Kath Harris

Kath Harris is the NGET executive’s Lead Finance Business Partner. A chartered accountant with 25 years experience in the energy, telecoms and automotive industries, Kath has a track record of delivering complex and ambitious plans with vision and insight.     

As Finance Business Partner, her role involves “turning data into insight and bringing numbers to life” to add value to ET’s performance and strategic direction by challenging and influencing decisions. 

Before joining National Grid to head its Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) team, she worked for Arqiva, the communications infrastructure company, latterly as finance director of its Telecoms and Smart M2M (machine to machine) division.  

In that role, Kath supported – and challenged – tactical and long-term business strategy; led the division’s planning, reporting and financial analysis; managed its financial risk; and oversaw the effective, value-for-money allocation of its resources.  

She was involved in Arqiva’s refinancing in 2016/17 when, during financial and commercial due diligence, she persuaded market-knowledgeable consultants to change their positioning of the Telecoms and Smart M2M division’s business plans. She also oversaw the sale of businesses and products with annual revenues of about £70 million.  

Earlier in her career, Kath was finance manager for Prodrive Automotive Technology, where her innovations in communication resulted in significant improvements in the senior management team’s outlook and understanding of business performance. She also acted as project manager in the management buy-out (MBO) of a loss-making division, and was involved in setting up new businesses in the US, automating processes and eliminating inefficiencies.  

A graduate of the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Money, Banking and Finance, Kath is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).