Our mission and values and the team that make everything happen
We are your competitive advantage
Our Promises to You:
Our service doesn't stop with an invoice – we are your consultant partners to the point of installation.
We are exceptionally easy to work with despite dealing with complex technology.
We never compete with our customers as a design-only tech company.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to be leaders in ground source heat pump system design and set the industry benchmark for outstanding value, customer service and green energy advocacy.
We aim to do good:
By championing the adoption of ground source heat pumps by educating stakeholders, driving policy change, and pursuing sustainable practices in the energy sector.
By delivering a supportive and fulfilling working experience for our staff and giving back to the communities we serve.
Purpose:
To create a legacy of sustainability—a healthier, more resilient Earth for all.
Values: The 4 Genius Wins
COLLECTIVE CAMARADERIE
We build strong relationships within our team and with external partners, fostering inclusivity,
transparency, diversity and a culture of purposeful, unconventional and agile thinking.
We look to constantly seek improvement and challenge the status quo.
GROWTH MINDSET
We live and breathe a zero-blame culture, seizing every opportunity for learning and growth.
We are proactive in taking accountability for our actions.
DO THE RIGHT THING
We operate with a fact-based approach, dedicated to meeting deadlines and achieving customer satisfaction.
We leverage over 2 decades of experience in ground source renewable energy, setting the standard for excellence in the marketplace.
Our services provision is succinct and easy to understand. We avoid boilerplate.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
We craft bespoke, highly efficient and sustainable designs that benefit our clients
and contribute positively to the world, aligning our services with the greater good.
Meet The Team
Alistair McKnight
Alistair is one of our Account Directors supporting our client relationships and the sales function. He has worked in the property industry for over two decades developing business relationships and focusing on client care after completing his studies in Business Management. Alistair lives in Devon with his wife and son plus two labradors and enjoys dog walking and cycling in his spare time.
Chris Davidson
Chris is our co-founder, Chief Technical Officer and Chairman of the Board and holds a first-class honours degree in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London. Chris has worked in the heat pump industry since 2001, with extensive experience designing and implementing large-scale GSHP systems. Chris also plays a significant role in shaping UK energy policy through his position on the Ground Source Heat Pump Association committee. Originally heralding from the North of Scotland, Chris now lives with his wife and daughter in the beautiful English countryside and enjoys spending time in nature and the mountains.
Duncan Rae
Duncan is our Business Development Director and a graduate from Brunel University with a joint BSC Hons in Sport and Geology. He has been instrumental in sales growth despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and is also an active member of the design team leading our geological analysis services. He has over 20 years’ experience in developing new business channels and is an expert in business to business sales growth. Duncan lives in Devon with his wife and son and loves discovering new places to walk their dog Manny whilst foraging for mushrooms and wild food.
Ellis Laird
Ellis is our Senior Design Engineer. She is a graduate of the University of Glasgow achieving a first class honours in her Masters Degree in Mechanical Design Engineering. Ellis is passionate about promoting women in STEM and encouraging young people to pursue a career in this industry. She took part in a month-long outreach trip to Rwanda completing engineering-based workshops and presentations to schools across the country with the University of Rwanda and Glasgow University’s Females in Engineering society. She continues to be involved in this society as a mentor. Ellis likes playing the piano and lives by the sea so can often be found at the beach enjoying the outdoors. She is currently taking a 6 month sabbatical and fulfilling her ambition to travel the world!
Josh Turner
Josh is our Senior Project Engineer and joined the team in 2022. He graduated with a first class Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leeds in 2016, before returning in 2019 to undertake a PhD in the school of Civil Engineering. His PhD is investigated the long-term performance of ground source heat pumps in the UK. Josh enjoys the outdoors, particularly hiking in the countryside, but also enjoys endurance events having completed marathons, triathlons and even an Ironman.
Narges Mokarram
Narges is our Graduate Design Engineer and has been a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Glasgow since October 2021. So far, she has worked on low-temperature power cycles, waste heat recovery, refrigeration, combined cycles such as ORC-VCR, CHP, CCHP and different geothermal power cycles. Having a valued experience working with Matlab, Python, ANSYS-FLUENT, and different software in her field of study enables her to broaden her knowledge in thermodynamics and heat transfer analysis. In her Ph.D. studies, she's working on air-source Flexible heat pumps. In her spare time she likes to explore the mountains of Scotland and socialise with her friends.
Richard Davis
Rich is our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer with extensive achievements in operations, governance, marketing, business development and growth. He has a passion for our stewardship of our planet and has worked in the renewable energy space for over a decade. Previously he held senior roles within the IT and Telecommunications industry, managing territories across Europe. He is also a retired operational Firefighter having worked for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Technical Rescue and as part of this role was selected as team member for UK International Search and Rescue (UK-ISAR). Richard’s son and daughter have flown the nest and he now lives with his wife and two spaniels in the countryside. Rich enjoys mountaineering and exploring.
Selvaraj (Raj) Naicker
Selvaraj (Raj) is our Design Engineer. He achieved a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from De Montfort University for his research on a large scale geothermal heating and cooling system and his findings have been published in international journals. His skillset extends to IES thermal modelling and low-carbon and net-zero building design. He also holds an MSc in Energy and Sustainable Building design from De Montfort University, MTech Energy Engineering from NIT Trichy and BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Madurai Kamaraj University. Raj has worked in academia, teaching engineering drawing, thermodynamics, thermal engineering and renewable energy to undergraduate students at affiliated colleges of Anna university, Chennai. He spends his spare time playing badminton, visiting new places, surfing the internet to learn new skills and chatting with friends.
Steve Weston
Steve is our Graduate Design Engineer. He graduated from the University of Hull with a BSc in Geology and a Masters in GeoEnergy from the University of Edinburgh. He is passionate about improving efforts to decarbonise our energy industry, particularly through utilisation of the subsurface. He loves to travel and is a keen hill-runner, cyclist and mountaineer and loves to spend his free time exploring the Scottish Highlands.
Sarah Shepherd
Sarah is our General Manager and joined the team in 2021. Sarah brings leadership skills from nearly two decades working as a Firefighter and Crew Manager with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and has been instrumental in developing our processes so we maximise our efficiencies to deliver to our growing client base. Sarah lives with her fiance and pug Betsy and loves cycling and running as well as visiting new places and travelling the world. We are a virtual team at Genius Energy Lab and you will regularly find Sarah supporting our team and clients based from England, Spain and Greece.