Steven John Holliday (born 26 October 1956) is a British businessman and engineer. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British utility company National Grid from 2007 to 2016. Holliday worked at

Exxon Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...

for 19 years from 1978 to 1997, until he became a director at British Borneo Oil and Gas in 1998 and a board director for National Grid in 2001. He served as the chief executive officer of National Grid from 2007 until stepping down in 2016.

Early life and education

Born in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, Holliday is the son of Michael and Jean (née Day) Holliday. Holliday attended Okehampton College in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and then studied at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

where he gained a bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering in 1978.

Career

Exxon

Holliday joined

in 1978, where he worked for 19 years until 1997, gaining experience in all aspects of the oil and gas industry. Holliday was made operations manager of the Fawley Refinery near Southampton in the UK when he was 30 years old.

British Borneo Oil and Gas

In 1998, when British Borneo merged with Hardy Oil and Gas, Holliday became its international director. He worked at British Borneo for 3 years.

National Grid

Holliday joined the National Grid Group as the board director responsible for the UK and Europe, in March 2001. Following the merger of National Grid Group plc and Lattice Group plc in October 2002, he took responsibility for the Group's electricity and gas transmission businesses. In 2003, Holliday was promoted from group director (responsible for Worldwide Transmission Operations) to group director responsible for the UK Gas Distribution and Business Services. Holliday was also appointed the chief executive of Transco. Holliday became chief executive officer (CEO) of National Grid plc in January 2007. In 2009, Holliday's total compensation for the role of CEO was £2.2 million, consisting of a £929,000 annual salary, and a £1,277,000 bonus. In 2016, Holliday expressed the view that the concept of

baseload The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants or dispatchable generation, depending on which approach has the best mi ...

was "outdated", as microgrids would become the primary means of production, and large powerplants relegated to supply the remainder. In November 2015, National Grid announced that Holliday would step down as CEO in March 2016, and that John Pettigrew, the UK executive director who had joined National Grid 25 years earlier, would succeed Holliday. Holliday left National Grid in July 2016.

Magnox Inquiry

In March 2017, Greg Clark MP, the UK Secretary of State for Energy, established an independent Inquiry into the conduct of a 2012 decommissioning services

procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

process undertaken by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the reasons why the contract, subsequently awarded to Cavendish Fluor Partnership in 2014, "proved unsustainable". Holliday was asked to lead the Inquiry. Clark asked the Inquiry to take a ‘cradle to grave’ approach beginning with the NDA’s procurement and ending with the contract termination, to review the conduct of the NDA and of government departments, and to "make any recommendations it sees fit". Interim findings were published in October 2017.

Directorships

In 2004, Holliday joined the board of the Marks and Spencer Group as a non-executive director.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, Holliday was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde for his contributions to the power and energy sector. In 2009, Holliday achieved an entry in Who's Who, as follows: "Chief Executive National Grid since 2007, b. Exeter 26th October 1956, son of Michael and Jean Holliday m. Kate Patterson; three d. Educ: University of Nottingham (BSc Mining Engineering 78). Esso/Exxon, 1978–1997; Ops. Manager, Fawley Refinery, Esso UK, 1988–92; Supply & Transportation Divl Dir, Esso UK 1992–94; Regl Vice-President, Gas, Exxon Co. International 1994–97; Bd Dir, British Borneo Oil & Gas, 1997–2000; National Grid Bd Dir responsible for Transmission, 2001–03; Gp Dir responsible for UK Gas Distribution and Business Services, 2003–07; Non-exec Dir Marks & Spencer, 2004-->; Recreations: sports, Rugby, skiing, arts." in 2010, Holliday was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

Personal life

Holliday married Katharine Patterson in 1996 in Enfield. The couple had two children and lived in West London. They divorced in 2024.

References

External links

* Pagnamenta, Robin.
Preparing the Ground for an Industrial Revolution at National Grid
" ''The Times (London)'', December 22, 2008. *

" ''The Daily Telegraph (London)'', 7 January 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holliday, Steve Alumni of the University of Nottingham 1956 births British chief executives in the energy industry English chief executives British mining engineers Engineers from Exeter Living people