Environmental Sustainability Seminar 2023

Amy Fry leads on raising the profile of NFU members within the supply chain. The Food Business Unit supports with building fairer and more sustainable supply chains by considering the challenges faced by all in the food system and by shaping policy to support with climate friendly farming and building farm business resilience. Amy joined the NFU in June 2022 having previously spent 20 years in the food industry in various commercial management roles within the dairy sector and has experience of both branded and own label retail, manufacturing and food service accounts.

With a career spanning more than two decades in recycling and waste management, Carla infuses sustainability in her work. Holding pivotal customer facing roles in both SUEZ and Biffa . Carla joined Biffa in January 2020, focusing on project development related to the Resources and Waste Strategy, as well as other legislative and impactful major projects for both Biffa and its customers to create a more circular economy. More recently Carla has taken on a prominent role as the commercial lead for Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) contracts at Biffa, collaborating with Government and Biffa’s Public and Private sector clients to address implications as well as managing Biffa’s involvement in trials with emerging technology within the market. Carla's unwavering commitment inspires greener resource management, making her a driving force in reshaping industry perspectives.

Celia Gaze is the Founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Farm – a fun, unique and sustainable wedding and events venue based in Lancashire. Known for its bow tie-wearing Llamas, the venue has won multiple awards for its combined focus on sustainability and wellbeing.

After leaving a career in the NHS to start a business, the relentless focus on making a profit led Celia to question the true purpose of business. In March 2022, The Wellbeing Farm became the first independent wedding venue in the world to become B Corp Certified.

Celia shares her story of sustainability, her journey to B Corp Certification and how she set up to create a hospitality venue which seeks to make a difference. Through this focus you can attract more business, transform your team, make a profit and leave a legacy.

Celia is also an author and her story of transforming the farm has been published into a book.

Jaz Rabadia MBE is the Global Head of Responsible Business & Sustainability at Just Eat Takeaway.com. She has over 15 years of experience in energy and sustainability roles for brands including Sainsbury’s, Starbucks, Debenhams, WeWork and now Just Eat Takeaway.com. Jaz has helped these organisations achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions and embed sustainability throughout their operations, covering topics such as energy management, waste reduction, sustainable packaging and social impact. In 2015 Jaz was awarded a Royal Honours by King Charles II for her services to sustainability in the energy sector and for promoting diversity in STEM. She volunteers much of her time as a STEM Ambassador to help raise the awareness of energy/engineering careers, helping to create a pipeline of future energy professionals. Alongside her executive responsibilities, Jaz has also been appointed to the board of a FTSE 250 company as a non executive director.

Jerome has almost 25 years’ experience of leading and delivering on sustainability. Currently he holds the role of Director of Sustainability for Center Parcs UK and Ireland. Previous roles have included leading on sustainability for the NHS in England and Senior Advisor to the Aga Khan Development Network, guiding the development of lower carbon healthcare in low-income countries. Prior to this as a consultant for a small social enterprise he produced the UKs first NHS trust carbon footprints and reduction plans, and the first UK City wide carbon and energy reduction plan. In all his roles he has delivered steep emissions cuts and tangible progress towards Net Zero. Jerome’s work has resulted in numerous awards over the years, including the British Medical Journal award for Sustainable Healthcare and the Queens award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. In 2019 Jerome was recognised as Environmental Professional of the Year by the Society for the Environment.

Kate Macnamara is Corporate Affairs Director for Western Europe at Molson Coors Beverage Company. Kate has been with Molson Coors for around five years and works closely with teams across the business on the company’s sustainability agenda. She is currently Chair of the British Beer & Pub Association’s Environment & Sustainability panel.

Kate was appointed CEO of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, in April 2018, having previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the ALMR.

After gaining a degree in English and a post-graduate diploma in competition law, Kate worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament before joining Whitbread as Government Relations Manager, starting her careers in hospitality in 1993.
Kate was Director at one of the largest independent public affairs companies, working with a number of hospitality, retail and leisure accounts before establishing her own strategic communications consultancy in 2000.

She is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Kings College London.

Mark Chapman is the founder and CEO of the Zero Carbon Forum, a non-profit organisation which builds on 10 years of carbon reduction collaboration in the UK’s hospitality sector. Zero Carbon Forum enables members to reach their sustainability targets faster, more efficiently and more cost effectively than acting alone.

