Board Members' Biographies
Dr Helen Mounsey, BSc (Hons), PhD (Non-Executive Member)
Helen Mounsey was appointed Chairman on 1 October 2007, having previously been appointed to the Board on 7 November 2002. She joined the consulting practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1989 and went on to become an Associate Partner with IBM Business Consulting Services following the merger of the two organisations in October 2002. Helen left IBM in January 2009 and since then has worked as an independent consultant. In her consultancy work, Helen focuses on the utilities sector, including electricity, gas and water, and has a particular specialism in asset management and operational systems.
Prior to her career in management consultancy, between 1982 and 1989 Helen was a lecturer in GIS at Birkbeck College, the University of London. Between 1980 and 1982 she was a senior research assistant at the University of Durham (where she obtained her PhD) and a computing officer at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr Barrie Jones, CBE, PhD, BSc (Hons), CEng, FIMinE (Non-Executive Member)
Barrie Jones was appointed to the Board on 22 May 2000 and he was reappointed in 2004 for a further term to 30 September 2009. He is a Chartered Engineer and is a Fellow of the Institution of Mining Engineers, with a PhD in Mining Engineering. He was employed in a number of senior positions within British Coal Corporation, most recently as Assistant Group Director/Technical Support Manager, North East Group between 1989 and 1993 and then Head of Mining between 1993 and 1996.
He was appointed in 1996 as Chief Operating Officer with Mines Rescue Service Limited, a position he continues to hold. He is an Advisory Member of the Deep Mined Coal Industry Advisory Committee and Chief Examiner of the Mining Qualifications Board. He was formerly a member of the European Union Safety and Health Commission for Extractive Industry. He chairs the Remuneration Committee. He was awarded a CBE in 2006 for services to the coal industry.
Ms Tricia Henton, FRSE (Non-Executive Member)
Tricia Henton has been appointed to the Board as from 1 October 2010. She is currently Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency with responsibility for water resources and quality, environmental legislation, conservation and climate change. Tricia is due to retire from the Agency in October 2010. She is a geologist by background and early in her career worked for the National Coal Board as an Opencast Geologist. She joined the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in 1995 as Director of Environmental Strategy, becoming Chief Executive in 2000. She is a past president of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Tricia has been a Non-Executive Board Member of the British Geological Survey since January 2010.
Mr Stephen Dingle, MA, ACIB (Non-Executive Member)
Stephen Dingle was appointed to the Board on 1 May 2008 and took over as Chairman of the Audit Committee in September 2008. Stephen has had a career as an investment banker and financial advisor. He spent the majority of his career at NM Rothschild & Sons Limited where he was responsible for starting a mining finance business mainly focussed on gold mines. Latterly he specialised in advising on the financing of commercial property and had clients in both the public and private sectors. His final executive position was as a partner with Ernst & Young LLP where he was also co-head of the real estate finance group.
Stephen now has a portfolio of non-executive positions. Besides his role with the Coal Authority, he is a Trustee, Honorary Treasurer and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Shakespeare Globe Trust and a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Registers of Scotland.
Mr Stephen Redmond, CIPD (Non-Executive Member)
Stephen Redmond was appointed to the Board on 1 March 2010. Stephen has had a career in human resources (HR) and organisational development both in the public and private sectors. He has spent the majority of his career working in the public health sector. Latterly he was responsible for creating the national HR function for the health sector in Wales and led the merger of four civil service departments into one new organisation. His career in HR commenced with British Coal, where he worked between 1973 and 1988 in Western and North East Areas.
Stephen now has a portfolio of positions. Besides his role with the Coal Authority, he is a Non-Executive Director at the Crown Prosecutions Service, Independent Chair of the Doctors and Dentists Disciplinary Appeals Panel for England and the Independent Panel Chair for the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Mr Philip Lawrence, ACA (Executive Director)
Philip Lawrence joined the Authority on 1 May 2006 as Director of Finance and was appointed Chief Executive on 1 January 2007. Philip graduated in 1990 from Birmingham University with a degree in Mathematics and joined Deloitte and Touche where he qualified as Chartered Accountant in 1993. He worked for Deloitte and Touche across a number of disciplines including Assurance and Advisory Services, Forensic Services and Transaction Support. Philip was based in the Midlands and London and also spent three years on secondment in Kenya and South Africa serving a number of multinational groups.
In 2003 he joined the telecommunications equipment group, Marconi Corporation plc, as Director of External Reporting to assist the company through their financial restructuring, US listing and quarterly reporting to the London and New York stock exchanges. After 18 months he moved to be Director of Financial Planning and Reporting for the Group. Philip´s final project at Marconi was to dispose of the majority of the group to Ericsson, which was completed in March 2006.
Mr Ian Wilson, FRICS (Executive Director)
Ian Wilson was appointed Director of Mining Projects and Property on 5 October 2001 and was appointed to the Board from 26 November 2002. He has been with the Authority since October 1994, and was previously Operations Manager (Central), a position which he had held since 1999.
He held a number of posts within British Coal in colliery surveying before specialising in mining subsidence engineering and held the post as Assistant Chief Surveyor of British Coal until joining the Coal Authority as a Licensing Manager. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Mr Steve Pennell (Executive Director)
Stephen Pennell has been with the Authority since its inception in 1994. He was appointed Director of Mining Information and Services on 17 January 2005. He was formerly Head of ICT and prior to that, the Mining Information Systems Manager.
He headed the development of the computing and information systems for Coal Mining Information at Bretby in 1989. He is currently a member of the British Computing Society and an Associate of the Institute of Directors.
Mrs Sally Brook Shanahan, LLB (Executive Director)
Sally Brook Shanahan was appointed as the Authoritys Solicitor and Secretary on 1 January 1998. She was educated at Nottingham High School for Girls GDST and graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BA (Hons) in Law in 1981, subsequently converted to LLB. After completing the Solicitors Final Examinations at the College of Law, Chester in 1982 she was articled to Richard Leman at Actons in Nottingham and admitted as a Solicitor in 1984.
Upon qualification Sally began her legal career with the Greater London Council in the Litigation and Contracts Branch. She joined the National Coal Board in 1985 as an Assistant Solicitor in the Litigation and Employment Branch of the Legal Department. Thereafter, she held a number of appointments, the final of which was Head of Legal Services and Departmental Secretary until the closure of British Coal in December 1997.
Mr Paul Frammingham, BA(Hons), ACMA (Executive Director)
Paul Frammingham was appointed as Director of Finance on 6 May 2008. He was previously Financial Controller at Babcock Networks Limited, being responsible for the finance and procurement functions of the business, and was a member of the Babcock Networks Operational Board.
Prior to this Paul worked for Balfour Beatty Railway Engineering and for Rolls Royce Plc.
May 2009

