Meet the team: Regulation and Compliance Manager Stuart Monk

In the next instalment of our ‘Meet the team’ series, we’re introducing you to our Regulation and Compliance Manager Stuart Monk.

Stuart helps our customers and stakeholders with assuring the safe flow of energy through our networks to our end consumers. He’s the one managing the interfaces of mua projects with external wider industry stakeholders such as the regulator, suppliers and local highways to name a few. He’s also earned the accolade of being our longest-serving colleague!

When did you join mua Group, Stuart?

I’ve been here since day one, when it was just a concept back in 2016 – I’m part of the furniture now! I helped the team to build the company from just another ‘asset adopter’ into the forward-thinking multi-utility network operator we are today.

Despite being with mua for a good six years now, I learn something new about the energy industry each and every day, and there’s always something to keep me interested. Every day is a school day!

What’s it like working at mua?

Mua always set out to have all its team grow with the business, and not have the business grow around them. That’s been the way we’ve helped keep things interesting for all the team and also how we continue to evolve together.

As the business grows, we’re committed to getting the right people into the right roles. We’re building a great team here and I’m proud to be part of our upwards journey.

How is mua different to other IDNOs and IGTs?

We like to get into our customers’ thought processes and think “how can mua work with you” and not “how can you work with mua”. This was a big part of our initial vision to meet the needs of our clients and customers, and work with them to make their lives easier.

One of the ways I help with that is when it comes to working with our customers to help with the legal access arrangements to our infrastructure. We also work with landowners to come to an agreeable access arrangement for future maintenance to ensure the lights can stay on and homes can have the energy they need.

We want to make the connections process seamless, so we looked at ways we can enhance the process over the traditional route. We knew from day one that the typically slow legal process is a huge frustration for our clients, so we speed up the process by proactively working with the designers early on in the development of a new site to help reduce legal timescales.

What’s the future got in store for you and for mua? 

The regulation of energy is ever-changing at the moment what with gas hydrogen injection, the Future Homes Standard, EV charging networks and the UK’s drive to net zero.

Mua will be at the forefront of all these changes, as our aim is to be the first-choice multi-utility network operator, providing a multi-utility route to net zero. This will see us branching out from gas and electricity networks into other sectors, such as water, fibre and heat. I’ll be mapping and incorporating that regulatory landscape into my role too, so there’s plenty to keep me busy over the years to come!   

One final question for you, Stuart – what’s your proudest achievement?

My proudest professional achievement is securing my Incorporated Engineer status with IGEM through my career with mua. It’s great that our team support each other in our professional careers as well as our personal aspirations.

Talking of personal achievements, my proudest personal achievement has to be seeing the Miami Dolphins, the NFL American Football team I support, play live in 2021. They lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was still a fantastic day!