About Us

Jake Surman, Technical Director

Jake has worked on numerous wind farm projects within onshore wind consultancy since 2002. Jake has a strong background in technical assessment work and project strategy.

Jake is a founder and Director of Whirlwind and is also involved in projects from site identification, through to determination. His technical experience includes: site layout and design, shadow flicker, landscape and visual impact assessments, noise assessments and EMI consultations; all of which form part of the planning application.

Tom Surman, Development Director

Tom co-founded Whirlwind in 2007 after having a successful background developing and consenting wind energy projects for over four years at RWE npower renewables. He was the Project Manager responsible for consenting three schemes totalling 25MW and part of the team responsible for a 92MW project.

James Perkins, Legal Director

James co-founded Whirlwind in 2007 and provides all aspects of legal support for Whirlwind, including drafting and negotiating option lease agreements with landowner(s). In addition, James is responsible for general business management and commercial issues.

James is a qualified solicitor and spent 6 years working at a leading Manchester commercial practice.

Thomas Chappell, Development Director

Thomas joined us in January 2009. He has worked in the onshore wind sector since 2003 and has a broad and a proven expertise in almost every aspect of the pre-construction phase of wind farm projects.

As a developer, he has project managed a large number of wind farms from inception to commencement of construction, being responsible for all aspects of pre-construction development including site identification, feasibility study, negotiating and securing land agreements, managing multi-disciplinary teams of consultants to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment, managing stakeholders and guiding projects through the planning process and securing grid connection. In other roles, he has expanded his expertise to include a knowledge of grid connection issues, financial modelling of project economics, turbine procurement negotiation and other tasks necessary for the delivery of an operational wind farm.

Dan Grierson, Planning Director

Dan joined us in April 2010. Dan is a qualified planner and member of The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and he also holds a degree in Environmental Management Practice.

Dan specialises in site identification, the de-risking of proposals, the effective screening and scoping of proposals and the effective and proactive management of the consent process, both up to and following submission of the planning application.

Dan has worked in the onshore wind sector since 2001 and has played a major role in the delivery of planning consents for over 20 wind energy schemes throughout the UK, including: the Nissan wind turbines and Great Eppleton wind farms in Sunderland, Langley, Holmside, High Hedleyhope, Trimdon, Hare Hill and Broom Hill wind farms in Durham, the Edinbane site on Skye, the Clachan Flats sites in Argyll, the Glenkerie site in the Scottish Borders, the Croda turbine in Hull and a range of sites on behalf of Tesco including the Crick turbine in Northamptonshire.

Dr Philip Surman, Non-Executive Director and Chairman

Philip is a leading authority on wind energy with over 40 years’ experience in the electricity supply industry and nearly 20 years specifically in association with renewable energy. He has had a varied career in conventional and renewable power generation, and is now a wind energy adviser to BERR (formerly the DTI).

Philip established The Energy Workshop Limited (TEW) in 1995. TEW is an independent renewable energy consultancy with offices in West Yorkshire and Sussex. It specialises in providing development support and producing environmental reports to wind farm developers of all sizes, with a particular emphasis on small wind energy projects.

Jolyon Latimer, Non-executive Director

Jolyon was part of the team who set up Whirlwind and he advises the Directors on corporate and strategic matters. Jolyon’s background is in private equity and corporate finance. He is an Investment Director at CBPE and has previously worked for 3i and KPMG Corporate Finance. Jolyon has worked on buyouts across Europe and North America and he has a degree in Law & Accounting from the University of Manchester.

Stephen Latimer, Non-executive Director

Stephen is the senior partner at Latimer Lee solicitors in Manchester where he advises clients and businesses on all kinds of legal matters and in particular on property matters. He has been a practising solicitor since 1972 and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the team.