Andy is a Senior Advisor at the Environment Agency. Andy joined the Team in July 2024 and brought with him a background in fisheries, freshwater ecology and working in partnerships. Andy has helped to shape how GYR will work over the last 18 months with a focus on Comms and promotion of GYR. 

Ben is the River Resilience Manager at Yorkshire Water and one of the founding members of GYR. Ben combines his expertise in freshwater ecology and hydrology with a strategic approach to drive his ambition of seeing Yorkshire’s rivers flowing freely again. 

Laura is Project Manager at The Rivers Trust and joined the Team in February 2025. She has been instrumental in implementing new systems that improve efficiency and enhance partners’ access to project information, alongside managing partnership updates. 

Lola is Project Officer at The Rivers Trust and joined the Team in February 2025. She effectively leads the Team through key meetings of Secretariat, Steering Group and Partnership Boards ensuring targets are met. 

Mark is the Environment Manager at Yorkshire Water, one of the founding members of the GYR Partnership and Chair of the Steering Group. Mark has a passion for restoring rivers via partnerships and dreams of a day when there are salmon in every Yorkshire river. 

Neil is the Regional Development Manager for Yorkshire at The Rivers Trust and one of the founding members of GYR. Neil has delivered a multitude of major fish passes schemes across Yorkshire throughout his working career, through which he developed a strong relationship with Ben and Mark that sparked the idea of GYR.

Phil is a Project Manager at Yorkshire Water. Phil joined the Team in Jan 2025 and has been a vital cog in ensuring funding reaches the Delivery Partners for their projects removing Yorkshire’s barriers. With a previous background in countryside management and NFM, Phil now manages the financial and contractual elements of GYR.