Sam Laidlaw

Chairman

Sam has been a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group during the coalition government, the Senior Director for the Department of Transport and a non-executive director of both HSBC Holdings plc and Hanson plc.

He has more than 40 years’ experience across the energy sector and has held several senior roles including Chief Executive Officer of both Enterprise Oil plc and Centrica plc, and as the Founder and Executive Chairman of Neptune Energy Group Holdings Ltd, an international oil and gas exploration and production company. He is the senior non-executive director of Rio Tinto plc and Chairman of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB).

Sam has extensive leadership experience in long-term capital investment industries in which safety, sustainability and stakeholder management are critical.

Latest news

Detecting the undetectable

At AWE Blacknest, experts in forensic seismology work behind the scenes to support the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Their mission? To detect and verify potential nuclear tests worldwide by analysing seismic data. Our seismologists play a key role in upholding global security and arms control through cutting-edge research, international collaboration, and advanced monitoring techniques.

AWE physicists celebrated at STEM for Britain 2025

Two aspiring physicists from AWE were recently honoured as finalists at the prestigious STEM for Britain 2025 event, an annual competition which provides a unique platform for early career research scientists, engineers and mathematicians to present ground-breaking work to policymakers, industry leaders and academics. This is the third year AWE has sponsored the event, demonstrating […]

William Penney Fellow appointed to full professor

We are delighted to announce that Mark Whiting, one of our esteemed William Penney Fellows, has been promoted to full professor at the University of Surrey – a key strategic partner for AWE.