Who we are

Executive Team.

Amelia Cole

Amelia Cole is our Events Manager, responsible for overseeing all internal and external events for the Thames Estuary Growth Board, as well as acting as Executive Assistant to the Envoy and providing support for our senior team.

She has over 14 years of administrative experience, predominantly within the legal sector and has worked for some of the largest international law firms throughout her career, including Herbert Smith Freehills and MinterEllison.

She has a background in alternative dispute resolution as well as corporate litigation and finance and has supported c-suite senior executives across those sectors.

Amelia is a keen walker and a dog enthusiast; her interests include combining the two whenever possible in the Essex countryside, ideally with the inclusion of a pub lunch.

Anjali Dahya

Anjali Dahya is our Finance Manager, who provides financial and administrative support to our team.

With a background in customer service and administrative roles, Anjali brings over 8 years of experience cultivated from her time at various organisations, from Ted Baker to Xero, a global tech company.

Anjali is a keen traveller, currently embarking on her OE, traversing the diverse landscapes and cultures of Europe, an exciting change from her small hometown of Wellington in New Zealand.

David Godfrey

David Godfrey is our Executive Director working across several Thames Estuary priorities including infrastructure, housing and communications.

He has been a Policy Advisor on Local Government and Local Growth to two Secretaries of State, Director of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership and a Shadow Cabinet Chief of Staff. He worked closely with Lord Heseltine in Government, supporting the early development of the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission which led to the creation of the Thames Estuary Growth Board.

David remains a Policy Advisor at Kent County Council and has wide-ranging expertise from working closely with Council Leaders and Cabinet Members, both within Kent and nationally.

In addition, David is a Visiting Fellow of the Localis think tank for whom he has written, and contributed to, national reports on local economic growth. He has worked across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Frances Moffett-Kouadio

Frances Moffett-Kouadio is our Strategic Investment Director, where she uses her extensive international experience to drive fair investment into the Thames Estuary area. Her career spans over 15 years in diplomatic positions across South Africa, the UAE, Hong Kong, and the USA. Frances’s background in trade and investment is complemented by her intimate knowledge of the Thames Estuary, having grown up sailing its waters. This unique blend of local and international expertise enables her to effectively spearhead investment initiatives that enhance regional development.

Frances has a passion for music, and before her career shift, she was a semi-professional singer with her own jazz band, a skill she occasionally revives to delight her colleagues.

Gyula Törzsök

Gyula Törzsök is our Director of Innovation & Strategic Programmes. He is instrumental in transforming innovative concepts into actionable and investable projects across the Estuary. Gyula is at the forefront of driving substantial economic growth within the Thames Estuary region. His professional skills are built on a solid foundation of strategic investment appraisal and partnership development across both public and private sectors. Before joining the board, Gyula honed his skills at Inner Circle Consulting, where he led multi-disciplinary teams in strategy development and risk management.

Gyula combines his work life with a deep personal interest in global economics and technology.

Holly Williams

Holly Williams is our Chief Operating Officer, overseeing business operations, strategy, and planning. Her career began in advising multinational corporations on international tax structuring before transitioning to PwC UK’s Technology Investment Team, where she developed investment strategies and managed funding approaches for technology portfolios. Holly’s expertise also includes leading special finance projects in scale-up environments, making her a key player in both strategic and operational capacities.

A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Holly’s commitment to professional growth is matched by her dedication to mentoring and supporting the next generation of leaders in finance and technology.

Board.

Peter Hogg

Peter Hogg is Deputy Co-Chair of the Thames Estuary Growth Board with Gavin Chapman.

Peter is Arcadis’ London City Executive, accountable for key activity in the UK’s capital. He also leads for Arcadis on Place-making. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors with 24 years’ industry experience he has a keen understanding of how to align built and natural assets to the vision, strategy and key priorities of our clients. He has a particular interest in creating successful cities.

Peter has been involved in some of London’ biggest infrastructure programmes of recent years including the Jubilee Line Extension, St Pancras International Station and Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

Councillor Daniel Cowan

Councillor Daniel Cowan is the Leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, having been first elected as a local ward councillor in 2019. As well as being the Leader, he is the Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Corporate Strategy.

Previous experience includes working in the Civil Service, Cabinet Office, and in cyber and digital security. He is a firm advocate for economic growth and opportunity, development, and infrastructure, and is proactively leading Southend through the Priority Programme for Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation across Greater Essex.

He is ambitious about the potential for economic opportunity in Southend and its connections and relationships across the Thames Estuary, a proactive and collaborative leader with a strong record of delivery, even in challenging times.

Emily Buckley

Emily Buckley is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board and lead for Green Spaces.

Emily is a strategy manager at Lightsource bp, a global solar developer in which bp owns a 50% stake.

Since joining the firm in 2017, her accomplishments include supporting bp’s initial $200 million investment, helping to start a green private equity fund in India and leading Lightsource bp’s expansion into Egypt.

