Chris Demetriou is the London Borough of Islington’s Assistant Director of Corporate Fleet, Transport & Accessible Community Transport as well as the council’s operator’s licence holder and being responsible for their fleet electrification programme strategy which includes the transition of over 500 existing vehicles to full battery electric in line with the council’s 2030 net zero commitment. With over 20 years public service experience within local government Chris has a huge interest in all environmental related issues and is passionate in achieving Islington Council’s 2030 Net Zero target by both reducing and replacing the council’s current fleet vehicles with their full battery electric equivalents. As one of London’s leading local authority in phasing out fossil fuelled vehicles they are on course in achieving their objectives and are already setting the benchmark in new and innovative technology which includes their award winning ‘end of life diesel to electric refuse collection vehicle upcycling’ and being the first local authority to run 6 x 7.5t electric cage tippers, a fully accessible community transport bus as well as introducing many other electric vehicles of all shapes and sizes to the fleet. 

Chris is an innovative, forward thinking, pragmatic and strategic leader and currently involved in many related projects including Vehicle to Grid, Solar PV and Energy Storage Systems and has a vision of transforming their main fleet depot into a micro-grid. 

Sara is the Chief Strategy Officer for Paythru, committed to making EV charging easier for the driver. She has over twenty years experience in the sustainable transport sector working on strategic infrastructure projects centred around clean energy and zero emission mobility. Named as EV Champion in 2018 and featuring on the GreenFleet “100 Most influential” list ever since, Sara climbed to position #10 in 2024. 

Sara was named Woman of the Year in 2023 and remains committed to raising £5,000 a year for charity every year through sport, she cares deeply about paying it forward. Communication and collaboration is what motivates her in her role at Paythru, supporting businesses in the EV sector with the software and payments to power the charging experience.