Who am I?

Luckily, I failed my A Levels.

If I hadn't, I’d have been studying economics in Brighton from 1987. This may have been amazing socially but I can’t see where it would have taken me. Failing my a levels allowed me to re-imagine what I wanted to do, go back to school to re-take my exams and head-off to Bradford to study Environmental Science and Geography. Not only did this mean I met my wife the night before I went to Uni, it also changed the trajectory of my career.

I loved Geography from the start. The interaction of people, place and purpose is fascinating. I couldn’t decide between art, science and humanities at school and hence studied one of each. This didn’t fit into the timetable at all as it was built for one or the other. I didn’t want to choose. Art runs through science, maths runs through art, science changes society and people need beauty in order to be more themselves. They are inextricably linked and we separate them at our peril. A reductionist approach to learning ensures that we miss connections and nodes and its at these nodes that change happens. My degree reflected this.

Post-degree I was a researcher at Leeds University for a short period before landing an amazing job with Bradford Council To deliver environmental support to local small businesses. 200 businesses a year for six years. The best apprenticeship ever. I learnt so much about business, about applied sustainability, and most importantly about how to engage with and motivate people.

A couple of years in consultancy and I was then asked to join ASDA as their Environmental Manager. I used the title Head of Sustainability as there was only me. This was a difficult period. I loved the work but was treated really badly by my boss, she was head of PR and the fact that the role was housed within PR tells you everything you need to know. I escaped this and after a failed attempt to emigrate started my own business in 2001.

22 years later I’m still going. I’ll never retire as I love what I do. I’ve been involved in many side projects across that period from the development of a carrier bag dispenser, to becoming a Founding Partner of the Do Lectures, to accidentally starting a hot sauce brand, to co-creating Reasons to be Cheerful, to developing a method to build start-ups inside big businesses, to building a small coffee business. Side-projects keep you fresh, keep you hungry and keep you learning.

I do a number of things now. I run my sustainability and innovation consultancy with my wife and my son. We work on sustainability strategy, carbon foot-printing (scope one, two and three), eco-design, sustainability communications, and ESG; we work on innovation strategies and customer insight; we run co-creation workshops and undertake deep customer research. We love what we do; making things better and making better things.

We also run a couple of side-projects. The most significant of which is a publishing and events company called Reasons to be Cheerful. This is run by eldest daughter and we produce a series of events and books that identify and amplify diverse voices and hidden stories.

I also teach Qi Gong online and in-person. I’ve got all the middle aged vices: spoon-carving, riding my bike with my mates, yoga, drinking kale, and listening to the Stone Roses.