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

Strategic Alliance Partners Conference hits the mark

Senior representatives from AWE, the Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO), the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) and the university community gathered at the recently held Strategic Alliance Partners Conference to discuss and debate areas of STEM that support our mission. The two-day event organised by the External Technical Partnerships Office brought together government, academia, […]

Features

28 Apr 2025

Strengthening International Ties

International collaboration is vital in strengthening national defence and nuclear security and despite the high levels of security involved, collaboration amongst allies is strong. At AWE, a dedicated team of experts, advisors and business managers govern regular exchanges with international partners to facilitate collaboration and cooperation, and support research and development in nuclear science and […]

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.