Our Board

Paul has over 40 years of practical experience in environmental management, policy development and regulation.Paul joined Cranfield in 2015 as Professor of Environmental Assessment. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of the Environment Agency and before that had been Executive Director of Operations and Executive Director of Environment and Business at the EA. Paul worked in the private sector for over 20 years, before joining the EA, for companies including SmithKline Beecham, BP and Schering Agrochemicals.

He has a particular interest in translating research into effective policy, regulatory, operational and governance measures and in natural capital and ecosystem service approaches to environmental management.

He chairs the bpha housing association and the Bedfordshire Local Nature Partnership. He is a member of the government’s Natural Capital Committee and a non-executive director of Flood Re, Delphic HSE and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Paul has a BSc in chemistry and a PhD in environmental engineering both from Imperial College, London and an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.He is a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a chartered environmentalist and a chartered chemist.

Louise is Managing Director of Human Rights and Sustainability consultancy Suseco.org. Previously she worked for M&S, most recently as Corporate Head of Human Rights, Food sustainability and Food Packaging. She led M&S Corporate Human Rights programme for over 18 years from inception to their approach being consistently recognised for its leadership; Top of UK FTSE 100 modern slavery statements 2016, 2017, 2018 see Business and Human Rights Resource centre commentary and in global Corporate Human Rights Benchmark. She brings a broad breadth of understanding on modern slavery, from realities of supply chain implementation, to awareness raising from board to shop floor and in driving stakeholder coalitions, having played a key role in the development of UK licencing Authority; Gangmaster Licensing Abuse Authority (GLAA) and in championing for the UK modern slavery Act.

Louise is a fellow of Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and was also been part of M&S Food technology leadership team for over 26 years where she leads a fantastic team of Food sustainability and Award winning Packaging experts supporting buying teams and supply chain on a day to day basis with issues as diverse as Plastics, Food waste, Water stewardship, Fairtrade, Lean manufacturing and sustainable raw material procurement. She was instrumental in development of Sedex sitting on the board for 16 years and chairing Sedex stakeholder forum (SSF) establishing SMETA, globally the most widely used ethical trade audit methodology. In addition Louise has held Board positions at the Ethical Trading Initiative, LOCOG Stakeholder oversight board, Consumer Goods Forum and is currently a trustee of the Bread and Butter thing and a director of IEMA.

Martin is an experienced director, business and project manager.He is also a committed champion for the environment, sustainable development and better regulation.

Currently he is the Chair of Council and Board Member, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)

Since 2011 he has been Professor of Environmental Technologies Innovation at the University of the West of England, Bristol.He has been managing projects, teaching and supporting research on environmental regulation, environmental technologies, circular economy, energy management, sustainable construction and transport, and the use of environmental management systems.

Between 2011 and 2016 he was the director of a £2.4m European Regional Development Fund programme with other Universities, NGOs and local authorities. It supported 450 enterprising businesses develop innovative environmental technologies in construction, transport, waste and energy industries and over £7million and 90 jobs were added to the South West region.

He has been working on EU/China government projects on future environmental regulation and air quality since 2015.

Since 2008 he has been a consultant for the World Bank on Projects and Programmes on environmental inspection, permitting, better regulation and tackling environmental issues in Russia, the Middle East, Tajikistan, and Mongolia.

In 2016 he was part of the UK Green Gown awards university winning team.He was awarded the title Chartered Environmentalist of the year in 2014.

He has been the Chair and board member of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership.He developed the network of businesses, communities and other organisations committed to making Bristol a low carbon sustainable city. He led the Partnership bid for, winning and sharing learning from, European Green Capital 2015 for the City of Bristol.

Previously Martin held various senior positions in the Environment Agency, England and Wales including the Head of Waste and Industry Regulation.He worked with UK and EU governments developing policies and guidance including for the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and UK Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Martin’s background is in the Chemical industry.He holds a BSc from the, University of Bristol, MSc from the University of Manchester and a PhD from the University of Salford.

Martin is a member of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators and a Freeman of the City of London.He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and has three children and several grandchildren.

Richard is a lecturer in accounting and finance at West Suffolk College with a primary interest in the business case for sustainability. Previously, he was head of finance and sustainability at Adnams plc, the award-winning brewery and distillery based in Southwold, famous for its eco-distribution centre, its energy efficient brewhouse and its 240,000 honey bees. Under Richard's tenure, Adnams won 15 major awards for their sustainability achievements, all of which were linked to clear financial business cases.

Richard holds a first class accounting degree from the University of Wales and qualified as a chartered management accountant. He held a series of commercial finance and controller roles at BT before joining Adnams.

Outside of work, Richard is on the board of the National Trust / Ashden's Fit for the Future network and the ICAEW's sustainability committee.

Simon has been involved in the energy recovery, recycling and waste industry for over 25 years, originally joining Blue Circle Waste Management in 1991. Since the acquisition by what is now Viridor in 1995, Simon led all the Human Resources, Health & Safety, Environmental Compliance, Training & Development and Sustainability processes of the business thus positioning it as one of the leading UK companies in the sector. He was appointed to the Viridor Board in 2010 and held the position of HR and Regulatory Director. Simon retired from Viridor at the end of 2016 and is now an independent HR Consultant.

