The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult has today (Thursday) announced the appointment of two new Non-Executive Directors to serve on its board.

Richard Sandford and Sachin Jogia bring with them unique knowledge and experience which will help to guide the work of ORE Catapult over the coming years.

Richard Sandford brings nearly four decades of experience from across the energy sector, including leading global offshore wind businesses, and has held senior leadership roles at RWE, bp and, most recently, with JERA Nex bp. He has also contributed for many years to industry leadership as former Co-Chair of the UK Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and Chairman of the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).

Sachin Jogia is a business, technology and digital leader whose executive career spans Amazon, Ofcom, Sky and AOL. At Amazon he led the Alexa Smart Home business internationally, and he also served as Chief Technology Officer at Ofcom. He brings experience of building and scaling digital, data and AI capability in complex, regulated and innovation-led environments, areas increasingly central to the offshore renewables sector, from robotics and autonomous systems to smart operations and maintenance.

Richard Sandford said: “Having worked in the offshore wind sector for many years, I have seen for myself the impact that ORE Catapult has had in driving forward innovations that have fostered the development of technologies crucial to the sector’s growth and success. I’m now really looking forward to being part of the journey to make sure ORE Catapult is set up to continue staying ahead of the curve in delivering those future innovations in the years ahead.”

Sachin Jogia said: “The pace of change in this sector is impressive, and the technologies driving it are ones I’ve worked with throughout my career. What I care about is how that translates into meaningful impact for customers and citizens and doing it in regulated environments where things must work reliably and at scale. ORE Catapult has a distinctive role in turning research into something industry can use, and I’m looking forward to contributing to that mission from October.”

Richard’s appointment to the board takes effect immediately and Sachin will officially take up his post this October.