Board in August 2021.  He maintains an involvement with high tech start up companies and holds several non-executive positions. He also retains strong academic links and holds an honorary Professorship from the University of Dundee.

Jeremy Atkinson (Chief Executive)

Jeremy is an economist by profession, with a specialisation in industrial and regulatory economics and over twenty years of practical experience.  As an economic consultant, he advised utilities, regulators and government departments internationally on tariffs, investment planning and industry restructuring.  He was Director of Licensing at the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, working on the design of the Water Market in Scotland.  In 2007 he set up the Central Market Agency and took the business from a start-up to a mature organisation capable of providing reliable and efficient administrative services to Licensed Providers and Scottish Water.

Fred Hallsworth (Non-Executive Director)

Fred is a Bachelor of Accountancy graduate of the University of Glasgow, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He has a broad range of skills from Corporate Governance to Corporate Finance and general Business Advice, gained through a 30-year career in Professional Services. He has held a number of senior management positions in Cambridge and Scotland, including Managing Partner, and Head of Corporate Finance of Arthur Andersen, and Senior Client Service Partner and Head of Technology for Deloitte. In the last 10 years he has sat on 14 Boards as an Independent Non-Executive Director. His roles have included Senior Independent Director and Audit Committee Chairman of UK and NASDAQ public companies, and private venture backed companies. 

Janet Brown (Non-Executive Director)

Janet holds a BSc in Physics and a PhD in Physical Metallurgy & Materials Science, both awarded by the University of Birmingham. She is an experienced Non-Executive Director and has worked in both the public and private sectors in the UK and Internationally. Janet has a strong background in science research & technology as well as business management acquired in her previous positions with Motorola and AT&T Bell Laboratories. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Institute of Physics From 2007 to 2019, Janet was Chief Executive of the SQA.

Andrew PL Walls (Non-Executive Director)

Andrew is a commercially collaborative Finance Director, currently leading the Professional Services Directorate within the UK’s flagship renewable energy technology accelerator, ORE Catapult (funded by Innovate UK). By background he is an ICAS qualified Chartered Accountant, qualifying with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Edinburgh. He has worked both across the UK and Internationally. While his finance background is a given, he carries governance & collaborative practical problem solving skills gained over 20 years in the Board room. Working on both sides of the ‘fence’ in roles as an Executive Director (Quayle Munro Holdings plc & various PFI Infrastructure organisations) and as a Non-Executive and Chair / member of the Investment, Audit & Risk Committees, in the ‘third’ sector (the Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest independent grant giver and currently with Prosper (SCDI)).

Christine McGourty (Non-Executive Director)

Christine McGourty is an expert in all aspects of corporate affairs. Her early career involved over two decades in journalism, when she worked on television and radio for BBC News as Science Correspondent, following roles at the Daily Telegraph and the international science journal Nature.  She brings strong business credentials, with board-level experience in the water and energy sectors.  Most recently she was Chief Executive at Water UK, having previously held leadership roles at British Gas, Centrica plc, Energy UK and the technology and engineering firm Laird plc. She was also a non-executive director at Smart Energy GB. In her corporate career, Christine has led teams nationally and internationally across all corporate affairs functions, including communications, government affairs, brand, marketing, employee engagement and reputation management. She studied environmental chemistry at Edinburgh University, followed by postgraduate studies at Cardiff University and the University of London.

Ian Grundy (LP Nominated Director)

Ian is a Bachelor of Arts graduate from the University of Central Lancashire and enjoys a creative, forward-thinking approach to business. He has a range of skills having previously worked in the banking sector, specialising in compliance, audit & risk, before moving into utilities. After several years in the industry, he formed the independent retailer Pure Utilities in 2015 with the focus on ethical, sustainable growth. Ian is a regular attendee of technical industry meetings and sits on several industry working groups. He remains passionate about ensuring the industry works well for customers

Jim McDowall (LP Nominated Director)

With a degree in Economics and Marketing from the University of Strathclyde, Jim is a Qualified Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ industry experience across multiple sectors with twenty years experience in the water industry, including eight years in water retail. Jim joined Business Stream in 2015 as Director of Finance having previously worked in senior finance roles across a number of industries including pharmaceutics and defence and has now taken on the role of Commercial Director at Business Stream. Jim played a key role as the Financial Controller for Scottish Water during the financial transition and integration of its predecessor bodies before moving into new senior finance roles outside of water focused on growth and divestment opportunities within the pharmaceutics industry. With a strong interest in data, systems and processes, Jim brings deep insight to support and inform the operational and competitive challenges facing Retailers arising across both the Scottish and English markets and the related interdependencies.   

Richard Lavery (SW Nominated Director)

After studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, Richard worked a variety of retail and wholesale roles in the energy and telecoms markets before joining Scottish Water in 2006 to support preparations for Market opening. Since then, he has managed many aspects of Scottish Water’s wholesale service and has worked closely with other participants on the continuing evolution of the Market. He is now General Manager – Revenue & Wholesale Services with overall responsibility for Scottish Water’s service to the Market.

Special Advisors to the Board

Brian Wilson 

Formerly a Member of Parliament, Brian held several ministerial posts during his political career including those of Energy Minister and Trade Minister.  He is an experienced journalist and writer and continues to publicly comment on UK government energy policy.  Brian is a director of several private companies including Harris Tweed Hebrides Ltd and holds directorships in several energy related businesses. In 2011, he was named UK Global Director of the year by the Institute of Directors.