Who we are

Amar Qureshi
Amar is CEO and Co-owner of Agilia and has spent 20 years developing and delivering infrastructure projects. Previously as Commercial Director for the £4.1 billion Thames Tideway Tunnel, he led the team developing the innovative and ground-breaking delivery model. He also led the structuring and the procurement of the main construction contracts – the largest contracts to be let in the water sector. Subsequently, as Major Projects Director for Thames Water, he oversaw the delivery of over £3 billion pounds of capital investment including the early and enabling works for the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

He started his career in the City, with Allen & Overy, advising banks and sponsors on UK and international projects. He also spent time at HM Treasury where he worked on numerous projects, including responsibility for developing and delivering the commercial and contractual framework for a multi-billion programme of investment in infrastructure.

Mike Pugsley
Mike is CFO and Co-owner of Agilia and is an experienced Finance/Commercial Director and negotiator. Mike has a strong track record of successfully developing innovative and ground-breaking infrastructure projects. Having worked in infrastructure development and delivery at senior board level for the past 20 years, initially at PWC and then as the Finance and Commercial Director of Local Partnerships (a 50/50 joint venture between HMG and the Local Government Association), he has rare experience that spans the entire lifecycle of infrastructure projects from project initiation through to operational expiry.

Mike is able to win the trust and confidence of all major stakeholders with experience in the public sector (central government, non-governmental department bodies and local authorities) and the private sector, having worked closely with them in development and delivering major infrastructure projects and programmes – including the £4.1 billion Lower Thames Crossing Project as well as Thames Tideway Tunnel and the multi-billion Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme.

Fred Maroudas
Fred is Agilia’s Chairman. He has 25 years of experience in the financing, delivery and management of the UK’s strategic infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships. Fred has held senior executive and non-executive positions in the UK Government and in many of the UK’s largest infrastructure companies, most recently as head of rail and airports at the IPA. Fred created ground-breaking and award winning finance platforms as CFO of Eversholt Rail, as Director of Funding for Network Rail and as Finance Director for BAA / Heathrow. He was named by Euroweek as one of the 25 most influential players in the European capital markets. He is also Chairman of The Day News and Media Group and a pension trustee for the Institute of Cancer Research.

Michael Gerrard
Mike is a Senior Adviser to Agilia. He has 30 years of financial and management experience in global infrastructure investment. He has held a number of senior positions, including as an assistant director of Morgan Grenfell plc, a director of HM Treasury Taskforce, and deputy CEO and later CEO of Partnerships UK plc. Mike has a breadth of experience across a range of economic and social infrastructure sectors and has been involved in some of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK, including as Managing Director of Thames Tideway Tunnel. He is currently chairman of the infrastructure investment company, INPP Limited

Anne Tiedemann
Anne Tiedemann is a Senior Adviser to Agilia and has more than 30 years’ experience in both strategic and operational management at a senior level and in an international environment spanning the US, Latin America, the UK, Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Anne has a significant track record of delivering local capability and profitable growth, while positioning the organisation to operate sustainably.

Sebastian Pampe
Seb is the Director responsible for Project Management at Agilia and has worked on some of the UK’s most iconic infrastructure projects over the last 17 years, which include Thames Tideway Tunnel and Heathrow’s Terminal 2 and 5. He is a qualified Quantity Surveyor who has discovered his passion for project and programme management.

Combining his skill set of project management and commercial management has enabled Seb to gain extensive experience across a range of sectors and international locations. Seb is currently working for the Home Office on the procurement for the new Emergency Services Network. Before this Seb was a partner at Arcadis (EC Harris LLP) and led key infrastructure accounts.

Afzal Ginwalla
Afzal is a civil engineer and Manager within Agilia with project management experience in the water and transport sectors. He has managed the conceptual design, environmental appraisal and cost estimating of major water supply expansion schemes such as reservoirs, pipeline transfers and desalination plants. Afzal has also authored regulatory documents for WRMP19 and PR19 for several water companies. He began his career as a design assurance engineer in the major projects directorate of Thames Water focusing on large flood alleviation schemes.

He holds an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford and an MEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester.

