ECA Officials & Senior Staff

Ruth has been a Director of SJD Associates Ltd since 2006. She holds other roles outside of her professional position, including Chair of ECA’s Skills Committee, advising Council on relevant skills matters and supporting industry engagement with the skills system.
 
She is also Chair of The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership, which supports the industry with clear entry and progression routes; high quality training and assessment and leading research.

She’s a founding member of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Construction Route Panel, now part of Skills England, and the Building Safety Regulator’s Industry Competence Committee.
 
Additionally, Ruth supports the Construction Leadership Council on skills issues and attends the Government’s Construction Skills Delivery Group. 
 
Ruth was awarded an MBE in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours list, for her services to further education and apprenticeships.

Glenn is Director of Drax360 (ECA East Region member) which installs and maintains fire detection & alarm systems as well as producing its own fire alarm system Compliance & Management software.

Glenn began his career in electrical wholesaling before moving to Gent in 1984, a fire detection and suppression systems design and installation organisation. He later went on to manage UK operations at Cerberus (now part of Siemens) before starting and running Wagner, aspirating smoke detection and fire suppression specialist. In 2001, he left Wagner to establish and run his own fire and security business. Following the sale of that business in 2018, he joined Drax360, where he remains today.

Originally from East London and now living near Cambridge, during his career he has gained a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Business Studies, completed the first year of an Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) in Electrical Engineering and has achieved Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) qualifications.

Since his Gent days Glenn has always supported ECA, has been part of the ECA East Region for over 25 years and has been Beds & Herts Branch Chair, East Regional Chair and is on his second 6-year term as East Region Council Member.
 
Originally from East London, Glenn lives near Cambridge with his wife Brigitte. He has a daughter Isobel who lives and works on Tenerife. When not working his time is taken up with his Stanley his lurcher, cycling (he’s an accomplished track cycling rider), football (Spurs supporter), skiing and travel (he & Brigitte love to visit different cities).
 
Glenn is passionate about the people in our industry and building strong, resilient ECA Members by developing the skills of our next generation of people – engineers, support people and managers.

Jeremy Parkin has spent his whole career working for his family-run business, Powerlink Electrical Services in South Wales, and has been managing the business since 2012.

Starting as a young trainee, Jeremy was involved in the construction of electrical systems, progressing to being responsible for the delivery of entire projects to clients incorporating all aspects of the electrical installation and other related disciplines. 

He was Chair of the Cardiff & Newport regional branch of ECA from 2018 to 2022 and was the Chair of the Regional Executive Committee for South Wales from 2022 to 2024.

Jeremy is also a member of ECA’s technical committee since 2014, and its chair since 2023. He is also a member of the Skills Committee since 2021. In 2023 the ECA created an ECA (Wales) Skills Forum which he has chaired since its creation.

He has been an ECA representative on committees for Qualification Wales during its review of qualifications to the Welsh Government and is an active member of a steering group for BSE Apprenticeship pathways.

Stuart started as an apprentice electrician in 1986 on a CITB training scheme; started his own business in 1997 and became a Director of Stromtechs Ltd in 2007.

Since joining ECA, Stuart has been Vice Chair and Chair (4 years) of the Thames Valley Branch; Thames Valley Branch representative at the Central South REC for at least 5 years; Central South representative on Council since May 2019.

Steve was appointed ECA Group Chief Executive Officer in October 2010, having previously served as Deputy CEO from February 2010.

He focuses on wider industry-related activities and leads several key workstreams in the Construction Leadership Council. 

Steve’s career consists of Director and MD positions, centred around the building services and construction sectors, including a number of non-executive Chairman’s roles within property development companies.  His former roles include MD of CORGI Services, where he was recognised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as one of Britain’s top 200 businessmen in 2002 and 2003. 

Steve is a Chartered Director and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. He has also served as Non-Executive Director of numerous industry bodies, including Chair of CompEx Certification Ltd, Director and Chair of Certsure LLP, Chair and Trustee of JTL and Trustee of the Electrical Safety Council. He is currently a member of the Construction Leadership Council where he leads on their Fair Practices and Business Models work.

Andrew is responsible for all ECA trade association operational activities and leadership of the Association's senior management team. He is also the lead Director for Council.

Previously, Andrew led on all aspects of ECA membership and skills strategy, including workforce skills policy, individual competence, apprenticeships and net zero upskilling.

In addition, Andrew is a trustee-director of the apprenticeship training charity JTL. 

Terry was appointed Group Financial Controller in January 2018, having joined the Association in 2013 as Chief Accountant. Terry is responsible for overseeing a small team that look after the day to finances of the Association and is based in the Sevenoaks office. Terry is also a Trustee of the Electrical Industries charity and a non-executive director of BASEC.

Terry is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has worked as a qualified accountant for over 25 years. Most of that time has been running finance functions in a variety of industries, everything from motorbike racing to logistics and manufacturing and prior to joining ECA Terry had spent the previous 14 years in construction based companies.

Terry is a keen triathlete, proving that a lack of sporting ability is no barrier to taking part.

Rob leads ECA in legal, business and policy, as well as public affairs areas. His experience transcends private practice law firms and in-house teams within our sector.

