Leadership & Innovation Leadership & Innovation: 300 Years of 300 Years of

300 YEARS OF
LEADERSHIP
& INNOVATION
VOLUME 1
300 YEARS OF
LEADERSHIP
& INNOVATION
VOLUME 1
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Foreword
I
n typically British fashion, the position of prime minister developed by chance rather
than being a conscious creation. The first recognised “prime minister”, Robert Walpole,
disliked the title, and it was more than a century-and-a half before the position was
mentioned in statute. The prime minister is seen as the most powerful political figure
in government, but no statutory powers are vested in the holder of the office. Those who
have served as the sovereign’s prime minister have varied enormously in terms of length
of tenure, in terms of what they have sought to achieve, and in terms of what they have
achieved. Some years ago, I published an analysis of prime ministers, developing a typology
based on purpose of being in office. I identified four dominant types: innovators, reformers,
egoists and balancers. The first two pursue future goals, while the last two are more
concerned with the here-and-now of politics. I distinguished purpose from skills.
However laudable the goals of the premier, the skills necessary to deliver them may
be lacking. Some prime ministers have been effective as communicators, in generating
clear policy goals, and in managing ministers and the civil service. Others have not.
Some have fallen foul of what Harold Macmillan referred to as “events, dear boy, events”.
Others have managed to shape events.
Prime ministers and the leadership they provide (or fail to provide) clearly merit
analysis if we are to understand British history over the past three centuries. I am
delighted therefore to have the opportunity to introduce this volume. It has been
produced by the History of Parliament in partnership with the publisher, St James’s
House. The Trust has previously collaborated with St James’s House on several successful
collaborative volumes, including one celebrating 750 years of parliamentary history
(The Story of Parliament) and another celebrating the centenary of women’s suffrage in
the United Kingdom (Voice & Vote).
The History of Parliament Trust was established in 1940 and is funded by both Houses
of Parliament. It is engaged in world-leading and authoritative research of Parliament,
documenting its complete history since Parliament’s origins in the 13th century. It is
regarded as one of the most ambitious and well-researched projects in British history.
Its principal but not exclusive output is in the form of biographical volumes of those who
have served in Parliament. The most recent set of seven volumes covers The House of
Commons 1422–1461. It also reaches out, through various media, to public audiences
to show the rich and varied history of Parliament.
This handsome volume draws on the expertise available to the Trust. It demonstrates
the importance of leadership in government and how the quality varies, sometimes
sharply, over time. I hope it will prove as stimulating a read as earlier works produced
in collaboration with St James’s House.
Philip Norton
Lord Norton of Louth
Chair, History of Parliament Trust
Contents
Introduction 08 Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham Robert Cecil, 3rd marquess of Salisbury 120
and the Patriot Whigs 59
Chapter One David Lloyd George 126
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1558–1721 Henry Pelham 61
Ramsay MacDonald 132
Leadership in Parliament before William Pitt the Elder 63
prime ministers 14 Winston Churchill 136
George Grenville 64
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley 17 Clement Attlee 141
Charles Watson-Wentworth,
Sir Edward Coke 18 2nd marquess of Rockingham 66 Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson,
Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher,
George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham 21 Frederick North, Lord North 69 John Major 144
John Pym 22 Charles James Fox 71 Margaret Thatcher 151
Oliver Cromwell 25 William Pitt the Younger 72 Tony Blair 156
Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon 27 Chapter Three Chapter Five

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1800–1900 NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
Thomas Osborne, 1st earl of Danby 28
Leadership in an age of reform and empire 78 Home affairs 162
Anthony Ashley Cooper, Home Office
1st earl of Shaftesbury 31 Robert Jenkinson, 2nd earl of Liverpool 81
Building on Peel’s legacy 164
Charles Montagu, 1st earl of Halifax 32 Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington 84 South Wales Police
Robert Spencer, 2nd earl of Sunderland 32 Charles Grey, 2nd earl Grey 90 At your digital service 166
TPXimpact
The Junto 35 Sir Robert Peel 93
Justice is served 168
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke 36 Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th earl of Derby 96 Ministry of Justice
Francis Atterbury 39 George Hamilton-Gordon, Where law meets government 170

14th earl of Aberdeen 100 Attorney General’s Office
John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough 40
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 103 Supporting the government 172
Sidney Godolphin, 1st earl of Godolphin 43 Cabinet Office
Benjamin Disraeli 107
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford 44 Peace in the province 174
William Ewart Gladstone 110 Northern Ireland Office
Chapter Two
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1721–1800 Chapter Four Scotland’s representative
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE in Westminster 176
Leadership in an age of stability 20TH CENTURY Scotland Office
without democracy 50
Leadership in an age of war A voice for Wales 178
Sir Robert Walpole 52 and reconstruction 118 Wales Office
Building a community 180 Healthy business 213 Helping patients embrace life 232
Ministry of Housing, Communities Future Care Capital EUSA Pharma
and Local Government
Aiding mental health 214 Fingerprints of hope 233
Keeping the nation moving 182 Mental Health First Aid England BiVictriX
Department for Transport
Innovation for patient care 215 A picture of health 234
Chapter Six Ipsen Sectra
THE GLOBAL STAGE
Virus busters 216 The air essentials 235
A temple of diplomacy 186 GMP Healthcare U-Earth
Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office Trust in progress 218 Ahead of the curve 236
University Hospitals Coventry Veryan Medical
Defence and attack 188 & Warwickshire NHS Trust
Ministry of Defence Smiles ahead 237
Resilient staff, resilient company 220 SmileDirectClub
Sense of security 190 Happence
Brooknight Security A steadying hand 238
Patient development 222 GyroGear
Working on the balance of trade 192 Milton Keynes University Hospital
Department for International Trade Final flourish 239
Hearts and minds 223 Carless + Adams
Building a greener future 194 Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
COP26 Care with a difference 240
From lab to life 224 Bright Horizons
Chapter Seven Syneos Health
HEALTH AND WELLBEING Gut health made simple 241
A stroke of genius 225 Clasado Biosciences
The health of the nation 198 RapidAI
Department of Health and Chapter Eight
Social Care Making insulin easier 226 EDUCATION AND CREATIVE MINDS
Pancryos
Engineering the future Educating the nation 244
of medicine 200 Meeting the nation’s health needs 227 Department for Education
Bit.bio Celltrion Healthcare
Power to the people 246
Wake up and smell the kefir 204 Body language 228 Tshwane University of Technology
Chuckling Goat SNOMED CT
Page turner 250
A healthy approach to technology 208 Trial of success 229 Fiction Express
TPP Medical Research Network
High achievers 252
Health drive 210 Medical miracles start here 230 King’s High, Warwick
NHS London Procurement Partnership Lonza
Teaching business responsibly 253
Thinking allowed 212 Breaking down barriers 231 University of Bedfordshire
Rethink Mental Illness Midatech Pharma Business School
Contents
Schooled in innovation 254 More than a ministry of fun 272 Seaweed superheroes 296
Sri Emas & Dwi Emas International Schools Department for Digital, Culture, Green Ocean Seaweed Farming
Media and Sport
Croatian theory 256 The big cheese 297
British International School of Zagreb Leadership by design 274 Ingredient Solutions Ltd
Graham Shapiro Design
The appliances of science 257 All in good taste 298
Mindsets Skill seekers 275 Omega Ingredients
The Learning Nuggets
Creative thinking 258 Company Limited Hebridean spirit 299
CREATE Education Distell Group
Digital media without
Evidence-informed EdTech 259 the jargon 276 Prawn this way 300
UCL EDUCATE Hybrid Theory Global NSF Foods Ltd
Learning without limits 260 The shape of things to come 277 Alchemy through algae 301
My Online Schooling Tangerine AquaSource
Children’s crusade 261 Licence to skill 278 Spice world 302

VotesforSchools UpSkill Digital Green Saffron Spices
One soul, one mind 262 Chapter Nine Sowing the seeds 303
Soul Clinic International School FOOD AND AGRICULTURE Seedful
Leadership support for teachers 264 Country matters 282 Chapter Ten
Fig Tree International The Department for Environment, ECONOMY AND INDUSTRY
Food and Rural Affairs
The joy of learning 265 Pulling the purse strings 306
IQBar More than gut instinct 284 Her Majesty’s Treasury
Chuckling Goat
Class act 266 Investing in people 308
JG Educate Food for thought 288 Trust Payments
Haygrove
Beyond books and boundaries 267 Investing in green energy 312
Studiosity Investing in testing 290 Visium Investment
Eurofins Management
Where technology meets tradition 268
Learning with Experts Praise be to cheeses 292 Tools of the trade 314
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses MarketAxess
Vocational training, online 269
The e-Learning Network Waste not, want not 293 How investing goes viral 316
De La Tierra Nexus
Teaching through tech 270
Educational App Store Let them eat brioche 294 Triple alliance 318
St Pierre Groupe Optiva Securities
Faith in education 271
The Oxford Centre for Religion and Brewed awakening 295 Don’t break the bank 319
Public Life Molson Coors Bank Brokers
On the money 320 Data’s base 348 Saving graces 370
Invest Durban Digital Realty Punter Southall Aspire
Investing in meritocracy 321 The energy to succeed 350 A very digital transformation 371
Wellington Management Add Energy Asset and Neil Ward & Associates
Integrity Management
Taking care of business 322 Chapter Eleven
Department for Business, Enterprise Mission granted 351 MODERN NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
and Industrial Strategy Granted Consultancy
Slow and steady wins the race 374
Electric avenues 324 Net-zero tech heroes 352 John Major
Genesis Energy Holding Autodesk
A new approach 376
Risky business 328 Electric dreams 354 Tony Blair
Panoptic Consultancy Group Electricity North West
A policy of prudence 378
Covering ground 330 Exceptional efficiency 356 Gordon Brown
Price Forbes & Partners C3 Post Trade
Reform and referendum 380
Patent genius 332 Constructing a smarter world 357 David Cameron
Minesoft Revizto
A house divided 382
Intelligent automation 334 Simple twist of freight 358 Theresa May
NeuralRays AI Avensis
Chapter Twelve
The pioneering problem-solver 336 Clean machines 359 AN INTERNATIONAL ICON
XP 49 Ultimotive
The father of a nation 386
The right revolution 337 The portable workspace 360 Nelson Mandela
Empowerment IP The Do Company
Strength in depth 392
Property management, smarter 338 Constructing technology 361 Ivanhoe Mines
Bellrock Property & Facilities Management Ltd Bluebeam
APPENDICES
V for victory 340 Building inclusion from the ground up 362
VST Enterprises Electrocomponents British Prime Ministers 1721–2021 398
Hive mentality 342 A clean slate 364 Contributors 399

Hive Composites Ltd Confederation of Roofing Contractors
Acknowledgements 400
Digital payment made easy 343 A creative economy 365
SimplyPayMe Great Point Media About the publisher 401
Digital empowerment 344 Back to your roots 366 Credits 402

Actual Experience Fable & Mane
Index 403
Quick on the up-tech 346 From work to retirement 368
IceMOS Department for Work and Pensions Sponsors index 404
08
Introduction
P
olitical leadership has been exercised as long as there have
been stable governments. Long before there were prime
ministers, the monarch needed to have principal ministers at
hand for assistance. Parliaments in the middle ages were not the
locus of ministerial authority. In the 13th century, King Edward I,
whose reign was a formative period for the emergence of
Parliament, relied on his long-serving chancellor, Robert
Burnell, but Burnell’s authority derived from the Crown, not
from Parliament. Parliaments, though frequent, were too brief
and amorphous to provide either a root or an avenue of power.
By the last quarter of the 15th century, however, the productive
management of Parliaments had become a significant measure
of political success. Monarchs came increasingly to value the
endorsement by Parliament of changes of dynasty and other
constitutional measures, as well as the long-standing convention
that taxes imposed and collected by the king should gain
parliamentary approval, and thus the consent of the nation.
We have taken the career of Lord Burghley, chief minister
of Elizabeth I, as the starting-point for this selective survey of
leadership in Parliament. We could just as easily have opened
with an earlier figure such as Thomas Cromwell, the highly
effective – if ultimately-ill-fated – principal minister of Henry
VIII. The unrivalled authority deployed by Burghley on behalf
of the queen depended to a considerable extent on his personal
presence in the House of Lords, and part of the story told in
09
“Leadership in Parliament, and of Parliament,
has taken many forms before and after the term
prime minister came into currency”
these pages is an exploration of how chief ministers down the with the king, but also into setting up a rival administration,
ages made good use of the received wisdom that a place in either which led ultimately to England’s only republic and to the
the House of Lords or the House of Commons was an important subsequent protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.
prerequisite for effective political management. With an army and navy at his disposal that Charles I could
As the case of Sir Edward Coke shows, however, a only have dreamt of, Cromwell could have aspired to become
leadership role in Parliament was not always exercised as a an absolute ruler. But the parliamentary principles of the civil
means of implementing or enforcing the will of the sovereign. war (the supremacy of common law, the liberties of propertied
Coke – informally “prime man of all” to his parliamentary English people, an element of religious plurality) never deserted
contemporaries, in a phrase that obviously prefigures our Cromwell entirely, and he persisted with Parliaments, troubled
familiar title “prime minister” – mobilised sentiment in the and troublesome as they were, as an expression of political
House of Commons to oppose James I, not to do his bidding. consent by the nation. They were re-established as an element
The mood of the House of Commons could be resentful, angry of governance in 1660 with the return of monarchy, and secured
even, and an individual member with the necessary set of skills even more definitively in 1688. With an expanding economy
could provide leadership that ran in a direction opposite to that came more powerful and sophisticated financial institutions
determined by the king and his ministers. and instruments, and from the 1670s the office of first lord of
The leadership of Coke and others provided a rallying- the Treasury became pivotal in relations between monarch and
point for many MPs who were disenchanted with the king’s Parliament. After 1688 there are examples of powerful figures
government, and so soured relations between king and at the Treasury, but also collective government leadership like
Commons that Charles I decided to dispense with Parliaments the Junto, arguably the first “cabinet”.
altogether. By 1640, when Parliaments returned, summoned by Prime ministers, since the term came into use under
a dependent king, the opposition to his policies was personified Walpole after 1721, have depended for their authority on both
and concentrated in a coherent political grouping, of which the approbation of the sovereign and a standing in one or other
John Pym was a leading member. Pym was a kind of anti-prime of the Houses of Parliament. But to parallel the consolidation
minister, whose leadership took Parliament not only into war of office and function implied in the emergence of the title
10
prime minister were an increasing coherence and longevity of informally and erratically to leading ministers after Walpole,
opposition, and the case of the Patriot Whigs provides an early not least because the appellation of principal minister was often
example of a group of politicians with an alternative programme bestowed on the most socially eminent, rather than the most
of government ready for the monarch to approve if he so politically powerful figure in the government.
wished. Political parties in Parliament remained amorphous: So informal has been the term prime minister since it was first
they were loose coalitions providing temporary focal points coined in Britain, that it was not until the early 20th century that
of political loyalty, not the membership organisations with it appeared in a royal warrant, and though it is a well understood
which we have been long familiar, and which first made and defined position, it is still not the formal title of an office.
their appearance in the 19th century. But with the Treasury During the 19th century, it remained possible for a prime
established as the most important government ministry, minister to govern effectively without a majority in the House
precedents of cabinet administration and the cohesion of of Commons, managing affairs from the House of Lords instead;
opposition in Parliament, the scene was set for the emergence and not until the early 20th century, with the extension of the vote
of a prime minister: holding the office of first lord of the to all adult males – and in 1928 all adult women – did it become
o Treasury, presiding at cabinet and forming the link between necessary for a prime minister to be located in the Commons.
Above sovereign, government ministers and Parliament. The invitation from the sovereign to form a government is the
The Queen, Prime The term prime minister, like plenty of others in political unchanging precondition of any premiership, and the custom
Minister Margaret history, began with negative associations. The party called the of the prime minister “kissing hands” (kissing the hands of the
Thatcher and five former Whigs took their name from what was originally a contemptuous sovereign) is the unvarying inauguration of a new ministry.
PMs gather in 1985 to term for Scottish cattle drovers, and the Tories theirs from a word Starting with Sir Robert Walpole in 1721, some 55 individuals
celebrate the 250th for thieves in Ireland. In the case of prime minister, the negativity have held the office of prime minister, only two of them women.
anniversary of No. 10 arose from associations with chief ministers in France, who But leadership in Parliament, and of Parliament, has taken
Downing Street arrogated to themselves the royal functions or prerogatives, and many forms before and after the term prime minister came into
becoming the residence the French allusion goes some way to explaining why Walpole currency. This book presents the political stories of some of
of Sir Robert Walpole rejected the term as applied to himself. The term was applied only these leaders.
11
300 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION
12
CHAPTER ONE
POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP
1558−1721
Contributors
Stephen K Roberts
Robin Eagles
Charles Littleton
Paul Seaward
Max Skjönsberg
Andrew Thrush
13
Leadership in Parliament
before prime ministers
We think of the premiership as an 18th-century
development. But for at least a century and a half
before that, managing Parliaments was among the
chief preoccupations of the king’s chief minister
W hen Elizabeth came to the throne of England in 1558, Wales

had only recently been assimilated into the English state,
and Scotland remained a separate kingdom. The English claimed
an imperial authority over Ireland. The country’s island situation
ensured that involvement in war abroad was limited, but meant
that trade with foreign neighbours was manageable and profitable.
The most important English industry other than agriculture was
the manufacture of cloth, based on wool production.
The century from 1540–1640 saw great inflation, which
favoured secure landowners, however modest their holdings,
who produced to sell. In these conditions, tenants and the
poor lost out, and the government of Henry VIII sold land to
finance the king’s imperial plans. The most important political
consequence of these inflationary pressures was the emergence
of a wealthy landed class known as the gentry. Parliament was
the mechanism that for centuries had represented the views
of the kingdom to the king. Increasingly self-confident, the
gentry found a valuable voice in Parliaments, which monarchs
o summoned as and when necessary, primarily in order to legitimise
Right tax-raising from the minority of the population that had any
Queen Elizabeth I in assets to tax.
parliament, an engraving There could never be sustained leadership in Parliament
from Simonds D’Ewes, until Parliaments were called regularly and became an undisputed
The Journals of all the institution of government. Under Elizabeth I and James I, the
Parliaments during the leading ministers of the Crown tried to control rather than lead
reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Parliaments. Sir Edward Coke was perhaps the first to offer an monarchy returned in 1660. It would soon become apparent that
published in 1682 agenda to rival the king’s in the House of Commons, and his with the rapid expansion of public borrowing and institutional
legacy was built on by John Pym. The Long Parliament of the innovation to support it, leadership of the Treasury was
o 1640s provided an environment in which not only management becoming of paramount importance, as was the need for
Opposite but also executive power could be deployed by politicians hostile the government to have dependable friends in Parliament.
An 18th-century to the king. The political career of Oliver Cromwell illustrates To parallel this development came the rise of parties and
engraving of a probably the willingness of a man of power to persist with governing factions, albeit very loosely defined, and the possibility of long
16th-century picture with parliamentary consent where possible. careers in politics, especially for those with the capacity to adapt
showing the Court of The civil wars brought ruin to the economy, but the to sometimes rapid changes of circumstances. At the very end
Wards and Liveries in protectorate of Oliver Cromwell saw the recovery of trade, of this period, however, it was still possible for a family to reach
session at Westminster, a rapid expansion of the navy and the beginnings of an empire the highest office through ingratiation with the monarch,
presided over by William in the Caribbean. Along with overseas empire and naval power, or to attain a position of secular leadership as a bishop of the
Cecil, Lord Burghley the principle of consent in Parliament endured after the established church.
14
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1558–1721
15
16
“Leadership of the Treasury was

becoming of paramount importance,
as was the need for the government to
have dependable friends in Parliament”
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

Secretary of State and Lord Treasurer, 1558–98
Sir William Cecil, principal secretary of state between 1558 the Protestant religion, despite furious Catholic opposition.
and 1572, and lord treasurer from 1572 until his death in 1598, Another notable triumph occurred in 1572, when Burghley and
was chief minister to Elizabeth I for most of her reign. As such, his supporters in Parliament persuaded the queen to execute the
he dominated the parliamentary scene for nearly 40 years, first 4th duke of Norfolk for his role in the Ridolfi Plot (1571), which
in the Commons and then in the Lords, a hitherto unrivalled feat. aimed to overthrow Elizabeth in favour of Mary, Queen of Scots
Cecil, or Lord Burghley as he became in 1571, has been widely and restore Catholicism.
praised by historians for his managerial skills in Parliament. Burghley also deserves credit for persuading the Commons,
They have noted, for example, how much care Burghley and his through his extensive political influence, to vote subsidies
colleagues on the privy council took to co-ordinate activity in (taxes) for Elizabeth whenever she required them. His method
the 1586–87 assembly. After his elevation to the Lords in 1571, was to use others as his agents: in 1581, for example, the lead
he employed not only his colleagues on the privy council but was taken in drafting the subsidy bill by Thomas Norton, an
also his numerous friends and allies in the Commons – his MP; but Norton was Burghley’s chief “man-of-business”, or
“men-of-business” – to help him manage the lower House. agent, in the Commons. o
Moreover, despite frequent ill health and pressing government Nevertheless, Burghley’s failures outweighed his successes. Opposite
business, he regularly attended Parliament to help direct affairs This is mainly because he frequently tried to use Parliament to William Cecil, Lord
in person. In 1571, he even had himself carried into the Lords, persuade Elizabeth to adopt a course of action she had already Burghley, in the robes of
despite suffering from a “quartan ague”, or recurring fever. rejected, often doing so secretly – behaviour that can be the Order of the Garter
Burghley’s efforts sometimes paid off handsomely. Perhaps described as devious and manipulative. In 1563 and 1566, for and with his white wand
his greatest success was achieved in 1559, when he and his allies instance, he enlisted Parliament’s help to persuade Elizabeth of office, by Marcus
in both Houses restored the royal supremacy and re-established to marry and settle the succession. Likewise, in 1586–87 he Gheeraerts the Younger
17
Sir Edward Coke

Unofficial leader of opposition in Parliament, 1621–29
In an era when Parliaments were meant to be managed by the

king’s ministers in the interests of the Crown, and the concept of
a “loyal opposition” would have been regarded as a contradiction
in terms, Sir Edward Coke stands out as one of a small band of
MPs who tried to control the Commons’ agenda. Dismissed from
high judicial office in 1616 for disobeying the royal will and
cheating the king of a valuable debt, Coke was readmitted
to the privy council in 1617 but failed to achieve promotion.
Resentful, he stood for election to the 1621 Parliament, despite
the convention that former Speakers of the Commons, like
himself, never sat. Once in Parliament, he quickly demonstrated
a willingness to oppose the royal will, and was soon regarded by
his colleagues as “the prime man of all”.
o An entertaining speaker with an almost encyclopedic
Right used Parliament to lobby the queen to execute the imprisoned knowledge of the law, Coke believed that sovereignty ultimately
Solomon J Solomon, The Mary, Queen of Scots for her involvement in the Babington Plot. lay with the common law rather than with the king, a view
Commons petitioning Neither manoeuvre succeeded, and in 1587 Burghley was forced that endeared him to many of his fellow MPs. He was soon
Elizabeth I to Marry, 1911: to strain his own authority to secure Mary’s execution. appointed chairman of the Commons’ newly formed committee
one of a series of images Burghley’s secretive opposition to the queen was motivated by for grievances and played a leading role in the revival of
commissioned for the a desire to preserve and protect the Protestant state. However, in impeachment, a long forgotten judicial process whereby
Palace of Westminster the long term his willingness to subordinate the queen’s wishes government ministers were held accountable to Parliament.
in the early 20th century, to wider political interests may have had damaging consequences One of Coke’s central tenets was that Parliament owed its
this shows an incident for the Crown’s management of Parliament. It encouraged the privileges to the law rather than to the king. Consequently, he
in 1559 when the queen Commons to become more strident and less inclined to do played a leading role in drawing up the Commons’ Protestation
responded that her the royal bidding, a pattern of behaviour that would become a of 1621, in which the lower House defended its right to debate the
coronation ring was a serious problem under the early Stuarts. It also made Elizabeth proposal marriage of the prince of Wales to a Spanish Catholic
sign that she was married disenchanted with Parliaments: as early as 1570 she proved princess. James I was incensed, and following the dissolution
to the kingdom reluctant to summon another assembly, probably because her he had Coke sent to the Tower. Although Coke was soon released,
experience of the 1563 and 1566 sessions had been so disagreeable. James remained so angry that he had to be dissuaded from
o Perhaps only the war with Spain from 1585, which necessitated preventing Coke from standing for election to the 1624 Parliament.
Opposite regular parliamentary funds, prevented Elizabeth from coming Coke remained a thorn in the royal flesh over the next few
Sir Edward Coke in 1593, to the same conclusion as her Stuart successors: that Parliaments years. In 1625, he helped lead an attack in the Commons on the
by an unknown artist were more trouble than they were worth. Crown’s chief minister, George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham.
18
19
20
o
Left
The Triumph of the Duke
of Buckingham, after
Peter Paul Rubens
o
Right
The King in the House
of Lords (top) and the
House of Commons
(bottom), the frontispiece
from Edward Husbands,
An Exact Collection,
published in 1643
In retaliation, the new king, Charles I, appointed Coke sheriff

of Buckinghamshire, thereby preventing him from serving in the
1626 Parliament. Coke, nevertheless, returned to the Commons in
1628, when he re-emerged as one of its unofficial leaders. Whereas
the king expected the Commons to set aside all other business and
vote subsidies for his wars with Spain and France, Coke and his
allies persuaded the House to concentrate first on the grievances
of the subject, including non-parliamentary taxation and the
imprisonment of those who refused to contribute to such levies.
Although the resulting Petition of Right, which sought
to curb arbitrary royal government, may not have been his
brainchild, Coke was one of its chief advocates, having suffered
arbitrary imprisonment himself following the 1621 Parliament.
He was also one of the Petition’s principal defenders against the
Lords, who repeatedly tried to water it down in order to preserve
the Crown’s prerogative powers. It was in no small part due to
Coke that Charles was eventually forced to accept the petition
in its unaltered state, a notable victory for those who, like Coke,
believed that the Commons should manage its own affairs.
George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham

