Sustainable Business Series Conference

The Rt Hon Lord Hunt of Kings Heath OBE

Minister of State (Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath OBE was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero on 9 July 2024.

Education

Lord Hunt studied at Leeds University.

Political career

Lord Hunt was Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and joint Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2008 and 2010.

He previously served as a minister in the Department of Health and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions.

He held several posts while in opposition, including:

• Shadow Spokesperson (Health and Social Care), 2018
• Shadow Spokesperson (Cabinet Office), 2017 to 2018
• Shadow Spokesperson (Education), 2017 to 2018
• Shadow Spokesperson (Health), 2012 to 2017
• Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, 2010 to 2017
• Shadow Spokesperson (Home Affairs), 2010 to 2012

He was raised to the peerage as Baron Hunt of Kings Heath in 1997.

Career outside politics

Lord Hunt was a Member of the General Medical Council from 2008 to 2024 and President of the Royal Society for Public Health from 2010 and 2018.

He was the first chief executive of the NHS Confederation from 1996 to 1997 and director of the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts (NAHAT) from its formation in 1990.

In 1993 he was awarded an OBE for services to the NHS.

Minister of State (Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The minister is responsible for:

• nuclear
• individual planning decisions
• all departmental business in the House of Lords

Ed Cox

Executive Director for Strategy, Economy & Net Zero , West Midlands Combined Authority

Ed is Executive Director for Strategy, Economy & Net Zero at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Prior to WMCA, Ed was Director of Public Services and Communities at the RSA where he led an ambitious programme of work on people, power, place and inclusive growth. He previously led IPPR North for 9 years where he was a champion for devolution and much of the thinking behind the ‘Northern Powerhouse,’ working closely with several combined authorities in the north of England. Before that, Ed was an adviser to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government where he played a key role in developing the Sub-National Review (2007) and the Empowerment White Paper (2008).

Ed has a background in community engagement: he wrote Manchester’s first community engagement strategy, he was a founder of the national Participatory Budgeting Unit and he is the founder and chair of the Levenshulme Inspire community hub in inner-city Manchester. Ed is a qualified minister of religion in the United Reformed Church and he is part of the leadership team for his local congregation in Levenshulme.  Ed has been Chair of Involve since June 2019.

Rosa Wells

FE Principal and Dean for STEM, University College Birmingham

Rosa Wells is the FE Principal and Dean for STEM at University College Birmingham. Rosa is a highly experienced engineer who has dedicated her career to education and training. She is passionate about providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in STEM sectors. 

In her previous role, Rosa was leading the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Institute of Technology, working closely with engineering employers and education partners to establish a state-of-the-art learning factory in the city centre accessible to all engineering learners across the region. She now sits on the Board of Directors of the GBS IoT and has, more recently, been appointed Chair of the Institutes of Technology National Network.

Rosa works closely with leading sector bodies such as Women into Science and Engineering, STEM Learning and the Royal Academy of Engineering to ensure best practice is embedded within how the University works with learners, schools, and employers. This expertise and focus have been pivotal in the development of curriculum and provision across the University, who are leading in co-creation of courses with students and employers to ensure graduates meet, amongst other priorities, the green skills needs of our region now and in the future.

Rosa champions the power of education in the skills agenda and levelling up our region for wider societal benefit.

Jessica Wilkes-Ball

Head of Sustainability & Net Zero, Mills & Reeve

Jessica has huge experience in helping businesses focus on more than the bottom line and a long track record for delivering positive change in communities across the UK and beyond.

Jessica is a member of the advisory board for WildHearts Group and is a member of the West Midlands Board for Business in the Community.

The Mills & Reeve ESG management/leadership team is spearheaded by Neil Pearson who is head of ESG and social value at the firm. As a firm we have signed up to the Greener Litigation Pledge, as well as Net Positives. We are members of the Legal Sustainability Alliance.

 

Paul Warrington

Relationship Director, Lloyds SME Banking

Paul has worked in commercial banking for the last twenty-one years in various roles including Area Director, Relationship Manager and Credit Manager. He is currently a Relationship Director leading a team of specialists providing expertise to his client base of Midlands SMEs who are across all industry sectors. He is Regional lead for Sustainability in the Midlands, North West & South Wales for Lloyds SME Banking and this work saw them nominated for an award earlier this year. Paul is an advocate of the Lloyds Bank Clean Growth Financing Initiative which is being used across the Bank to support businesses invest to reduce their emissions.

Recently, Paul has taken on an additional role as a member of Coventry City Council’s Climate Strategy Board