Simon Bowen
Bio
Simon Bowen has been appointed as the Interim Chair for Great British Nuclear (GBN), having previously been appointed as Industry Adviser to lead the set-up of the organisation.
He started his career as an engineering officer in the Royal Navy serving on submarines. He has extensive experience in the petrochemicals, renewables, civil nuclear and defence nuclear sectors.
He played a key role in the development of the Nuclear Sector Deal as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.
He joined Babcock International in 2015 where he was Chief Executive for nuclear. He was responsible for the Cavendish Nuclear business and the defence nuclear portfolio providing naval base services and submarine maintenance at Devonport, Clyde and Rosyth. He retired from Babcock in December 2021.
He led the scoping phase of GBN from May to September 2022, setting out the strategy and the key steps to rebuild the UK’s generating nuclear capacity. This included extensive engagement across government, with vendors, the supply chain, academia and others in the international nuclear sector.
In September, Simon delivered the scoping report to the then-PM and the Secretary of State of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) with his recommendations.
He continues as the Chair of Devonport Royal Dockyard and sits on the Council of the RNLI.
Simon joined the board of Rolls Royce Submarines as a Non-Executive Director in December 2021 and resigned in March 2023 following his appointment as GBN Interim Chair.
Simon's Mentoring Background
"I'm a nuclear engineer by background, started in the Navy and then joined BP as a leader, an OPS leader. I spent 18 years in BP running chemical factories and refineries and did all sorts of stuff. And then went out on my own, did some work on my own where I did a little bit of private equity work, where we did some new start-ups, and then realised that all that was not meant for me, because I like big organisations and like being surrounded by people.
So I went back into the chemical industry first and then joined Urenco, and then joined Babcock and then retired from Babcock for what ended up being 8 weeks, and then ended up in Great British Nuclear.
I am deeply, deeply privileged to be involved in Great British Nuclear and doing everything we're trying to do with the with the nuclear industry.
I benefitted from some just amazing people that have helped me. From career advice to just listening when I'm stuck in a world of pain. Or something I'm facing, whether it's with relation to my relationships in work or work challenges. But I've just had people I could download to and just test ideas with.
And so from a mentoring perspective, I have been hugely blessed with the people I've had contact with and still have contact with today. I still regard myself as a mentee with a number of people I work with. I have mentored a lot, and have been very with the people that have asked me to help them, because I learn as much as I can of give.
I think in terms of context and what's my experience of it as a mentor. I just think it's great to have once you get the trust between you; then being able to share ideas and share thoughts and just act as a sounding board for each other. Actually, I've just found enormously valuable so nothing but positive and have just deeply enjoyed it.
What's the core to it? The core to it for me is a human connection between the two of you. A bond of trust, because the deeper that that goes, the more you can share, and the more you get out of that.
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