Rob has pioneered and helped design many developments in fair payment, influencing by chairing the Cabinet Office Payment Group and as a Cabinet Office/Crown Commercial Services SME adviser, and working with Construction Leadership Council, FSB, and CBI. As Carillion collapsed, Government also asked him to join an advisory panel to help mitigate the risk to Government and industry.

He is a thought leader on digital business solutions and, based on his personal experience, a passionate advocate of the commercial benefits of mentoring, diversity and wider inclusion within the industry.

Helen became ECA’s Director of Member Services in September 2014 and is responsible for the Regional Teams, Member Services, Marketing, Communications, PR & Public Affairs, and ECS Contact Centre Operations.
 

Previously, Helen worked for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) where she was director of strategy and communications. Prior to that, she was director of client services at CORGI and membership services director at BTS.
 

Helen is an affiliate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.  

Daniel initially joined the ECA as Head of Marketing and Digital Transformation in October 2019, responsible for all aspects of the ECA marketing strategy, with a focus on building a strong ECA brand presence across our industry. 

Daniel now works across both ECA's Membership and staff team to drive the development of cutting-edge digital initiatives.

Daniel has over 20 years of professional digital and marketing experience and has held senior positions in a range of both commercial and not for profit organisations.

Since April 2026, Catherine has oversight and accountability for ECA's skills strategy and delivery. She continues her responsibilities from her previous role as HR and Employee Relations Director for ECA, where she delivers the employee relations service to Member businesses and leads and acts as the principal contact for the JIB collective agreement on behalf of employers. Catherine chaired the working group to review and modernise the dispute process and most recently apprentice rates. She is a trustee of the JTL board,  member of the JIB National Board and Management Committee.

Catherine has over 20 years of experience in Employee Relations holding senior roles within complex multi-sited unionised organisations and as a consultant to SMEs in Central London. Catherine is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a qualified mediator.

Gary Parker joined ECA in 2016 and has over 25 years’ experience in electrical contracting, Standardisation and Membership organisations.

He is an experienced and practical Chartered Engineer (CEng), having worked in heavy industry, water treatment, medical locations and general electrical contracting.

He became Deputy Director of Technical in 2026.

Jane joined ECA in December 2020. She is responsible for ECA’s public relations and public affairs strategies and operation. Jane’s team works across all policy areas, producing content for publication on ECA’s digital and print channels and in media outlets. Jane works collaboratively with industry partners on a range of communications initiatives.

Jane has over a decade of experience working in charity communications and public affairs, as well as international experience promoting renewable energy initiatives.

Steve joined the association in 1998 and has overseen many changes in regard to systems used within the group. He manages a small team from the Sevenoaks office, who run the day to day IT operations, as well as the development team who look after the systems and websites that are used to support membership activities.

Having worked in the IT industry for many years, Steve has managed IT environments across a number of sectors, ranging from insurance, publishing and certification through to trade and membership bodies.

Steve works closely with all the companies within the ECA family and is currently the chairman to the ECA staff pension scheme.

Carolyn joined ECA in June 2014 as Head of Education and Training. Prior to this she worked for 23 years in pharmaceuticals manufacturing in various roles with a global remit, followed by 5 years working with automotive and aerospace companies across the UK on skills projects and funding applications. She is also the Chief Executive of the industry charity, NET.

Andy joined ECA from Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years where he was Membership Services Manager responsible for the 35,000 members of the organisation. 

Andy’s wealth of experience in customer service has seen him work in Financial Services, Charity and Utility Services, with a set focus on customer service and identifying procedural improvements to enhance the customer journey. 

Keith joined ECA in 2025, under his former role as Head of Skills Delivery. He comes from a Further Education background, having held senior leadership positions with responsibility for curriculum, stakeholder engagement and financial planning. Provisions included Study Programmes, T Levels, Adult Education, Higher Education and Apprenticeships.

Keith directly managed Construction and Engineering curriculum areas and brings a wealth of extensive experience and valuable insight into these sectors in his role with ECA.

Keith is the ECA representative for The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership (TESP).

In 2024 Tony Sidwell joined ECA as Head of Health, Safety & Environment. He is a Chartered Fellow of IOSH, a Chartered Health & Safety Professional and a Practitioner of IEMA.

Tony has worked in the Building Services industry for over 25 years holding positions with NG Bailey, SES Engineering Services and Lorne Stewart.

Previously, Tony has served as the Chair of the Joint Building Services (ECA / BESA) SHE Committee.

Tony joined ECA in 2026 as Head of Sales. He brings over 25 years of experience in construction-related sales across various geographies including the UK & Ireland, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Tony’s background spans multiple levels of the industry, with solution-based expertise in lighting, commercial interiors, and lightning protection.

Phip was appointed ECA Head of Regions in April 2019. She joined ECA in 2014, and was later appointed ECA Business Development Manager (South) to primarily identify new business opportunities and different ways to reach both existing and new electrotechnical markets.

Prior to this Phip held a number of management positions within education, recruitment, sales and marketing.

To see the details of all of our regional teams, you can go to our Regional Page.