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Professor Bob Doherty, Dean of the School for Business and Society, University of York
Bob is the founding Dean of the School for Business and Society at the University of York (UoY). In addition, Bob is also Principal Investigator of the £6.2m five-year research programme (2021-2026) called ‘FixOurFood’, one of only four UK funded awards from the UKRI (BBSRC) Transforming the UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund. This interdisciplinary programme works with schools, businesses, farmers and policy makers to create transformative food system change. Bob was seconded in April 2019 for three years into the UK Government Department, DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) as a Senior policy fellow to work on Food Systems policy development. Bob specializes in research on pro-social market mechanisms in the food system. Bob worked in the agrifood sector for 13 years including being the first Head of Sales and Marketing at Divine Chocolate Ltd.
Julian Richer, Founder, Good Business Charter; Founder and Managing Director, Richer Sounds
Julian is a prominent English entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author, best known as the Founder and Managing Director of Richer Sounds, a leading British home entertainment retailer. Beyond his business success, he is a champion for ethical entrepreneurship and social responsibility, having founded the Good Business Charter, which promotes responsible practices across businesses and organisations.
A passionate advocate for sustainability and social justice, Richer is deeply committed to supporting initiatives that focus on human rights, animal welfare, social housing and fighting injustice. His contributions to the dialogue around sustainable and ethical business are reflected in his books: The Richer Way and The Ethical Capitalist. He also contributes a column to The Sunday Times when time allows.
James Farrar – Chief Executive
James is the founding Chief Operating Officer of the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The LEP has now been integrated into the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA). During his time as LEP Chief Operating Officer, James built the team and oversaw an investment portfolio of over £200 million into the region.
Previous to his role in the LEP, James was at Yorkshire Forward, where he led its response to the recession with a focus on business support and access to finance. Committed to collaborative working, James recognises the importance of a strong public private partnership and is committed to ensuring stakeholders across the region work together to deliver for our communities.
James was appointed as Chief Executive in June 2024.
Jenny Herrera, CEO, Good Business Charter (GBC)
Jenny Herrera is the CEO of the Good Business Charter which recognises responsible business practices across 10 components covering care for employees, customers, suppliers and the environment whilst also paying tax according to the spirit of the law. Jenny is both a chartered accountant and experienced charity CEO.
Hing Kin Lee, VP, Nature, NextEnergy Capital
With over 20 years of experience in the environmental sector, Lee is a Chartered Environmentalist and a member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. His background in nature and natural capital includes both public regulatory positions and private consultancy, with a significant focus on infrastructure development and sustainable lending. Lee spearheads the nature strategy for the business, aligning with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) frameworks. He chairs the Natural Capital Steering Committee for NextEnergy Group and represents Solar Energy UK as the appointed chair of their Natural Capital Steering Group.
Kate Osiadacz, Head of Responsible Business, TSB
Kate has worked for almost three decades in the retail banking sector with a career that spans roles in frontline customer delivery, programme management, corporate communications, and responsible business.
In 2020, she helped to create, and now leads, TSB’s responsible business programme the ‘Do What Matters Plan’. She’s responsible for driving the Bank’s social and environmental commitments under the Plan that, together, promote financial and social inclusion, encourage good business practice, and support a just transition to a greener planet.
Outside of her day job, she chairs TSB’s Inclusion network, is a workplace mediator, and a mentor to people both inside and out of the bank.
Mike Barker, Operational Director of Ecology, RPS TETRA TECH
BSc MSc CEnv FCIEEM
Mike has more than 30 years of ecological and environmental management experience. He has a strong understanding of EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and HRA (Habitats Regulations Assessment) in relation to major infrastructure and NSIP (Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects) schemes. He has provided strategic advice on nature positive and net zero strategies as well as a range of projects including offshore wind, other energy generation and onshore renewables; linear transport, reservoirs, airports and other significant projects in the UK and overseas.
He provides strategic ecological and environmental advice to clients to ensure robust and deliverable outcomes in the UK and overseas and gives evidence when required.
Katie Jones, Sustainability Manager, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays
Katie has over 7 years’ experience in corporate sustainability in both consulting and in-house roles. As Sustainability Manager for Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, Katie leads on the delivery of the organisation’s 2024 – 2035 Sustainability Strategy, including the company’s climate transition plan and social value framework. In December 2023 Jet2holidays launched its Certified Sustainable Hotels collection, encouraging more sustainable hotel practices through certification to GSTC-recognised standards. There are now over 1,200 hotels in this collection and Jet2 plans to reach 3,000 by 2035. As well as certification, Jet2holidays is exploring ways to support their hoteliers with meeting their own decarbonisation objectives and increasing the range of sustainable accommodation options available for their customers.
LIoyd Atkin, Managing Director, Bio-D
Lloyd is a Managing Director of Yorkshire based Company Bio-D since 2014 who manufacture ethically and environmentally responsible cleaning and personal care products. The Company supplies its products all over the UK and to over a dozen export markets.
Lloyd has been with Bio-D since 1997 and worked in almost every role within the business giving him a unique insight into all aspects of the Bio-D’s activities. The company is certified by the Vegan Society, Cruelty Free International, Allergy UK and it was Hull’s first B-Corp Certified business. The Company has received many business awards under Lloyd’s stewardship, most recently the King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development.