Lord Admiral, 1619–28
George Villiers, duke of Buckingham owed his prominence

entirely to his privileged status as the favourite of the king, subsidies for war with Spain. When the Commons offered only
James I. Though he was chief minister in five successive a paltry grant, Buckingham was obliged to demand that the sum
Parliaments (1621–28), Buckingham proved a largely ineffectual be increased, which merely served to antagonise the Commons.
parliamentary manager, despite commanding a large personal Buckingham had no more luck in 1628, when he proved unable
following in both Houses. The only Parliament that Buckingham to prevent Parliament from endorsing the Petition of Right,
helped to manage successfully was that of 1624, when he and his which undermined the king’s prerogative powers.
close friend and ally Prince Charles worked with the unofficial One of the main reasons for Buckingham’s failure as a
leaders of the Commons, including Sir Edward Coke, to force parliamentary manager was his widespread unpopularity.
James I to abandon the idea of a marriage between the prince Many members of long-established noble families resented his
of Wales and the king of Spain’s daughter (the “Spanish Match”) relatively modest social background and his monopoly of royal
and prepare for war with Spain. favour and counsel. Moreover, he was suspected, incorrectly, of
In 1625, Buckingham and the prince, now King Charles, harbouring Catholic sympathies, a belief fuelled by his support for
made little effort to persuade the Commons to vote substantial the “Arminian”, or conservative wing, of the Anglican Church.
21
John Pym
MP for Tavistock, 1640–43
Buckingham was also thought to have enriched both When Parliament sat in April 1640 for the first time in 11 years, o
himself and his relatives at the expense of the Crown and he was one man stood out among the many vocal and disgruntled members Above
accused of mishandling England’s wars with France and Spain. who arrived at Westminster. This was John Pym, already a veteran John Pym, engraving
The duke’s unpopularity led the Commons to draw up charges of five Parliaments, who was the first to articulate the country’s by George Glover, after
of impeachment against him in 1626. Only by giving up the idea grievances in that assembly. In a two-hour speech, Pym brought Edward Bower, c. 1644
of raising taxes through parliamentary grants was Charles I together in a single statement a range of political and religious
able to save him from destruction. abuses that could be laid at the door of the king’s government. o
Buckingham was not slow to realise that if he were to Careful to avoid directly attacking particular ministers, Opposite
manage Parliaments successfully, he would first have to regain let alone Charles I himself, Pym laid the groundwork for others Charles West Cope, the
the trust of the political nation. Consequently, in 1627 he resolved to pursue what we would recognise as the agenda of the Puritans, attempted arrest of the
to lead an army in the field in person, imagining that success on to rid the country and the Church of England of elements regarded five members of the
the battlefield would not only redeem his lost honour but also as Roman Catholic or influenced by Roman Catholicism, and House of Commons,
silence his enemies in Parliament. Indeed, he could reasonably to bring to heel the ministers thought to be poisoning the mind January 1642, one of a
expect that Parliament would fete him, as it had done in 1624. of the king. Pym’s speech was much copied and circulated, in a series of frescos made for
During the following campaign on the Ȋle de Ré, off La period when printing was strictly controlled by the government. the corridors off central
Rochelle, France, Buckingham almost achieved his objective. This Parliament (the “Short Parliament”) was dissolved after lobby in the Palace of
On learning that the island’s French forces were on the verge only three weeks, but Pym came to even greater prominence Westminster, 1861
of surrender, Buckingham wrote urging the king to call another in the new one that met in November of the same year. He was
Parliament. In the event, Buckingham’s hopes of martial glory a Somerset man with no great landed estate or wealth, but he
were dashed, and with them evaporated any chance of him ever was very well connected with leading politicians, notably those
managing Parliament successfully again. He was assassinated aristocrats with great national and regional influence. In the
in Portsmouth in August 1628 by a resentful army officer. Long Parliament, as it came to be called, Pym resumed the
22
23
24
Oliver Cromwell
Lord General of Parliament, 1649–53; Lord Protector
of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, 1653–58
attack on the king’s ministers, this time more boldly Whether Oliver Cromwell can really be considered a leader
and directly. Notably, he was a leading figure in the trial and in Parliament in any conventional sense is doubtful, but the
execution in May 1641 of the king’s most outspoken and story of leadership and Parliament can hardly be told without
notorious adviser, Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford, discussing him. Like John Pym, Cromwell came from a modest
and was a determined opponent of other members of the gentry background, not a very wealthy one, and he was driven,
king’s privy council. even more fiercely than Pym, by a burning Puritan faith.
He exercised great authority in the Commons, particularly He was not particularly prominent as a parliamentarian in
through close attention to crafting the messages and publications the period before the start of civil war, but both inside and outside
issued by Parliament, and by managing relations between Parliament he was noted for his networking and reliability as an
the two Houses of Parliament – the Commons and the Lords. agent for the religious cause that fired him. It was his spectacular
When Charles I left London to placate his Scottish kingdom, military career in the civil wars, not easily predictable in one with
Parliament continued to sit, and Pym was widely regarded as no military experience, that transformed his political standing.
its leader. He began to be called “King Pym” on the streets. After Pym’s death, loyalties in the Westminster Parliament
By the end of 1641, the king could tolerate Parliament’s began to fragment. There were those who wanted a compromise
challenge no longer, and in January 1642 he launched an settlement with the king and an alliance with the Scots, in order
unsuccessful attempt to arrest Pym and others, known to to establish in England a reformed, conservative, hierarchical
history as the Five Members, as they sat in Parliament. church without bishops. These Presbyterians, as they were known,
Charles’s targets fled to the City of London, where they clashed with the wholehearted supporters of the New Model
were protected by sympathetic businessmen. Army in politics, who wanted to impose a harsher regime on
Soon afterwards, Charles left London, and relations the king after his total defeat, were sceptical of the Scots,
between king and Parliament deteriorated steadily through 1642. and who sought a more radical religious dispensation in which
In August, the king raised his standard at Nottingham, a symbolic congregations were autonomous.
gesture that signalled the outbreak of civil war. From then until The latter were the Independents, and Cromwell was a leader
his death in the winter of 1643, John Pym hardly left Parliament. among them on the battlefield and when he was able to attend
He was a workaholic, ever-present in almost every aspect of Parliament. Like Pym, Cromwell was a natural networker, but
planning and managing the parliamentary war effort. He understood his subtle behind-the-scenes dealing, in contrast to his simple
the importance of binding public opinion to Parliament through professions of piety, made many in political life mistrust him.
the press and through loyalty oaths and covenants. He worked Episodes such as the capture of the king by the army in 1647, and
tirelessly to keep the wealth of the City of London at Parliament’s the purge of Parliament in 1648 by the military, which played into
disposal, and was constantly taking the initiative in bringing new Cromwell’s hands even though he was not present at these events,
motions before the Commons to be voted on. were typical.
Parliament was now a rival government to the king’s, and Cromwell was prominent in the trial of Charles I in January
this brought opportunities for leadership never sought, let alone 1649, and as head of the military in the subsequent republic
grasped, by any parliamentarian before Pym. His leadership style – or Commonwealth – had become an all-powerful figure.
was low-key, bureaucratic even, but his unwavering aim was to Imbued by this time with a faith that sincerely anticipated
force the king to accept a settlement in which Parliament would the imminent re-appearance of Jesus Christ, Cromwell initially
have been the dominant influence on government. welcomed the purged Commonwealth Parliament as an
He died in 1643 before Parliament had secured a decisive instrument for establishing God’s kingdom on earth, but
victory in the war, but his total devotion to its cause contributed became disillusioned at what he saw as its delays and sell-outs. o
immeasurably to the eventual military defeat of the king. By the Using the military to dismiss the Parliament in 1653, Opposite
same token, his work set in train a path that led to the execution he brought into being a new assembly of individuals known Oliver Cromwell by
of Charles I and the founding of a republic, at which Pym would for their piety or loyalty to the cause, in which he had a seat but Robert Walker, oil on
have been horrified. did not attend. After no more than five months, it was closed canvas, c. 1649
25
o
Right
This 1846 picture by
Edward Matthew Ward
of Clarendon leaving
Whitehall after his
dismissal in 1667
emphasises the contrast
between the black-suited
serious politician and
the court of the “merry
monarch”, Charles II
26
amid rancour. Cromwell then became lord protector of

England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland until his death in 1658.
Unlike Charles I, he never questioned the value of Parliament,
or tried to work without it. His attempts to work productively
with the Parliaments he summoned foundered, however, as the
membership of the Protectorate Parliaments was too riddled
with division and disharmony to be fruitful.
Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon

Lord Chancellor, 1660–67
When Charles II returned to England in 1660, he was

accompanied by a man who, for nearly a decade, had been
his chief adviser in exile. This was Edward Hyde, whom the
king made earl of Clarendon shortly after the Restoration.
Clarendon (who is best known today for his great history book
of the civil wars) held the position of lord chancellor – the head
of the judicial system – but he was in effect the head of Charles
II’s government machine, involved in almost every aspect of
foreign and domestic policy.
Clarendon nevertheless refused to resign the chancellorship
and accept the title of “prime minister”, a name borrowed
from France, where it had been applied to the great Cardinal-
ministers, Richelieu and Mazarin. It was, he said, completely
alien to English constitutional practice. But Clarendon was
placed on a different plane to previous ministers by the marriage
of his daughter, Anne Hyde, to the king’s brother, James, duke
of York. It was not something that Clarendon had intended: the
liaison had been a clandestine affair, and the two were married
secretly. Clarendon was furious when he found out about it,
well aware that it would be seen as his crude attempt to push
his own family into royalty. But the king accepted the marriage,
despite the efforts of courtiers to overturn it.
27
Thomas Osborne, 1st earl of Danby

Lord Treasurer, 1673–79
Traditionally, royal ministers expected that the House of

Commons would follow their lead if they set out clearly and
unambiguously the king’s policy. They relied on a small core of
royal servants to support them, but otherwise, even if there were
always some troublemakers, the great majority of Members of
Parliament broadly accepted the king’s direction. After the
restoration of Charles II in 1660, some ministers felt that
Parliament could be made to work more efficiently if more
members were drawn into a closer dependence on the royal court.
The earl of Arlington and Lord Clifford in the late 1660s and early
1670s were particularly active in building up their own following
in the Commons. It was the earl of Danby, though, who was the
most systematic in his efforts to build up a “court party”.
Danby was an ordinary enough country gentleman from
Yorkshire, who began his rise to power through association with the
king’s colourful favourite, the 2nd duke of Buckingham. An effective
operator, he established himself as an able administrator and a
significant figure in court politics. When the lord treasurer, Lord
Clifford, took his own life in 1673, he was picked as his successor.
While the position made him responsible for the government’s
finances, the treasurer had a close interest in Parliament: only
parliamentary grants could provide sufficient resources for
Even if he turned down the title of prime minister, Clarendon government expenditure. The treasurer was also in control not
accepted gifts of land and money from the king that would support just of money, but also jobs in government administration that
his new status as father-in-law of the king’s brother, who was could be distributed to (or promised to) MPs as a way of binding
heir to the throne. He used his new and extraordinary wealth them tightly into dependence on the royal court. Danby’s efforts
to build an impressive and highly fashionable house – Clarendon were the beginning of the strong association between the leadership
House, really a small palace – in Piccadilly, London, and a country of the Treasury and government parliamentary management
house, Cornbury, outside Oxford. that is easily recognised in Sir Robert Walpole’s administration
Unsurprisingly, such lavish and ostentatious expenditure and beyond.
invited jealousy and criticism. Some thought it was the product What was going on was quickly noticed. Even in the 1660s,
of corruption. Clarendon House was referred to as “Dunkirk Arlington and Clifford had been attacked for what was seen as
House” by those who alleged that it had been paid for with the unabashed bribery of Members of Parliament. Danby attracted
bribes from the French king Louis XIV for Clarendon’s part even more furious criticism for mustering a royal party in order to
in the sale to France of England’s small colony of Dunkirk in pursue policies that were fundamentally against the instincts of
1662. Others regarded the accumulation of power in his hands many people in the country – alliance with France and support for
as dangerous. the persecution of Protestant non-conformists. In 1678, Andrew
In fact, Clarendon’s power was based on very shaky Marvell, the poet, and also an MP, produced one of the classics
foundations. Within a few years of the Restoration, Charles II of parliamentary satire against Danby – An Account of the Growth
was turning to other advisers, and Clarendon’s relationship with of Popery and Arbitrary Government. By then, Danby’s system
James became a disadvantage when the king and his brother was failing: his party was never large enough to overcome the
disagreed. When Clarendon’s enemies attached to Clarendon widespread discontent with government policy. Danby was
much of the blame for the disastrous defeat of the navy by the impeached in Parliament and imprisoned in the Tower of London
Dutch in the second Anglo–Dutch war in 1667, the king withdrew in 1679. The impeachment was never completed, and he was
his favour and positively encouraged his impeachment, sending released in 1684; he went on to be an influential adviser in three
him into a second, and very bitter, exile until his death in 1674. reigns up to his death in 1712.
28
o
Opposite
Edward Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon, engraving
by R White after portrait
by Sir Peter Lely, 1702
o
Left
Thomas Osborne, Earl
of Danby and Duke of
Leeds, oil on canvas after
Johan Kerseboom and
Jan van der Vaart, 1704
29
o
Right
Anthony Ashley Cooper,
Earl of Shaftesbury,
engraving by Robert
White, 1680
30
“Traditionally, royal ministers expected

that the House of Commons would
follow their lead if they set out clearly
and unambiguously the king’s policy”
Anthony Ashley Cooper,

1st earl of Shaftesbury
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1661–72
In the 17th century, understanding of both social and economic ever regarded him as “prime minister”, though he was one of
policy was limited. What would later be known as “political five ministers – the “Cabal” – who were jockeying for power
economy” was only in its infancy, and the tools at the disposal of in the early 1670s, and for a short period in 1679 he was the
the government to affect the society and economy of the country leading figure in the council, albeit a council in which the king
were fairly basic. Few leading ministers in the 17th century were placed very little trust. His impact on English politics was
distinguished by their interest in, or ability to think about, social enormous because of his determined and creative opposition
or economic matters: their attention was often absorbed by foreign to the anticipated succession to the throne of the king’s
affairs or trying to keep the government solvent. But finance could Catholic brother, James, duke of York. But he was also closely
easily draw them into important questions of economic policy. interested in commercial and colonial policy, and initiated an
That was especially the case as ministers experimented with new inquiry in the House of Lords into obstacles to trade in 1669
ways of borrowing from the 1660s onwards. Early 17th century that looked at social issues as well as purely economic ones.
governments had usually borrowed from the great merchants of A number of the papers written on policy questions by his
the City of London. But after the Restoration, innovative ways of friend, the philosopher John Locke, were produced at
raising funds from a much wider section of the community were Shaftesbury’s behest.
championed by one man in particular, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Between 1678–81, Shaftesbury would use the panicked
earl of Shaftesbury, when he held the position of chancellor of the rumours of the existence of a Catholic plot to try to block James’s
exchequer from 1661–72. accession. He created the biggest political crisis since the civil
Shaftesbury is one of the most intriguing, and also one of war, but he failed to achieve his end. Shaftesbury died in exile
the most mysterious, of 17th-century politicians. No-one has in 1683. James succeeded to the throne two years later.
31
Robert Spencer, 2nd earl of Sunderland

Secretary of State, 1679–81, 1682–88
Sunderland’s career can be divided fairly neatly into two phases:

first, as an ambitious courtier prior to the Revolution of 1688;
and second as William III’s “minister behind the curtain”,
providing discreet advice behind the scenes. He acquired an
unenviable reputation in the 1680s as James II’s principal minister.
A combination of willingness to accept an increasingly absolute
monarchy in England with his own at times pusillanimous
personality made him seem both authoritarian and lacking in
backbone. Perhaps most of all, in a period where it was expected
that politicians would have clear religious convictions, Sunderland
was disturbingly willing to blow with the wind. It was not just
his willingness to renounce the Church of England and convert
to Catholicism that attracted such opprobrium; it was that he took
such a long time about it. He very obviously tried to spot the most
expedient moment to announce the change, and then botched
his timing making him appear both cynical and hap-handed.
He then reneged on his supposedly sincere conversion in order
to re-establish himself at court post-1688.
Sunderland’s childhood had been touched very closely by
the English civil war, with the death of his father, Henry, at the
first battle of Newbury in 1643. His education was left to his
mother, a daughter of the earl of Leicester, and his upbringing
was consequently shaped by the austere variety of protestantism
known as Calvinism. The restoration of the monarchy offered him
opportunities to rebuild, and in the 1670s he was appointed to
a series of high-profile diplomatic postings before being made
Charles Montagu, 1st earl of Halifax secretary of state in 1679. Sunderland’s first great “betrayal” came
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1694–99 with his support for excluding James, the duke of York from the
throne, and for that he was put out of office in 1681. Yet as
Charles Montagu, earl of Halifax, held the position of chancellor a testament to his extraordinary powers of reinvention, when
of the exchequer more than 20 years after Shaftesbury, and a James succeeded to the throne as James II, Sunderland managed
few years after the Revolution of 1688–89 had brought profound to regain the new monarch’s trust and was returned to office first
changes to English politics. Halifax was a “Whig”, an adherent as secretary of state (for the south) and latterly as lord president of
of the party that claimed responsibility for the Revolution, and the council. With equal adeptness, he wrong-footed his principal
he was one of the “Junto” group of effective young ministers rivals, the Hyde brothers, packing one of them off to Ireland and
who vigorously supported war with France. As chancellor undermining the credibility of the other.
from 1694–99, and first lord of the Treasury from 1697, he was However, all did not go well and while James’s regime
responsible for a remarkable set of innovative fiscal and financial tottered, Sunderland wavered. He vacillated over his much-trailed
policies that were critical to the growth of the British state in the conversion to Catholicism, which happened eventually in 1687 and
18th century. These included a reform of the currency, replacing for which he was rewarded with the Garter. He also proved unable
the existing coins in circulation, the establishment of the Bank to commit firmly to the wisdom (or otherwise) of parliamentary
of England, and a complex scheme of government finance elections. When the Revolution came in the late autumn of 1688, he
involving the East India Company. was one of James’s ministers to panic and seek sanctuary overseas.
Halifax was not prime minister; but his career shows how the Sunderland’s masterly reinvention of himself once more in the
growth in the complexity of government finance made it important wake of the Revolution not only underscored his own political
to have a very senior minister in the House of Commons who could talents but how much William III and the new regime valued
explain and defend its proposals; and how, therefore, economic his advice. Having been excluded from the Act of Indemnity,
matters were becoming a greater and greater preoccupation. Sunderland risked returning home assisted by his wife’s quiet
32
o
Opposite
Robert Spencer Earl
of Sunderland, an 18th
century illustration after
a portrait by Sir Peter Lely
o
Left
Charles Montagu, Earl
of Halifax, 1732 mezzotint
by John Faber after a
portrait Sir Godfrey Kneller
33
“Because this group worked closely together with

affiliation to a single identifiable party, the Junto is often
regarded as the first example of cabinet government”
34
diplomacy, and gradually managed to re-establish himself at court. The most charismatic of the Junto was Thomas Wharton,
His seat at Althorp in Northamptonshire became a major centre Lord Wharton, known as “Honest Tom”. Having indulged in a
for political scheming and he persuaded William to bring the riotous youth, by the 1680s he had emerged as one of James II’s
Whigs into government. On one thing, though, he was firm most serious critics and took a leading role in the Revolution.
– his refusal to accept office for himself. He became, then, a Despite this, he was treated with caution by William III.
consummate minister behind the curtain, valued by a king Wharton’s frustrations with William’s early efforts to frame a
who found his new subjects difficult to like or trust at the best balanced administration resulted in him writing a remarkably
of times. The ultimate pragmatist, Sunderland’s credo was based critical letter to the king in the winter of 1689, lambasting
firmly on the notion of following his monarch’s lead, no matter him for employing “the most obnoxious men of all England
what direction that took, delivered in his famous Spencer drawl: for your ministers”. Queen Anne viewed Wharton with even
“What matters who serves his majesty, so long as his majesty greater unease but eventually fell for his charm and he was
is served?” made lord lieutenant of Ireland, where he found himself
stranded and out of touch.
Part of the problem experienced by the Junto in operating
The Junto as a bloc was the predictable infighting among a group of strong
Government Ministers, 1688–1700 personalities. Somers may have been the group’s natural leader, o
but early on it was the distinguished admiral, Edward Russell, Opposite
Growing out of the Revolution of 1688 was an increasing who was thought of as the focal point. An irascible character The Whig Junto:
focus on parties and groupings in Parliament. One of the most at the best of times, after 1700, Russell retired to the country from left to right, an
dynamic of these sets came to be dubbed the “Junto”: a grouping as earl of Orford rather than continuing to struggle against the anonymous black
of like-minded radical Whigs, eager to ensure that the gains of prevailing political tide. He returned reluctantly as the head servant; Charles Spencer,
the Revolution were not lost. Because this group worked closely of the admiralty later in the reign of Anne. Charles “Mouse” 3rd Earl of Sunderland;
together with affiliation to a single identifiable party – the Montagu (later Lord Halifax) was similarly controversial. Thomas Wharton, 1st
Whigs – the Junto is often regarded as the first example of Viewed with deep suspicion by his colleagues for his apparent Marquess of Wharton;
cabinet government. willingness to work with people of a very different stamp, his John Somers, 1st Baron
Chief among the Junto was Sir John Somers, a seasoned greatest achievement was his role in the founding of the Bank Somers; Charles Montagu,
lawyer and MP for Worcester, who held a series of important of England; his greatest disappointment, never being made 1st Earl of Halifax; and
legal positions prior to his appointment as lord chancellor and lord treasurer. The final member of the group, who came to William Cavendish,
promotion to the House of Lords. Somers had been responsible prominence under Anne, was Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of 2nd Duke of Devonshire;
for drafting much of what became the Bill of Rights, which gave Sunderland. The most uncompromising of them, and reckoned Edward Russell, 1st Earl
to him a particularly important status as the man who, quite by some to be a closet republican, he emerged ultimately as of Orford, by John James
literally, wrote the Revolution Settlement. effective premier, following the Hanoverian accession. Baker, 1710
35
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

Secretary at War, 1704–8
Despite Bolingbroke’s Whiggish and dissenting family background, when it became known that he had corresponded with agents
as a parliamentarian in 1701–8 and 1710–15, he cut a figure as a of the Jacobites – those working to try to restore the son of
loyal Tory. The Tories had emerged as a loose political grouping, James II to the throne – he fled to France. His decision to take
originally defined by a loyalty to James II and disapproval of up a position at the court of James’s son, the Stuart Pretender,
efforts to exclude him from acceding to the throne. In the earlier whom he served for less than a year, prevented him from
period, Bolingbroke allied with Robert Harley, with whom returning to Britain until the mid-1720s. Shortly after his
he served in the mixed ministry as secretary at war in 1704–8. dismissal from the Jacobite court following the failed Jacobite
Harley had been prominent in the Country party, an alliance rebellion of 1715, Bolingbroke defended his conduct by arguing
of politicians suspicious of the royal court and its patronage. that he was acting in the belief that he was helping the Tory
However, Bolingbroke’s friendship with Harley deteriorated party in England. This may have been at least partly genuine;
and turned into rivalry during the Tory administration of in October 1714 he had dramatically written to his political ally
1710–14. At this point, Bolingbroke aimed for leadership of Bishop Atterbury that “the grief of my soul is this, I see plainly
the High Church Tories: ironic considering his own lack of that the Tory party is gone”.
religious sympathies. In terms of his outspoken policy, however, When he was eventually allowed to return to Britain in the
Bolingbroke was not such an odd figure in the Church of England mid-1720s, he was barred from taking a seat in the Lords, and
party. As he wrote to a political friend in 1710: “I have resolved instead became a leading opposition writer in the political journal
o to neglect nothing in my power which may contribute towards called The Craftsman, with strong links to both the Tory and the
Opposite making the Church interest the prevailing one in our country.” Whig parts of the opposition to Walpole. As a political thinker,
Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke only managed to establish his leadership towards Bolingbroke returned to the Country party ideology of Harley,
Bolingbroke, oil on the end of the 1710–14 administration. and his writings on the British constitution influenced the likes
canvas by Charles At the sudden death of Queen Anne and the accession of of the French political writer Montesquieu and the American
Dagar, c. 1712 George I in August 1714, he was turned out. The following year, “founding father”, John Adams.
36
37
38
o
Opposite
Francis Atterbury,
bishop of Rochester:
engraving after portrait
by unknown artist
o
Right
A 1623 engraving of
the two houses of the
Convocation of the
Church of England, with
the house of bishops
above and the lower
clergy below. Atterbury
established his high
Tory reputation as
an advocate of the
constitutional position
and political rights
of Convocation
Francis Atterbury
Bishop of Rochester, 1713–23
Francis Atterbury, the political prelate par excellence, was

at centre stage of religious politics in the first decades of
the 18th century. He distinguished himself early on with his
intellectual talent, publishing a Latin translation of John
Dryden’s “Absalom and Achitophel” when he was 19 years
old. In the 1690s, he became a national celebrity thanks to his
intervention in the so-called Convocation Controversy, arguing
for the right of the Convocation of the Church of England
to meet alongside Parliament. These writings influenced
prominent Tories such as the earl of Rochester, and Atterbury
emerged as a leading spokesperson for High Church Toryism
in opposition to Latitudinarian Whiggism and occasional
conformity. During the Tory administration of 1710–14,
Atterbury was united with Bolingbroke, who emerged as
a leader of the so-called “high-flying” Tories.
During this ministry, Atterbury drafted legislation to
strengthen the ecclesiastical courts and to suppress non-
conformist academies. In 1713, he was awarded with the
bishopric of Rochester. After the death of Queen Anne and
the Hanoverian Succession, Atterbury led the Tory opposition
to the new Whig regime in the House of Lords. In these years, he
also became a rather cautious and periodic Jacobite conspirator.
The Atterbury Plot, which took his name although he was only
implicated at an early stage, was uncovered in 1722, and Atterbury
was sent into exile on the continent the following year. In exile,
he acted as the Stuart Pretender’s secretary of state until he
resigned in 1728. He died a broken man in Paris in 1732.
39
“To prosecute the war successfully,

Marlborough needed to be as good a
strategist in the privy council chamber and
the House of Lords as on the battlefield”
John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough

Commander-in-Chief and Captain-General, 1701–11
o John Churchill’s long military career began under Charles II, to be taken to France, through a land campaign based on
Opposite and he made the first of his many ascending steps in the peerage pitched battles and sieges in the southern Netherlands. He was
John Churchill, Duke of under James II. He was created earl of Marlborough in 1689, opposed by the Tories, who felt Britain’s best defence was a
Marlborough, by Louis as he was among the first English military officers to defect to “blue water” strategy depending on the navy and Britain’s
Coblitz after portrait by William of Orange at his invasion. In 1701, William III appointed island separation.
Sir Godfrey Kneller him commander-in-chief of the forces preparing to fight against Despite his frequently repeated assertions that, as the
France in the War of the Spanish Succession. When Queen Anne, queen’s servant, he stood above political party, Marlborough
whom Marlborough and his wife had served since 1683, came to became irritated by the Tories and turned instead to the
the throne he continued in this role, as captain-general of the supportive Whigs. From 1704, he and his more stridently
allied forces. In December 1702, upon his return from his first partisan wife engaged in a series of campaigns in which
successful campaign, Anne raised him to a dukedom. He went on they badgered Queen Anne until she, exhausted, dismissed
to win a series of important battles – Blenheim (1704), Ramillies objectionable Tories and appointed Whigs in their place.
(1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709) – without which In 1710, an exasperated Anne and a war-weary electorate turned
Britain and the Allies would not have been able to restrain French against the Whigs, and under a new Tory House of Commons,
ambitions and maintain the European balance of power. Marlborough was stripped of his military responsibilities in late
To prosecute the war successfully, Marlborough needed to be 1711. He went into exile and looked on in frustration as many
as good a strategist in the privy council chamber and the House of his war aims were jettisoned as the conflict was concluded
of Lords as he was on the battlefield. He argued that the war had hurriedly with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.
40
41
o
Right
Sidney Godolphin, Earl of
Godolphin, mezzotint by
John Smith after portrait
by Sir Godfrey Kneller
o
Opposite
The House of Commons,
oil on canvas by Peter
Tillemans, c. 1710
42
Sidney Godolphin, 1st earl of Godolphin

First Lord of the Treasury, 1684–85, 1690–99, 1700–01
Marlborough would not have been able to wage his campaigns called the “duumvirs” (derived from the Latin for a coalition
without the steady financial management of his close friend, of two rulers), and their opposite characters complemented
Sidney Godolphin, earl of Godolphin. Godolphin first served each other successfully. Marlborough had the driving ambition,
under Charles II, who, observing his unobtrusive and quiet self-regard and the thirst for glory, to execute risky military
efficiency, commented that he was “never in the way but never ventures such as the march to the Danube. Godolphin by
out of the way”. Godolphin quickly showed an aptitude for contrast was reserved, taciturn, hard-working and cautious.
finance and in 1684 was appointed first lord of the Treasury Bishop Gilbert Burnet thought him “the silentest and modestest
and created Baron Godolphin. He served William III in the man that was perhaps ever bred in a Court”. He did not desire
Treasury for much of his reign. glory, and only reluctantly accepted a promotion to an earldom
In May 1702, Queen Anne appointed Godolphin her lord in 1706.
treasurer. Between 1702 and 1709 he raised an unprecedented Godolphin tried to maintain peace at home so that Marlborough
£40 million for the War of the Spanish Succession, outstripping could confidently fight on the Continent. With Robert Harley,
the French resources. He won the war against France as Speaker of the House of Commons, Godolphin worked to promote
much in the Treasury as Marlborough did on the battlefields. government policy in Parliament without tipping over into either
Furthermore, Godolphin was far more than a pen-pushing Whig or Tory extremism. He succeeded in defeating the Occasional
bureaucrat. He was an active partner with Marlborough in forming Conformity bills, which would have reignited religious disputes
and promoting their common war policy. Together, they were between Anglicans and Dissenters. In perhaps his greatest
43
“Harley was a Country Whig in the 1690s,

but in 1701 he accepted the Speakership and
in 1704 the gamekeeper joined the poachers
with his appointment as secretary of state”
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford

Lord High Treasurer 1711–14
achievement, he helped stifle growing conflicts between England Harley was a man of contradictions, not least in emerging under
and Scotland by engineering through both countries’ Queen Anne at the head of a predominantly high church Tory
parliaments the Act of Union that created “Great Britain”. ministry, after spending the earlier part of his career as a
These achievements came at some cost. Like Marlborough, Country Whig from a non-conformist background. He came
he found he had to rely on the Whigs for support, and in return from a long line of squires from the Welsh marches, and several
they expected him to promote them to office. After Godolphin of them had been in Parliament before him. His father had
had helped to install a Whig lord chancellor, one of the more attempted to inculcate his Puritan opinions into the young
Waspish members of the Junto, Lord Wharton, warned him he Robert, but various contemporaries insisted that he had always
“was now into the net and must either make his way through, or been insincere in his religious convictions. It was for this, as
else he might be in danger of being hanged in it”. Ultimately, it well as his political slipperiness, that he came to be known as
was figuratively the latter. Throughout 1710, the queen dismantled “Robin the Trickster”.
the Whig ministry bit by bit and her longest-serving minister and Harley was a Country Whig in the 1690s, rising to prominence
lord treasurer was dismissed in August. Worn out by his years of as a commissioner of public accounts, but in 1701 he accepted the
service, he died on 15 September 1712 at the St Albans house of Speakership and in 1704 the gamekeeper joined the poachers with
his closest friends, the Marlboroughs. The duchess lamented his his appointment as secretary of state. Harley’s relations with the
passing, for she considered him “the truest friend to me and all two other pre-eminent ministers, Marlborough and Godolphin,
my family that ever was, and the best man that ever lived”. were never cosy and in 1708 there was a stand-off as both parties
44
o
Left
Robert Harley, Earl of
Oxford and Mortimer,
after Jonathan
Richardson the elder
45
46
o
Opposite
Robert Harley, Earl of
Oxford, wearing the star
and blue ribbon of the
Order of the Garter, oil
on canvas by Jonathan
Richardson, c. 1710
o
Right
The 1713 Treaty of
Utrecht was in reality a
series of treaties between
the combatant powers.
This Dutch broadsheet
reports the completion
of the treaty between
Britain and France
struggled to retain power. On this occasion, Harley lost out, of Commons, over which he presided as Speaker for four years,
but over the next two years he worked hard to cultivate new allies, and like several premier ministers of the time, he was never
such as the former Junto Whig poster-boy the duke of Shrewsbury, the clear leader of a party. From a Country Whig, he became
who had returned from a period of self-imposed exile convinced the effective head of the Tory party, but he was never accepted
that the country needed to withdraw from the burdens of the War as their leader and early on faced challenges from more
of the Spanish Succession. determined Tories, who looked to the alternative leadership
In 1710, the new Harley–Shrewsbury alliance took its of Viscount Bolingbroke.
opportunity to destabilise Marlborough and Godolphin, and In the dying days of Queen Anne, Oxford was removed from
during the first few months of the year began to take over the office and after the accession of George I, he faced disgrace.
administration. The myth of Harley’s exceptional command of In the articles of impeachment brought against him in 1715,
planning and detail stems in part from his masterly ousting of his he was accused of several issues from his time as lord treasurer.
old rivals and establishment of a new ministry. But it is not at all First and foremost, his actions in negotiating and approving the
clear that matters followed the course he anticipated. Harley seems 1713 Treaty of Utrecht were decried by the Whigs as a betrayal
to have been eager to remain behind the scenes and to allow of the gains achieved by Marlborough. But no less importantly,
Shrewsbury to be the public face of the new regime. Within weeks the Whigs complained about Oxford’s abuse of power by
of the new administration coming into being, though, Harley persuading the queen to impose a dozen new peers on the Lords
was forced to emerge from the shadows and accept, first, the to help bolster his majority in the upper house. Despite the
chancellorship and in 1711 the effective premiership as lord fierceness with which the Whigs sought his head, Oxford was
high treasurer, while Shrewsbury was rapidly sidelined. eventually acquitted in 1717 after two years in the Tower of
At heart, Oxford (as Harley had become) was a masterful London. The experience destroyed his health and for the
operator at court and in Parliament, most at home in the House remainder of his life he was a shadow of his former self.
47
48
CHAPTER TWO
POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP
1721−1800
Contributors
Stuart Handley
Robin Eagles
Dominic Ingram
49
Leadership in an age of
stability without democracy
Robert Walpole’s dominance of the king’s court and the House
of Commons defined the position of prime minister; the massive
stability of the 18th century political system consolidated it
S ir Robert Walpole is usually accounted the first prime minister

of Great Britain, holding office under George I and George II
from 1721 until his fall in 1742. The traditional point from which
The country over which George I ruled was one in which
agriculture was the predominant employer, though commerce
at home and abroad was a vital part of the economy. The cloth
Walpole’s premiership is dated is his assumption of the offices of trade was essential; industries based on extractive processes
first lord of the Treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. Yet, the (iron and other metals, coal) were of growing importance.
title of prime minister was one that he rejected pointedly, denying The scope and ambition of government remained limited,
that he was ever “prime and sole minister”. confined to maintaining order; conducting relations with foreign
Walpole had been both first lord and treasurer from 1715–16 powers; managing the colonies, chiefly in North America and
but was not considered prime minister at that point; his powers the Caribbean; managing wars abroad and relations between
of patronage were not significantly greater than those exercised competing interest groups at home. The voting system rested
by some of the premier ministers of the age of Anne (notably the on ancient precedent. Only a minority of men, and no women,
earl of Godolphin or earl of Oxford), and it might be argued that could vote. Middle-class men were more enfranchised in the
for the first nine years of his premiership, he was effectively boroughs, but the growing urban communities went largely
in partnership with his brother-in-law Viscount Townshend. unrepresented in Parliament.
Nevertheless, Walpole swiftly emerged as the senior partner. Despite the absence of anything that could credibly
be described as democracy, the political system and the
management of government and opposition developed with
political stability after 1688. There were developments to
parallel the emergence of the notion of the “prime minister”.
In the group known as the Patriots, we see the emergence
of a coherent idea of the Opposition in Parliament. In this
increasingly stable parliamentary structure, people skills
and strategic skills became increasingly vital in a parliamentary
leader. The House of Commons rather than the House of
Lords became the locus of management, though the case of
the Pelham brothers shows how working in tandem could
ensure command in both.
Problems of empire began to dominate British politics,
o as did war in Europe. Prime ministers such as George Grenville
Right were able to make lasting contributions to parliamentary
Sir Robert Walpole as procedure, but it was questions of war and peace that
ranger of Richmond Park, increasingly determined their fate. In both Pitt the Elder
by John Wootton and and Pitt the Younger, we see prime ministers grappling
Jonathan Richardson the with major wars, though even at the end of this period it
elder. Walpole was an was still not the case that a prime minister needed to be the
enthusiastic huntsman, undisputed leader of a political party in Parliament. Outside of
reputedly ensuring that government, long periods in opposition could allow leaders
parliament would not to develop policies that could be put to the (narrow) electorate,
meet on Saturdays so he especially when oppositions were led by men of charisma
could hunt at weekends and great influence.
50
o
Above
The Commons in the
year of Walpole’s fall
from power: A view of
the House of Commons
in the session 1741/2,
engraving by John
Pine 1746
51
“Walpole’s hold on power was confirmed by

his masterful handling of the days following
the death of George I. There is no reason to
doubt that he was ‘prime and sole minister’”
Sir Robert Walpole

Prime Minister, 1721–42
Following the death of Queen Anne on 1 August 1714, the Stanhope took over the Treasury, Sunderland became secretary
new ministry that took power during the autumn of that year of state. After a year they swapped offices.
included most of the significant members of the Whig party. The ministry embarked on a series of fairly radical measures,
Death and old age soon removed three members of the Junto, both constitutional (peerage bill) and religious (repeal of the
which had dominated the Whig party in Queen Anne’s reign occasional conformity and schism acts). The Whig split was
– Halifax, Wharton and Somers – leaving Charles Spencer, mirrored by a split in the royal family with George I estranged
3rd earl of Sunderland; James Stanhope, successively Viscount from the prince of Wales, and Walpole and Townshend siding
and Earl Stanhope; Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend; with the prince. The schism in the royal family was ended in
and Robert Walpole as the leading figures in the administration April 1720, partly by political manoeuvring behind the scenes
o after 1715. However, with the regime secured after the failure of when the prince reluctantly apologised to his father. As a
Opposite the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and its power consolidated by the consequence, Walpole and Townshend were re-admitted to royal
The House of Commons: passage of the Septennial Act in May 1716, a significant division favour. Walpole was on hand to stabilise the economy after the
Sir Robert Walpole’s developed among the Whig leaders, aided no doubt by the financial shocks of the South Sea Bubble and attendant political
administration, oil on ambitions of the personnel involved. crisis. He was able to produce a financial package to rescue
canvas after William In the summer of 1716 George I visited Hanover, accompanied the public finances and possessed the political skills necessary
Hogarth and Sir James by Stanhope as secretary of state, leaving his son, the prince of to screen those Whigs (and the Crown) from the fall-out from
Thornhill. Walpole is Wales (the future George II) as regent. Sunderland (nominally the Bubble. Stanhope was a casualty of the crisis, succumbing
shown talking informally lord lieutenant of Ireland) using the pretext of ill-health, joined to apoplexy in February 1721 while defending the government
to the Speaker, Arthur them in Hanover. A split then emerged among the Whigs over in the House of Lords.
Onslow, and the foreign policy. The king wanted a more interventionist policy Stanhope’s death weakened Sunderland, but he retained
clerk of the House, in northern Europe, and Stanhope and Sunderland supported the favour of the king, which made him a formidable opponent.
Nicholas Hardinge him – and their followers were driven into opposition. However, Sunderland died in April 1722 leaving Townshend
52
53
54
and Walpole to consolidate their grip on power. Essentially,

this was achieved by uniting most of the Whigs behind the
ministry. Walpole was able to exploit the fear of Jacobitism,
and skilfully played upon the Jacobite threat to prosecute
and force into exile the prominent Tory, Francis Atterbury,
bishop of Rochester in 1723. He also eschewed controversial
legislation and European entanglements that threatened
to divert scarce resources to military conflicts in Europe.
Walpole’s policies were opposed by some opposition Whigs
(often thwarted former colleagues, such as William Pulteney),
and the remnants of the Tory party, as well as literary organs
such as The Craftsman, which was published from late 1726,
and included contributions from Pulteney and the former
Tory minister, Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, newly
returned from exile.
The ministry survived the hiatus caused by the death
of George I in 1727, and the accession of George II. The new
monarch was thought to favour Spencer Compton (shortly to be
ennobled as Baron, and later earl of Wilmington) as his leading
minister, but Walpole used his experience to outmanoeuvre his
rival, and by dint of his mastery of the Commons secured an
enhanced settlement of the Civil List, and thereby the king’s o
favour. In this he was assisted by his friendship with Queen Left
Caroline, an important ally in managing the king. An Emblematic Print
Townshend was eventually forced from office in 1730 on the South Sea: an
after disagreements with Walpole over foreign policy. Walpole’s engraved satire on the
zest for fiscal reforms, which would enable the land tax to be Bubble designed by
reduced to a historic low, saw him champion an extension of William Hogarth: the
the excise. This prompted opposition in 1733 and led to the devil attracts crowds
abandonment of his excise scheme. In response to this setback, hoping to make their
Walpole purged his opponents, especially in the Lords, including fortunes on the merry-
the earl of Chesterfield and Lord Clinton, and later the dukes go-round, while Honesty
of Montrose and Bolton, the earls of Stair and Marchmont, and Honour are tortured
and Viscount Cobham. by villainy and self-interest
55
In turn, this prompted renewed criticism over the dismissal new ministry, although some of the disgruntled opposition
of men from military commands for political offences. Whigs were brought into office, notably Pulteney and Lord
Henceforth, Walpole was faced by an opposition united Carteret. They served alongside Old Corps Whigs such as
in seeking his removal from office. Thomas Pelham-Holles, and the rising star of the party, his
The death of Queen Caroline in 1737 removed an ally younger brother Henry Pelham. The new ministry had the
from Court and opposition grew steadily, aided by a campaign earl of Wilmington as its figurehead premier, and it was he
for military action against Spain over trading issues, which, who took over as first lord of the Treasury.
despite the Convention of Pardo, saw the so-called War of Walpole’s control of the Commons and command of
Jenkins’ Ear break out in October 1739. Walpole had done detail had been legendary. It was to his levee, or morning
his best to avoid a conflict and proved to be an uninspiring reception, that supplicants flocked, much to Townshend’s
war leader, but attempts to secure his removal by a parliamentary disgust. Walpole’s hold on power was confirmed by his
vote were defeated in both Houses in February 1741. masterful handling of the days following the death of
Walpole’s political position, however, was damaged George I. If not before, then from that point on there
by the results of the 1741 general election. The election is no reason to doubt that he was indeed, whatever he
saw significant gains for the opposition, which now had a might have said to the contrary, “prime and sole minister”.
popular figurehead in the form of Frederick, prince of Wales. Above all, it was his sheer longevity that counted. Few were
When the new Parliament met, Walpole’s majority in the able to match his experience or the trust in which he was
House of Commons was steadily eroded by defeats on election held at court. Walpole might have liked to insist that he
petitions. Once Walpole had decided to resign, discussions took was no different from other senior ministers before him,
place between various Whig groups on the reconstruction of the but his length of service and the numbers of people
ministry. Thus, Walpole’s fall did not inaugurate a completely dependent on him argued otherwise.
56
o
Opposite
An engraved satire on
Walpole’s unwillingness
to go to war with Spain
in 1738. Walpole is trying
to ignore the evidence
of Captain Jenkins’
severed ear
o
Left
Sir Robert Walpole, oil on
canvas, after Jean Baptise
Van Loo
57
58
o
Opposite
Richard Temple, Viscount
Cobham, portrait by
Jean Baptiste Van Loo,
c. 1738-42
o
Right
The Temple of British
Worthies at Stowe,
Cobham’s collection of
great leaders of British
history: from left, The
Black Prince, Queen
Elizabeth I, King William
III, Sir Walter Raleigh,
Sir Francis Drake
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount

Cobham and the Patriot Whigs
Opposition Leadership, 1725–42
Few groups in the 18th century have left such a lasting

impression on the political landscape as the Patriot Whigs.
Headed by William Pulteney and, initially, a group of 17 other
Whigs, they had seceded from the main body of the Whig
party in opposition to Robert Walpole and in 1742 an alliance
between the Patriots and Tories helped bring about Walpole’s
fall. Toppling the great man had been a long-term goal of the
group, which included in its ranks a future premier (Pitt the of it was the temple of British worthies, depicting heroes
Elder), and who looked to the future reign of Prince Frederick, from the nation’s history from King Alfred, to Elizabeth I
who they hoped would govern in the mould of Viscount and onwards through William III to Sir John Barnard,
Bolingbroke’s “Patriot King”: meaning that the king would another member of Parliament who had come out in
depend on no party but govern as father to the people of opposition to Walpole.
Britain (and not be more devoted to Hanover). Cobham was not alone in marking out his group’s
At the Patriots’ core was a tight-knit family group, headed aspirations on the landscape. Prince Frederick also became
by Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham, who employed his adept at making use of his residences as focal points
seat (and perhaps just as importantly his gardens) at Stowe for the opposition. At one of these houses, Cliveden,
as their base of operations. Cobham had fallen foul of Walpole in Buckinghamshire, the patriotic song “Rule Britannia”
for opposing the excise in 1733. He turned to the opposition was first performed, as part of Dr Arne’s new masque,
and was steadily able to use his extensive political interest King Alfred. The prince’s London houses, Leicester House
to find seats in Parliament for his numerous kinsmen. and Carlton House, also became focal points for politicians
William Pitt, a relative by marriage, was one of the more at odds with the current regime.
high-profile recruits. The Patriots proved successful in exploiting a variety
Cobham was far from the first person to develop his of media to communicate their programme, which in itself
country estate as a place from which to discuss political was something of an innovation. Perhaps for the first time,
tactics, but few went so far in carving their political a political group – gathered round the heir to the throne
philosophy on the surface. Laid out across the gardens – cast itself in the guise of an administration in waiting,
were a series of monuments and classical and rustic with a programme of government to hand and a vision
buildings relating the story of England’s past. At the heart for the future.
59
o
Right
Henry Pelham in his
robes as chancellor of
the exchequer, oil on
canvas by William Hoare
of Bath, 1751
o
Opposite
Thomas Pelham-Holles,
Duke of Newcastle, by
William Hoare
“Historians have characterised Pelham as the

king’s minister in the Commons, and the
Commons’ minister in the king’s court, the key
to governing successfully in 18th-century Britain”
60
Henry Pelham
Henry Pelham and his brother, the duke of Newcastle that nothing endangered the Pelhams’ majority in Parliament.
(Thomas Pelham-Holles), were beneficiaries of the fall of In this he was successful, for although he died in March 1754,
Walpole. The death of the earl of Wilmington saw Henry just prior to the general election of that year, he had organised
Pelham succeed to his office at the Treasury in August 1743. what turned out to be a successful campaign that delivered a
The next few years saw a battle for political supremacy healthy majority for the Whigs.
between, on the one hand Pelham and Newcastle, and on In the reorganisation that followed Pelham’s death, his
the other Carteret (now Earl Granville) assisted by Pulteney, brother Newcastle took over the Treasury and decided to
who had been raised to the peerage as earl of Bath. Although lead the ministry from the Lords, while failing to provide the
forced out of office in November 1744, Granville continued powers of patronage to the ministry’s leader in the Commons
to exert influence over the king “behind the curtain”. – a point not lost on the seasoned Whig politician, Henry Fox,
Following the defeat of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745,
the Pelhams and their allies threatened collective resignation
in February 1746 to force the king to sever his ties with
Granville. Attempts by Granville and Bath to form a ministry
without the Pelhams failed, and they returned to power with
enhanced authority and power.
For the next eight years, Henry Pelham dominated
the Treasury, while his brother administered foreign affairs.
Historians have characterised Pelham as the king’s minister
in the Commons, and the Commons’ minister in the king’s
court, the key to governing successfully in 18th-century
Britain. Pelham also had the ability to disarm opposition
and co-opt new blood, such as Henry Fox, into the ministry.
Pelham’s management skills provided a tranquil period of
government, where the public finances recovered from the
debt accrued by the country during the Austrian Succession
War. Pelham’s political acuity ensured that the plans of
Frederick, prince of Wales, to challenge the ministry at the
next election, were nullified by calling the general election
a year early in 1747.
In 1748, Pelham ended the long-running war with France
that had begun in 1740. He then embarked on a programme
of retrenchment and even managed to negotiate a fall in the
rate of interest on the national debt from four to three per
cent to be achieved by 1755. He also managed to negotiate
his way through unforeseen crises such as the death of Prince
Frederick in 1751 and the need to pass a regency act to
provide for the government of the country should the new
prince of Wales (the future George III) succeed as a minor.
A delicate balance had to be struck between the competing
claims of the dowager princess of Wales and the uncle of the
new prince, the duke of Cumberland. Contentious legislation
such as the Jewish Naturalization Act passed in 1753 was
repealed in the following year due to the opposition it
provoked. Pelham was acutely aware of the need to ensure
61
o o
Above Opposite
The capture of Quebec William Pitt (the elder):
by British troops under chalk drawing by William
General Wolfe, who died Hoare of Bath, c. 1754
of wounds received at the
battle, was one of the great
military successes of the
‘year of victories’, 1759: The
Death of General Wolfe
at Quebec, oil on canvas
by Benjamin West, 1770
62
who declined the poisoned chalice. The following year, the government’s subsidy treaties with Britain’s European
another prominent MP, William Pitt, entered into a political allies, Pitt was sacked in 1755. Formal war was declared
alliance with the politicians associated with Leicester the following year, only for Britain to be quickly humiliated
House, the residence of the prince of Wales. Peace with with the loss of Minorca to the French. The prime minister,
France was short-lived, and there were military difficulties the duke of Newcastle, resigned later that year and
in America. Conflict in the Mediterranean led to the loss Pitt was brought in as secretary of state under a new
of the British garrison island of Minorca to the French in administration headed by the duke of Devonshire.
June 1756. As a consequence of these setbacks, Newcastle Lacking support from George II and a Parliament that
resigned in November to be replaced by a Devonshire-Pitt still supported Newcastle, the ministry was short-lived,
administration. However, Pitt’s schemes required solid and Pitt was dismissed in April 1757. By this point it was
support in the Commons, and this enabled Newcastle to clear that Newcastle and Pitt needed each other, and both
return to the Treasury in June 1757, as part of a Newcastle- returned to office in the summer. In the ministry formally
Pitt administration. This ministry presided over a notable headed by Newcastle, Pitt was deeply influential, and
series of victories, especially in the annus mirabilis of 1759. set about directing a renewed war effort. To what extent
In October 1760, George III ascended the throne, Britain’s successes in the Seven Years’ War, culminating
which necessitated a general election in the spring of 1761, in the conquest of French Canada in 1759, can be credited
Newcastle presiding over a successful campaign. Newcastle now to Pitt is debatable. However, his vigour and political
attached himself to the new king’s favourite, the earl of Bute,
and distanced himself from Pitt, who advocated extending the
war by declaring war on Spain. Pitt resigned in October 1761,
while Newcastle retained his place until he was replaced at the
Treasury by Bute in May 1762. When the Old Corps Whigs
returned to power under Rockingham in July 1765, Newcastle
served as lord privy seal until the appointment of the Pitt
ministry in July 1766.
William Pitt the Elder

Secretary of State, 1756–57; Leader of the House of
Commons, 1755–61; Prime Minister, 1766–67
William Pitt, known to history as the elder because his son

in due course would also become premier, was born in 1708.
His grandfather had made the family’s fortune in India,
but as a younger son Pitt needed to forge his own career.
Obtaining a commission in the army regiment of Viscount
Cobham, Pitt was drawn into the “Patriot” opposition to
Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole in the 1730s. Elected to
the House of Commons in 1735, Pitt belonged to a faction of
young opposition politicians under Cobham’s wing known as
“Cobham’s Cubs”. The group splintered following Walpole’s
fall in 1742, but Pitt, a skilled orator and forceful personality,
eventually muscled his way into government office as
paymaster of the army in 1746.
Increasing conflict with France in the 1750s paved
the way for Pitt’s political ascendancy. After attacking
63
leadership during these years undoubtedly shaped Britain’s of Grafton, became in effect acting prime minister and formally
successful policy of combining large-scale colonial operations succeeded Pitt in October 1768. Pitt spent the remainder of
with financial support to its European allies. As Newcastle his life in opposition, making forceful, if somewhat sporadic,
sat in the upper house, Pitt was the ministry’s chief figure political interventions in Parliament. It was during a thunderous
in the Commons and garnered wider public support, speech on American independence in 1778 that he collapsed,
particularly in the City of London. His nickname of the dying soon afterwards, a scene dramatically depicted by the
“Great Commoner”, imposed on him by sarcastic critics, artist John Singleton Copley in his painting ‘The Death of the
turned into a badge of pride. Earl of Chatham’.
The accession of George III in 1760 and the rise of his
powerful favourite Lord Bute heralded the end of Pitt’s time
as war minister. Pitt’s bellicose stance was at odds with the George Grenville
new king’s inclinations and the breaking point came when Prime Minister, 1763–65
Pitt learned of the Franco–Spanish alliance in autumn 1761
and insisted on a pre-emptive strike against Spain. Pitt was The memoirist Horace Walpole, famous for his prolixity
supported in cabinet only by his brother-in-law Earl Temple, and for his delight in public business, summed Grenville
and they both resigned. The Seven Years’ War finally came up more succinctly than Grenville could ever have done
to an end in 1763, making Britain the dominant colonial himself: “Brevity was not his failing”. As well as long-winded,
power in North America and India. Grenville was dogged in his pursuit of a favoured object, his
o Pitt was by this point in opposition. Despite Britain’s insistent badgering resulting in the invention of a new term:
Above gains, he thought the peace negotiated with France too “Grenvilisé”. It was to avoid being hectored by his minister
Prominent artists Copley lenient and later spoke forcefully against measures such that George III turned down a series of requests that would
and West both painted as the Stamp Act, which sought to tax Britain’s American have given Grenville unfettered access to the sovereign.
dramatic interpretations colonies directly. His name carried great weight in political Grenville’s early career was overshadowed by the more
of Chatham’s collapse in negotiations and finally, following earlier refusals, Pitt spectacular successes of his brother, Earl Temple, and
the House of Lords: West’s agreed to form his own ministry in 1766. However, it soon his brother-in-law, William Pitt the Elder, and he never
echoed his earlier picture became clear that he was past his prime. Deciding that succeeded in attracting a substantial personal grouping about
of the Death of Wolfe. his health was too fragile for the demands of the lower him. Although he was recognised as a growing talent in his
The Death of Chatham, house, the “Great Commoner” accepted a peerage and led own right, when office finally beckoned, he found himself
oil on canvas by Benjamin his administration from the House of Lords. Pitt, now earl becalmed as treasurer of the navy for seven years.
West, 1778 of Chatham, was further divorced from financial matters by The resignation of the earl of Bute in 1763 finally gave
his acceptance of the office of lord privy seal rather than the Grenville his opportunity, though he was not the king’s first
o more conventional role of first lord of the Treasury. His foreign choice as prime minister. His tenure was dominated by two
Opposite and imperial policy objectives were a failure, and, after suffering great issues: first over taxation of the American colonies;
George Grenville, oil on some form of mental breakdown in spring 1767, he withdrew and second over the John Wilkes affair. Over the first,
canvas, by William Hoare from politics for over two years. His cabinet colleague, the duke Grenville seems not to have intended that the mother country
64
65
Charles Watson-Wentworth,
2nd marquess of Rockingham
Prime Minister, 1765–66, 1782
o should be claiming additional rights over the colonies, Rockingham’s political power base was traditional enough:
Above while asserting in his lengthy budget speech of 6 February 1765, he commanded three seats in the Commons (two in Malton,
Charles Watson- that “The Parliament of Great Britain virtually represents north Yorkshire and one at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire)
Wentworth, 2nd the whole kingdom”. Although the speech was received with and had inherited lands that brought him a substantial
Marquess of Rockingham enthusiasm at Westminster, as it was believed he was making fortune. He was, though, most at home on his Yorkshire
with his secretary, Edmund reasonable claims on the colonies while protecting British estates and was by no means an assured parliamentary
Burke, oil on canvas by taxpayers, the new levy stored up problems for the future. operator. Despite this, Rockingham had charm and in 1765
Sir Joshua Reynolds, He demonstrated similar lack of foresight in his determination he succeeded Grenville as prime minister. The ministry,
1766, unfinished to deal harshly with his former associate, the radical gadfly top-heavy with inexperienced men like Rockingham, was
journalist, John Wilkes. dubbed by the king “an administration of boys”. It proved
After he had been sacked by the king in 1765, Grenville short-lived (it lasted a year), but it did oversee the repeal of
persisted in defending the Stamp Act and his policies towards the detested Stamp Act.
America. He worked hard to oppose the repeal of the Stamp The next decade and a half saw Rockingham in permanent
Act by the new Rockingham administration insisting, opposition, but this proved a significant period in which his
“Whoever advises the king to give up his sovereignty over association formulated a clear political agenda, largely driven
America is the greatest enemy to this country and will be by the political philosophy of Edmund Burke, who had served
accused by all posterity”. It was, though, his response to the as Rockingham’s secretary when the marquess was prime
protracted furore over the disputed Middlesex election that minister. When Lord North fell in 1782, Rockingham was,
was ultimately to be his most useful contribution. In 1770 against the king’s wishes, given his second chance of office.
he promoted a change to the procedure in dealing with Once again, America dominated his administration’s agenda,
contested elections, delegating judgement to a committee but before matters were fully settled Rockingham died
chosen by lot, thereby attempting to remove some of the party unexpectedly, driving the remainder of the Rockingham Whigs
posturing that had coloured the previous open system. back into opposition, where they re-emerged as Foxites.
66
o
Left
Charles Watson-
Wentworth, 2nd Marquess
of Rockingham, in garter
robes, oil on canvas by Sir
Joshua Reynolds, 1768
67
o
Right
Caricature of Frederick,
Lord North, engraving by
James Sayers, 1782
o
Opposite
The young Frederick,
Lord North, oil on canvas
by Pompeo Batoni,
c. 1752–6
68
Frederick North, Lord North

Born in 1732, Frederick North was the eldest son of the earl
of Guilford and was known by his courtesy title of Lord
North for most of his political career. In 1754, and aged only
22, North was elected to the House of Commons representing
his family’s pocket borough of Banbury, Oxfordshire.
A skilled parliamentarian with a strong grasp of financial
matters, North secured an office at the Treasury just five
years later and became chancellor of the exchequer in 1767.
Following the resignation of the prime minister the duke of
Grafton in 1770, George III turned to the dependable North
to lead his government.
North did not exactly cut a heroic figure. His prominent
short-sighted eyes and wide mouth reminded the memoirist America. Following the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777
Horace Walpole of “a blind trumpeter”. He was however and the French entry into the war in 1778, North became
renowned for his good humour and parliamentary management, increasingly despondent and vacillatory. His repeated
successfully navigating his first imperial crisis shortly after offers to resign were refused by the king until the government
taking office when he avoided war with Spain over the Falkland was defeated in what was effectively a vote of no confidence
Islands. North was, of course, far less successful in dealing in February 1782. North resigned the following month,
with the imperial conflict that defined his premiership – the leaving the opposition to form a new administration to
American Revolution. North inherited, rather than created, negotiate peace.
the troubled relationship between Britain and its American Still a force to be reckoned with in Parliament, North
colonies although his ministry’s coercive approach to problems returned to high office in spring 1783 as home secretary
such as colonial taxation and legislative authority did not when he formed a coalition with his former political adversary
help matters. Attempts at reconciliation in 1775 were too little Charles James Fox, in an administration nominally headed
too late and North quickly found himself leading a wartime by the duke of Portland. Owing to the king’s hostility, the
government. Focusing on funding and supplying the war ministry fell at the end of the year, and North’s front-bench
effort, North had relatively little to do with the operational political career was over. He continued to speak in debates
conduct of the American War, which was largely delegated in the Commons and, after his succession to the family
to individuals such as Lord Germain, the secretary of state for earldom in 1790, in the House of Lords until his death in 1792.
69
70
Charles James Fox

