Schneider Electric names new UK&I VP to address datacentre sustainability challenges

Mark Yeeles has been tasked with driving growth alongside the company’s “vital” channel partners

Schneider Electric has appointed Mark Yeeles as the new vice president of its Secure Power division in the UK and Ireland.

Yeeles joins the division from Schneider's Industrial Automation business, where he delivered a sustained period of growth through its robotics and process automation solutions, Schneider said.

From April Yeeles will be tasked with driving profitable growth by working with the company's datacentre customers, end-users and IT channel partners to address the challenges associated with data centre sustainability, efficiency, energy security and resilience.

Yeeles said he believes "ecosystem collaboration" is vital to help the sector address its environmental impact.

"Our channel partners have, and always will remain vital to our organisation, and the majority of our business is conducted through our partnerships, globally," Yeeles said.

"Every one of our partners makes a significant contribution to our organisation, not only via the technologies they resell and specify, but through the diverse skill sets, and both the valuable customer insights and expertise they bring."

Marc Garner, SVP of the Secure Power division at Schneider Electric Europe, said: "I'm delighted to name Mark Yeeles my successor for the UK and Ireland and believe both his appointment and his customer-first approach will be essential as we continue to grow our engagement and relationships with owners, operators, and partners across this mission-critical sector."

Schneider Electric reducing CO2 emissions

Yeeles will also deliver the company's vision for Electricity 4.0 - helping customers use electrification and digitalisation to reduce CO2 emissions, lower energy consumption, and embrace grid-ready technologies to ensure that datacentres can become part of a sustainable, resilient energy system.

Schneider Electric has made several public commitments to net zero, aiming to achieve net zero CO2 in its operations by 2030 and across its entire supply chain by 2050.

The group told CRN it's also working with its top 1000 suppliers within its ‘Zero Carbon Project' to reduce 50 per cent its supplier operational emissions by 2025.

To-date those companies have reduced their CO2 emissions by 10 per cent, Schneider said.