About us

John joined National Grid in March 2011. Previously John was Director of IR at Cadbury plc from 2008 to 2010 and Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for ICI from 2004 to 2008.

John graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1989 with an honours degree in Manufacturing Engineering and completed a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering and Management in 1990. Sponsored by TI Group through university, John joined its John Crane division in 1990 and qualified as a Management Accountant in 1992. Over the next eight years John worked overseas in Malta and Italy as well as in the UK for several of TI Group’s divisions, before settling at the group centre, getting his first experience of IR. In 2000 John joined Exel plc as their Director of Investor Relations and subsequently as Director of Corporate Affairs until 2004. At Exel he was responsible for the development of Exel's corporate reputation, including investor relations, media relations and marketing, as well as internal communications.

Richard Carpenter is Managing Partner of corporate reporting consultants, MerchantCantos.

Before joining MerchantCantos, Richard was a board director and head of reporting at Radley Yeldar for three years. Prior to that he ran his own investor communications and reporting consultancy for six years.

He has also been a financial journalist including stints on the Mail on Sunday and as editor of Investor Relations magazine. He is author to several publications including the London Stock Exchange's Practical Guide to Investor Relations. He sat on the ICSA working group on electronic communications prior to the publication of its 2007 report.

He is currently a board director and member of the Policy Committee of the UK Investor Relations Society.

Rebecca is a senior consultant with online corporate communication specialists, The Group, where she focuses on helping FTSE100 companies communicate effectively with investor relations audiences.

Previously she worked with Cable & Wireless, Jefferson Smurfit Group and Centrica where she variously managed marketing, PR, and reputation and investor communications.

Rebecca has a First Class degree in Physiology from King’s College London and post-graduate qualifications in communications, advertising, marketing and PR.

Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, Managing Partner, Fidelio Partners, is a leading international practitioner in investor relations and corporate affairs. Fidelio advises Boards facing competition for capital and is recognized as an important financial communications think tank. Previously Gillian coordinated Brunswick's global IR Practice.

2000 – 2007 Gillian was Group Head of Investor Relations for Volkswagen AG, managing all aspects of capital market communications and advising the Board on valuation and reputational issues. She was Group Head of IR for UBS AG (1998–2000) and established IR at Dresdner Bank (1991–1998).

Gillian has an MA in History, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and attended the Harvard General Management Programme.

Al Loehnis was a founding director of Investis, Europe's leading specialist in providing web-based investor relations and corporate communications services.

Prior to this, Al worked as an analyst in the City, most recently at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was a Vice-President in Equity Research.

Michael qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1974 and worked in the retail and transport sectors. After various line positions in finance he moved into investor relations in 1986. From 1998 until 2004 he was Director of Corporate Communications with FirstGroup plc, before working on the renewal of the Group’s railway franchises.  Michael has been a Board member of The Investor Relations Society since early 2005 and became General Manager in January 2007.