Opposition Leader, 1783–1806
Fox, it might have been thought, was born to lead a party. His first among them Edmund Burke. Fox became a champion of the o
father had laboured long in the service of the Crown and held cause of American independence, sporting blue and buff as his Opposite
a series of senior ministerial positions. Although unflatteringly personal uniform, in imitation of that worn by Washington’s Charles James Fox, oil
described by his father at his birth as “weakly, but likely to forces. After a decade out of office, Fox became foreign secretary on canvas by Karl Anton
live”, Fox flourished and was doted on by both his parents, under Rockingham in 1782 and was a driving force in completing Hickel, 1794
who recognised him as a singularly talented individual of the negotiations bringing to a close the war with America.
whom great things might be expected. He entered Parliament However, when Rockingham died, Fox overplayed his hand o
underage and in his early 20s was awarded his first ministerial and found himself overlooked in favour of his loathed cousin, Above
post. At almost every turn he squandered his opportunities, the earl of Shelburne, who became prime minister instead. Fox as St George, the
and it was only at the very end of his life that he finally Under Fox’s leadership, the Rockingham Whigs became Champion of the People
had the satisfaction of seeing a long-cherished project, the Foxites, and for the next 23 years Fox was confined to against “Tyranny”,
the abolition of the slave trade, brought close to fruition. opposition. Once again, he mismanaged the situation, indulging “Assumed Prerogative”,
At the heart of Fox’s problem was a lack of application, Burke in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, governor- “Despotism”, “Oppression”,
but he was also a man of principle. On the handful of occasions general of Bengal, which became a major distraction while “Secret Influence”, “Scotch
when he found himself out of opposition, he found his political Pitt the Younger got on with the business of governing. Politik”, “Duplicity” and
philosophy incompatible on a number of points with his There were periods of secession and many former Foxites “Corruption”, etching by
continuing in government. His first government post ended drifted over to the government benches, fed up with permanent Thomas Rowlandson, 1784
when he refused to support the Royal Marriages bill, stung, exclusion, and disagreeing passionately with one another over
no doubt, both by the implied criticism of his own forebears the course of the French Revolution. Fox, at first welcomed
(his grandfather was the duke of Richmond, a descendant the revolution as a re-run of 1688 and their bitter disagreement
of Charles II) but also by the Crown’s refusal to grant his over the issue led to his final rupture with Burke. It was perhaps
father’s long-cherished ambition of being made an earl only fitting that it was in the end as part of a coalition (the
(he was confined to the Barons’ benches as Lord Holland). Ministry of All the Talents) that Fox made his final return to
Cast out, Fox turned to the Whig opposition, coalescing government, emphasising his continuing power to command,
around the charismatic 2nd marquess of Rockingham. In its while underscoring the extent to which he had run his party
ranks were some of the most gifted parliamentarians of the day, into the ground.
71
o
Right
“Uncorking old Sherry”,
1805: one of James Gillray’s
popular political satires on
the debates of the House
of Commons in the early
19th century, illustrating a
speech of Pitt’s in which he
compared a speech of his
opponent, Sheridan, to the
“explosion of froth and air”
on uncorking a bottle
William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt was just 24 when he became prime minister. at the [1688] Revolution”. Despite his determinedly independent
At the time of his appointment, he had already garnered line, he was able to attract substantial support in Parliament,
over a year’s experience as chancellor of the exchequer, and bolstered by the knowledge that he was the king’s choice for
he was to remain in office for another 17 years. He had made prime minister. His initial ambitions for his administration
a swift impression after coming into Parliament early in 1781. were to bring about modest electoral reform and to balance the
Within six months, Horace Walpole was recording how Pitt nation’s books. His effort to introduce limited electoral reform
had “answered Lord North, and tore him limb from limb” was rejected, after which Pitt left the matter alone, and he was
and was in high hopes of the young man’s abilities as an forced to alter his plans for the economy following the outbreak
orator. Appointment as prime minister was just as precipitate, of revolution in France.
though in decidedly inauspicious circumstances. After the Having come to office as a very young and inexperienced
king had withdrawn what little support he had ever evinced would-be reformer, Pitt was forced by the advent of the French
for the Fox-North coalition, he cast around for a replacement Revolution to change tack and become a war leader. There were
and hit on Pitt. No one believed the minority administration occasional mishandlings of situations, notably the Oczakov
would outlast Christmas (it was dubbed the Mince Pie crisis in 1791, which almost led to war with Russia, but in other o
Ministry), only for Pitt to trounce his adversaries at the respects he proved adept at introducing unpopular wartime Opposite
1784 general election. clampdowns on the British people. Instead of reforms, Pitt was William Pitt the younger,
Unlike Fox, Pitt was never the clear leader of a party and forced to bring in repressive measures to counter the prospect of oil on canvas by Thomas
had a reputation as rather aloof and unclubbable. When accused sedition at home. In May 1794, Habeas Corpus was suspended Gainsborough and
by Sheridan, he denied being a Tory and preferred to express his and the following year there were further measures to prevent Gainsborough Dupont,
political credo as being based on “the principles of liberty settled seditious meetings. c. 1787–90
72
73
74
“Having come to office as a would-be

reformer, Pitt was forced by the advent
of the French Revolution to change
tack and become a war leader”
Although there were occasional efforts by Pitt to reach an

accommodation with the French administrations, none were
successful and the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte on the scene
brought an end to any such initiatives. Pitt’s experience of
office and the demands of heading a wartime administration
destroyed his health and by the late 1790s there were lengthy
periods when he was absent from Parliament. This did not
prevent him from projecting Union with Ireland in response
to the prospect of rebellion there, and in 1801 he was finally
compelled to resign, in tears, when the king refused to give
way on the question of Catholic Relief. He returned to the
premiership in 1804 and remained in post until his death.
He was only in his 40s, but heavy drinking had aged him
far beyond his years.
Pitt may have been associated most obviously with his
handling of the struggle against revolutionary France, but
his most passionate oratory was reserved for the one cause
in which he was in full agreement with Charles James Fox:
abolition of the slave trade. The issue divided him from his
cabinet colleague, Henry Dundas, and after the failure to o
bring about abolition in 1792 he declared himself “ashamed Left
I have not been able to convince the House to abandon it William Pitt addressing
altogether at an instant”. Pitt’s death in 1806 altered the nature the House of Commons
of debate in Parliament for the worse. Even Fox bemoaned his in 1793: engraving
loss, lamenting “one feels as if there was something missing after the painting by
in the world”. Carl-Anton Hickel
75
76
CHAPTER THREE
POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP
1800−1900
Contributors
Philip Salmon
Donal Lowry
77
Leadership in an age
of reform and empire
Britain developed in the 19th century into the world’s premier
economic and military power. The challenges of leading it
became correspondingly greater, particularly as demands
for political reform grew
T he transformation of Britain’s economy in the 19th century

created major challenges for the political leaders at
Westminster. Agricultural labourers continued to migrate
In such turbulent times, skills of mediation would
command support at Westminster, even if they would not
ensure that prime ministers and their ministries were respected
to the new industrial centres in their hundreds of thousands, by the public. Under the pressure of direct popular action, Lord
putting the old structures governing society under massive strain. Liverpool’s repressive policies were ameliorated to an extent by
Traditional parish and town authorities lacked powers to deal more conciliatory approaches, and violent revolution in Britain
with the disorder and disease caused by urban overcrowding was avoided, though perhaps only narrowly. The highly divisive
and harsh industrial working conditions. Alongside the growing Queen Caroline affair, which transformed the monarchy into
protests and demands of workers, there was mounting pressure an object of faction and popular agitation, was ended by votes
from wealthy industrialists and the rapidly expanding middle in Parliament not mass protest.
classes for a far greater say in how the nation was governed. With improving communications, particularly through
Britain’s political leaders adopted a number of different print journalism, the national reputations of politicians could
approaches to tackling these problems. During the wars with by this period rise and fall with dizzying rapidity, as the case
France, which lasted almost continuously from 1793 until of the duke of Wellington amply shows. A further recognisably
1815, the Tory governments of William Pitt and his successors modern change in the office of prime minister was brought
clamped down hard on all forms of political protest, most about by the enormously expanding scale of government
notoriously during Pitt’s “reign of terror”. Aided by patriotic activity, which caused Sir Robert Peel to delegate work at
propaganda and the creation of a “loyalist” movement of armed the Treasury, formerly the bedrock of prime ministerial office,
civilians, Britain’s wartime Tory governments successfully in favour of a broader approach to business. A process of
suppressed a series of industrial strikes and insurrections, consolidation is also visible in the cohesion of political parties,
including the notorious “Luddite” uprisings of textile machine and the case of Peel again illustrates the processes both of
breakers that began in 1811. political re-branding and party splits. With cohesive parties
came election managers or agents.
Despite this apparent democratisation, in the mid-19th
century it was still possible to run the country from a stately
o home and even without commanding a majority in the House
Right of Commons. From mid-century, however, the invention of the
The Machinery Hall at the telegraph and the rise of mass newspapers and photography
Crystal Palace Exhibition subjected governments and prime ministers to public scrutiny
of 1851 as never before. The expansion of a second British Empire,
focused on India, would be a preoccupation of prime ministers
o thereafter, and elections at home could be won or lost by
Opposite policies towards lands overseas. These could include successful
The central transept of appeals to the British public to take pride in their exotic
the Crystal Palace in Hyde Empire, or (much less successfully) unhappy attempts to solve
Park, as arranged for the what by the 19th century’s end had emphatically become
Great Exhibition in 1851 “the problem” of Ireland.
78
79
80
“Shelley captured the feeling of many when

he referred to Liverpool and his ministers as
‘rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know’”
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd earl of Liverpool

The end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 did little to mitigate Sir Robert Peel or Benjamin Disraeli. In many ways, however,
Britain’s economic and social problems. The nation was massively Lord Liverpool was the crucial link between the first two of
in debt (£860 million), severely limiting the government’s ability these leaders. On his watch, the repressive policies established
to intervene and making tax increases inevitable. The cessation by Pitt began to be replaced by a more progressive approach
of orders for military supplies triggered mass unemployment in to economic and social problems. These were pioneered by
the new industrial centres of the Midlands and the North, while younger ministers in his cabinet, including four future prime
the abandonment of unprofitable farmland used to feed Britain ministers: Peel, George Canning, Frederick Robinson (later
during the war created an exodus of agricultural labourers in Lord Goderich) and Lord Palmerston. Often dubbed Liberal
search of work. In the same year the eruption of Mount Tambora Toryism or Liberal Conservatism, this new approach became
in Indonesia created a global dust cloud that caused catastrophic hugely influential in the decades ahead, helping to lay the
crop failures across the globe. foundations of a remarkably stable Victorian state. Ultimately
The prime minister facing this “perfect storm” was Lord it ensured that Britain took a very different path to most
Liverpool. A highly effective mediator, who had served under other European countries, implementing just enough reform
four previous Tory prime ministers, Liverpool led a broad-based to avoid revolution.
Tory government from 1812 until 1827. Frequently overlooked in The transition from a policy of repression to reform,
o British political history, Liverpool was never a “popular” public however, was not a straight-forward process. Initially, the
Opposite figure. The poet Shelley, in his famous sonnet England in 1819, scale of Britain’s post-war economic distress created a major
Robert Banks Jenkinson, captured the feeling of many when he referred to Liverpool and challenge for the forces of law and order. In 1816, for example,
2nd Earl of Liverpool, his ministers as “rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know”. 1,500 starving labourers, including many women, rioted in
oil on canvas, after In Conservative party mythology, Liverpool is almost Cambridgeshire at Littleport and Ely. This protest – like that
Thomas Lawrence ignored and certainly not ranked alongside figures such as Pitt, of the 5,000 unemployed Lancashire textile workers who
81
82
o
Left
“Boadicea, Queen of
Britain, overthrowing her
enemies”. An 1820 etching
celebrating the collapse
of the “trial” of Queen
Caroline, the bill designed
to secure her divorce from
King George IV. The
bodies trampled by her
chariot are those of the
king and the government
attempted to march to London in 1817, or the 300 ironworkers

involved in the Pentrich uprising in Derbyshire – was brutally
crushed using military force. Most of the ringleaders were
rounded up and either transported or hanged. At Manchester
in 1819, a peaceful crowd of around 60,000 people who had
assembled to hear the radical orator Henry Hunt was attacked
by a cavalry regiment. At least 15 men and three women were
killed and over 600 badly injured in what became known as
the Peterloo massacre.
In order to prevent any more public protests, in 1819
Liverpool imposed one of the biggest clampdowns in British
political history. The so-called Six Acts banned all unofficial
outdoor meetings, gave magistrates almost unlimited powers of
arrest and made it illegal to criticise the state in print. The public
execution in May 1820 of the Cato Street conspirators, for
allegedly plotting to assassinate the government, reinforced
this hard-line message. To preserve Britain from the threat of
revolution and radically inspired insurrection, Lord Liverpool’s
government would take whatever action was necessary.
The development of a more enlightened approach was
assisted by a number of events. By far the most sensational was
the trial of Queen Caroline. When the Prince Regent succeeded
as King George IV in 1820, he demanded that Lord Liverpool’s
government pass legislation enabling him to divorce his
estranged wife, who had been living abroad. Caroline’s
unexpected return to England to claim her place as queen
triggered an extraordinary popular campaign on her behalf.
Large public meetings and processions in her support began
to sweep the nation. In stark contrast with all the recent
political protests, there was remarkably little official reaction
to this campaign, even after it became hijacked by leading
radicals and reformers. The problem for the authorities was
that loyalty to the queen, and demands for her name to be
restored to the Church of England’s prayers, could hardly be
deemed revolutionary or “seditious”. Commenting on the huge
demonstrations in London during the queen’s trial for adultery
later that year, the Whig diarist Thomas Creevey MP noted
with astonishment how “the same scene which caused so much
alarm at Manchester” was being repeated without any response
“under the very nose of Parliament”.
83
When Liverpool’s government was forced to abandon Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington
the queen’s trial in November 1820, realising they could Prime Minister, 1827–30
never secure the votes in Parliament they needed, the whole
nation celebrated. As well as making Liverpool’s ministry Perhaps no figure in British political history has ever
appear weak and subservient to public opinion, the Queen experienced such a succession of extreme highs and lows
Caroline affair taught local reformers and political activists in his public reputation as the duke of Wellington. His career
important lessons about using constitutional language and neatly captures the complexities surrounding the projection
methods in their future campaigns. There were no more of power in Britain at a time of huge constitutional change.
mass protests or incidents such as the Peterloo massacre The transition from military hero, the saviour of the nation
for almost a decade. who had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, to politician was
Britain’s post-war recovery also helped to defuse political never going to be easy. Deep-seated suspicions about ambitious
tensions, confirming the radical William Cobbett’s dictum that military commanders were ingrained into the British psyche,
“you cannot agitate a fellow with a full stomach”. Aided by a underpinned by the historic memory of Oliver Cromwell’s
series of good harvests and currency reforms at the Treasury, military rule. Given the duke’s personal disdain for publicity
the outlook for Britain’s economy began to improve. But it was and his notoriously abrupt manner, Wellington’s metamorphosis
the unexpected suicide of Lord Liverpool’s foreign secretary, from military commander to prime minister was always going
Lord Castlereagh, in 1822 and the almost complete reconstruction to prove controversial.
of Liverpool’s government that followed which really ushered What no one could have foreseen was the extent to which
in a different era. Liverpool’s new appointments to key cabinet Wellington would be both revered and reviled in turn, enjoying
positions helped to create a fresh image for the ministry. extraordinary popularity and power at one moment but also
Reforms began to be implemented, such as William Huskisson’s experiencing unprecedented personal abuse at others. When he
removal of restrictions on foreign trade, Canning’s hugely joined Lord Liverpool’s ministry in 1817, as master general of
symbolic rejection of the “Holy Alliance” of anti-liberal states the ordnance, he became irrevocably identified with the Tories’
in Europe, and Peel’s long overdue overhaul of the criminal hard-line policy of repression. His defence of the military’s role
justice and prison system. in the Peterloo massacre, and his refusal to allow pro-reform
84
county meetings in Hampshire, where he was the lord

lieutenant, firmly cemented his reputation as a reactionary.
During the trial of Queen Caroline, with whom he had tried
to negotiate on behalf of the King, he was repeatedly assailed
by a mob on his way to and from Parliament. Commenting on
rumours of an attempt to assassinate him in 1822, The Times
noted how “this great and successful commander” had “become
less admired and less popular with every year that he has formed
part of the civil government”.
Within a few years, however, Wellington’s national standing o
had begun to improve. His association with the reforms of Above
Lord Liverpool’s increasingly Liberal Tory government and “La Belle Alliance”: the
the nation’s growing fascination with the Waterloo campaign meeting of the Duke of
helped to restore his heroic status, as did Wellington’s Wellington and Field
willingness to use his magnificent London mansion, Apsley Marshal Blücher at
House, to host events honouring the men who had fought the battle of Waterloo:
alongside him. When the short-lived ministry of the indecisive waterpainting by Daniel
Lord Goderich collapsed in 1828, Wellington’s leadership and Maclise in the Palace
resolve were viewed as essential qualities needed to quickly of Westminster
restore good government and co-operation between the
bickering Tory factions. The Whigs, of course, were horrified o
at Wellington becoming prime minister. Lord John Russell, Left
a future Liberal premier, expressed the fears of many when The Duke of Wellington
he warned that “those very habits of command which had by Francisco Goya, oil
been most befitting the noble duke in his military station ... on mahogany, 1812–14
85
“Wellington’s powerful
presence and heroic
status ultimately
proved crucial in
modernising Britain’s
political landscape”
were likely to prove most objectionable and dangerous in

the situation of first minister of a free country”. Wellington’s
initial refusal to resign as head of the army when he took
office only seemed to confirm their worst suspicions.
The scale of the political reforms that were implemented
by the duke’s Tory government, however, astonished everyone.
Drawing on the economic plans that had been developed
under Lord Liverpool, Wellington relaxed the unpopular corn
laws that protected farmers and the landed classes. Far more
controversially, he removed the religious discrimination
preventing Dissenters from holding certain public offices,
something that his Whig opponents had been demanding
for decades. However, it was his decision in 1829 to abolish
the severe restrictions on Catholics – including their inability
to become MPs – which really shocked the nation. Implemented
in order to prevent a rebellion in Ireland, and with harsh
“securities” that included removing the vote from almost
200,000 Irish freeholders, Catholic emancipation amounted to
a major dismantling of Britain’s ancient Protestant constitution.
It was deeply resented by many Anglicans and Ultra Protestant
Tories. One furious Tory peer, Lord Winchilsea, even accused
Wellington of being a closet Catholic intent on promoting
“Popery”. The usually thick-skinned Wellington took exception
and demanded an apology or satisfaction. None came and on
21 March 1829, Britain’s prime minister, the military hero
of Waterloo, exchanged pistol shots with Winchilsea in a
bloodless duel that caused a public sensation. The fact that
duelling was illegal seems to have only enhanced the duke’s
reputation and status.
Radicals and reformers who had been campaigning for
Catholic relief for decades grudgingly conceded that only
Wellington could have passed such a major reform in the face
of so much bitter opposition. His extraordinary power and
influence, especially with traditional Tories, enabled him
to secure what one of his ministers considered a far “greater
victory than the battle of Waterloo”. In June 1830, on the battle
86
o
Left
The funeral procession of
the Duke of Wellington,
1852, watercolour by
Louis Haghe
87
88
o
Opposite
“The Reformers’ Attack
on the Old Rotten Tree;
or the Foul Nests of the
Cormorants in Danger”:
an 1831 print showing the
Whig reformers attacking
the rotten boroughs, the
“nests of corruption”,
with the Tories, led by
the Duke of Wellington,
trying to shore it up.
of Waterloo’s 15th anniversary, The Times paid him fulsome

tribute, noting how the “greatest warrior of his time” had
“surpassed all other men” to become “the most zealous
tranquilliser of domestic discord”.
This adulation did not last long. Just five months later,
Wellington made his hugely controversial declaration against
any parliamentary reform, triggering his government’s defeat.
His rear-guard action in the Lords against the new Whig
ministry’s reform bill over the next 18 months led to his being
hated and loathed. Thomas Carlyle believed he became the
“most unpopular man in England”. Effigies of the duke were
burnt in towns and cities across the nation. Apsley House
began to be attacked by mobs armed with stones on a regular
basis and iron shutters had to be installed, popularising the
use of Wellington’s sobriquet “the iron duke”. When the Tory
Lords threw out the reform bill in May 1832, forcing the Whig
ministry to resign, Wellington was asked to form a government
but found it impossible to marshal enough support. The rioting
that ensued across the country before the Whigs were able
to resume office only confirmed the extent of Wellington’s
unpopularity and fall from grace. He “has ceased politically
to exist”, commented Lord Yarborough. It was in the House of Lords that Wellington ultimately o
Wellington’s career, however, was far from over. pulled off what was arguably one of the most impressive Above
Over the next few decades, he continued to play a key role in triumphs of his political career. When the prime minister, “A Wellington boot, or
the management of an increasingly popular Conservative party, Peel, repealed the corn laws in 1846, removing the tariffs the Head of the Army”:
led from the Commons after 1832 by Peel. When the Whigs were protecting British farmers and the landed interest from foreign engraving by William
dismissed from office by the King in 1834, Wellington formed competition, the Conservative party famously split in two. Heath, 1827, referring to
a caretaker government while Peel made his way back from Many traditional “church-and-field” Tories rebelled, forcing Wellington’s sponsorship
holiday abroad. Wellington’s assumption of all the major Peel to rely on the Liberal opposition for support. In the of a newly designed boot
offices of state, a one-man government he later termed his Commons Peel could at least count on some Tory MPs, for the military
“Dictatorship”, provided a gift to the caricaturists, but it was especially those connected with manufacturing who backed
only temporary. He quickly handed over the reins of power free trade. The House of Lords, by contrast, was totally
to Peel, before serving as foreign secretary in the short-lived dominated by the landowning interest, precisely the group
Conservative ministry of 1834–5. The subsequent growth of most likely to suffer from the removal of agricultural protection.
local Conservative constituency organisations in the 1830s Despite the Lords being the centre of landed power,
drew heavily on the growing cult of Waterloo and Wellington, however, the Tory rebellion there was smaller than in the
whose wartime dispatches began to be published and became Commons. While a third of the Tory party remained loyal to
a best seller. Behind the scenes, Wellington worked hard Peel in the lower house, two-fifths of the Tory peers, overawed
to shore up support among more traditional Tories for Peel’s by Wellington’s personal influence and reputation, were
leadership, helping to secure the party’s landslide election persuaded to toe the line. Lord Derby, the leader of the rebels
victory of 1841. in the Lords and a future Tory prime minister, was astonished
89
Charles Grey, 2nd earl Grey

The veteran Whig reformer Lord Grey led the first Whig
government for 25 years, following the defeat of Wellington’s
ministry in November 1830. The eclipse of the Tories had been
prompted by Wellington’s refusal to consider extension of the
suffrage. Grey’s ministry also contained a number of former
liberal Tory ministers, including Palmerston and Goderich.
After 18 months of political turmoil over parliamentary reform,
which almost brought the nation to the brink of revolution
with riots in Bristol and Nottingham, Grey’s government
eventually managed to pass the “Great” Reform Act of 1832,
overhauling Britain’s antiquated electoral system. The new
voting qualifications almost doubled the size of the electorate
to around a fifth of the adult male population. Far more
significantly, there was an extensive redistribution of seats.
Forty-one previously unrepresented towns, including the
industrial centres of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and
o at the scale of Wellington’s success. Free trade duly passed Sheffield, now began to elect their own MPs.
Above with Liberal support, laying the foundations of a new era Over the next few decades, political leaders from both
The Grand Reform of prosperity and politics in Victorian Britain. Wellington, parties continued to support reforms aimed at addressing
Banquet in the Guildhall, by now aged 77, decided that this should be his last crusade. some of the nation’s most pressing social and economic
City of London, held in When Peel’s government fell in 1846, he retired from front- problems. These included a controversial new system for
July 1832 to celebrate the line politics. dealing with the poor, the introduction of locally elected town
passage of the Reform The military hero of Waterloo proved to be a highly councils, regulation of working conditions in factories and
Act. A printed broadside controversial politician and prime minister, loathed by mines, and the creation of public boards of health. In 1846,
from 1832 some but lauded by others. Despite the popular view the corn laws protecting the landed interest were finally
expressed by The Times that military men seldom made repealed by Peel, ushering in a new era of free trade.
o “very sound or generous politicians”, Wellington’s powerful Drawing on the policies of liberal Toryism forged under Lord
Opposite presence and heroic status ultimately proved crucial in Liverpool and traditional Whig ideas about serving the people,
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl helping to reshape and modernise Britain’s political landscape leaders of Britain’s political parties adopted an approach to
Grey, oil on canvas by at a number of critical moments. By the time of his death solving the nation’s social and economic problems that diverged
Thomas Philipps, 1821 in 1852, he had come to be regarded as one of the nation’s markedly from the rest of Europe. When revolution swept across
greatest public servants, fully worthy of a state funeral and the European continent in 1848, bringing down the old order,
burial in St Paul’s Cathedral. Britain weathered the storm virtually unscathed.
90
91
92
became prime minister in 1841, however, he broke with

tradition and separated the two offices, appointing Henry
Goulburn MP as his chancellor. Delegation of some of his
Treasury responsibilities enabled Peel to concentrate on
the bigger picture, overseeing the work of all the government
departments and formulating national policy. Although
Gladstone briefly assumed both these posts again in 1880–82,
during his second ministry, the more modern “executive”
approach pioneered by Peel soon became the norm, with the
chancellor assuming ever-increasing autonomy over finance.
Peel’s delegation of Treasury duties did not mean he was
work-shy. On the contrary, his surviving correspondence in
the British Library testifies to his extraordinary industry and
involvement in all the major departments of state, including
fiscal policy. Later, Lord Rosebery, Liberal prime minister from
1894–45, wrote admiringly that Peel was “the master of the
business of each and all of them”. By the time of Rosebery’s
own brief premiership, however, the “burdens of empire and
office” had “so incalculably grown” that he believed it had
become impossible for any leader to discharge his duties
“with the same thoroughness or in the same spirit as Peel”.
“The very tradition of such a minister”, Rosebery claimed,
“has almost departed”.
Peel’s legacy as a political leader and his place in
Conservative party mythology contains an obvious paradox.
Although Peel is widely credited with having rebuilt the
Sir Robert Peel Tory party after its catastrophic defeat at the 1832 election,
Prime Minister, 1834–35, 1841–46 rebranding it as Conservative and leading it to a sweeping
o victory at the polls just nine years later, he was also responsible
Opposite Sir Robert Peel played a major part in redefining the role and for implementing highly controversial policies that broke
Sir Robert Peel, oil remit of the office of prime minister during the Victorian era. his party apart, not just once but on two occasions. In 1829,
on canvas by John Like every premier before him who had sat in the Commons, Peel, as the Tory leader in the Commons, helped Wellington
Linnell, 1838 including Henry Addington (later Viscount Sidmouth), William introduce the highly contentious measure of Catholic
Pitt the Younger, Spencer Perceval and George Canning, when emancipation. In 1846, he famously repealed the corn laws.
o Peel first took office in 1834 he assumed not only the post of The resulting split in the party between Peelites and
Above first lord of the Treasury but also the position of chancellor of Protectionists kept the Conservatives out of office for all
Sir Robert Peel with the the exchequer. The conventional combination of these offices but five of the next 28 years. It was not until 1874 that they
Duke of Wellington, oil for leaders who sat in the Commons reflected the historic role were again able to win a majority at the polls under Disraeli.
on canvas by Franz Xaver of the prime minister as the nation’s chief financial manager Historians have always struggled to reconcile these
Winterhalter, 1844 in charge of the day-to-day running of the Treasury. When Peel seemingly contradictory components of Peel’s career.
93
For some, it is Peel’s pioneering electoral strategies that