ZCF’s 50 members include leading UK/global brewing and hospitality organisations representing over 30% of the sectors’ outlets to make a commitment to net zero emissions by 2030 on their own operations and 2040 across their supply chain.

Prior to founding the forum in 2020, Mark founded Zero Carbon Services, the leading provider of carbon measurement and reduction services in the hospitality sector. Its proprietary carbon analytics platform helps companies measure, report and reduce carbon emissions to cut carbon and costs.

Zero Carbon Forum is supported by experienced practitioners and industry experts, endorsed by UK Government and is backed by trade associations, UKHospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

Nick is a fifth-generation family member at Wells & Co, who have been operating for nearly 150 years. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2011 specialising in the rural/renewables sector. Nick joined the family business in 2014 initially spending time getting to know the business, in Free Trade, Pub Partners & helping to roll out an ERP system. In 2020 he returned to property as Asset Manager and is now Head of Estates. His role encompasses many aspects of property management but in the past 18 months has particularly focused on sustainability and energy reduction, this very much being a journey rather than a destination. No two days are the same, but he is confident the team and culture being built at Wells & Co will ensure their long-term success. His view is family businesses have a particular insight into sustainability, in every sense of the word, how else can they explain their survivability!

At 19, Serena inherited the Georgian House Hotel, a 2-star B&B with six staff. The hotel, which had originally been built as a private house in Pimlico London in 1851 by her great great grandfather William Chinnery Mitchell, became her passion and over time has been transformed into a design-led hotel with 60 rooms.

In 2014, Serena won a Master Innholder Scholarship to complete the GMP at Cornell University, and has gone on to become a Master Innholder. In 2020 she created the Victorian House Hotel - a sister property in the Lake District, and that is where her commitment to sustainability was born. The tension between a booming visitor economy, and the preservation of the local environment is well recognised in Cumbria, and businesses working towards net zero are well supported. Victorian House is an example of some the steps that a small business can afford and practically implement.

Tim has significant experience with private equity backed businesses including M&A and debt transactions. He has a successful record of creating and implementing strategies and change management, including growth, operational improvement and ESG.

Tim is part of the team that in 2017 acquired the master franchisee and development agreement for the UK from Burger King Europe. Tim has led the establishment of the business infrastructure, an imbedded ESG strategy and the acquisition of franchisees that has grown the business to revenues of circa £400m. Prior to that he has over 20 years’ experience in the hospitality sector, operating at board level across a range of sectors including pubs, hotels, contract and concession catering and casual dining.

Tim chairs the Sustainability Committee of the Hospitality Sector Council, as well as being a member of the Council, with the objective of co-creating solutions with Government to the sustainability challenges facing the hospitality sector. Tim also sits on the Advisory Board of UK Hospitality and the Responsible Business Leadership Team at Business in the Community.

Pete is Head of Sustainability and Government Relations at Sysco GB, the leading wholesale foodservice supplier comprising brands including Brakes and Fresh Direct.

He leads the sustainability plan that will see Sysco supplying sustainably sourced food on zero emissions vehicles from renewable-powered depots. And he is responsible for the strategy and delivery of Sysco’s government relations, to create change that supports sustainability and the industry.

He has over a decade of experience in corporate sustainability, starting in consultancy advising brands including IKEA, Mars, and Vodafone. Following this he joined Carlsberg, leading the integration of its sustainability plan in the UK, while developing the approach to sustainability communications and ESG reporting globally.

He holds an MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of Exeter and is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability.

Programme Director on Defra’s Collection and Packaging Reform Programme, Dexter has worked in the Civil Service for 5 years on a range of complex strategy and delivery projects, spanning EU Exit, UK Government’s Covid response, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and now waste management reforms. Dexter’s background is in corporate strategy, strategy consulting and sustainability with a mixture of public and private sector experience. In his spare time Dexter enjoys the natural world, cycling and most importantly spending time with his young family.

Anthony firstly Founded Yummy Pubs in 2007 with the Purchase of The Wiremill growing the business to six sites. In 2014 Anthony was appointed Chairman of the British Institute of Innkeeping and served a full tenure helping to shape the organisation around Profession training standards. In 2022 Anthony announced the rebranding alongside a partial sale of the business, creating Our Yummy Collection which has most recently opened the first of its Faber seafood concept restaurants in Hammersmith.