Man with goggles and hard hat in red uniform pearl

Who we are

Shell employs around 6,000 people in the UK working across a range of activities to help provide the energy we all need. Find out here about our business and function leaders who make up the UK Country Co-ordination Team.

Sinead Lynch

Sinead Lynch

Chair Shell UK Limited

Until joining Shell Sinead was EVP Safety and Sustainability, responsible for the leadership and integration of BG Group’s Health, Safety & Asset Integrity, Security, Environment & Climate Change, Social Performance & Human Rights, Government & Policy Affairs and Communications disciplines.

Sinead worked for BG since 1993, holding a wide variety of roles across business segments and disciplines. She began her career as a Geophysicist specialising in seismic processing and modelling before taking on roles in Exploration and Development Geophysics. From 2001, Sinead worked as an Economist in the UK assets before moving into a series of senior Commercial and Business Development roles.

From 2005-2007, she was VP Commercial for BG Nigeria, leading the company’s upstream entry. From 2008-2011, Sinead worked as Area Commercial Manager for BG’s Africa Middle East and Asia assets before taking on the role of Head of Investment Appraisal for BG. She then spent two years in Bangkok as Asset General Manager for the Thailand asset.

When the proposed combination between Shell and BG Group was announced in April 2015, Sinead took on the additional responsibility of heading the Integration Planning Team on the BG side and supported the ongoing transition of BG into Shell. She joined Shell in the role of UK Country Chair on September 1 2016.

Sinead is married with two young sons.

Max Brouwers

Max Brouwers

Vice President Exploration Europe, Russia & Caspian
Royal Dutch Shell plc

Max Brouwers grew up in and around Maastricht, in the South of The Netherlands. He has a degree in Geology from the University of Utrecht and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management. He has worked his 20 year career in 3 continents, within Shell.

Max is currently Shell’s Vice President for Europe, Russia and Caspian within Exploration. He started with Shell in 1996 as a seismic interpreter in London. Since then, he has held a variety of exploration and commercial roles, including Head of Global Exploration Strategy & Planning and New Business Coordinator. Has worked in a variety of exploration roles within Latin America and most recently, held the position of Vice President Exploration Latin America, based in Rio de Janeiro.

During these roles, he has been focused on setting up new offshore Shell ventures in frontier settings, mitigating safety and non-technical risks and creating value by maturing discoveries for handover to development, as well as pursuing organic growth opportunities. He was also involved in the Enterprise Oil and BG acquisitions, as well as the successful Libra bid.

Outside work, he likes to spend time with his wife and two children. He is an avid road cyclists and loves riding in the mountains.

Jacky Freer

Lee anne barraclough - Vice President Communication

General Manager External Relations UK, Ireland, South Africa & Nordics

Based in London, Jacky leads Shell’s corporate communications team in the UK, the scope of which includes social investment, stakeholder engagement and business reputation management.

She joined Shell in 2001 supporting global external communications programmes for the Shell Chemicals business. Since then she has worked across Shell’s Lubricants and Global Commercial businesses in assignments covering portfolio communications, issues management and internal communications. She joined Shell’s UK Country Leadership Team from her role as VP Communications for Shell’s Projects & Technology organisation.

Before Shell, Jacky spent 10 years with an international public relations consultancy working for a range of UK and international business-to-business clients.

She holds a degree in English Literature and Economic & Social Policy from St David’s University College.

Jacky has two daughters and in her spare time enjoys cycling, cooking and creative arts.

Nigel Hobson

Nigel hobson - Vice President Global Operations for the Trading and Supply Business

Vice President Global Operations for the Trading and Supply Business

Nigel Hobson is currently Vice President Global Operations for the Trading and Supply Business based in London. This follows two recent assignments as VP Supply & Distribution for Europe and Africa based in London and with Shell’s Chemicals business as VP Global Operations & HSSE based in the Netherlands.

Nigel joined Shell in 2005 as Consultancy Manager for the Downstream Management Consultancy which included prime responsibility for projects in Manufacturing, Supply & Distribution well suited to his diverse experience gained across many Downstream businesses. Following graduation as a Chemical Engineer from Exeter University previous leadership roles with ExxonMobil include Refinery Operations, Crude Oil Trading, Supply Operations and Commercial Sales.

Nigel is a Fellow of The Institution of Chemical Engineers; He is married with three teenage daughters and in any free time enjoys outdoor pursuits including sailing and fishing.

Monika Khullar

Trui hebbelinck - Vice President Human Resources

Vice President Human Resources UK

Monika joined Shell in 2001 and in her current role, Monika is responsible for leading the integrated people agenda for Shell companies in the UK. Prior to this role, Monika spent five years in Downstream Global Commercial where she was the Global HR Lead for Customer Operations, an organisation of 2000 staff delivering the customer experience for our Downstream Marketing B2C and B2B customers. Between 2010 and 2013, Monika was the Vice President HR for Shell Business Operations spanning India, Malaysia, Philippines and Poland and prior to this, Monika held global generalist, HR Consultancy and Change roles supporting different businesses, corporate functions and Group HR.

Before Shell, Monika worked at Cable & Wireless for 7 years where she was the HR Manager for the European Operations and held positions covering HR Policy, Projects, Mergers, Acquisitions & Outsourcing.

Monika holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Human Resource Management.

Monika is married and in her spare time enjoys running, entertaining and mentoring.

Sarah Morton

Sarah Morton is Head of Legal, United Kingdom and Associate General Counsel, Downstream

Head of Legal, United Kingdom and Associate General Counsel, Downstream

Sarah Morton is Head of Legal, United Kingdom and Associate General Counsel, Downstream.