matter the most. He was the first political leader to oversee the
development of a recognisably “modern” election campaign,
with central funding, local constituency associations and voter
registration campaigns. He was also the first British prime
minister to issue a “modern” election manifesto appealing to
the nation as a whole, with his famous “Tamworth manifesto”
outlining a more “moderate” brand of Liberal Conservative
policies ahead of the 1835 election.
Elections also go some way towards explaining Peel’s
controversial “betrayals” of his party. By 1829, the electoral
power in Ireland of the Catholic Association led by Daniel
O’Connell had become a major problem for Britain’s political o
leaders. Future Irish elections, it was clear, would result in described the whole business of electioneering as “disagreeable”, Above
huge successes for supporters of O’Connell’s new brand of “inconvenient” and, above all, “revolting”. His private protests “Peel’s Cheap Bread Shop”:
Irish nationalism. By offsetting the concession of emancipation about the “infliction” of being recognised in public and Punch cartoon from 1846,
with the disfranchisement of poorer Irish Catholic voters – “pursued” by a “Conservative assemblage (mob I must not referring to Peel’s decision
almost 200,000 Irish electors had their voting rights removed call them)”, caused his colleagues no end of amusement. If he to repeal the Corn Laws,
in 1829 – Peel and Wellington hoped to reconfigure Irish was a pioneer of modern election techniques, it was in the and Wellington’s support
electoral politics and restore stability to Britain’s political appointment of a new breed of election managers and advisors for him
system. Similar realities help to explain Peel’s apparent U-turn and the autonomy he allowed them. This electoral management
over the corn laws. Fearing the immense electoral power of backfired, and their work, rather than bringing about a victory o
Richard Cobden’s hugely successful Anti-Corn Law League, for Peel’s new brand of “moderate” Conservatism, ultimately Opposite
which had mobilised an entire army of newly registered voters resulted in the triumph of the more traditional “church-and- “Papa Cobden Taking
in its support, Peel decided to avert disaster by bowing to field” Tories at the 1841 election, with their firm commitment to Master Robert a Free
popular pressure and abolishing the tariffs on imported corn. the landed interest and corn laws. Viewed from this perspective, Trade Walk”: Punch
Keeping them would have resulted in chaos at the next as one influential assessment has noted, Peel’s leadership can cartoon from 1845,
election, again threatening the nation’s political stability. be regarded as “a study in failure”. referring to the advocacy
Other historians, however, have pointed out that it was It was Peel’s “executive” approach to leadership, rising of the cause of Free Trade
Peel’s subordinates who really masterminded and co-ordinated above party interests and putting the needs of the nation first, by the great political
the Conservatives’ dramatic electoral recovery. Always suspicious however, which has proved the most influential explanation for economist Richard
of extra-parliamentary organisations, Peel himself was notoriously his political actions. Peel believed that once in office, leaders Cobden, and Peel’s
unenthusiastic about “popular” politics. On one occasion he even had a duty to provide the monarch of the day with the very best gradual conversion to it
94
95
Edward Smith-Stanley,
14th earl of Derby
Prime Minister, 1852, 1858–59, 1866–68
decisions and policies, rather than just blindly following their The 14th earl of Derby has always been overshadowed by Peel
party and courting popularity. “We are here to consult the and Disraeli in the history of the modern Conservative party.
interests of the people, not to do the will of the people,” he But Derby remains the longest serving leader of any British
famously declared in 1831. He had little patience for the views political party (22 years), is the only British prime minister to
of those backbench Tories who spent their time “hunting and have led three minority governments, and is the only politician
shooting and eating and drinking” and did not “have access to the who served in the cabinets that passed both the 1832 and 1867
best information”, as he informed his wife. Since political parties Reform Acts. This may explain his neglect in Conservative
were invariably “much less informed than ministers are or ought mythology. For although he ended up leading the Protectionist
to be”, he told Lady De Grey in 1844, governments “must retain Tories after 1846 and later a “reunited” Conservative party,
the absolute right to do that which conviction tells them the Derby began his political career as a firm opponent of Toryism
present circumstances require”. Bolstered by his own intellectual and a staunch Whig. He also helped bring down two
mastery of the theories surrounding political economy, Peel Conservative governments, both led by Peel, in 1835 and 1846.
became privately convinced of the benefits of repealing the Derby’s metamorphosis from Whig reformer to Conservative
corn laws mid-way through his second term as prime minister. prime minister inevitably involved a great deal of political
The disastrous Irish potato famine, and the need to import manoeuvring and private negotiation with former opponents and
cheap corn, only brought forward the timing of this policy. new allies. His family’s magnificent ancestral home at Knowsley,
Free trade eventually became one of the defining features near Liverpool, became a central backdrop in this lifelong drama.
of Victorian Britain, underpinning its economic prosperity. Dating back to 1495, but rebuilt on a massive scale in the 18th
For this alone, Peel deserves to be regarded as one of the most century, Knowsley Hall was one of the five largest stately homes
significant prime ministers of the 19th century. His distinctive in England and an impressive shrine to the family’s historic role
“executive” style of political leadership, however, also had in national politics. Derby’s ancestors, whose portraits adorned
a major influence on subsequent generations of politicians Knowsley’s sumptuous interiors, included leading courtiers
and the development of cabinet government. He became what under all the Tudor monarchs, key royalists in the English civil
one historian has called “the model of future statesmen”. war, and military heroes in the continental wars of William III o
Following his death after a riding accident in 1850, Peel’s and Queen Anne. With the possible exception of the Churchills Opposite
economic and political approach was drawn upon and developed (dukes of Marlborough) based at Blenheim Palace and the Cecils Edward Smith-Stanley,
by a number of leading “Peelite” disciples who had served in (marquesses of Salisbury) at Hatfield House, few families could Earl of Derby, portrait
his government. These included Lord Aberdeen, who led a lay claim to such an impressive political dynasty. sculpture by Lady
coalition government from 1852–55, and Gladstone, the future Derby milked this legacy for all it was worth. Bolstered Feodora Georgina
Liberal prime minister. by his family’s popular association with horse-racing – his Maud Gleichen, 1892
96
97
“Derby’s ancestors included leading courtiers

under all the Tudor monarchs, key royalists in the
English civil war … few families could lay claim
to such an impressive political dynasty”
98
grandfather had founded the Derby – Knowsley Hall became Although Derby’s three subsequent spells as Conservative o
something of an alternative centre of political power in the prime minister in 1852, 1858–59 and 1866–68 were short-lived, Opposite
north-west of England, particularly when Parliament was not they were not without major achievements. Reforms passed The Derby cabinet of 1867
1867:
in session. During his second term as prime minister in 1858, by Derby in 1858 included settling the thorny issue of allowing watercolour by Henry
Derby actually prorogued Parliament for over six months, Jews to sit in Parliament, abolishing the property qualification Gales, 1868. Derby is
preferring to summon ministers and convene cabinets under for MPs – something radical groups such as the Chartists had standing at the table on
the watchful gaze of his illustrious ancestors. long demanded – and a complete reorganisation and transfer the right; Disraeli holds
Aided by the “Knowsley factor” and his family’s reputation to the British Crown of Indian government. One of Derby’s most a newspaper on the left
for high-minded political service, Derby was able to adopt a impressive achievements was to pass the second Reform Act
remarkably patrician view of politics throughout his career, of 1867, which enfranchised almost 1.2 million new voters, far o
which often transcended conventional party lines. In 1834, he more than the famous “Great” Reform Act of 1832. What was Below
quit the Whig reform ministry of Lord Grey – in which he had remarkable about all these measures was that they were carried The 14th Earl of Derby
Derby:
served as Irish secretary and colonial secretary – over its Irish without Derby ever commanding a Commons majority. Relying stipple engraving from
Church policies. Rejecting offers to join the newly rebranded on cross-party appeals to the national interest and intense the photography by John
Conservatives led by Peel, he instead set about establishing his backbench negotiations, Derby and his talented deputy Disraeli Jabez Mayall, 1861
own “third” or “centre” party. The “Derby Dilly”, as it became instead almost made an art form out of minority government.
known, aimed to recruit disaffected “conservative-minded” The prestigious backdrop of Knowsley, and the historic virtues
Whigs like himself and enlist “moderate” Conservatives keen of public service it seemed to represent, played no small part
to distance themselves from the anti-reform image of the old in making this possible.
Tory party. Estimates vary, but by 1835 almost 50 recruits
had agreed to support what was tellingly referred to as the
“Knowsley creed”.
The Derby Dilly’s decision not to formally support
Peel’s first Conservative ministry of 1834–35, agreed at
a special conference at Knowsley, was a significant factor
in the collapse of the government after just four months.
The striking similarity between Peel’s own appeal to
“moderates” outlined in his Tamworth Manifesto and
the “Knowsley creed”, however, eventually forced Derby
and his followers to align themselves with the mainstream
Conservatives, especially after the 1837 election made it
clear that Peel was heading towards power. When the
Conservative victory finally came in 1841, Peel reinstalled
Derby back in his old office as colonial secretary. Feeling
increasingly sidelined in the Commons by new front-bench
talent, however, Derby eventually persuaded Peel to move
him to the Lords in 1844.
Just over a year later, Derby performed his second high-
profile rebellion as a cabinet minister, resigning from the
government in protest at Peel’s decision to repeal the corn laws.
By 1846, he had become the leader of the Protectionist movement
against Peel’s free-trade policy. This famously split the
Conservative party in two, leaving it unable to govern and Derby
as de facto leader of the remaining non-Peelite Conservatives.
99
George Hamilton-Gordon,
14th earl of Aberdeen
The earl of Aberdeen was prime minister when a long period another veteran of the Napoleonic wars, who took charge
of relative peace in Europe came to an end. In 1854, almost of the Baltic fleet. When the Russians launched a surprise
40 years after the last major European conflict, Britain joined attack on the British base at Balaclava, it led to one of the most
forces with France and declared war in support of the Turkish iconic moments of the war. Misinterpreting orders to capture
(Ottoman) empire against Russia. The trigger for the conflict, the retreating Russians’ artillery guns, Lord Cardigan launched
which included a dispute over control of the Christian holy his famous “charge of the light brigade” up a steep valley in the
sites in Palestine, was almost immaterial. Russia’s expansionist face of overwhelming artillery fire. Over a third of his brigade
aims and increasing aggression towards its neighbours meant were killed or wounded in what became a famous symbol
that “sooner or later, war was inevitable”, as Britain’s long- of astonishing courage by British troops and extraordinary
serving Turkish ambassador Stratford Canning noted. British incompetence by their commanders. One French witness,
troops were promptly dispatched to the Black Sea, where reflecting the views of many, memorably declared, “It is
operations concentrated on capturing the Russian fortress magnificent, but it is not war: it is madness.”
and naval base of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, to The repercussions back home of this futile action and the
prevent Russia making any move on Constantinople (Istanbul). lack of military successes soon began to be felt. The Crimean
Wellington’s former deputy Lord Raglan, who had lost an war was the first to attract mass popular newspaper coverage,
arm at the battle of Waterloo, was appointed commander-in- aided by dedicated war reporters and use of the telegraph.
chief, despite having seen no active service for almost 40 years It was also the first to be captured via the new medium of
– a fact neatly reflected in his disconcerting habit of always photography. Alongside military incompetence, what really
referring to the enemy as the French, even in their presence. began to shock the public was the appalling conditions and
At 66 years old, he was two years younger than Admiral Napier, disease suffered by British troops, who were later able to
100
o o
Opposite Above
“What has it come to”: George Hamilton Gordon,
Punch cartoon from 4th Earl of Aberdeen, oil
February 1854. Aberdeen on canvas by Thomas
tries to restrain the British Partridge, 1847. Aberdeen
Lion from chasing after was a noted collector of
the Russian bear ancient antiquities
101
102
o
Opposite
Henry John Temple, 3rd
Viscount Palmerston
at 18, watercolour and
pencil by Thomas Heaphy,
July 1802. Notably good-
looking, Palmerston was
well-known for his affairs
o
Right
“Now for it! A Set-to
between ‘Pam the
Downing Street Pet’ and
‘The Russian Spider’,”
engraved cartoon from
Punch, 1855
benefit from the nursing skills of Florence Nightingale and Mary

Seacole. Pressure in Parliament began to grow. In January 1855,
a leading radical critic of the conduct of the war moved for an
inquiry into the condition of the army. The coalition government
of Lord Aberdeen, which had been in power since December
1852, regarded this as an unpatriotic and ill-timed censure of its
handling of the war. They promptly threatened to resign if it
passed. Despite their appeals for support, however, the motion
succeeded. Aberdeen promptly resigned and Palmerston, who
had carefully kept himself out of the firing line as Aberdeen’s
home secretary, became the new Liberal prime minister.
Henry John Temple,

3rd Viscount Palmerston
Prime Minister, 1855–58, 1859–65
Having brought down Aberdeen, the Crimean war now helped When Aberdeen formed his coalition ministry, Palmerston
to advance and entrench the political position of his far more was denied the foreign office and instead appointed home
charismatic, flag-waving successor. Palmerston had already secretary. This relieved Palmerston of any direct responsibility
acquired a bullish reputation for using military force while Tory for foreign affairs and enabled him to become increasingly
secretary at war from 1809–28, and during his three spells as Whig outspoken in his demands for firm action against Tsarist Russia
foreign secretary, from 1830–34, 1835–41 and 1846–51. He had also in its escalating conflict with Turkey. His carefully staged
attracted notoriety for taking decisive military action without resignation from the government in December 1853, after a
consulting his cabinet colleagues. His unilateral decision to order Russian naval victory over the Turks, and his almost immediate
a naval blockade of Greece in the Don Pacifico affair of 1850, for reinstatement only helped to bolster his image as a loyal
instance, had earned him a vote of censure in the House of Lords, patriotic statesman, frustrated by Aberdeen’s appeasement
but also widespread popular support for his patriotic defence of of Russia but unwilling to refuse the call of public duty.
British subjects abroad against “foreign” injustice. Warned not to When war was finally declared by Britain against Russia in
act alone again, in 1851 he had managed to upset both the premier March 1854, Palmerston’s approach, rather like Churchill’s
Russell and Queen Victoria by recognising Louis Napoleon’s 85 years later, seemed fully vindicated.
military coup in France, without prior authority, for which he Palmerston was one of the first political leaders to fully
was promptly sacked. exploit his public image. His printed portraits emphasised
103
o
Below
Palmerston c. 1860–65:
photograph for a
carte-de-visite by the
London stereoscopic and
photographic company
o
Opposite
Palmerston shown
in Punch in 1859 as
the acrobat Blondin
confidently wheeling a
nervous Lord Russell over
Niagara Falls past all of
the difficult issues of
contemporary politics
four other leading politicians in succession – Derby, Lord

Lansdowne, Lord Clarendon and Russell – to form a government.
It was only after each of them failed that she reluctantly appointed
Palmerston, or “Pam” as the press now affectionately called him,
as prime minister.
Palmerston’s improved management of the Crimean
war during 1855, culminating in the capture of Sevastopol
in September, sealed his popular image as a national hero,
ready to uphold Britain’s interests across the globe by any
means possible. In March 1856, the Treaty of Paris finally
brought the war to a close with humiliating terms for Russia.
Queen Victoria was sufficiently impressed to reward Palmerston
his physical vigour and manly qualities. In popular cartoons, with her highest order of chivalry, the Order of the Garter.
he was often caricatured as the embodiment of a patriotic, In Parliament, however, many MPs remained deeply concerned
no-nonsense, swaggering “John Bull” hero, always ready about Palmerston’s aggressive style of “gunboat diplomacy”.
to take on the underdog and teach the “foreigner” a lesson. When British forces bombarded the port of Canton, in order
The comic periodical Punch, whose editors lauded him as to protect British involvement in the opium trade, they won
a “true Englishman”, frequently depicted his sporting prowess, a vote in the Commons censuring his government. Palmerston,
especially as a bare-knuckle fighter in a boxing ring. But while in response, called a general election in 1857. Playing the
his standing grew inexorably outdoors, this was not initially patriotic card to its full, he secured a sweeping personal victory
matched by similar enthusiasm for him in Parliament or at the at the polls. Aided by his celebrity status as a war-time leader,
Royal Palace. When Aberdeen’s ministry fell in January 1855, and his carefully cultivated image as the embodiment of “John
Queen Victoria did not immediately send for Palmerston, Bull”, Palmerston continued to serve as prime minister until
as the public mood seemed to demand. Instead, she asked 1858 and from 1859 until his death in 1865.
104
“In Parliament, many MPs remained deeply concerned about

Palmerston’s aggressive style of ‘gunboat diplomacy’”
105
106
Benjamin Disraeli
Prime Minister, 1868, 1874–80 o
Opposite
The expansion of the British empire involved Britain’s political Despite this vast global reach, however, by far the most Benjamin Disraeli,
leaders in many administrative and foreign policy decisions problematic colonial issue facing Britain’s political leaders Earl of Beaconsfield,
during the 19th century, the legacies of which continue to continued to be much closer to home. The Union with Ireland photograph, 1878
reverberate today. It also created new opportunities to beguile of 1800, which abolished the Irish Parliament and introduced
the Victorian public with popular appeals based on patriotism 100 new Irish MPs at Westminster, was intended to address o
and imperialism. Much of Britain’s earlier colonial expansion many of the long-standing political and economic issues Below
initially involved putting the flag on what had previously been that had plagued Britain’s occupation of Catholic Ireland Disraeli introducing the
unofficial overseas possessions, developed and controlled by for centuries. The failure to resolve many pressing grievances, 1867 Reform bill into the
British trading companies. By far the largest and greatest of though, meant that Irish issues and Irish politicians loomed House of Commons:
these, the East India Company, was absorbed into the British increasingly large at Westminster throughout the 19th century. seizing the initiative
state in 1858, establishing the British Raj in India. During Indeed, what Gladstone famously called the “cloud in the west” in what had usually
the 1880s, however, a “new imperialism” emerged, spurred became a major factor determining the fortunes of Britain’s been thought of as
on by increasing rivalry with other colonial powers. Egypt prime ministers and their political parties as never before. a preoccupation of
was occupied by the British in 1882, mainly to protect shipping It was Disraeli, more than any other political leader, the Liberal, not the
routes through the Suez Canal to India, and a “scramble for who helped to reshape Britain’s status as an imperial power. Conservative party,
Africa” began. By the end of the century the area controlled Under Disraeli, imperialism became not just about territorial Disraeli helped to mould
by Britain had almost doubled to 12 million sq m, around one expansion and the acquisition of new trading markets, but also the measure to suit his
fifth of the world’s total land mass. about international prestige, honour and an almost Darwinian own side
107
o
Left
“New Crowns for Old
Ones!” Disraeli offering
the imperial crown of
India to Queen Victoria
in a cartoon in Punch by
John Tenniel, April 1876
o
Opposite
Portrait bust of Disraeli,
by Count Victor Gleichen,
1874–80
108
assertion of national character. On the face of it, this was a

strange transition for a man who as late as 1852, on entering
government for the first time as chancellor of the exchequer,
had famously dismissed colonies as “wretched” and “a millstone
around our necks”. Over the next few years, however, Palmerston’s
huge popularity as a patriotic “John Bull” hero, especially after
steering Britain to victory in the Crimean war, made the electoral
advantages of nationalistic appeals and what would later became
known as “Jingoism” abundantly clear.
When Disraeli and Derby formed their Tory second
ministry in 1858, they were able to capitalise on Palmerston’s
well-laid plans and take the credit for transferring the government
of India to the British state, creating what came to be known
as “the jewel in the crown” of Britain’s empire. Palmerston’s
death in 1865 allowed Disraeli much greater room to expand
and develop his own imperialistic credentials. In 1866, when
he again took office with Derby, he proclaimed England “no
longer a mere European power”, but “the metropolis of a great
maritime empire, extending to the boundaries of the farthest
oceans”. Disraeli’s oversight as prime minister in 1868 of
a vast military expedition to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to free
British captives and teach the “barbarous powers” a lesson,
set the tone for what was to follow during his second stint
as prime minister from 1874–80. His awareness of the huge
popularity to be gained from this type of foreign adventurism,
particularly among the new working-class electorate, was
neatly articulated in his famous “imperial” speeches of 1872,
which highlighted the pride felt by many ordinary British
subjects at being “members of such an empire”. Privately,
he also recognised the advantages of distracting the “mind Afghanistan, on the north-west border with India, was invaded
of the nation” from major domestic problems at home. by the British Indian army on the orders of the Indian viceroy,
Disraeli’s imperialist policies, in strategic terms, were ostensibly in order to curb Russia’s growing influence in the
heavily centred on protecting British control over India. region and to create a buffer between Russia and India.
In 1875, he purchased a large stake in the Suez Canal, Fears that Russia had long-term designs on India also help
in the hope of securing this new shipping route to India. to explain one of the most controversial and unpopular policies
The following year, he introduced a highly symbolic bill of Disraeli’s second ministry, which ultimately helped to lose
proclaiming Queen Victoria empress of India. The British him the 1880 election. This was his refusal to condemn Russia’s
takeover of the Transvaal in South Africa in 1877, which traditional enemy, the Ottoman empire, when it brutally
helped to precipitate the Zulu war of 1879, was by the suppressed a nationalist uprising in the Balkans. The massacre
same token underpinned by a desire to safeguard the more of up to 100,000 Christians by pro-Turkish forces outraged
traditional route to India around the Cape. Concerns about Western public opinion. A number of leading cabinet ministers
India also influenced Disraeli’s policies in the east. In 1878, resigned in protest at Disraeli’s Balkans strategy, while the
109
William Ewart Gladstone

Prime Minister, 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, 1892–94
It is difficult to ascertain when exactly William Gladstone was

converted to Irish home rule. There is the “Hawarden Kite”,
the famous scoop of December 1885 named after his country
residence, when his son, Herbert, confirmed to a journalist in
The Times that his father was indeed set on such a course.
Forty years before, however, he privately identified Ireland as
“that cloud in the west, the coming storm”. When, in December
1868, he learned that the queen had asked him to form a
government, he declared: “My mission is to pacify Ireland.”
When Gladstone formed his first ministry (1868–74), he had
no direct experience of Ireland and did not visit the country until
1877, when he was in opposition. However, he was mindful of
serious unrest that had occurred in 1867 in Ireland and elsewhere,
led and inspired by elements of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
(IRB), or “Fenians”. Initially, he thought his “mission” might only
take a year or two, showing little awareness of how profound
Ireland’s problems were. Despite his personal Anglican
faith and antipathy towards the papacy, he believed that the
disestablishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland was the
o Liberal leader Gladstone used the “Bulgarian atrocities” most pressing reform, which he accomplished in 1869, and a year
Above to whip up popular feeling against Disraeli, by now the later, he brought in a Land Act that extended customary Ulster
Gladstone as the earl of Beaconsfield, in a series of influential pamphlets and tenant rights to the whole country. He sought to give peace and
crusader for Irish Home articles. The human cost of Disraeli’s aggressive imperialism security to Ireland, and through Ireland to the Empire, but for all
Rule: cartoon from the subsequently became the focus of a major moral crusade the grand ambition the act proved insufficient. While agricultural
Nationalist newspaper against “Beaconsfieldism” by Gladstone in his famous incomes were rising, the security of the tenantry remained
The Weekly Freeman Midlothian campaign of 1879–80. tenuous and proved vulnerable to depression and the return
in June 1886 Disraeli was replaced by Gladstone as prime minister in of a potato famine, which occurred in 1877.
1880 and died in 1881. His imperial legacy, however, proved Despite the emergence of a parliamentary movement
o impossible to undo and even Gladstone found himself invading under the Irish Conservative Lawyer, Isaac Butt, for the granting
Opposite Egypt in 1882 and shortly after, the Sudan. Future leaders from of a limited form of self-government within the Union, Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone, both political parties would continue to pursue expansionist demonstrated no initial enthusiasm for such a scheme. Instead,
oil on canvas by Robert imperial policies thereafter, not just to protect British interests he proposed reforms including the installation of the prince of
Fowler, after John Everett abroad, but also as part of their ever-growing need to secure Wales as a permanent viceroy resident in Dublin, in order to
Millais, 1879 mass popular support at home. draw Irish people closer to the monarchy. The queen was not
110
111
112
o
Left
Women listening to one
of Gladstone’s speeches
in the Ladies’ Gallery
of the Edinburgh Corn
Exchange during the
Midlothian Campaign
of 1878–80
sympathetic, but these proposals suggested that, if anything,

Gladstone believed in Ireland’s greater integration in the
United Kingdom, rather than any loosening. On his return
to office in 1880, his mission to pacify Ireland seemed as
incomplete as ever. The agricultural depression was accentuated
by the competition of cheap food imports from the colonies,
and the political circumstances had also become more acute.
Butt had been replaced by a far more charismatic and adroit
leader, Charles Stewart Parnell, who had managed to transform
his parliamentary followers into a disciplined party of salaried
MPs, in alliance with the Land League, and with the tacit
approval of exiled Fenians. This marked a “New Departure” in
Irish politics, with Parnell at the head of a national movement
conscious of the powerful leverage that extra parliamentary
pressure could provide.
Although Parnell was described by Gladstone as “the
most remarkable man [he] had ever met”, this admiration
was not reciprocated. Parnell dismissed the prime minister
as a “masquerading knight-errant” who seemed to care about
the rights of every nationality except the Irish. Moreover, Parnell
and his party did not observe parliamentary convention, hinting
at support for agrarian violence at home, while in Parliament
obstructing legislation unrelated to Ireland. In 1882, while
Gladstone resorted to coercion measures, Parnell was
imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol for his seditious speeches.
Gladstone travelled to Dublin to negotiate a “treaty”, as a result
of which he was released in return for further reforms in tenant
rights and his co-operation in ending violence. Only four days
later, however, the new chief secretary and under-secretary,
Lord Cavendish and Thomas Burke, were murdered by a radical
Fenian faction, highlighting the continuing volatility of Irish
politics, heightened by the trebling of the Irish electorate as
a result of the 1884 Reform Act.
In June 1885, amid accusations of weakness and retreat
in Ireland, Egypt and South Africa, Gladstone’s government
fell victim of a combination of Tory and Parnellite votes.
There followed for seven months a minority Conservative
administration, led by Lord Salisbury, which sponsored a
113
o scheme of land purchase in return for Parnell’s acquiescence. from the government and formed, somewhat incongruously,
Below The elderly Gladstone had to consider the possibility that home the Liberal Unionist Party, which formed an alliance with
Gladstone depicted by rule might ultimately only be possible under a Conservative the Conservatives, ultimately becoming a coalition partner
Sidney Prior Hall on the government, with Liberal support. In November 1885, Parnell in government from 1895–1905, until their fusion in 1912.
cover of a supplement advised Irish voters in Great Britain to vote against all Liberal The home rule bill was widely regarded as deeply flawed
to The Daily Graphic, and Radical candidates in the general election, as a result of and drafted without adequate consultation. It failed to pass.
introducing the first which his party secured 86 seats, thus holding the balance of Parnell became increasingly preoccupied with his secret
Home Rule bill in the power in the new House. Gladstone’s Liberals were stronger affair with Kitty O’Shea, the wife of one of his MPs, but he
House of Commons than the Conservatives and, within months, Parnell’s tacit overcame the turbulence that surrounded his reputation to
in April 1886 alliance with Lord Salisbury was at an end. become – to his followers at least – the “uncrowned king of
In January 1886, Salisbury was defeated by a combination Ireland”. He attracted the attention of Cecil Rhodes, the South
o of Liberal and Parnellite votes and Gladstone was invited to African politician and mining magnate, who donated £10,000
Opposite form a government. Gladstone pressed ahead with a home rule to the home rule party – half its annual income – on condition
Gladstone photographed bill, which envisaged a unicameral assembly, with Westminster that Parnell should accept a continuing Irish parliamentary
by W Currey in 1877 still in charge of defence, foreign affairs, coinage, customs and, representation at Westminster as a pilot project for his own
taking a break from for an indefinite period, law and order. Irish MPs would in scheme of imperial federation. Fatefully, however, Parnell’s
chopping trees, his future be excluded from sitting at Westminster. The bill drew adulterous affair now became public knowledge. Mindful of
famous hobby on elements of the British North America Act, which had been the views of his non-conformist supporters, Gladstone let it
hailed as a success in reconciling both English and French be known that he would not be able to promote a new home
Canada to the Empire, but the proposal split the party and rule bill if Parnell remained party leader, a view that was strongly
the measure failed to pass. Joseph Chamberlain resigned echoed by the Irish Catholic bishops. O’Shea divorced and
married Parnell, who attempted to salvage his leadership,
but died soon afterwards. The Irish party fractured amid
bitter recriminations that would last for generations.
The ageing Gladstone remained committed to home rule
despite these setbacks. On his return to power in 1892, he
drafted a second home rule bill. Although this envisaged
a more elaborate administration than the first bill – a bicameral
instead of a unicameral assembly – it suffered like the first
from Gladstone’s lack of consultation with either his cabinet
colleagues or Irish MPs, the latter now in disarray following
the fall of Parnell. The bill barely passed its second reading,
but by the third reading, 26 out of 37 clauses had not been
debated, occasioning fist fights between Irish nationalist and
Tory MPs on the parliamentary benches. The bill passed the
Commons, only to be rejected by the House of Lords, which
had power of indefinite veto, by a margin of 419 against
41 votes for the measure.
Thus ended Gladstone’s ambition for Irish home rule,
so passionately advocated, but a cause that was, in part at least,
a victim of Gladstone’s evident lack of ability to consult, or
persuade, those who might have succeeded in helping him to
fulfil his mission. There was also his failure to grasp the growing
problem of Ulster Protestant disaffection, much of it encouraged
by the Tory MP, Lord Randolph Churchill, who had decided to
play the “Orange card”, mobilising the Protestants of Ulster,
against home rule. This would prove to be yet another fateful
and equally intractable “coming storm in the west” after
Gladstone had passed from the scene.
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115
116
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE 20TH CENTURY
CHAPTER FOUR
POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP
IN THE
20th CENTURY
Contributors
Donal Lowry
David Howell
Richard Toye
Emma Peplow
Caspar Bienek
Helen Parr
Simon Peplow
117
Leadership in an age
of war and reconstruction
Two Titanic world wars and the rapid growth in the responsibilities of
the state helped to accelerate the development of the premiership into
a national leader, a role seen increasingly as “presidential” in style
B
y the close of the Victorian period, British colonial possessions charisma to reshape British politics. As prime minister in a time
covered the globe, and Britons were encouraged to glory in of industrialised “total war”, he reconstructed the inner circle
the Empire. As a major world power, Britain was not unrivalled; of executive government but kept a distance between himself
and jockeying for position among competing powers was the and the House of Commons. As a Liberal leading a Coalition
major factor in early 20th century diplomacy. In one respect, composed mainly of Conservatives, he found after 1918 that his
however, the country had no challenger: in the size of its navy. drive and vision were simply not enough to fashion the Coalition
Britain had rapidly urbanised and industrialised, and through into something more durable that could address the intractable
the second half of the 19th century had experienced a rise in problems of labour unrest and the crisis in Ireland. The Labour
working class standards of living. Labour had become organised, Party emerged victorious after the recasting of party politics
through trade unions initially cohering around particular skills and from 1922 but could summon up no radical strategy to address
trades, and latterly around unskilled or semi-skilled occupations the overwhelming disaster of the Great Depression. Dependent
across industries. With an industrialised and organised workforce, on other parties, Labour’s leader, Ramsay MacDonald, was
plentiful public transport and concentrated populations in cities perhaps uniquely in British politics effaced from the memory
came opportunities for leisure that were limited, but which of the party he had done so much to bring into being.
allowed for forms of mass entertainment to develop for working From 1940, an alliance of parties was again the background
people, for example in the form of excursions, sport and music- to Churchill’s wartime premiership, but there was nowhere
hall. Not until 1938, however, were employers obliged to grant an illusion that coalition would persist beyond military victory.
their workers paid leave. In politics there had been extensions Churchill’s bellicose manner and realist oratory suited the
of the male franchise after 1867, but the vote for all women and circumstances of global war, and he was adept in co-opting
men over 21 was not secured until 1928. advice and sustaining adroit political management. Always
The prime minister in power as the 20th century dawned was attentive to the House of Commons at home, Churchill was
in every respect an emphatically 19th-century figure. Running also never less than an international strategist. Much post-war
his government from the House of Lords, Salisbury harked back planning was conducted during the war, so that in 1945 Labour
to a past age of suspicion towards the Commons and a preference premier Clement Attlee was able to inaugurate promptly a
for diplomacy well out of the public gaze. Much though he programme of social reconstruction and an adjustment of
dreaded “foreign entanglements”, however, Salisbury and his Britain’s place in the world order. As a confident chair of
successors up to 1914 and the outbreak of war were obliged meetings and delegator, Attlee inspired the wings of his party,
perforce to conduct negotiations of a diplomatic and military usually wary of each other, into enduring political creativity.
character with other nations, either unilaterally or multilaterally, While there was much consensus between the parties after
with global political implications. The age of “Splendid Isolation” 1951 on essentials of domestic policy, the issue of integration
was dead and beyond recall, and the period prior to the outbreak with European partners began to emerge as a fault line in
of world war was marked by a competitive arms race and a politics that challenged party loyalties and posed managerial
preoccupation by prime ministers with colonial and foreign affairs. problems for successive prime ministers. Margaret Thatcher’s
David Lloyd George was perhaps the first flowering of a new premiership was a re-assertion of British national sovereignty,
kind of premier, from outside the charmed circle of the English while Tony Blair’s was arguably a strong re-assertion of
upper or middle classes, relying on his political vision and presidential style.
118
o
Above
The Queen joins the
Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher, and her five
predecessors in the office
at No. 10 Downing Street
in 1985 to mark the 250th
anniversary of the house
becoming the residence
of Sir Robert Walpole
o
Right
A London demonstration
in favour of equalising
the franchise for women
in 1928
119
“Salisbury harked back to a past age

of suspicion towards the Commons
and a preference for diplomacy well
out of the public gaze”
Robert Cecil, 3rd marquess of Salisbury