The manufacturing site in Hull has been awarded a AA grade by the British Retail Consortium for its quality standards and they take a holistic approach to sustainability ensuring it is embedded in every aspect of their strategy and decision making processes, from supply chain to Cap-ex projects.
Lloyd is also a Director of a CIC called FEO helping businesses in the area start, adapt and grow and is a Trustee at the Warren Youth Project. He is passionate about all aspects of sustainability and uses his various roles to try and spread that passion as far as possible.
Kathryn Deegan, Vice President, Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets
Kathryn is a Vice President in the Investment Banking division at RBC Capital Markets. She has advised and raised capital for a number of renewable and infrastructure companies including NextEnergy Solar Fund, Greencoat Renewables, 3i Infrastructure and Triple Point Energy Efficiency. She regularly advises listed companies on positioning their equity stories with capital markets investors, investor marketing strategies and interactions, deal structuring and negotiations, and company valuations. Prior to joining RBC, Kathryn worked at Deutsche Bank in Institutional Equity Sales, covering continental investors. She holds a BA in Economics and Management from Oxford University.
Alex Tozer, COO, rePLANET
Alex is the COO of rePLANET: a leading project developer working in the Nature Based Solutions space that drives ecosystem restoration through private sector funding. He has worked in conservation project management for more than 20 years, and now liaises with funders and implementation partners around the world to coordinate rePLANET projects. He brings “on the ground” experience within the market for carbon credits, and the nascent biodiversity credit market.
Kevin McCann, Sustainability Manager, NextEnergy Capital
Astrid Wynne, Head of Public Sector and Sustainability, Techbuyer
Astrid is a Chartered Environmentalist and Head of Sustainability at Techbuyer, a medium sized business based in Harrogate. She has worked on circular economy best practice and energy efficiency in server estates for 7 years, co-writing 6 peer reviewed academic papers on the subject. As Chair of the Sustainability Special Interest Group at the Data Centre Alliance, she has judged the green data centre and sustainability product of the year categories at the Data Centre World Awards for three years. Prior to that, she lived and worked as a journalist in Asia.
Kevin McCann, Senior ESG Associate, NextEnergy Capital
Kevin is a Senior ESG Associate with NextEnergy Capital, the specialist investor and asset manager in utility scale solar and energy storage. He previously led policy development for the UK solar industry association, and delivered social and environmental projects in Central and West Africa. He was elected as Chair of the Solar Energy UK Responsible Sourcing Steering Group in 2023
Rachel Taylor, Lead Planning Manager, NatPower UK
Rachel has 23+ years experience, managing major planning applications within the development sector. These include planning applications for Solar, BESS, Wind and Hydrogen projects, development consent orders for NSIPS, and marine licensing. Specialising in major planning applications and EIA, she seeks to achieve the best environmental outcomes with site selection, design and mitigation strategies. She holds an MA in Town and Country Planning and a BA (Hons) in Environmental Management. She is a Chartered Environmentalist and full member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (MIEMA).
Professor Peter Ball, University of York
Peter is Professor of Operations Management in the School for Business and Society in the University of York. Peter's expertise is on how operations practices underpin performance within companies as well as in the across the supply chain. He research focuses on sustainability across operations, manufacturing and supply chain management. He seeks to understand how processes in business operate and how they can be improved. He's increasingly fascinated by regenerative, transformative change at scale.
Professor Nicholas Pleace, Associate Dean for Research and Impact, School for Business and Society, University of York
Nicholas is currently Associate Dean of School for Research and Impact at the School of Business and Society and is a Professor of Housing and Society at the University of York. Nicholas has worked extensively with government and international organisations on research centred on housing inequalities and has a long history in undertaking evaluative research in partnership with NGOs, charities and the public sector. He is a member of the European Observatory on Homelessness, which operates under the auspices of FEANTSA, the European Federation of Homelessness Organisations.
Jack Thompson-Hall, Social Impact and Sustainability Manager, AVIVA
Jack is the Social Impact and Sustainability Manager at Aviva, where he leads the company’s Good Business Charter membership. In this role, Jack is responsible for Aviva’s Place-focused approach to social action, working across the U.K. in partnership with Business in the Community developing needs-led and long-term strategic development and place regeneration. Previously, Jack served as the Responsible Business Manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he led initiatives across Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). He holds a master’s degree in Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability from Birkbeck University, where his research focused on the impact of B Corp certification on companies’ corporate social responsibility credentials.
Sam Maguire, Sustainability Lead, Clarasys
Sam is the Sustainability Lead at the purpose-driven consultancy Clarasys. He works on helping organisations move from being profit-driven to purpose-led, develop circular business models and work with others in their system to collaborate on change. He was a UoY student from 2011 to 2014 and the YUSU President from 2014 - 2015.
Sarah Hammond, Trainline
Sarah’s background is in psychology and consulting, and she started her career helping clients embed behaviour and culture change, before pivoting to sustainability consulting. She then went in-house and looked after sustainability for Starbucks UK and is now Senior Corporate Sustainability Manager at the Trainline. She is also a contractor for a returnable/reusable packaging start-up called Reposit.
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