Drax Group finance chief to retire after three years with energy generator

The chief financial officer of power generation business Drax Group is standing down and retiring from corporate life next year.

Andy Skelton joined Drax as its finance boss in January 2019, replacing interim CFO Dan Jones, following a three-year stint at financial markets software developer Fidessa Group.

His appointment came as the firm was reducing its use of coal ahead of a national deadline to phase out the highly-polluting fossil fuel from Britain’s energy system.

Once Western Europe’s biggest coal-fired power station, the Drax plant in North Yorkshire stopped using coal in 2023, nearly 50 years after it started generating power.

Drax is now one of the world’s largest biomass power plants, generating enough electricity to meet around 6 per cent of the UK’s power needs.

However, the firm’s environmental credentials have come under extensive scrutiny, with green pressure groups claiming Drax is the UK’s largest single source of carbon emissions.

Transition: Once Western Europe’s biggest coal-fired power station, the Drax plant in North Yorkshire stopped using coal in 2023, nearly 50 years after it started generating power 

Drax burns millions of tonnes of wood pellets every year at its power plant, about 80 per cent of which are imported from forests in the US and Canada.

The FTSE 250 business has received billions in subsidies to help convert its plant to run on biomass, but dozens of green organisations, including Greenpeace, have called on the UK Government to stop giving Drax further public funds. 

Skelton said in a statement on Wednesday: ‘I am choosing to retire from corporate life to spend more time with my family and pursue other personal interests in the knowledge that we have built a firm foundation from which Drax can execute its strategy and continue to develop opportunities for value creation and growth.

‘I look forward to continuing to contribute through 2025 until my successor is established.’

Before Fidessa, Skelton worked at Cambridge-based semiconductor company CSR until its takeover by Qualcomm in the summer of 2015.

He also held senior finance roles at Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson, including two years as CFO of its Croatian subsidiary, Ericsson Nikola Tesla.

Last month, Drax said it expected its full-year core earnings to hit the top end of market forecasts thanks to high pellet production and biomass generation volumes.

Will Gardiner, chief executive of Drax, said the group was sorry to see Skelton go ‘but fully respect his decision to retire from corporate life, and we wish him the very best for the future’. 

He added: ‘Andy has played an instrumental role in the growth and development of the group, putting in place a strong financial foundation on which we will continue to build, as well as an experienced finance team.’

Drax Group shares were 0.6 per cent down at 654.5p on Wednesday morning, but have risen by around 48 per cent over the past 12 months.