Prime Minister 1885–6, 1886–92, 1895–1902
o The marquess of Salisbury was the most aristocratic holder of providing the “cool and deliberate judgement” of the “generality
Opposite the office of foreign secretary in the 19th century, and he was of the nation”. Ironically, given his aristocratic instincts, he felt
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, destined to be the last prime minister to lead a government from that Britain lacked the constitutional limitations of the US
3rd Marquess of Salisbury, the House of Lords. He was a direct descendant of Lord Burghley, Constitution. The only impediment to the excesses of demotic
in the House of Lords, Elizabeth I’s great minister whose son became the first earl will seemed to be the House of Lords, whose duty, he said in
chromolithograph, of Salisbury, and he hoped that his family would achieve an 1881, was to reflect “the permanent and enduring wishes of the
after Sydney Prior equivalent prominence in the service of the Crown. He spent nation as opposed to the casual impulse which some passing
Hall, published 1894 15 years in the House of Commons, before taking up his hereditary victory at the polls may in some circumstances have given to the
in a supplement to seat in the House of Lords. When he formed his third and last decisions of the other House”. Nevertheless, he found the newly
The Graphic ministry in 1895, he brought an unparalleled experience to the enlarging electorate less threatening than he had feared, hoping
office, having already been secretary of state for India. As foreign that some method might be found for a redistribution of seats
secretary, he led British negotiations at the Congress of Berlin. that might limit any electoral disadvantage to the Conservatives.
Significantly, in 1895 he combined the office of prime minister with While Salisbury seemed to personify the traditional policy of
that of foreign secretary. In an age of increasing parliamentary “splendid isolation”, with Britain combining maximum freedom
scrutiny, he believed that diplomacy should best remain a of action with minimum obligations, Britain’s ever-widening
confidential, even secret, aspect of government business. imperial frontiers touched increasingly on the interests of other
Salisbury also had a developed awareness of dangers to the powers. Colonial and foreign policy became enmeshed. Germany,
Empire, domestic and external, and warned that the emerging whose growing assertiveness had already become evident in the
campaign for Irish home rule threatened the integrity of the holding of international conferences in Berlin in 1878 and 1884,
Empire, just as domestic social unity was endangered by political posed a particular problem. The 1890 Anglo–German treaty, which
radicalism. The House of Commons, whose authority rested on exchanged concessions over Heligoland for territorial compromises
an expanding electorate, no longer seemed capable to him of in East Africa, had not satisfied Kaiser William II’s ambitions
120
121
Salisbury was the fact that the Kaiser chose to send a celebratory
telegram to Kruger, in a region that Britain had long thought of
as its own colonial backyard. Salisbury was further unnerved by
the building up of a powerful German “blue-water navy”, which
supported Germany’s new-found global ambitions.
Meanwhile, Britain was in dispute with Germany and, to a lesser
extent, the US, over Samoa, and engaged in rivalry with Russia in
the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. At this time, Salisbury allowed
Chamberlain to engage the Germans in exploratory “conversations”.
Against a background of confrontation with Kruger in the
Transvaal, French ambitions in the Upper Nile and Russian
expansion in Manchuria, Chamberlain indicated Britain’s desire
for binding agreement between Britain and the Triple Alliance
(Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy). Germany, fearing becoming
a “junior partner”, was cool in response, but Chamberlain’s proposal
led in 1898 to an Anglo–German treaty that agreed to exclude all
other powers from any future division of the Portuguese colonial
o and the resignation of Count Bismarck as chancellor had made territories, effectively marginalising Germany in southern Africa.
Above diplomatic relations more volatile. Salisbury, who as a young man The outbreak of war in South Africa in October 1899,
The Marquess of had toured colonies in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, however, soon highlighted Britain’s international isolation,
Salisbury in a Spy was more actively imperialist and aware of the strengths, while the “Khaki Election” of that year provided a popular
Cartoon by Sir Leslie weaknesses and extent of Britain’s possessions. Like Disraeli and, victory for Salisbury’s war policy. Early defeats in the Boer War
Ward, published in indeed, Bismarck, Salisbury had little interest in Africa for its and the policies of farm burning and concentration camps for
Vanity Fair magazine own sake, but he had come to appreciate its strategic and material Boer civilians challenged Britain’s international and domestic
December 1900 value, having strongly supported in Parliament the granting of military and moral reputation. Russia’s attempts to organise a
a royal charter to Cecil Rhodes’s British South Africa Company. diplomatic coalition of European powers to pressurize Britain
o South Africa soon became an urgent cause of concern for ended in failure, while earlier diplomacy by Salisbury was
Opposite him. In the winter and new year of 1895–6, following a rewarded with important American diplomatic, financial
Cartoon by John Tenniel: conspiracy of pro-British rand capitalists, a raid into the and material support in Britain’s war effort in South Africa.
Salisbury returns home Transvaal was led by Dr Leander Starr Jameson, the trusted Chamberlain’s overtures to Germany continued after 1901,
after bagging a majority lieutenant of the Cape premier, Rhodes, to overthrow the when Lord Lansdowne succeeded Salisbury at the Foreign Office,
in the 1900 “Khaki” government of President Kruger. The attempted coup failed, but without success, largely because Germany was unwilling to
election, with Joseph amid a major scandal. Jameson and his followers were arrested. defend British interests against Russia, or to restrain Russian
Chamberlain, who Rhodes resigned. Joseph Chamberlain, Salisbury’s forceful expansionism in Manchuria.
dominated the Unionist colonial secretary was implicitly supportive, but a lengthy Salisbury always distrusted “entangling alliances” which
campaign, as his parliamentary inquiry could find no direct link between the might curtail Britain’s freedom of action. He also argued,
highland servant conspiracy and the British government. More significant for somewhat surprisingly, that, although the Crown – effectively
122
“It was becoming no longer possible in an

increasingly democratic age to commit to
a treaty, unless supported by public opinion”
123
o
Right
Arthur Balfour playing
golf at Hayling Island,
illustration from The
Graphic, May 1890
o
Opposite
“Fidgety Joe”: cartoon
from Punch, June 1903,
with the Liberal leader
the Duke of Devonshire
and the Prime Minister
Arthur Balfour trying
to restrain Joseph
Chamberlain from
upsetting the soup
over free trade and
tariff reform
124
the government – was not obliged to bring treaties before

Parliament for ratification, it was becoming no longer possible
in an increasingly democratic age to commit to a treaty, unless
it were supported by public opinion. Even before the end of the
South African War, he began wide-ranging diplomatic discussions
with Russia over their outstanding differences in the eastern
Mediterranean, central Asia and Manchuria. He had already
admitted in 1896 that he no longer believed that the Ottoman
control of the Dardanelles Straits was essential to the security
of the Indian Empire. Russia’s reluctance to negotiate with
Britain and Japan over China, however, led to the Anglo–
Japanese Alliance. Although often regarded as the end of
“splendid isolation”, this could also be seen as compatible with
Salisbury’s policy of avoiding an “entangling alliance” in Europe.
This approach appeared to be vindicated by Japan’s victory in
the Russo–Japanese War, without necessitating direct British
involvement. Russia, weakened by this war and domestic
upheaval, became more amenable to negotiation. Britain now
had a strong ally in the Far East and could concentrate its navy
in home waters against a threat from Germany.
These problems were inherited by Salisbury’s successors.
His nephew, Arthur Balfour, who became prime minister after
Salisbury resigned through ill health, initiated various reforms, republics, in keeping with his early commitment to “peace,
including the creation of the Committee of Imperial Defence retrenchment and reform”. Dominion status was extended to New
and the Anglo–French Entente Cordiale. Continuing as colonial Zealand in 1907 and, more controversially, South Africa, in 1909–10,
secretary, Joseph Chamberlain remained acutely mindful of the when voices were raised in the Parliament against conceding
need to share the burdens of imperial governance and defence untrammelled autonomy to the white minority. When Herbert
and the extension of dominion status to Australia (1901) was part Asquith became prime minister in 1908, he delegated much of
of this policy. He was convinced, however, that only a policy of foreign policy to Sir Edward Grey, and the Hague Conference on
protective imperial tariffs, combined with some form of imperial the limitation of armaments and the Anglo–Russian Entente (1907)
federation, would prevent British global decline. In 1903, were among his major achievements. He was faced with the
Chamberlain resigned from the cabinet to pursue this policy, consequences of crumbling Ottoman power, including a more
greatly weakening the government in Parliament and in the assertive German policy in the Moroccan crises and a growing
country, and colonial policies intruded further on domestic naval race. The army and navy were transformed respectively
opinion when scandal broke over the importation of indentured under Lord Haldane and Admiral “Jacky” Fisher, with profound
Chinese labour to work the South African mines. The issue implications for defence and foreign policy. By the time of the
played a key role in the crushing victory of the Liberals over outbreak of war in 1914, relations with Germany had been –
Asquith’s Conservative party in the 1906 general election. ironically – improving, but secret pre-war “military conversations”
The new Liberal government under Sir Henry Campbell- had effectively been transforming the Ententes with France and,
Bannerman witnessed a marked softening in colonial policy to a lesser extent, Russia into what Salisbury had dreaded: formal
and the restoration of self-government to the defeated Boer “entangling” alliances.
125
David Lloyd George

Prime Minister 1916–22
David Lloyd George was the only prime minister whose first became head of the new Ministry of Munitions. Starting from
language was not English. Born in Manchester, but growing scratch, he brought in “men of push and go” from industry to
up in Gwynedd, as a young Liberal Member he personified his help him boost the nation’s war production. Although one should
predominantly Welsh speaking community, not least in its conflicts not exaggerate his personal impact or imagine that bureaucratic
with Anglophone landlords and employers. Within Edwardian dysfunction was relegated to the past, the results were impressive.
politics he was an obvious outsider, a Radical employing the His subsequent six-month spell as secretary of state for war did
rhetoric and style of Welsh nonconformity against the manicured not show him at his best, but as confidence in Asquith faltered
cadences of the Oxford Union. As chancellor of the exchequer Lloyd George remained the prime minister’s most credible rival.
between 1908 and 1915, he was the advocate of socially A new crisis in December 1916 triggered Asquith’s resignation,
progressive Liberalism, not least with his People’s Budget of and Lloyd George entered No. 10 as the head of a new coalition
1909. For his opponents he was the “little Welsh attorney”. – though with no guarantee that his tenure was secure. When he
At first glance, Lloyd George appeared an unlikely war became premier, displacing Asquith, he precipitated a durable
leader. In 1914, as chancellor of the exchequer and the unofficial and toxic division within the Liberal Party. The displacement
leader of the Liberal party’s Radical, pacific wing, he was was a coup that produced a largely Conservative administration
cautious about involving Britain in a European war. Yet as both headed by a forcefully pro-war Liberal.
a pragmatist and an instinctive patriot, he found it convenient Lloyd George sought to improve efficiency by introducing
when Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality created a casus a small war cabinet, with a secretariat that took minutes of
belli around which he and the large majority of his colleagues meetings to ensure that decisions were recorded and followed
could unite. When he spoke to an audience of Welshmen up. Such innovations had an impact on the governance of Britain
at London’s Queen’s Hall some weeks after the outbreak of in ways that last until this day. They were introduced at a
hostilities, he argued that war could not have been avoided desperate moment. Russia, Britain’s ally, was about to experience
“without national dishonour”. However, the sincerity of his revolution. Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare
passionate moral case for determination and sacrifice is called early in 1917, which represented a severe danger to British food
into question by his efforts, not known to the public, to keep supplies. Lloyd George later tried to take more glory than he was
his own soldier sons out of the line of fire. really owed for the development of the convoy system, which
Lloyd George owed his rise to the top in part to his oratory helped defeat the U-boat campaign, but he does deserve credit
and his astute political manoeuvring, and in part to his drive and for his brilliant appointment of Sir Joseph Maclay as shipping
o organisational ability. The public exposure of a shortage of shells controller. “Total war” was always a goal or aspiration rather
Opposite on the Western Front was one of several causes of the political than a literal description of how the nation’s resources were
David Lloyd George crisis of May 1915. This led the Liberal prime minister, Herbert used, but under the Lloyd George regime Britain did get
in August 1908 Asquith, to form a new coalition government; Lloyd George significantly closer to full societal mobilisation.
126
127
The entry of the US into the war in April 1917 failed to end
the impasse on the Western Front. Lloyd George lacked confidence
in his generals and they in him. This was a symptom of a broader
crisis in civil-military relations that pre-dated the war, and which
would outlast it. The prime minister was desperate to avoid a
repeat of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, which had led to over
600,000 Allied casualties but had not resulted in a breakthrough.
In the end, though, he was not strong enough to resist the pressures
for a new offensive on familiar lines. The result was the Third
Battle of Ypres (or Passchendaele) and yet further stalemate in
Flanders. Lloyd George’s war memoirs helped feed the legend of
incompetent top brass betraying the troops under their command.
Yet the British army did progressively develop tactics which in
due course led to success over the Germans, not forgetting also,
of course, its victories against Ottoman forces in the Middle East.
Lloyd George cultivated a somewhat presidential style of
leadership. Although he was a brilliant parliamentarian, as prime
128
minister he was rather neglectful of the House of Commons. politically polarised summer of 1910, with emotions high over
This was dangerous when Asquith, who had declined an offer to the House of Lords crisis, he had proposed a cross-party coalition
serve in the cabinet as lord chancellor, was still the leader of the that would put aside old controversies and instead focus on
Liberal party and a potential threat to Lloyd George. Asquith, the economic and social challenges resulting from growing
however, bungled his attack during the so-called Maurice Debate international competition. This modernising prospectus had
of May 1918 – it had been alleged the government had misled the no traction pre-war, but in December 1918, its prospects
House about the number of troops in France during the recent seemed transformed.
German offensive that had put British backs to the wall. Military victory came suddenly and unexpectedly in autumn
The First World War had presented unprecedented challenges 1918. Lloyd George had been considering an election for months
to society and to the political system. Just over a month after the regardless of the military situation. He called one three days after
end of the conflict there was a general election which shaped the the armistice. The electoral situation was opaque. Expansion of
landscape of British democracy for a generation. Lloyd George the suffrage to include practically all men over 21 and most
was regarded as “The Man Who Won the War”, a meritocrat women over 30 had produced an electorate two and a half times
hostile to the expectations of the entitled. He polemicised against that of pre-war. Constituency boundaries had been radically
parasitic landowners but admired risk-taking industrialists. redrawn. Lloyd George and the Conservative leader, Andrew
His hope was that the Liberal Party could flourish as an alliance Bonar Law, sent a joint telegram of support (or “coupon”) to their
of the useful classes, capitalists and workers. But the partisanship favoured candidates, endorsing around 360 Conservatives and 145
expressed so richly in his rhetoric was worn lightly. During the Liberals. The allocation of this “coupon” had involved predictably
o
Opposite
Lloyd George inspecting
munitions workers during
a visit to a factory in Neath,
Wales, 11 August 1918
o
Left
Lloyd George speaking
at the Dripping Pan in
Lewes in October 1926,
as part of his campaign
for agricultural land
reform. Land reform was
one of Lloyd George’s
preoccupations
throughout his
political life
129
130
“Lloyd George was regarded as ‘The Man

Who Won the War’, a meritocrat hostile
to the expectations of the entitled”
difficult bargaining. Liberals were split between the minority who Within Great Britain, Conservatives and Liberals were
had secured a “coupon” and a majority who frequently faced a preoccupied by what they saw as the post-war challenge of
Conservative endorsed by Lloyd George. Labour. Trade union membership and self-confidence had grown
The Coalition victory was overwhelming. The Labour Party during the war. Most dramatically, post-war events in the coal
had broken with the Coalition after the armistice. It won only industry shaped relations between the Government and
57 seats plus a few who later joined the official party. Almost all organised Labour. In 1919 Lloyd George’s adroitness over the
were cautious trade unionists; some regretted the break with Lloyd Sankey Commission and its findings ended with widespread
George. A rump of only around 30 un-couponed Liberals were accusations in the coalfields of ministerial betrayal. Wartime
successful, and Asquith lost his seat. Lloyd George at this moment state control of the industry ended precipitously in spring 1921
appeared unassailable, and the administration began the British in the context of what proved to be an enduring depression in
contribution to the re-stabilisation of Europe; yet the pressures of the industry. The miners opposed the consequential wage cuts,
peacetime politics soon undermined his status as a hero. were locked out for three months and were decisively defeated.
The post-war Coalition took office within a state whose Lloyd George throughout this and other disputes raised the spectre
institutions and procedures were little affected by the war. of revolution. Rule-governed trade union leaders and workers
The exception was Ireland. The 1918 election was a triumph for Sinn seeking to protect hard won living standards were libelled as
Féin, the legacy of the British response to the Easter Rising of 1916 revolutionaries. Whatever chance remained of any rapprochement
and a subsequent, ill-fated attempt to extend military conscription between Lloyd George and organised labour was dead.
to Ireland. Faced with a military campaign by the Irish Republican Lloyd George’s hyperbolic rhetoric demonstrated that he
Army, the British government sought a military solution based hoped to construct a party system based on a socialist/anti-socialist
on violent reprisals. Lloyd George proclaimed in autumn 1920, dichotomy. The provisional arrangement of 1918 could be
“We have murder by the throat”. Liberal opinion was outraged. converted into a more durable settlement. Early in 1920 Lloyd
In contrast Lloyd George the negotiator became evident late in 1921. George sought “fusion” of the elements within the Coalition.
A settlement produced a 26-county Free State and partition. Ireland He failed. Whatever its attraction to senior politicians, partisan o
had decisively reshaped British politics in the 1880s; many outside loyalties amongst local activists and many MPs proved decisive. Opposite
Ireland naively believed that Lloyd George’s administration had This failure came at a moment when the Coalition could claim David Lloyd George by
produced a durable solution. The long-term costs would be borne with some credibility to be an effective synthesis of reform and Philip Alexius de Laszlo,
by the nationalist population remaining under British jurisdiction. stability. Subsequently the Liberal influence within the oil on canvas, 1931
131
administration withered. Economic depression and a drive for to 87 to break with the Coalition. They not only ended Lloyd
austerity left him increasingly dependent on support from the George’s premiership but also Chamberlain’s leadership of their
Conservatives who provided the preponderant section of his own party. The hierarchy within the Conservative Party was
parliamentary majority. transformed. Lloyd George had gained office by a coup; a second
Conservative dissatisfaction with the Coalition mounted. one removed him. George V said “he will be prime minister
It was intensified by increasing concern with the circumstances again”. But in the consequential election, the Conservative Party
under which the next election would be fought. Lloyd George under Bonar Law won an effective majority on an unusually
had been an obvious electoral asset in 1918; increasingly this small share of the vote, and Labour made progress among the
argument seemed less persuasive. Some Conservatives would unionised working class. The Liberal Party eventually achieved
have been happy with a continuation of the Coalition but with a an uneasy reunion but it gradually lost politicians and voters to
Conservative prime minister to reflect the relative balance of the its rivals. Lloyd George would become its dominant figure in the
Coalition parties. Austen Chamberlain, party leader since March late 1920s but an electorally marginal party with its economically
1921 insisted that only a Coalition could offer the necessary conservative old guard was an inappropriate vehicle for Lloyd
protection against a radical left; at least in public, he remained George’s modernising agenda.
loyal to Lloyd George as its leader. In contrast an increasing
number of party members believed not only that their party’s
identity was at risk but also that straight Tory politics could Ramsay MacDonald
offer an effective alternative to socialism. Adulteration with Prime Minister 1924, 1929–31, 1931–35
Liberalism was unnecessary and damaging.
The denouement came on 19 October 1922 at a meeting in James Ramsay MacDonald took office as the first Labour
the Carlton Club in London. Conservative Members voted 187 prime minister on 22 January 1924. A decade earlier the Labour
Party’s parliamentary representation had been little more than
40, a junior partner in a Progressive alliance dominated by a
Liberal Party that had held office for eight years. MacDonald’s
own change of fortune had been equally dramatic. During the
1914–18 war, his initial opposition to British involvement and his
subsequent criticisms of an increasingly illiberal government led
to his misrepresentation by demagogic politicians and jingoistic
journalists as pro-German. His heavy electoral defeat in the
1918 election was the consequence; just over five years later
he was not just premier, he was also foreign secretary.
His politics were formed in the mélange of radicalism and
ethical socialism that characterised progressive London in the
1890s. Brought up in Lossiemouth in the north of Scotland in a
single-parent household, he had enjoyed a relatively democratic
Scottish education. In London, he had zealously pursued an agenda
of self-improvement. He joined the Independent Labour Party in
1894; two years later, marriage brought him into the world of the
professional middle class. Vision was yoked with practicality.
In 1900 he became the secretary of the Labour Representation
Committee (from 1906, the Labour Party). In 1903 he agreed a secret
electoral pact with the Liberal Herbert Gladstone, facilitating the
election of 30 Labour MPs, including himself, in the 1906 election.
In his 11 years as secretary, he worked assiduously to manage the
complex and sometimes fractious relationships between pragmatic
trade union leaders and high-minded socialists.
MacDonald had been central to the construction of an
effective Labour Party. In November 1922 he returned to
the Commons and was immediately elected chairman of a
Parliamentary Labour Party that had more than doubled in
size. He was, in effect, the first real leader that the party had.
132
A German observer captured something of his appeal: “In the o

slums of the manufacturing town and in the hovels of the Opposite
countryside he has become a legendary being – the personification Ramsay Macdonald
of all that thousands of downtrodden men and women hope and addressing the House of
dream and desire … the focus of the mute hopes of a whole class.” Commons in 1924, oil on
Such sentiments resonated with an optimism among sympathisers canvas by Sir John Lavery
that history was on Labour’s side. A widened franchise and
divisions within the Liberal Party supposedly provided the o
opportunity. MacDonald insisted that Labour must not be a class Above
party; he encouraged recruits from the older parties. Ramsay MacDonald
In reality, Labour’s strength in the 1920s remained at speaking at the Labour
its strongest in communities dominated by well-unionised Victory meeting at the
occupations. These solidarities provided a durable foundation Royal Albert Hall in
but in themselves were insufficient for a parliamentary majority. London following the
MacDonald took office as the first Labour prime minister in 1924 election, with MPs
1924 and again in 1929 as the leader of minority administrations, Margaret Bondfield,
in each case dependent on Liberal support. The 10 months J H Thomas, Robert
of the 1924 Government offered evidence of administrative Smillie and Josiah
competence and adherence to constitutional conventions, hardly Wedgwood on the
surprising given that the Parliamentary Labour Party included platform behind him
so many who were familiar with the rule-governed habitats of
133
134
“MacDonald insisted that Labour must