He was also a Trustee Director on two Pension Trustee Boards and the Chairman and Trustee of a third scheme.

Simon was the industry spokesperson on skills, development and sector attractiveness and a non-executive director of Energy and Utility Skills Ltd. He also chaired the Waste Management, Recycling & Resource Recovery Industry Skills Initiative (WRRISKI), is a Trustee Director for Viridor Credits (an Environmental Body).

Before his time at Blue Circle Simon spent many years with ICI, primarily in their Plant Protection Division, prior to which he worked in private, small to medium sized enterprises.

Simon is Master of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators and is a Freeman of the City of London. He is married with two daughters and lives in Hampshire.

Eileen’s 20-year career has focused on supporting companies to build purpose-driven business strategies and workplace cultures, by responding to, and investing in, the most relevant issues, from climate change to mental health. She understands a diverse range of issues across many sectors having worked for the likes of the Virgin Group, John Lewis Partnership, PZ Cussons and the Cooperatives Bank. She is now focused on the growing recognition of a company’s responsibility to maintain and improve wellbeing in the workplace.

Eileen currently works with organisations who want to proactively build healthy, productive and motivated workforces through a holistic approach to developing wellbeing programmes, with an emphasis on mental health. She is also the Business & Wellbeing Lead for the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, an independent CIC, that puts high quality evidence on wellbeing into the hands of decision-makers in government, communities, businesses and other organisations.

Safia has worked on Senior Executive Teams including working as Director of Transformation and retains a comprehensive understanding around transformative change.

Safia had also trained and practised as a Barrister for around 10 years. She has previously advised and advocated for organisations from a variety of public and private sectors and is currently an Honorary Door Tenant at 23 Essex Street Chambers, focussing on her work with GCM.

Safia is founder of GCM a global advisory group working to increase conscious capability and excellence in organisations and society. Working with those seeking a deeper understanding around social impact, connectivity, purpose and those committed to transformative organisational change. GCM also promotes awareness and seeks to improve conscious capability through collaboration, dialogue and uniquely curated events.

Shaun McCarthy is an independent advisor, author and speaker in the field of sustainable business policy and practice.

He has been a leader in sustainable supply chain management for 20+ years; having instigated much of today’s best practice.

He also pioneered a unique assurance programme over the sustainability of the London 2012 Olympics.

He was awarded an OBE, for services to sustainability and the London Olympics, by Her Majesty the Queen in her 2013 birthday honours list.

His current and recent portfolio includes:

• Director, Action Sustainability (2006 -), a niche consultancy business with a social enterprise mission to inspire sustainable supply chain management www.actionsustainability.com
• Chair, Supply Chain School (2012-), a collaborative initiative in the UK and Australian construction industry to build competence of the supply chain www.supplychainschool.co.uk www.offsiteschool.co.uk www.supplychainschool.org.au
• Advisor, Transport for London (2007-16), expert advisor to the non-executive Safety and Sustainability panel,
• Advisor – Rail Safety Standards Board and Department for Transport (2015-15), advising on incorporation of sustainable standards in national rail franchises
• Advisor, Tarmac (2013-), part of an expert panel advising the executive team on long term sustainability issues
• Director, Greenshoots Foundation (2010-), an innovative charity mitigating the carbon emissions of a major corporation and delivering local social benefits
• Chair, Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 (2006-13), a ground breaking assurance body directly advising the Mayor of London and Olympics Minister www.cslondon.org

Shaun has over 20 years senior management experience with large companies and 10 years’ experience as an independent advisor to a wide variety of corporations and governments around the world.

Sarah Mukherjee is the CEO of IEMA. She was the BBC's Environment Correspondent for many years, presenting on national and international BBC radio and television news, working – and winning awards - across the world. Since leaving the Corporation, she has had leadership roles in utilities and agriculture.She was a panel member for the National Parks Review, and sits on the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel. She is a Trustee of the Woodland Trust and a governor of Harper Adams University.

Sarah has been a Campaign for Real Ale beer judge and a rugby reporter in the past - two activities she still enjoys - and is a runner and yoga addict.

Martin Baxter leads on IEMA's policy and external engagement activity. He works in the UK, and internationally, to support the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, and sustainable economy.

Martin is a regular media spokesperson on a range of business sustainability topic areas. He has extensive experience of networking and communicating at all levels, including with senior parliamentarians, Government officials, business leaders, and academia.

Martin has national and international experience in developing and negotiating global and European standards and developing capacity for effective and widespread implementation. He is chair of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) sub-committee on environmental management systems and head of the UK delegation. Martin represents the UK on the European Commission Eco-Management and Audit Scheme regulatory committee.

Martin is a board member of IEMA and also the Society for the Environment (SocEnv), where he chairs the SocEnv Registration Authority. He is a Fellow of IEMA and the RSA, and a Chartered Environmentalist.