James Lee
James is the Commercial Director at Agilia and has over 15 years professional experience in the infrastructure sector and has worked as a financial and commercial adviser, helping to develop a number of PFI/PPP contracts and has worked on a number of high profile infrastructure projects such as Lower Thames Crossing, Crossrail and Thames Estuary Flood Defence Project.

James is a Chartered Accountant (Fellow) and has previously worked at Local Partnerships as the Commercial Director as well as the Cabinet Office providing high profile briefings to Cabinet members and special advisers. (His core skills include financial management, financial analysis, risk management, managing commercial programmes, PFI/PPP contract development, contract analysis, financial model development / review, negotiation and business case development and scrutiny.

Garry Connolly
Garry is the Legal Director at Agilia and has more than 15 years’ experience working on ground-breaking infrastructure projects and programmes in the UK and European markets. He has provided commercial, strategic and legal advice to project sponsors, funders, contractors and government departments in a diverse range of sectors, including transport, tunnelling, water, energy and waste.

Garry is currently advising Defra on its waste PFI programme and acting as Commercial Adviser to CGMA on the New Covent Garden Market development. Previously, Garry has worked at leading law firms Ashurst (London) and McCann FitzGerald (Dublin).

Frances Lyons
Frances is Company Secretary to Agilia and part of the Legal team. Frances has 14 years of experience as a contract solicitor with a diverse range of expertise, including PFI and PPP project contracts, across the public and private sectors in the infrastructure and energy industries. Frances has a proven practice and academic background enabling her to perform complex advisory roles within large scale commercial organisations.

Andy Forestiero
Andy Forestiero is a Project Director at Agilia and Chartered Mechanical Engineer with nearly 40 years client-side experience in the water sector, gained both in the UK and overseas. His experience spans the complete project spectrum from business development through to commissioning and handover of capital schemes, delivered through traditional and collaborative forms of working with the supply chain.

Andy’s areas of expertise include the management of complex programmes, stakeholder engagement and team leadership. He has worked on some of the UK’s most prestigious infrastructure programmes including London 2012, Crossrail and the Thames Tideway Tunnel. On the latter, Andy spent three years in Thames Water’s Client team developing the technical aspects of the project and then another two and a half years heading the company’s responsibilities for delivery.

Simon Hughes
Simon is a Project Director at Agilia and has spent almost 30 years working in the water and environment sectors. Over 25 years at the Environment Agency saw him move from regulation to operational delivery, to shaping Government policy on flood risk and urban growth. He focussed on company water resource and business planning, chairing the Water Resources in the South East group. His career at the EA culminated in leading their input to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project and subsequent DCO.

Simon joined Thames Water early in 2015 to help build the case for new strategic water infrastructure in the South East. He led the team developing their Water Resources Management Plan, and business plan for Wholesale water. He was Director of their Trunk Mains review programme and designed a new way for the company to engage with stakeholders.

Nicholas Williams
Nick is the Corporate Manager for Agilia with experience of administrating and managing business overseas and in the UK. Nick’s wide range of experience and technical ability have given him the opportunity to work across public finance and consulting roles in various sectors, including working with the Home Office and Police Forces under the nationwide programmes. Nick holds a BSc in Physics from Queen Mary University and is currently a part-qualified Accountant.

Christopher Wright
Chris is an Assistant Manager in Agilia with experience in data analysis and evaluation, as well as project management which he developed during his scientific research career. Having transitioned into infrastructure delivery, Chris has provided detailed support across the water, energy and transport sectors. Chris holds a PhD and Master’s in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Henry Sutcliffe
Henry is an experienced project manager specialising in nationally significant infrastructure schemes. His track record includes leading a multidisciplinary team in the development of a multi-billion-pound rail infrastructure programme to connect Heathrow Airport to new domestic markets and leading the cross-Whitehall engagement and communications strategy for Sir Peter Hendy’s review into the re-planning of Network Rail’s investment programme.

He has worked at the heart of government for over a decade and has extensive experience of policy development, commercial negotiations and advising Cabinet Ministers. This included brokering agreements between Departments to fund key government priorities, such as free school meals and the carrier bag tax.

Gareth Russell-Hughes
Gareth is a Manager at Agilia with experience in a wide range of management and technical roles. Gareth has a background working in the financial sector and has worked across all stages of a project with success in providing high quality change management, controls, programme development and systems for managing information. Gareth holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Liverpool.