not be a class party; he encouraged
recruits from the older parties”
trade unionism and local government. The parliamentary later, the second Labour cabinet split 11 votes to nine to cut
arithmetic offered a convenient justification for the failure to unemployment benefit by 10 per cent. MacDonald offered his
achieve more. The 1929 administration faced not only long-term resignation to the King.
unemployment in staple industries but the impact of the Great He did not retire to the backbenches but reappeared as head
Depression. Faced with escalating unemployment, MacDonald of a National Government. This combination included a few
and his government offered little. Socialists offered no distinct of MacDonald’s Labour colleagues, Conservatives and Liberals.
response to capitalist crisis. Most ministers remained trapped The expectation was that the administration would be for a few
within an economic orthodoxy that endorsed maintenance of the weeks until the economies had been implemented. Every section
Gold Standard. The government sought a balance between the of the Labour Party plus the TUC vigorously opposed the new
imperative of austerity and the need to respond to demands from government. Few Labour backbenchers went with MacDonald.
within the labour movement not to worsen working-class living When the Commons met in early September, the exchanges
standards, particularly those of the unemployed. between former colleagues became harsh. The decision to leave
These economic difficulties caused divisions in all parties. the Gold Standard on 21 September transformed the agenda.
Labour seemed, despite much unhappiness, more cohesive Now, the issue became not the rapid implementation of cuts but
than its rivals, but in August 1931, with Parliament in recess, the preservation of relative stability. Conservative pressure on
MacDonald’s world changed forever. The May Report was MacDonald to call an election intensified. On 28 September he
published, recommending drastic economies. MacDonald hoped was expelled from the Labour Party. A week later the cabinet
that a response could be negotiated with the Liberals, but agreed to hold an election. MacDonald’s few Labour supporters
publication coincided with an escalating financial crisis. presented themselves as National Labour.
Most cabinet ministers, headed by MacDonald, accepted the In 1918, MacDonald had been vilified at an election as
need for immediate implementation of swingeing cuts. They were unpatriotic; now he headed a campaign based on the claim that
urged on by the leaders of the other parties who accepted the the Labour Party was against the nation. The Labour vote fell by
strategy and were keen to avoid the opprobrium that would come 1.5 million. Its representation in the new Parliament was below
from responsibility for implementation. But on 20 August, that of 1918. The National Labour contingent among MacDonald’s
ministers met the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, huge majority was numerically irrelevant, and his parliamentary
who rejected the government’s proposed response. Several cabinet majority was dominated by Conservatives. One consequence
ministers, most notably the foreign secretary, Arthur Henderson, was an early abandonment of Free Trade. Many Liberals quit the
were influenced by this rebuff. But MacDonald was determined. government and went into opposition. MacDonald, often unwell and
“If we yield to the TUC now, we shall never be able to call our depressed, remained prime minister until June 1935. An electoral
bodies, souls or intelligences our own.” In part, his response asset for the government in 1931, he became almost an irrelevance.
reflected his belief that a Labour Government must act in what He reflected on his isolation: “This is nae my ain hoose.” Defeated in o
was widely seen as the national interest. MacDonald also held a the November 1935 election for his seat in the Durham coalfield, he Opposite
sceptical view of trade unions’ socialist credentials that went back returned to the Commons as a Member for the Scottish Universities. MacDonald on a visit to
to pre-war debates about syndicalism and had been deepened by His own political family had rejected him. He was condemned as a see Chancellor Brüning of
his unhappiness about the General Strike of 1926. Three days traitor and written out of its memory. Germany in Berlin in 1931
135
Winston Churchill
Prime Minister 1940–45, 1951–55
o At the general election of 1945, Winston Churchill suffered a Chamberlain brought him into the war cabinet as first lord of
Above landslide defeat at the hands of Clement Attlee’s Labour Party, the admiralty – the same position he had held in 1914. He cut a
Churchill in the burnt-out but returned to Downing Street six years later and is now widely warlike and determined figure and maintained a strong public
shell of the chamber of celebrated as the archetype of successful leadership. His reputation profile. This made him the most obvious successor when,
the House of Commons owes something to the fact that he crafted his own version of following British military failures in Norway, Chamberlain fell in
after its destruction by history through his memoirs, but also much to his genuinely May 1940. Lloyd George was also discussed as a potential prime
bombing on 10 May 1941 impressive leadership skills. His popular image is that of a man minister but was not really a viable candidate. Lord Halifax, the
never deflected from his goals yet, while he was certainly fiercely foreign secretary, was Churchill’s more credible rival but
o determined, he actually deserves recognition for his collegiality effectively ruled himself out.
Opposite and his willingness to attend to expert advice. On the day that Churchill entered No. 10, the Germans
Winston Churchill The experience of the First World War set precedents invaded France and the Low Countries, and soon swept all
broadcasting from from which it was possible to learn when Europe began to tear before them. Britain faced a truly desperate situation, but
the Cabinet Room in itself apart again in 1939. There was even some continuity in Churchill had some key political advantages. His coalition was
No. 10 Downing Street personnel, Churchill himself being a prominent example, as genuinely broad-based, and though many Tory MPs resented the
in June 1942 first lord of the admiralty and minister of munitions during new incumbent as an usurper, Chamberlain himself remained
that conflict. He was out of office for most of the decade of the in the war cabinet and served loyally until his resignation from
1930s, during which time he warned vociferously of the danger ill health in the autumn. Churchill also benefited from huge
posed by the Nazis. When Germany invaded Poland, Neville personal popularity reinforced by his compelling speeches.
136
“Churchill’s refusal to indulge in false optimism was

crucial to his long-run credibility with the public”
137
138
o
Opposite
Winston Churchill:
a magazine portrait
from around 1945
This is not to say that his oratory was uniformly well received; in
fact, it generated much more controversy and criticism than legend
suggests. Churchill rightly and consistently emphasised that the
war would be long and hard, even if victory was sure to come
in the end. The immediate effect on listeners could often be
depressing, but his refusal to indulge in false optimism was
crucial to his long-run credibility with the public.
RAF victory over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain
ensured that the country was safe from invasion, but the onset
of the Blitz posed a new threat to life and morale. Respite was
offered by the entry of both the USSR and the US into the war
during 1941, but Britain continued to suffer major defeats until
mid-1942. The Fall of Singapore, in February that year, was
probably the moment of maximum political risk for Churchill, as
a plausible challenger had emerged in the person of Sir Stafford
Cripps, the left-wing former ambassador to the Soviet Union.
However, an astute government reshuffle (which co-opted
Cripps) headed off the threat for the time being, and by the end
of the year the triumph at El Alamein had vindicated Churchill’s
leadership. From this point on, though, popular opinion became
increasingly concerned with the issue of post-war reconstruction. of the Soviets and the Americans. He overestimated his own o
Churchill had a genuine track record of support for social reform, capacity to win over Stalin and Roosevelt through sheer force of Above, top
but at this moment he regarded the question as a dangerous personality, but his globe-trotting diplomatic efforts cannot be Churchill with US
distraction from the war effort. The Labour Party seized the dismissed as mere showmanship. His approach was determined President Franklin
initiative and the Conservatives paid the price at the 1945 election. by the belief that the Soviets were rational actors who could Roosevelt and leader
Contrary to his own belief, and in spite of his own experience contribute to a constructive global order, even as they acted as of the Soviet Union
as a soldier, Churchill was not a great military strategist. To the rivals to Britain and the US. This helps explain the apparent Joseph Stalin at the
frustration of his advisers, he fixated on plans and projects – contradiction between the Churchill who, at the time of the 1945 Yalta conference in the
such as, at one point, capturing the northern tip of Sumatra – Yalta agreement, said he thought that he could trust Stalin and the Crimea in February 1945
that they regarded as damaging distractions. But, when faced Churchill who, the following year, acted as a Cold War prophet
with determined, evidence-based opposition, he generally saw in his famous “iron curtain” speech. In his view, the USSR just o
reason. Alan Brooke, chief of the imperial general staff from needed firm handling, tempered by mutual understanding Above, bottom
1941–46, regarded the prime minister as at once a genius and between the Great Men at the helm of the Great Powers. Churchill giving his
astonishingly lacking in vision. But in spite of Churchill’s At home, Churchill faced mounting criticism that he was victory salute to
infuriating behaviour, Brooke admitted that he would not have “dictatorial”, a notion that was linked to his alleged fondness crowds during VE day
given up the chance of working with him for anything. for European monarchs and autocrats in preference to new celebrations from the
Arguably, Churchill’s true strong point was geopolitical democratic movements. It is true that – operating under offices of the Ministry
calculation. Britain’s power was ebbing fast, but he worked hard enormous pressure – he often became bitterly and unreasonably of Health in Whitehall,
to exploit what strength she had in the face of the new dominance angry at the press and, in particular, the left-wing populist 9 May 1945
139
o
Left
“Never was so much
owed by so many to so
few”: World War Two
poster quoting Churchill’s
speech on the Battle of
Britain of 20 August 1940
140
Daily Mirror. Yet he also made enormous efforts to make himself Churchill, Ernest Bevin and Aneurin Bevan. Everyone knows the o
available to the House of Commons and to present himself as its put-downs: “a sheep in sheep’s clothing”. Underestimated by his Above
servant. He ultimately suffered electoral defeat because the voters contemporaries, he was for many decades overlooked by historians; Clement Attlee talks
did not see him as the man to rebuild a shattered Britain, not the radical and lasting changes his 1945–51 government made to to constituents in his
because public or Parliament had lost confidence in his ability to the UK, and the world, are often discussed with little reference to Limehouse constituency
win the war – which, on polling day, was still continuing in the Far him or his leadership. More recently, historians have recognised on election day,
East and was widely expected to continue for another two years. that Attlee’s personal legacy, while not needing complete revision, 5 July 1945
Yet, at the same time, it no longer seemed that Churchill was does need rescuing from damnation by faint praise.
essential to victory. When he became prime minister, he put real Born in 1883 into a comfortable family, Attlee had all the
energy into the government machine. Perhaps most critically, he trappings of the late-Victorian middle class. After public school,
played a determined and skilful role in the cabinet debates of Oxford and the Bar, his life seemed to be drifting until, in 1905,
May 1940, working to ensure that there was no exploration of he visited a boy’s club in Stepney. After viewing the poverty of
peace terms with Hitler. But as the European conflict came London’s East End first-hand, Attlee devoted his life to improving
towards its close, Churchill was exhausted, weakened by ill the lot of these communities. Never patronising, he was accepted
health, and prone to governing by monologue. By this stage it with affection by those he fought for despite the difference in
did not matter much; the Allied war machine was at this point background. Following a “good war” in the 1914–18 conflict –
unstoppable. Whether individual leaders really do win wars is serving at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (wounded by friendly fire)
open to question. But the measure of Churchill’s skill is that the and in France – Major Attlee formally entered politics.
proposition that he made a decisive difference remains plausible He became MP for Limehouse, east London, in 1922 and,
to many informed judges. viewing first-hand what he felt was the betrayal of the ordinary
soldier who had been promised a “home fit for heroes” after the
sacrifice of the war, soon rose within the Labour party. The party’s
Clement Attlee disastrous split in 1931, following Ramsay MacDonald’s defection,
Prime Minster 1945–51 helped make his career. He held on to his seat and became deputy
leader to George Lansbury, succeeding him in 1935. Throughout his
Clement Attlee remains something of an enigma. This modest, shy, 20-year leadership, he was a genuinely unifying force; a thoughtful
“little” man seemed an unlikely prime minister; an uncharismatic manager of the big personalities around him and an electoral asset.
performer in a political age dominated by the likes of Winston Described by one historian as a “revolutionary buttoned up in a
141
142
cricket blazer”, Attlee could hardly be depicted by his opponents style made Churchill’s attempts to paint the proposed welfare o
as a dangerous Marxist out to destroy the British constitution. state as totalitarian seem faintly ridiculous. Britain chose a Opposite
Attlee took the Labour party into the wartime coalition peacetime leader who promised to change the country in the Clement Attlee in
in 1940 and became deputy prime minister to Churchill. Although way that the people wholeheartedly wanted. the Cabinet Room of
overshadowed in the public eye by Churchill – a man he greatly The full machinery of wartime government was retained and No. 10 Downing Street
admired – behind the scenes, Attlee fought to keep his party shifted into post-war reconstruction. Attlee’s wartime cabinet in March 1948
in the coalition for the good of the country and helped to reforms and abilities as a chair helped to ensure that these
revolutionise cabinet government, making it more focused and sweeping changes were passed quickly: cabinet made decisions o
efficient. He was responsible for post-war planning, and in 1942 and sub-committees or departments attended to the detail. Below
this landscape changed dramatically with the publication No micro-manager, Attlee was happy to assign huge briefs to Clement Attlee with his
of William Beveridge’s famous report. In it, Beveridge outlined ministers who were capable of fulfilling these tasks and let them wife celebrating Labour’s
a full welfare state to combat the “five giants” that destroyed get on with it. His close political ally, Foreign Secretary Ernest 1945 election win with
lives: want, squalor, idleness, ignorance and disease. The system Bevin, enjoyed Attlee’s full support in working to create the other Labour candidates
Beveridge proposed, which was overwhelmingly popular with Western Cold War Alliance (NATO), beginning Britain’s nuclear and supporters
a war-weary public, would, in Attlee’s eyes, fulfil the promise weapons programme and granting full independence to India.
of a better life to ordinary men and women who had sacrificed At the same time, the left-wing Aneurin Bevan was given an
so much in both wars and to make Britain a more equal society. almost free hand to create the National Health Service (NHS).
Full implementation of Beveridge’s plan became the Labour For Attlee personally, the creation of a new National Insurance
party’s platform for the 1945 election. The poll, held while system, fully abolishing means testing, was his proudest
Britain was still at war and during the crucial Potsdam summit achievement. The Education Act of 1944 was fully implemented
on the future of defeated Germany, was a landslide victory for by 1947, providing free education for all until the age of 15.
Labour. To outside observers, the British public’s rejection of On top of this, economic policy was driven by the commitment
Churchill was a huge shock; but it should not have been. Attlee’s to full employment, and entire industries were nationalised in
record in wartime government, his clear patriotism and modest pursuit of this goal.
143
o
Opposite
Macmillan photographed
at Birch Grove in 1963
dramatic changes to the peacetime British state in its history.

While the economic settlement was dismantled in the 1980s,
National Insurance, the NHS and free education – the basis of
Britain’s welfare state – remain. His legacy, as the leader of one
of Britain’s most admired governments with limited recognition
for himself personally, is fitting. Attlee never sought the limelight
and was a leader guided by his ideals: citizens had responsibilities
to their country, but in return they should be properly cared
for throughout their lives, irrespective of their background.
As prime minister, he had the opportunity to turn those ideals
into measures that transformed the lives of millions – in the UK
and further afield, during his lifetime and long after – for the
better. In 2004, he was chosen by academics as Britain’s greatest
prime minister; so perhaps now emerging from the shadows.
o Throughout his tenure, Attlee faced continual criticism of Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson,
Above, top his leadership style: too indecisive, too conventional; his reforms
A free clinic for were either too radical or missed a golden opportunity to go
Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher,
mothers and children further. Accused of dithering during the sterling crisis of 1947, John Major
pictured shortly after Attlee was not a leader comfortable with the intricacies of Prime Ministers 1957–77: The challenge
the introduction of economic policy. He saw off several serious leadership challenges, of European integration
the National Health from heavyweights such as Bevan, Sir Stafford Cripps and
Service in 1948 Herbert Morrison, thanks to his close alliance with Ernest Bevin, Two years after making his famous speech at Fulton, Missouri,
who loyally refused to have anything to do with the plots, and in 1946, warning of an “iron curtain” that would define the
o by his excellent management of personalities from both wings Cold War, Winston Churchill addressed the Conservative party
Above, bottom of the party. Attlee was the only person able to unite a widely conference in Llandudno. He explained the world role of Britain
Harold Macmillan hosts diverse party, not simply because he was the “least worst” option at the intersection of “three great circles”. The first circle was
General de Gaulle at his for both sides. He was accepted and admired by working-class the Commonwealth, the second the “English-speaking world”,
house, Birch Grove, in trade unionists, and if he was not the purist socialist sought by the which stood for the West in a Cold War context. The third one
Sussex, November 1961. middle-class Marxist intellectuals, he was a social democrat whose was a “united Europe”. Churchill argued that Britain was uniquely
Macmillan sought to passionate commitment to his ideals could not be questioned. placed to be “joining them all together”. However, he did not
persuade the French Labour’s majority dwindled in the election of 1950, and splits reveal which of the three he thought was the most important one.
president to agree to the between the right and left wings of cabinet finally brought the For Conservative MP Edward Heath, the European circle
UK’s entry into the EEC government down in 1951. But these years saw some of the most always loomed much larger in his mind than the other two.
144
145
146
o
Opposite
Harold Wilson on the
Terrace of the House of
Commons, awaiting the
result of the Labour party
leadership election in
February 1963
o
Right
Prime Minister Harold
Wilson at a Keep Britain
in Europe Rally held at
Sophia Gardens Pavilion,
Cardiff, June 1975,
during the Referendum
campaign on the UK
membership of the
European Communities
Heath was probably the prime minister with the most unequivocal
commitment to European integration. His maiden speech in
Parliament in 1950 was in support of the Schuman plan, which
proposed to pool French and German coal and steel resources.
The plan was taken up by European leaders, who created the
European Coal and Steel Community, without the involvement
of the UK.
By 1961, the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan
felt the time was right for the UK to enter the European Economic
Community (EEC), as the country was enjoying a surge in
economic prosperity. Macmillan set about gradually convincing The man hardest to convince that Britain had signed up
his government, party and the EEC that the UK was prepared to to the political aspect of European integration was the French
join the Community. He believed that the ties to the other two of president, Charles de Gaulle. He vetoed the UK’s entry to the
Churchill’s circles, the Commonwealth and the US, would not be Community because he believed that Britain’s ties to Churchill’s
a hindrance to Britain assuming a leading role in the Community. other two circles were still too prominent for it to become a
Macmillan gave Heath the responsibility to conduct the member of the EEC. The effects of De Gaulle’s veto were
diplomatic negotiations to accede to the EEC. Heath realised profound and threw Macmillan’s foreign policy into disarray.
from the outset that becoming a member of the EEC was Yet Macmillan had lastingly put Britain on the path of joining
not a destination in itself but would be a long-term political the EEC. Labour premier Harold Wilson renewed the British
commitment. He wrote, “A myth has become fashionable that application in 1967 and when Heath became prime minister
we were concerned only with economic affairs … nothing could he secured membership of the UK in the EEC by 1973.
be further from the truth. The main purpose of the negotiations Harold Wilson was not as convinced of European integration
was political.” Joining the Community meant becoming a as Edward Heath had been. Despite trying to personally convince
member of an evolving project to unite Europe, with the aim De Gaulle that the UK was committed to joining the EEC,
of securing peace and prosperity. Wilson himself was ambivalent about Community membership.
147
However, he confined his criticism of Heath to expressing to staying in the EEC. However, her focus in the early years
disapproval of the terms under which the UK joined the of her time from 1979 as prime minister was on domestic
Community, rather than questioning the principle of membership. politics, until the Falklands war broke out in April 1982.
Wilson was also leading a party that was deeply split on the During Thatcher’s second term, from 1983 amid renewed Cold
question of EEC membership. The rift in the Labour party was War tensions, she played the role of an intermediary between
laid bare during the referendum campaign of 1975. On the one Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, and US
hand, there were people like the MP Tony Benn, who found it president, Ronald Reagan. Her view on European integration
all too capitalist and undemocratic, and on the other hand there was influenced by the Cold War – which was Churchill’s second
were people like Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, who supported circle. Thatcher’s focus was drawn back to the European
membership and believed that it would bring lasting prosperity Community by questions of monetary contributions to the
to the British economy. Wilson stayed out of the fray but EEC and the opportunity to liberalise the single market.
pronounced himself “51 per cent” in favour of staying in Thatcher played an important role in negotiating the Single
the EEC just before the country went to the polls. European Act and in giving it a strong economic and foreign
On the day of the 1975 referendum, 67 per cent of the policy dimension. Her aim was to create a large unified market,
voting population supported the broad coalition of centrists both in goods and services, and to give the Community the
who argued that staying in the EEC would make the UK ability to speak internationally with a unified voice.
economically more prosperous and internationally more After 1986, Thatcher’s views about reforming the European
influential. Margaret Thatcher, who in 1975 became leader of Community began to diverge from those of her European
the Conservative party, was part of the broad alliance in favour counterparts and Jacques Delors, the European Commission
of EEC membership. She inherited a party that was committed president. They wanted to harmonise social legislation and create
148
o o
Opposite Below
Heath speaking in Brussels Edward Heath, pictured
after signing the Treaty of in 1964 as President
Accession to the European of the Board of Trade
Economic Communities and Secretary of State
in January 1972 for Industry
149
150
Margaret Thatcher
a common currency, whereas she insisted on maintaining the Britain’s victory in the Falklands in 1982 defined Margaret o
status quo. Her successor as British prime minister, John Major, Thatcher’s prime ministership, but the Troubles in Northern Opposite
signed Britain up to the Maastricht Treaty that created the Ireland were a constant, difficult, violent backdrop to her time Margaret Thatcher at the
European Union in 1993, but secured an opt-out for the UK to in office. Her colleague Airey Neave was killed by a car bomb Emmeline Pankhurst
keep the pound sterling when the euro was launched. However, placed in the House of Commons car park by the Irish memorial in Westminster
Major inherited a party that was increasingly split on questions National Liberation Army before the 1979 election. In August in April 1979
of European integration. that year, Lord Mountbatten was assassinated, and 18 soldiers
The Labour party won the election of 1997 on a platform of the Parachute Regiment were killed at Warrenpoint on o
committed to “give Britain leadership in Europe”. When the the Irish border. Above
fireworks over the Thames welcomed the new century, Britain was Thatcher was always clear about what she sought in Royal Navy aircraft
more engaged in the culture, politics and trade of the EU than ever Northern Ireland: a decisive, lasting victory for the security carrier HMS Invincible
before. At the same time, a movement against Britain’s membership forces over the IRA. In 1981, Irish prisoners went on hunger returning from the war
in the Community was gaining political ground. The resulting rift strike in the Maze prison. They wanted to attain prisoner in the Falkland Islands
across the entire political spectrum reopened the question about of war status, legitimising the cause for which they fought. to Portsmouth Harbour
which of Churchill’s three circles the UK should be closest to, or Thatcher was resolute: “a crime is a crime is a crime”. in September 1982
whether it was indeed possible to be a part of them all. Ten hunger strikers starved to death, including Bobby Sands.
151
o On 2 April 1982, the Argentine military government self-determination. She argued that the Cold War order
Above occupied the Falkland Islands. It was a moment of immense would be under threat if military adventurism reaped rewards.
President Ronald Reagan tension in Westminster. British sovereign territory had been The most controversial moment of the campaign was
with Margaret Thatcher taken by force; British people were under threat. The following probably the sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.
at No. 10 Downing Street morning, Saturday 3 April, the House of Commons met – the Thatcher authorised its attack, and on 2 May, the submarine HMS
in June 1984 first Saturday sitting since the Suez crisis in 1956. Leader of Conqueror torpedoed the cruiser, with a loss of 323 Argentine
the Opposition Michael Foot trenchantly condemned the lives. In the House of Commons on 4 May, Defence Secretary
o appeasement of a military regime and supported the absolute John Nott said: “This heavily armed surface attack group was
Opposite right of the people of the Falkland Islands “to look to us at close to the total exclusion zone and was closing on elements
Margaret Thatcher, this moment of their desperate plight”. Parliament expected, of our Task Force, which was only hours away.” Critics of the
photographed in and endorsed, the despatch of the Task Force. government’s action, such as Labour MP Tam Dalyell, argued this
April 1984 As the fleet sailed south, Parliament supported the was misleading. Later revelations showed that the cruiser had
government, and the United Nations issued Resolution 502, been moving out of the total exclusion zone and away from the
agreeing with Britain that Argentina had breached the peace. Task Force when the torpedoes struck. Dalyell’s concern was the
The American State Secretary Alexander Haig established abuse of Parliament but critics on the left argued that Thatcher
a mediation mission. The Americans were wary of an instigated the war for domestic political reasons. Nevertheless, it
inconclusive war between two allies over a territory that seemed clear to the government and its advisers that whatever its
seemed strategically worthless: “that little ice-cold bunch precise position, the Belgrano was a threat, and the submarine
of land down there”, as President Reagan said. Initially, HMS Conqueror had a chance to attack it that might not recur.
Thatcher gave some ground, but the Argentines were British forces landed on the islands on 21 May. There followed
unreliable negotiators; they did not want to yield the gain a short, intense, fighting war. On 14 June, the Argentines
they had made by force. In turn, the Prime Minister was surrendered and Margaret Thatcher announced to Parliament
unwilling to cede the principle of the islanders’ right to a British victory. The retaking of the Falklands silenced Thatcher’s
152
153
“Britain’s victory in the Falklands in 1982 defined

Margaret Thatcher’s prime ministership, but the Troubles
in Northern Ireland were a difficult, violent backdrop”
154
critics in the Conservative party and contributed to the

government’s emphatic election win in 1983.
The high peak of Thatcherism was, in some ways, the period
between the end of the Falklands war and the IRA bomb at
the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party
conference in 1984. The IRA had targeted Thatcher, but the bomb
explosion killed five conference attendees and injured many others.
The following morning, after an awful night, Thatcher delivered
her revised conference speech to a standing ovation. She said:
“That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and
the fact that we are gathered here now – shocked, but composed
and determined – is a sign not only that this attack has failed, but
that all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.”
Thatcher’s priority in Northern Ireland remained security.
Her aims in negotiating the 1985 Anglo–Irish agreement were
to improve co-operation between the Irish government, police
and the authorities north of the border. She thought that her
staunch support for Unionism, and criticism of terrorist groups
and tactics, would mollify Unionist opinion. The Unionists,
however, believed she had conceded too much by allowing a
consultative role for the Irish government in Northern Ireland.
They organised a general strike; and the Irish government did little
to play down the gains they felt they had won. By 1987, violence
escalated. An IRA bomb killed 11 people at a Remembrance Day
Service in Enniskillen. Early in 1988, the Special Air Service (SAS)
killed three IRA members in Gibraltar. At their funeral in Milltown
Cemetery, Belfast, a gunman attacked the mourners. At the
mourners’ funeral, two British army corporals in plain clothes
were dragged from their car, stripped and murdered. It was,
Mrs Thatcher wrote, “the single most horrifying event in
Northern Ireland during my term of office”.
After Milltown, Thatcher focused on how Britain’s security
forces could better counter terrorism in Northern Ireland, and she
prohibited broadcast announcements by Sinn Féin – a symbolic,
significant move. There were more attacks on the mainland.
In 1989, Thatcher lost her second close confidante, MP Ian Gow,
to a Provisional IRA car bomb outside his home in East Sussex.
By the end of her term of office, the Troubles in Northern
Ireland seemed no closer to resolution. Thatcher had established
and held a firm line against terrorism and had brought a popular
o and important victory against the Argentines in the Falklands.
Above Many believed this victory restored a sense of military self-
Margaret Thatcher confidence in Britain; others felt that her emphatic celebration of
leaving Downing Street it shifted emphasis in foreign policy towards national sovereignty
after her resignation in and away from the co-operative internationalism of the 1970s.
November 1990
155
Tony Blair
When Tony Blair led the Labour Party to a landslide election the two separate Prime Minister’s Questions sessions with a
victory in 1997, he subsequently became Britain’s youngest prime single Wednesday session. Philip Norton has described Blair
minister since the early 19th century. He was also one of the few as “arguably the first truly rootless prime minister” – lacking
prime ministers to have not previously held a ministerial office, a clear grounding in party, Parliament or government.
something he shared with all but four members of his first cabinet Some have suggested that this lack of experience – or even
– a fact, perhaps, reflecting his desire to symbolise “New Labour” interest – in the practicalities of government enabled Blair to
as something of a clear break from the party’s past. approach the role of prime minister in a manner unlike anyone
Born in Edinburgh, Blair initially followed his father in else. Baroness Jay, Leader of the House of Lords from 1998
training as a barrister, before becoming involved with the to 2001, described what she termed Blair’s “garden look”
Labour Party after leaving Oxford University. He was selected – where he would apparently stare out towards the garden
to fight the 1982 by-election in Beaconsfield, one of the of No. 10 whenever detailed discussions of the machinery
Conservatives’ safest seats, but lost his deposit. Despite this, of government would begin. o
he was somewhat unexpectedly selected as candidate for the What he perhaps lacked in passion for the more Above
Sedgefield constituency for the 1983 general election; a selection fundamental aspects of parliamentary democracy, he Tony Blair greeted by
made too late for his inclusion in the Labour Party’s “Election balanced with unquestionable powers of oratory. Many have supporters outside
Who’s Who” biographies of their candidates. Nonetheless, highlighted a “presidential” style of the premiership under No. 10 Downing Street
following his victory and election as MP in 1983, Blair quickly Blair – one more akin to the US. As prime minister, he relied after his victory in the
ascended the political ladder and became Labour Party and heavily on a close circle of advisers, including press secretary general election of
Opposition Leader in 1995 after the sudden death of John Smith. Alastair Campbell, and the number of special advisers – May 1997
Following a somewhat less-worn path to the front benches or “spads” – grew under Blair’s premiership. He famously
– with no experience in student politics, trade unions or as regarded cabinet meetings as a place to announce decisions o
a local councillor – Blair himself would later declare that made elsewhere, rather than as a forum itself for lengthy Opposite
he “never pretended to be the greatest House of Commons and collaborative policy discussions. Cabinet meetings Tony Blair photographed
man”. His seeming lack of enthusiasm for Parliament is perhaps under Blair were shorter and occurred less often than during the general
demonstrated by having had the lowest voting record for any with previous prime ministers, and the “sofa government” election campaign in
modern prime minister, and early into his premiership replaced (as it became known) style of informal meetings in smaller April 1997
156
157
“What Blair perhaps lacked in passion for the more

fundamental aspects of parliamentary democracy,
he balanced with unquestionable powers of oratory”
158
groups aimed to move discussions and decision-making outside

of formal government structures.
This approach, at times, caused friction – for instance, with
ministerial colleagues or party backbenchers who criticised
Blair’s reliance on his “inner circle”, or between political
appointees and civil servants over the boundaries between
government and party. The creation of the position of Downing
Street chief of staff in 1997, first held by Jonathan Powell, and
its empowerment to give instructions to civil servants, in effect
replaced the power previously held by the cabinet secretary,
the most senior civil servant in the country.
With regard to his party, Blair was both praised and criticised
for moving Labour to a more centrist position, a professed
pragmatism to make the party more electable. This is encapsulated o
by ideas of the “third way” – a position intended to reconcile Opposite
centre-right economic approaches with centre-left social policies. Tony Blair at a joint
Blair, early into his tenure as party leader, pushed through a press conference with
rewritten Clause IV of the Labour Party’s constitution to remove US President Bill Clinton
its previous overt commitment to socialism. Controversial at during a visit to
the time and since, New Labour has been portrayed as either Washington in 1998
a necessary modernisation of the party and its policies or an
unforgivable break with Labour’s most fundamental values. o
Blair would go on to be Labour’s longest-serving prime Above
minister. Matching Margaret Thatcher’s three electoral Tony Blair chairs a special
successes, Blair has often been described as being her natural meeting of the Cabinet
“heir” – it is even said that, when Thatcher was asked what her in advance of a recall
most important achievement had been, she had replied: “New meeting of the House
Labour”. While it was the events of subsequent ministries that of Commons to discuss
would come to define his time as prime minister, Blair’s first military action against
ministry of 1997 to 2001 certainly characterised his approach Al-Qaida in Afghanistan,
to the role of parliamentary leader. October 2001
159
160
CHAPTER FIVE
NATIONAL
GOVERNANCE
161
Home affairs
The Home Office is a fortress-like institution that’s been
keeping the Queen’s Peace for more than two centuries,
under a series of heavyweight Home Secretaries
The Home Office was originally formed in 1782 – with

