Established in 2014

Meet the directors acting on a voluntary basis…

Ynni Anafon Energy Cyf. (YAE) is an independent Society and not a subsidiary of the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company Ltd (ARC).  However, its three founding Directors, Jacqui Bugden, Gavin Gatehouse and Hywel Thomas were also Directors of ARC at the time the Society was formed.

On 1 May 2015, Ynni Anafon Energy Cyf shareholders elected the new Board of 9 Directors who bring to the Board a broad mix of experience. All Directors act on a purely voluntary basis. Currently, they are:

Gavin Gatehouse

Founder Director

Gavin has lived in Abergwyngregyn since 1973 and raised his family in the village.  He retired in 1998 after 26 years in the University of Wales, Bangor and a period as Head of the School of Biological Sciences so has experience of general, personnel and financial administration in a large university department. This role and his research interests in tropical entomology involved him with national and international government and private sector organisations in the UK, Africa, the Far East, Australia and the Americas.  

He has been active in community initiatives and enterprises in Abergwyngregyn, as a community councillor, a founder Director and past Chair of the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company and member and past Chair of the Aber Heritage Valley Partnership.  He is now founding Chair of Ynni Anafon Energy Cyf.

Wynn Griffiths

Wynn’s family have lived in Aber for generations and he was born and has lived his whole life in Abergwyngregyn.  He farms above the village and is also a fencing contractor.  

Wynn has played a prominent role in community affairs for many years, serving as a Community Councillor, Director of the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company with particular responsibility for servicing the Aber Falls car parks, and a Trustee of Dŵr Anafon, the charity set up to distribute the disposable profits of the hydro for community benefit. 

Rachel Mackereth

Rachel moved to North Wales in 1988 to train in General Practice having qualified in medicine at Southampton University. She was a partner in a North Wales Practice until 2019. Rachel and her husband moved to Abergwyngregyn from Conwy in 2013, downsizing after their two children had left home.

She is involved with the village Garden Club and has contributed to the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company. Rachel enjoys gardening, wild swimming and spending time with her family.

Ted Mackereth

Ted grew up in the area and now lives in nearby Llanfairfechan with his family. He has a PhD in Astrophysics from Liverpool John Moores University and prior to his current work as a Data Scientist in a London based financial services company, he held academic positions in Birmingham and Toronto, Canada.

In his academic career he led research projects in Astrophysics, studying the origin and evolution of our Milky Way galaxy, before moving into industry to apply his skills in data, statistics and computer science in financial services. He has strong links to Abergwyngregyn through his parents who moved there in 2013 and have become active community members. He is the Secretary for Llanfairfechan Community Energy, an initiative aiming to start community energy projects in Llanfairfechan.

Linton Roberts

Linton has lived in Abergwyngregyn for 18 years with his wife Philippa and their three daughters. He was born in Bangor Gwynedd, and educated at Ysgol Friars, Bangor. Studied Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering at the Department of Marine Technology; University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Following graduation in 1994, he joined Cammell Laird in Birkenhead as a Naval Architect. 

Cammell Laird is one of the largest shipyards in the UK and during a 22 year career he has worked in various technical, production and project management roles culminating in promotion to Managing Director of the Company in 2008. In his career Linton has had responsibility for the delivery of numerous, highly complex, multi-million pound construction and engineering projects.

Linton now has operational responsibility for the Company and the activities of over 1000 people working there. The Company is currently constructing the new £200m UK research ship 'RRS Sir David Attenborough'.

As well as his role as Cammell Laird, Linton is member of the Lloyds Register Technical Committee (an advisory group to the Marine Classification Society) and a trustee of the Kathleen & May (Heritage Schooner) Trust. 

Martin Taylor

Martin is a native of North Wales and has lived in Llanfairfechan since 1972. He retired in 2010 after 40 years in Bangor University during which time he was appointed Head of Electronic Engineering for 6 years and Dean of Science and Engineering for 3 years. 

As Head of Electronic Engineering he was also appointed to the Board of IDB (UWB) Ltd which, until recently, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bangor University.  During his tenure as Dean, he was a member of the University’s Planning and Implementation Group. He has acted as a consultant for companies ranging from SMEs to major multinationals advising on production problems related to static electricity. For many years he was the Treasurer and a Trustee of Llanfairfechan Sailing Club.

Nikki Whiting

Nikki has lived in Abergwyngregyn since 2006 working locally as a General Practice Nurse. Her nursing career spans 50 years covering a number of specialties. Though now semi-retired, she continues to run an anti-coagulation clinic in the neighbouring village of Llanfairfechan. She has been a member of the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company since 2012, joining the board of Directors in 2015. 

Committed to the concept of renewable energy she has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Ynni Anafon Energy hydro project from the start and was co-opted to the Board in 2015.

Hywel Thomas

Founder Director

Hywel’s family has lived in Abergwyngregyn for seven generations and he himself has lived here with his family since 1988.  Following 38 years experience in Planning, he recently retired as Development Control Manager with Gwynedd  Council Planning Department.  

He has experience of working on community projects since 2000 including the £470,000 Yr Hen Felin/The Old Mill renovation project which has delivered a Community Centre, Cafe and Community Club.  For this project the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.  Currently Chairman and Director of the Abergwyngregyn Regeneration Company, he is also Secretary of Ynni Anafon Energy Cyf.

Aled Williams

A semi-retired electronic design engineer, Aled currently undertakes development projects at a local environmental research establishment. A Bangor University graduate, he specialised in automatic test equipment design for aviation systems at Cheltenham. He moved to Llanfairfechan in 1984 with his family and worked on geotechnical instrumentation and medical robotic systems design for local companies.

He joined IDB, Bangor University, in 1992 where he completed numerous projects until 2010. These were mainly bespoke instrumentation and control systems for establishments including the MOD, the Magnox and local hydroelectric schemes. A trustee and organist at a local chapel, his main interests are choral singing, mountain walking and clock repairing.