Emily started her career in consulting and private equity, and holds a first-class degree in Economics from UCL.

In 2019, she was listed in both the “Forbes 30 under 30” and bp’s International Women’s Day list of “women advancing the energy transition”.

In her free time, Emily is an advocate of “zero waste” living and has invested in a zero-waste beauty & personal care retail start-up.”

Councillor Jeremy Kite MBE

Councillor Jeremy Kite MBE is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board and the Leader of Dartford Borough Council.

Jeremy has been the Leader since 2006 and a Member of Kent County Council since June 2009, where he is a Deputy Cabinet Member.

Jeremy is a Director of Dartford Football Club and is involved with several local charities and groups. He has a particular interest in civic design – he has worked with designer Wayne Hemingway on a housing development, with architect Ken Shuttleworth on Dartford Dojo, and his council was responsible for commissioning the award-winning Princes Park football stadium.

In 2015 he was appointed to the Board of Ebbsfleet Development Corporation by the Secretary of State.

Jeremy was awarded an MBE in 2012.

Praveen Jagadish

Praveen Jagadish is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board.

Praveen is a Partner in the Energy and Infrastructure Group at Clifford Chance. He advises investors, lenders and Governments on low-carbon energy generation projects, including nuclear, offshore wind and solar, and on the development of infrastructure focussed on the energy transition, including EV charging, battery storage, smart grid solutions, hydrogen and sustainable fuels.

Prior to joining Clifford Chance, Praveen was a senior energy and infrastructure lawyer at the law firm Minter Ellison, in his home town of Sydney, Australia. There, he advised a range of stakeholders in the procurement and delivery of multi-billion dollar road, rail, port, health and energy infrastructure projects. Praveen began his career as a junior lawyer at Linklaters in London.

Praveen holds Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Robin Mortimer

Robin Mortimer is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board.

Robin Mortimer joined the Port of London Authority (PLA) as Chief Executive in 2014. The PLA is responsible for promoting the safe and sustainable use of the tidal River Thames.

Prior to joining the PLA, Robin had 20 years experience in the UK civil service working on transport, environment, infrastructure and overseas development.

Robin was the lead author of the UK Climate Change Act, which became law in 2007. As a Director in Defra, he led the Government’s Adapting to Climate Change programme, oversaw creation of the Canal & River Trust, and directed policy on farming and the environment.

Robin is a member of the CBI’s London Council and, since 2012, a trustee of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Rokhsana Fiaz OBE Mayor of Newham

Rokhsana Fiaz has served as Executive Mayor of Newham since May 2018, delivering her Building a Fairer Newham plan.

She is portfolio lead for Inclusive Economy, Strategic Housing Delivery and Culture, including community wealth building, place and economic regeneration, planning and development; and leads on the ambitious affordable social housing programme.

She is London Council’s Data and Innovation lead, co-chair of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone and chair of the Local London Growth and Recovery Board. Previously she was CEO of an international UNESCO supported charity and has led large-scale capital projects for councils, European Commission and Council of Europe. In 2009 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to Black and Minority Communities.

Rupert Wood

Rupert Wood is a member of Thames Estuary Growth Board.

Rupert is Head of Strategic Land at ALMCOR, a MARCOL company, which is a real estate company specialising in investment, development and asset management. Rupert oversees ALMCOR’s strategic land portfolio of large-scale complex regeneration projects in key growth locations, including Thames Enterprise Park in Thurrock.

Prior to joining ALMCOR, Rupert worked for St. Modwen Properties Plc, a FTSE 250 company, as a senior executive, where he was latterly responsible for the group’s £750m income generating portfolio across all real estate sectors and St. Modwen Energy. Before St Modwen, he was at Lendlease managing major urban regeneration developments in Norwich, Warrington and the Shell Centre redevelopment on the South Bank.

Rupert, having chaired the LandAid Midlands Regional Board, is a member of the LandAid Fundraising Committee, the property industry charity working to ‘End Youth Homelessness’ in the UK.

Vera Kukic

Vera Kukic is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board.

She is a Partner in IBM’s Strategy Consulting business and is the UK lead for Sustainability in the Financial Service sector. As part of leading IBM’s Financial Services UK Sustainability team Vera is focusing on advancing IBM’s purpose in sustainability and broadening the understanding of what role data and technology can play on the sustainability journey.

Vera has 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector which spans a wide range of strategy, operating model design and business restructuring as well as large scale business and technology transformation. The last 5 years of her career have been spent on building teams, competencies, and functions into new business for the consulting firms she works for. Prior to joining IBM, she was with EY and Oliver Wyman.

She holds an MBA from London Business School and a Bachelor of Science Honours (Computer Science and Information Systems) from Rhodes University in South Africa.

Kate Willard OBE

Chair and Thames Estuary Envoy