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

Three people in protective workwear in a lab

Two decades of collaboration reaps rewards

A team of AWE physicists and academics from the University of Oxford who have been collaborating for 20 years to solve a ‘grand challenge’ – which had proved elusive until now – have had their work published in the Journal of Applied Physics.

Person holding mobile phone, close up of hands and phone.

Community News

9 Jun 2025

New emergency text alerting service

People living near AWE’s Aldermaston and Burghfield sites can now sign up to a new emergency text alerting service. Residents in the detailed emergency planning zones (DEPZ) around the sites will receive a letter explaining about the new scheme and how to register.

AWE becomes new corporate member

We are pleased to announce that AWE has become a proud corporate member of the Institute of Collaborative Working (ICW), which aims to promote best practices and standards in how organisations collaborate – internally and externally – to deliver value to our partners, customers and suppliers. ICW’s CEO, Frank Lee, said: “AWE’s commitment to collaborative working […]