Sarah joined Shell in 2011 from the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP where she practiced as a solicitor specialising in international commercial litigation and arbitration. She trained and was an associate at Norton Rose, also in London.

Prior to her current role in Shell, Sarah was Managing Counsel for Shell’s Litigation team, covering Europe, the Middle East & North Africa.

Sarah holds a degree in Geography from Durham University. She is married with two young daughters.

Roger Hunter

Roger Hunter

Vice President Digital Businesses

Roger joined Shell in 1998 and, in his current role, leads a global team of new business and technical specialists who seek out business opportunities based on digital solutions to customer needs. As Vice President of the Digital Businesses unit within Shell’s New Energies business, Roger is accountable for growing a portfolio of digital start-ups which incubate these opportunities to either be standalone entities or integrated into the Shell portfolio. Before starting up this unit in 2016, Roger lead Shell’s Alternative Energy and Fuels Strategy team focusing on the future of transport: looking at future mobility transition, second generation biofuels, hydrogen mobility and other new technologies.

Earlier in his career, Roger held various commercial and technical leadership roles at Shell, including Downstream New Business Development, Fuel Supply Chain Strategy and Upstream Engineering. He was also a council member for the UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) and currently sits on the board of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) in the UK.

Roger lives in Hertfordshire, with his wife and two daughters. He holds a Masters in Electronic and Electric Engineering from Birmingham University.

Steve Phimister

Steve Phimister - Upstream Director UK & Ireland

Steve Phimister - Upstream Director UK & Ireland

Steve has a varied background in technical, commercial and asset management roles working with Shell for nearly 25 years across Europe, Australia, Asia and the Americas. He has also worked in Shell’s Upstream, Downstream and Integrated Gas businesses.

Returning to the UK earlier in 2016, he led a multi-functional team successfully integrating the upstream businesses of Shell and BG in the UK and Ireland. Prior to this, Steve spent seven years leading a period of strong growth for Shell in Australia, including roles as GM Non-Operated ventures, GM Unconventionals and GM Business Development.

He has a degree in Chemical & Mineral Engineering from the University of Birmingham in the UK and is a member of several Engineering Institutes. He is a Graduate and Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served on the board of a number of energy-related businesses in Australia. Steve is married with two daughters.

Bruce Taylor

Bruce Taylor

Bruce Taylor, UK and Ireland HSE Manager

Bruce joined Shell in 1985 as a Shell Expro Technician trainee and subsequently spent several years offshore on Cormorant Alpha as Operator and Technician. From 1996 to 2007 he worked as Onshore Support Supervisor and Team Leader for the Mature Assets.

In 2007, Bruce returned to Cormorant Alpha as Offshore Installation Manager concluding that assignment with a handover to the new operator. In January 2009, Bruce was appointed to Brunei Shell Petroleum as Head of Operations for the development team, a role that covered all stages from project initiation through to post implementation review.

He subsequently was selected as Operations Manager for Brunei’s East Asset for a further 3 years before returning to the UK to take up his current role in June 2015.

Craig Walker

Craig Walker- Vice President and Global CIO, Shell Downstream

Vice President and Global CIO, Shell Downstream

Craig Walker joined Shell Downstream as Global Chief Information Officer in July 2014. He came to this role following an assignment in Shell Trading and Supply, where he served for 6 years as the Global CIO based in Houston, Texas. He is also a member of the RDS IT Executive. He has nearly 28 years’ experience with Shell, in both the Upstream and Downstream IT functions. During this time, he has had overseas assignments in Colombia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the USA and worked in the UK in both London and Aberdeen. 

Craig, who graduated in Chemical Engineering and joined Shell in 1981, also spent five years from 1998 with KPMG Consulting, where he managed strategy, large system implementations and process change programmes for major global clients. Craig now lives in London with his wife. He has two daughters and a son. His interests are wide and varied; with top of the list being sports, theatre, music, travel, good food and great wine.

Madeline Whitaker

Madeline Whitaker - Head of UK Government Relations

Head of UK Government Relations

Madeline joined Shell from BG Group in October 2016 to lead the UK Energy Transition Programme and the international climate policy brief in Government Relations.

Madeline joined BG in 2007 and over the years held a number of roles in policy and corporate affairs, including as President of BG Canada where she was responsible for early stage development and non-technical risk in the Prince Rupert LNG project. She returned to the UK to work for the new Chief Executive Helge Lund as Chief of Staff in February 2015.

Prior to BG, Madeline spent ten years in Brussels, working in the European Parliament, European Commission and latterly as a public affairs consultant, advising multinational clients on lobbying and reputation management strategies.

Madeline lives with her husband and two young children in Oxfordshire. She enjoys seeking out wildlife and the natural world in the UK and beyond.

Bernie Williamson

Bernie Williamson is Shell’s UK Retail General Manager

Bernie Williamson is Shell’s UK Retail General Manager, responsible for our retail business in the UK.

Bernie has a background in retail with UK leadership experience with various food and convenience retailers including Safeway (now Morrisons), Sainsbury’s and T&S Stores (formerly the largest convenience retailer in the UK).

She joined Shell after leading the BG Contracting and Procurement integration in 2016, and then led Shell’s Retail Contracting and Procurement team for Europe and South Africa. During her time at BG, Bernie held roles in Upstream - including Asset CP Manager for UK and Norway – and as Head of Functional Excellence.

Bernie is married with two children. In her spare time, she loves spending time with family and friends, and outdoor activities such as mountain biking, skiing and gardening.