5 minutes with Jade Lewis

Like many, Collingwood’s Head of Building Products & Construction, Mark Goldsmith, has listened to genuine industry thought leader, Jade Lewis, during various industry events.

Given her previous position as CEO of the Sustainable Energy Association (SEA) and current voluntary work with the National Retrofit Hub, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to sit down with Jade and discuss a wide range of topics - from the driving of sustainability agendas, through to why she feels lobbying is an outdated term.

Here’s what they discussed:

Mark: Throughout the past 15 years your career has centred around being the main advocate for firstly Saint-Gobain and more latterly the SEA.  How did your earlier career evolve to allow for this rare leadership position?

Jade: Like many people, my career was a lot about luck and hard work, but having a plan and being ready to take advantage of the opportunities when they arose was the key to where I am now.

I have a background in construction products, with around 30 years’ experience working in many different roles including technical sales, R&D, quality management, project leadership, as well as advocacy and public affairs.

I got into advocacy purely by accident when I was offered the opportunity to be seconded to the Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change, working on the Green Deal back in 2011. While the Green Deal didn’t go well, my career did. I found I was an excellent networker, being able to quickly build trusted relationships with the influential people around me from across government departments and the industry, probably due to many years of working in a technical sales role. My project leadership skills meant I could produce results and not just talk about solutions. Also, my technical background meant I was able to understand the content and translate it into less complex information where needed.

I was quickly made Director of Advocacy for Saint-Gobain in the UK, which was then the global leader in the manufacture and distribution of construction products.   Since then, I’ve built up an extensive knowledge of policies and had experience of informing and influencing many areas across energy, energy efficiency, construction, housing, productivity, innovation and MMC, Health, etc.

4 years ago, I was ready for a new challenge and decided to grow my leadership skills further. I decided I wanted to be a Chief Executive and got the first role I applied for, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy Association, a membership organisation providing a voice into Government and advocating for energy efficiency and low carbon heating.

I’ve developed a passion for improving the built environment, tackling climate change and decarbonisation, eradicating fuel poverty, but also delivering healthy buildings, so now I hope to continue my advocacy journey through my own consultancy business.

Mark:  And you prefer the term advocacy over lobbying.  Especially in relation to working with government bodies, why is this an important distinction?

Jade: It’s more an approach rather than a term. Lobbying can be viewed by some as a bad thing, especially when large businesses are involved. I often come across criticism of industry trying to influence government policies and schemes, which is understandable if their aim is to unfairly distort the market, kill the competition, hold back progress, or deliver outcomes which are detrimental to people.

For me, advocacy should be about building trusted relationships, bringing together experienced and knowledgeable people to inform better policymaking and lead to improved outcomes for the built environment, occupants, and society. I am looking forward to helping other like-minded businesses and organisations develop their approach in this way and support government and industry move towards a more sustainable, healthy built environment.

Mark: Throughout your later roles you’ve worked extensively with manufacturers to drive carbon reduction.  Timing wise, what do you feel is different about now as opposed to 10 to 12 years ago, when the UK was coming out of a major recession, with sustainability being a main “selling” point?

Jade: In many ways nothing has changed in the last 12 years. I am frustratingly still having the same conversations with people across government and the industry as I was when I started my Green Deal secondment. We still haven’t unlocked the major potential of the energy efficiency retrofit market, some 28 million homes across the UK, people are still using fossil fuels to heat their homes and we have a fragmented industry unable to deliver an end-to-end solution for consumers to decarbonise their homes and buildings, adapt them for future climate change and make them healthier.

However, there have been many positive changes. For example, new companies and organisations are springing up that offer digital tools for building assessments, provide holistic advice for decarbonising homes and small scale one-stop-shops for delivering home efficiency improvements. Also, many new innovations in energy saving and low carbon products and solutions.

On a bigger scale, the National Retrofit Hub is the start of a new collaboration to share knowledge and expertise and deliver a national retrofit strategy. I am hoping that the industry can lead the way, gain government support and deliver where we have failed in the past.

The introduction of the PAS 2030, which is mandated under many government retrofit schemes, takes a holistic approach and moves us away from installing individual measures. While not perfect, it reduces risk and protects the occupant and building, as well as the reputational damage of the sector. Along, with the creation of the Retrofit Coordinator this change helps to create a more professional sector.

During this time, the need to act has increased significantly. The high cost of energy and cost of living crisis, concerns over energy security, increases in fuel poverty, climate emergency as we experience hotter summers and flooding, etc. all mean we need to do much more.

Mark: And through your work with the Retrofit Hub, you’re exposed to numerous startup companies who’re looking to commercialise their offering. From what I’ve witnessed, there’s no lack of innovation from within our industry, but it is in taking these to market and scaling up where these startups struggle.  What’s your view on this and can you offer any starters for ten?

Jade: The energy efficiency market is heavily reliant on government policy and funding schemes to stimulate consumer demand and drive uptake. This means that manufacturers and innovators require access to these schemes if they are to prove their solutions work in a sizeable retrofit scheme and gain access to the market.

Over the past few years, and for very good reasons, consumer protection has been strengthened and installer standards such as PAS 2030 have been introduced to prevent unintended consequences when retrofitting buildings. However, these haven’t been set up with products in mind, nor with processes for updating them with innovative solutions, meaning they act as barriers and major challenges for SMEs in particular.

There is no clear, transparent, joined-up process to follow, simply going through the SAP Appendix Q process does not guarantee products will be eligible. There is also a lack of ownership, and many different organisations involved, making it very difficult to implement change and know where to go for assistance.

I’ve been working with many of these organisations to identify the problems and help create a new process for the retrofit sector. The National Retrofit Hub hopes to support this important work and help remove additional barriers to innovation and the supply chain in delivering scalable retrofit across the UK.

Mark: You’ve openly said that in 2019, before you took over the CEO role at SEA, you were not aware of many other females at the top table of similar associations and manufacturers.  What are the limitations to females taking up more of these posts and / or how has this changed in the intervening four years?

Jade: One of the limitations for my career was not seeing others like me in senior roles. When I joined the industry as graduate, there were very few women in manufacturing, and I never met any in top positions, therefore I never aspired to be anything higher than a director. I even believed that to be too far of a stretch for me. I don’t recall there being any female role models with children that that made it to the top, which made it seem inconceivable that I could ever do such a role.

It was only when I looked around and noticed women were actually getting Chief Executive roles in industry associations that I thought if they could do it then so could I and it inspired me to take a chance, one that paid off. Being in a role that gave me exposure to the wider industry helped. There are many women that don’t have that luxury and think where they work is the norm.

While things are changing, the sectors I have worked in, manufacturing, construction and energy have a long way to go to improve diversity.

As well as having many other benefits, a diverse industry helps to improve creativity and innovation, which will help us advance progress towards Net Zero and a more sustainable environment.