William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, the first Home
Secretary – and originally focused on the internal government
of the UK, especially “maintaining the King’s Peace”. Robert Peel,
Home Secretary twice between 1822 and 1830, was responsible
for reforming and liberalising criminal law and also created the
modern police force when he founded the Metropolitan Police
in 1829. By the 1830s, its employees numbered only 13 men
and “a necessary woman”, and it still shared many staff with the
neighbouring Foreign Office, including a “Decipherer of Letters”
and a “Secretary of the Latin Language”. But, throughout the
19th century, its remit expanded. Other departments were spun
from it, including responsibilities for the control of transport,
health, mining, broadcasting, military forces and colonial business
while, in recent decades, many of its responsibilities have been
devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Despite this, the Home Office is still mammoth. Under
heavyweight Home Secretaries like Herbert Morrison (1940–45),
Roy Jenkins (1965–67 and 1974–76), Douglas Hurd (1985–89),
Michael Howard (1993–97) and Jack Straw (1997–2001) it had
expanded to become the UK government’s biggest department
by the end of the 20th century, with tens of thousands of
employees and a responsibility for the police, prison, probation
and fire services, immigration and asylum, sentencing and
o
Above
Home Secretary Priti
“
T he job of Home Secretary is one in which you get to know
your country most closely,” says former Home Secretary
Douglas Hurd. “Run-down housing estates, riots, drabness and
criminal justice policy.
The biggest change to the Home Office in more than
a century came in 2007, when the newly appointed Home
Patel addresses the wickedness of all kinds, these come your way more than any Secretary John Reid famously – and controversially – declared
Conservative Party other department.” the Home Office as “not fit for purpose” and set about a radical
Conference in 2019 The Home Office started as an offshoot of the Southern reorganisation. Chief among these was transferring a huge
Division of the Foreign Office, and – although technically the chunk of the Home Office’s responsibilities – criminal justice,
o senior of the two departments – it has always remained the prisons and probation – to the newly created Ministry Of Justice.
Opposite Foreign Office’s less glamorous sibling. Where the FCDO is Having lost the “law” component of its “law and order” remit,
Jack Straw served as based in palatial buildings, designed by George Gilbert Scott, the the Home Office would concentrate its efforts and resources
Home Secretary in Tony Home Office spent much of the past 40 years stuck in a concrete on crime, immigration and counter-terrorism.
Blair’s first administration, brutalist block on Queen Anne’s Gate, variously described by However, as former Home Secretary Jack Straw observed, the
from 1997 to 2001 assorted Home Secretaries as a “fortress” or a “mausoleum”, or – Home Office has always prided itself on not being a Ministry of
according to former Home Secretary Ken Clarke – “like the KGB the Interior on the Continental model. “The British Home Office
prison Lubianka”. Few were disappointed when the Home Office always had duties on the other side of the equation,” he said,
moved to its shiny modernist home at 2 Marsham Street in 2005. “of balancing power with freedom, order with liberty, of having
162
NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“It had duties of balancing consciously to limit the power of the state which it had
to enforce. It has thus also taken responsibility for issues
such as human rights, race and community relations and
power with freedom, order with data protection.”
A priority for the current Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has
liberty, of having consciously been reform of the immigration system. “It is an undeniable fact
that immigration has and continues to enrich – in every sense
to limit the power of the state of the word – our nation immeasurably,” she said in a May 2021
speech, outlining a new points-based system. “Our new fully
digital border will provide the ability to count people in and
which it had to enforce” count people out of the country. We will have a far clearer
picture of who is here and whether they should be – and will
act when they are not. The British people want a system that
welcomes those most in need of sanctuary and one that slams
the door on dangerous criminals.”
www.gov.uk/home-office
163
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
Building on
Peel’s legacy
“Our success is based on identifying priorities for
early action and prevention – such as domestic violence
and abuse, or youth exploitation – recognising that
they aren’t separate from the rest of people’s lives”
Alun Michael, South Wales Police
S ir Robert Peel was one of Britain’s most distinguished

parliamentarians. He established the Metropolitan Police
in 1829 and was Prime Minister twice. More than 150 years
trying a similar approach. In Wales, criminal justice bodies
now cooperate with partners in the devolved environment to
achieve shared outcomes.
later, when MP Alun Michael left the House of Commons “Our golden thread is cooperation,” he says. “Police cannot
to become the first Police and Crime Commissioner for do this alone, but by understanding where harm is happening
South Wales, he had Peel’s key principles firmly in mind. – and why – you can intervene early. Safe, confident communities
“We’ve given real life to principles laid down by Robert Peel are productive, economically viable and socially positive. In 2020,
– that the police are the community, and the community are the at the height of COVID-19, we responded to the Black Lives
police,” says Michael. “Peel also said that the first responsibility Matter protests as a wake-up call to include all our communities
of the police is to prevent crime. We apply both principles in fairly. Everything is connected to everything else, so a joined-up
innovative ways, so it’s modern and ambitious, but both themes approach is vital. Our success is based on identifying priorities
remain absolutely central.” for early action and prevention – such as domestic violence
Michael (pictured, opposite) became an MP in 1987, having and abuse, or youth exploitation – recognising that they aren’t
been a reporter, trade unionist, youth and community worker, city separate from the rest of people’s lives.”
councillor and Justice of the Peace in Cardiff. Becoming Deputy Working with three successive chief constables, each of
Home Secretary in 1997 he joined the cabinet as Secretary of whom Michael describes as “inspirational”, he cites Her Majesty’s
State for Wales, becoming the first First Secretary (First Minister) Inspectorate’s praise for South Wales Police performance.
for Wales following devolution. Continuing as an MP, he served “Prevention is not an alternative to robust responses – it’s vital
on the Justice and Home Affairs Select Committees, as well to be tough on crime AND its causes,” he says. “We work as a
as the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, before resigning from team to challenge narrow perspectives, making connections
parliament in 2012 to stand for the new elected role of Police across the public sector.”
Crime and Commissioner. His domestic violence lead took her voluntary sector
His approach starts with the root causes of crime, experience to the heart of policing. “Instead of sitting in
especially evidence from Public Health Wales that those who my team and talking to the public protection unit, she moved
experience four or more adverse childhood experiences – such in with them, becoming part of daily discussions,” he says.
as violence at home – are 20 times more likely to go to prison “Understanding the victim’s experience has become part of
and much more likely to be violent or the victim of violence. what we do rather than something preached about from outside.
Michael sees crime and harm as public health issues, needing Peel implied that policing must live within the community.
his team and the police to work closely with local authorities, By working together in innovative ways, we give real life to that.”
schools, the NHS and Welsh Government to intervene early www.southwalescommissioner.org.uk
to break cycles of harm. Increasingly, other police forces are www.south-wales.police.uk
165
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
At your digital service

“Creating modern organisations and delivering technology
for a fraction of the price means that a bigger share of the
government budget can be put towards frontline services”
Neal Gandhi, TPXimpact
T he outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic created an urgent

need to ensure that public sector workers and citizens could
continue doing essential things safely. IT services and digital
started life in 2018, hopes to continue. “We’ve only been around
for two and a half years, of which a year and a half has been the
pandemic,” says Gandhi. What the company has learned in that
transformation experts TPXimpact stepped in to help. The time has led it to rethink the way government digital services
company launched a system to enable NHS staff testing in just are carried out.
seven days; helping 67 per cent of key workers get back to the With that in mind, TPXimpact has relaunched with a whole
frontline faster. new philosophy. “The government spends an immense amount
TPXimpact also worked with supermarket chains to create of money, and there is so much more that could be done with
priority delivery slots for shielding residents throughout the that money, to transform systems, services and organisations to
UK – another project that was ready within weeks. “We have an be more effective,” says Gandhi. “The TPXimpact team believes
opportunity: we can either learn from this or go back to the old organisations can achieve 10 times the impact through the use
ways,” says TPXimpact’s Chief Executive Officer, Neal Gandhi. of design thinking and technology, to deliver flexible and
Getting things done this fast proved that the quick personalised future services. We’ve already been working
procurement and development of technology solutions is towards this, with encouraging results. Creating modern
possible. This way of working is something TPXimpact, which organisations and delivering technology for a fraction of the
price means that a bigger share of the government budget can be
put towards frontline services where they are needed the most.”
The original idea for TPXimpact came about when the
founders saw that it was possible to create software packages
much more quickly than before. Smaller, entrepreneurial
companies were able to deliver tech projects at pace, but they
often lacked the ability and the balance sheet to do things on a
large scale. The team also wanted to create a business that was
a net contributor to society rather than run purely for
shareholder profit and chose to float the company on the stock
market because of the relative autonomy this would give them.
“Typically, if a fund doesn’t like what you are doing, they can
sell your shares,” says Gandhi. “Doing it this way meant we
could follow our values.”
After listing the company as Panoply Holdings in 2018,
TPXimpact has gone from strength to strength, with a revenue
of over 50 million in 2021. Future goals include becoming a top
20 supplier of technology services to the government and a net
zero company by 2025. In the same year, TPXimpact also hopes
to have helped 5,000 people launch careers in the digital sphere.
“Whatever the direction,” says Gandhi, “it will require
imagination, vision and strong people to drive it through.”
TPXimpact.com
167
Justice is served
Formed in 2007, the Ministry of Justice unifies various
justice issues under one roof, and the Justice Secretary
has become the fifth “great office of state”
o
Below
The symbolic “Lady of
A hugely significant decision was taken in 2007 to create
a new government department – one which, for the first
time, brought responsibility for all justice issues under one
delivery of justice, guaranteeing rights, helping protect the
public and reducing reoffending.
The MOJ has a wide-reaching remit, which explains why
Justice”, a 12-foot high roof. Previously these issues – including prisons, probation, it quickly became one of the biggest government departments,
statue that sits atop the sentencing laws and oversight of the independent judiciary – employing around 70,000 people (including those in the probation
dome of the Old Bailey fell to different departments, primarily the Home Office and service), with responsibility for 133 prisons in England and Wales
in London the Department for Constitutional Affairs. and more than 500 courts. Not for nothing did Jack Straw, who
But in May 2007 that all changed. John Reid, the Home took over as Justice Secretary shortly after the Ministry of Justice
o Secretary under Tony Blair’s third administration, famously was formed, announce that this was now “the fifth great office
Opposite declared that the Home Office “was not fit for purpose” and of state”, alongside the “big four” of Prime Minister, Chancellor,
Robert Buckland QC took decided to divide up the department’s two key functions – law Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. Justice Secretaries have
over as Justice Minister and order – with the Home Office taking care of the order, and since included a few big names – including Jack Straw, Kenneth
in June 2019 a new Ministry of Justice taking care of law. The Ministry of Clarke and Michael Gove.
Justice (MOJ) was tasked with delivering a wide range of public The department has to balance its drive to create a modern
services. Its first annual report laid out its aims – supporting justice system with traditions that date back nearly a thousand
a vigorous democracy, ensuring the efficient and effective years. Since 2007, the role of Secretary of State for Justice has
been combined with that of Lord Chancellor, with responsibility
for the functioning and independence of the courts and judiciary.
This ancient role dates back to 1066 and – nominally, at least
– outranks that of Prime Minister (the Lord Chancellor was the de
facto presiding officer of the House of Lords by right of prescription).
The Lord Chancellor also has custody of the Great Seal of the
Realm, which dates from the times of Edward the Confessor in
the 11th century and is still used to symbolise the sovereign’s
approval of important state documents. The Lord Chancellor role
was traditionally performed by peers but, in combination with the
role of Justice Secretary, is now reserved for MPs.
The department marked the 800th anniversary of the sealing
of Magna Carta in 2015 by working with the legal sector and
other organisations to host an international event celebrating the
document’s principles of freedom and justice and our proud legal
history. The Global Law Summit brought together leaders from
governments, the legal professions and business from across the
world to promote the international rule of law and showcase
the UK’s expertise in legal services.
The currently Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord
Chancellor, is Robert Buckland QC. “That’s my full and frankly
rather formal title,” he said in his first keynote speech in the role,
in June 2019. “Many of you will be more familiar with the more
colloquial, the more catchy title, ‘Prisons Minister’. But I think the
term ‘Justice Minister’ is actually a better fit for what I’m doing.”
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
Part of Buckland’s plans to modernise the justice system

is to link the prison service with other government organisations “The department has to
– including the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS
England and Public Health England – to pilot drug treatment balance its drive to create
programmes for prisoners with mental health, drug and
alcohol, and to link each National Probation Service region
with a private or voluntary sector partner who will be
a modern justice system
responsible for delivering Unpaid Work and Accredited
Programmes in the community. with traditions that date back
“I believe,” said Buckland, “that by working closely together
– prisons, probation, police, the courts, national, local, voluntary, nearly a thousand years”
private, public sector – these reforms will allow us to seize the
opportunity to finally turn the tide on reoffending.”
www.justice.gov.uk
169
Where law meets

government
The Attorney General’s Office is a small but highly specialist
ministerial department, with several crucial legal functions
o
I
t’s one of the smallest government departments – currently (later Secretary-General of the Commonwealth), along
Below employing around 40 people, most of them at its office at with Conservative heavyweights such as Sir Michael Havers
Michael Ellis took over as 20 Victoria Street in Whitehall – but the office of the Attorney and Geoffrey Cox.
Acting Attorney General General is one of the oldest positions in government. The role Lord Goldsmith QC, Attorney General from 2001–07, described
in June 2021 has been in existence since at least King Edward II’s reign the job as “an intersection point between politics and the law”.
in the early 14th century, and the origin may go back as far “You fulfil a role as government minister, legal adviser, prosecutor
o as 1243. and upholder of the public interest,” he said. The Attorney General
Opposite It is a unique role that is pitched somewhere between the superintends the principal prosecuting authorities in England and
Harriet Harman QC, government and the legal profession. “The Attorney General and Wales – the Crown Prosecution Service (which includes the
a former Solicitor the Solicitor General – the two Law Officers – are sui generis,” Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office) and the Serious Fraud
General in the Attorney said Harriet Harman QC, a former Solicitor General. “They are Office. In addition, he or she performs a range of civil and criminal
General’s Office not quite like other lawyers, not quite like other politicians, not law litigation functions exercisable in the public interest, including
quite like other ministers.” referring sentences that may be unduly lenient to the Court of
The role has often been occupied by the most senior Appeal, bringing proceedings for contempt of court, and making
legal figure on the government benches. Interwar incumbents applications for fresh inquests.
included Conservatives Sir Douglas Hogg and Sir Thomas The Attorney General is also the chief legal adviser to
Inskip; postwar Attorneys General have included Labour the government, a role described in 1978 by Samuel Silkin QC,
MPs Sir Hartley Shawcross (a prosecutor at the Nuremburg Attorney General from 1974–79, as “little known and rarely
trials), Sir Elwyn Jones, Samuel Silkin and Patricia Scotland visible to the public, yet certainly the most time-consuming,
probably the most important, and possibly the most interesting
of his responsibilities”. Along with the Solicitor General
(the other “Law Officer” in the Attorney General’s Office), the
Attorney General may be called on to advise cabinet colleagues
on any aspect of domestic, European or international law, and
work in partnership with the Advocate General for Scotland,
whose responsibilities include advising the UK government
on matters of Scottish law.
By long constitutional convention, the advice of the
Law Officers – and even the fact of whether or not they have
been consulted in any particular matter – is kept strictly
confidential. That is in recognition of the public interest in
ensuring that governments always have the most full, free
and uninhibited access to legal advice on any matter at any
time, and that government decision-making is as legally
well-informed as possible.
With a seat at the cabinet table, and at the same time
responsible for important justice functions that require
a profound understanding of prosecutorial independence,
of the independence of the judiciary and of the sovereignty
of Parliament, the Attorney General represents, in a very
real and practical way, law at the heart of government.
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
The acting Attorney General, Michael Ellis QC (who took

over from Suella Braverman when she started maternity leave in “The Law Officers are sui generis.
March 2021) has been particularly concerned with the effect of
the pandemic on the legal service. “Covid-19 has disrupted our Not quite like other lawyers, not
lives like no other event in recent history, and its effect on the
justice system has been particularly severe,” he wrote in a Bar
Council blog in March 2021. “I have heard directly from my
quite like other politicians, not
Pro Bono and Public Legal Education Committees how the
pandemic has impacted not only on the types of legal problems quite like other ministers”
people have been having but also on frontline practitioners’
delivery of legal assistance. I have been impressed by the agility
of the sector in their move to virtual working to ensure that the
public continues to receive the help they need.”
www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk
171
Supporting the government

From its roots as a wartime secretariat, the Cabinet Office
is now a key player in the functioning of government
In March 1920 the Cabinet Office became permanent,

and it was decided to retain a secretary of the cabinet with a
small complement of staff. The Committee of Imperial Defence
was re-established with its own secretariat. Both secretariats
remained in the combined Office of the Cabinet and the
Committee of Imperial Defence through the interwar years,
during which time both secretariats were strengthened and
assumed new responsibilities. Hankey stayed in post as Cabinet
Secretary until 1938.
At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the
Committee of Imperial Defence was suspended and a War
Cabinet was again formed. In 1940, when Winston Churchill
became prime minister and assumed the additional title of
Minister of Defence, the name of the office became the “Offices
of the War Cabinet and Minister of Defence”.
From the Second World War onwards the Cabinet Office
has seen many changes to the machinery of government, with
different policy responsibilities arriving and departing. In 1997,
Tony Blair’s government appointed David Clark as the first
ever Minister for the Cabinet Office, a cabinet position.
The role is a fluid and flexible one – the Minister for the
Cabinet Office also occupies a concurrent office (usually
either Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Paymaster
o
Above
The Cabinet Office
O ver the past century, the Cabinet Office has developed
a unique administrative function within the UK
government. “The Cabinet Office’s core function has always
General), and he or she will occupy varying levels of stature
and responsibility under different office-holders. Damian
Green, who held the office between June and December 2017,
buildings are adjacent been to support the prime minister and collective government,” was also concurrently First Secretary of State and served as
to Downing Street at says Sir Richard Heaton, a former Permanent Secretary. Theresa May’s de facto Deputy Prime Minister, a status
70 Whitehall in London “Like the civil service itself, the Cabinet Office has never shared by Green’s successor David Lidington.
stood still – it is constantly evolving.” Today the Cabinet Office supports the prime minister and
o In the early 20th century, the cabinet met without a ensures the effective running of government. It is also the
Opposite formal agenda, without minutes or memoranda and without corporate headquarters for government, in partnership with
Michael Gove took over a secretariat. Ministers took executive actions based on their HM Treasury, and it takes the lead in some critical policy areas.
as Cabinet Office Minister recollections or understanding of what had been decided. The Cabinet Secretary is based in the Cabinet Office and –
in February 2020 This changed in December 1916 when David Lloyd George since Hankey 105 years ago – has always been the most senior
succeeded Herbert Asquith as prime minister. Lloyd George civil servant in the UK, acting as a senior policy advisor to the
established his War Cabinet of five members but needed a prime minister and the cabinet. The current Cabinet Secretary
secretariat to record decisions on matters put before the is Simon Case, who started in September 2020 after a two-year
cabinet and to notify those concerned of decisions taken in hiatus working in Buckingham Palace as Prince William’s
order that appropriate action could be taken. So the Cabinet private secretary.
Office came into being, with Sir Maurice Hankey – who had The department’s main offices are adjacent to Downing
been an influential figure in the Committee of Imperial Street at 70 Whitehall, London, with around 8,200 staff based
Defence – being made the first Cabinet Secretary. there and at various sites around the country. The Cabinet
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“In the Covid crisis, many Office is supported by a number of advisory non-departmental
bodies and has also had control over the Joint Intelligence
Committee since 1957. The current Minister for the Cabinet
arms and areas of government Office is Michael Gove, who took over from Oliver Dowden
in February 2020.
responded successfully, In June 2021 Gove, along with Case, launched the
Declaration on Government Reform, which outlined ways in
others did not” which the Covid-19 pandemic should serve as a catalyst for
reform of the civil service. “In the Covid crisis, many arms and
areas of government responded successfully, others did not,”
said Gove. “There were problems over PPE procurement, test
availability, the clarity of data required for decision-making, the
structure of Public Health England, [and] the Cabinet Office’s
own co-ordinating functions. These weaknesses, problems,
failures have been recognised and are being addressed. But the
deeper factors that impeded effective delivery must also be faced
and reformed. The forthcoming public inquiry into Covid will
help us do just that – but we must not wait until it concludes
before improving what we already know has been deficient.”
www.gov.uk/cabinet-office
173
Peace in the province

The Northern Ireland Office is a small but crucial department
that is helping to resolve one of Europe’s longest conflicts
flared up in 1969 and 1970, the UK government transferred all the

functions of the government and parliament of Northern Ireland
to a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
An initial attempt to devolve power to a new Northern Ireland
Executive in 1974 ended in failure, and the province was run
directly from the NIO until a new method of devolving power
could be agreed by the political parties in Northern Ireland.
The Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985 paved the way for a future
agreement between republican and unionist politicians in
Northern Ireland, and further talks and negotiations culminated
in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, when Mo Mowlam was
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The agreement was endorsed in May 1998 by 71 per cent
of the Northern Ireland electorate, and the power-sharing
Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly were
established. Direct rule from Westminster has taken place during
two suspensions of the Assembly – from February until May 2000
and from October 2002 until March 2007. The St Andrews
Agreement of 2006 then resolved the key issue of the devolution
of policing powers to a new Police Service of Northern Ireland,
which replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The last major
transfer of powers from the NIO to the Northern Ireland
Assembly came with the transfer of these policing and justice
powers in April 2010.
o
Above
Politicians from the UK,
I t’s one of Whitehall’s smallest departments but the Northern
Ireland Office (NIO) has been crucial in resolving the Troubles
that, for generations, seemed an intractable and unresolvable
Since William Whitelaw became the inaugural Northern
Ireland Secretary in 1972, the role has been occupied by heavy
hitters on both sides of the house, including Merlyn Rees, Jim
Ireland and the US problem for life in these islands. “Today Northern Ireland has Prior, Douglas Hurd, Tom King, Mo Mowlam, Peter Mandelson,
celebrate the 20th largely put the horrors of the 30 years of the Troubles – in which John Reid and Peter Hain. The NIO represents Northern
anniversary of the Good over 3,500 died – behind,” says Sir Jonathan Stephens, a former Ireland’s interests within the UK government and represents the
Friday Agreement in 2018 Permanent Secretary at the NIO. “To function effectively, parties UK government in Northern Ireland. It operates in partnership
who were bitter enemies have to work together.” with the Northern Ireland Executive to support and implement
o The office came into being with the passing of the political agreements and works closely with the government of
Opposite Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act on 30 March 1972. the Republic of Ireland. It oversees the working of the devolution
The Parliament Buildings Prior to the Act’s passing, extensive powers in the running settlement in Northern Ireland and, among other things, it has
in the Stormont Estate, of Northern Ireland’s affairs were exercised by the Northern responsibility in Northern Ireland for elections, taxation, defence,
Belfast, seat of the Ireland government, headed by a governor of Northern Ireland civil aviation and telecommunications. The NIO currently employs
Northern Ireland Assembly appointed by the Crown. The governor was accountable to a around 167 staff in its two offices, one in Stormont House, the
Northern Ireland parliament based at Stormont, Belfast. Powers other in Whitehall. The Crown Solicitor’s Office in Belfast,
reserved to the UK government relating to Northern Ireland which provides legal services in Northern Ireland to all Whitehall
were exercised by the Home Office. After sectarian troubles departments and to other public bodies in the province, is also
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“In the context of where we are, part of the NIO. Since February 2020, the Northern Ireland
Secretary has been Brandon Lewis, who has been trying to
it is logical and correct to say

reconcile the status of the province in a post-Brexit UK.
The European Union and the UK agreed on a temporary
Northern Ireland Protocol, which effectively keeps open the
that the Northern Ireland land and trading border between Northern Ireland and the
Republic and erects a de facto trade barrier in the Irish Sea
Protocol is not sustainable in between Northern Ireland and Britain.

“In the context of where we are, it is logical and correct to
the way that the EU is currently

say that the protocol is not sustainable in the way that the EU
is currently envisaging it being delivered,” said Lewis to a
parliamentary committee in June 2021. “There is, ultimately,
envisaging it being delivered” a consent mechanism built in. If we want to see it survive that,
it has to be sustainable. This is something we need to resolve
widely. I also agree that the majority of people want to see
a pragmatic, flexible way forward on this.”
www.nio.gov.uk
175
Scotland’s representative
in Westminster
After devolution, the Scotland Office is working to establish
a smooth relationship between Westminster and Holyrood
devolution settlement in Scotland. It represents Scotland within

the UK government, ensuring the nation is represented at the
Cabinet table on non-devolved issues and is the voice of the UK
government in Scotland. The Scotland Office laid the ground
for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, negotiating
the terms and formats, and then played a key role in making the
case for Scotland to remain a part of the UK. It is responsible
for providing constitutional advice, acting as the guardian of the
devolution settlement and for taking through legislation as that
settlement evolves, and it represents the Scottish angle on a host
of “reserved powers” that the UK government maintains over
devolved parliaments.
The Scotland Office has two sites – since 2020 at Queen
Elizabeth House in Edinburgh and the other in Dover House on
Whitehall in London – and is made up of two divisions. The policy
division advises on all reserved matters of home, national security,
social, industrial, economic, energy, environment and transport
policy for their actual or potential impact on Scotland. The
constitution and communications division is responsible for
constitutional advice, the operation of the devolution settlement,
and for communicating UK government policies in Scotland.
By convention, though not by necessity, the Secretary of State
o
Above
The Scottish Parliament
T he genesis of what is now the Scotland Office began in 1885,
when a Scottish Office was created as a UK government
department. It took on responsibility for issues such as health,
for Scotland has – since the late Victorian era – always been a
Scottish MP who represents a Scottish constituency, including
names such as Thomas Johnson, Willie Ross, George Younger
Building, home of the education, justice, agriculture, fisheries and farming north of the and Malcolm Rifkind. When Donald Dewar, the first Scottish
Scottish Parliament border. Scotland’s first Secretary was the Duke of Richmond, who Secretary in Tony Blair’s administration, created the Scottish
at Holyrood took office on 17 August 1885. Although the Secretary attended Parliament in 1999, he – uniquely – stood as an MSP in the
Cabinet from 1892, the role did not have full Cabinet status until same constituency in which he served as an MP and became
o 1926, when Sir John Gilmour, whose time in office ran from the inaugural First Minister of Scotland in Holyrood, leading
Opposite 1924–29, was upgraded to Secretary of State. Until 1999, the him to go down in history as “the father of the nation”.
Scotland Secretary Secretary of State for Scotland was also Keeper of the Great Seal. When the Scottish Conservatives were down to a single MP
Alister Jack outside However, with the advent of devolution and the opening of the after the 2010 election, the three Scottish Secretaries during that
Queen Elizabeth House, Scottish Parliament, on 1 July 1999 that title went to the First administration – Danny Alexander, Michael Moore and Alistair
the new UK Government Minister of Scotland along with many of the responsibilities of Carmichael – were chosen from the Tories’ coalition partners,
hub in Edinburgh the Scottish Office, which then became the Scotland Office. the Liberal Democrats. The current Secretary, Alister Jack, was
Its purview is now far smaller than the old Scottish Office, appointed in July 2019 and acknowledges the challenges that
and its role now is to ensure the smooth working of the the Scotland Office faces post-Brexit and in the solid support
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“Around a third of Scotland is for the Scottish National Party, which has dominated Holyrood
for a decade. “There is around a third of Scotland that is firmly
pro-independence, a third that is pro-union and around a third
firmly pro-independence, a third in the middle who are softer unionists, most of whom are quite
angry about Brexit,” he said. “But the more we can get Brexit
is pro-union, and around a third into the rear-view mirror, and as the enthusiasm of those who
were passionate about it dulls, we can begin to show the great
in the middle are softer unionists, things that the UK government can do, and see that Scotland
is a strong and vital part of the United Kingdom.
“We will continue to support top level research and
most of whom are quite angry development, encourage our businesses to innovate, and create
vital new and green jobs. We will invest directly in Scotland’s
about Brexit” communities, building on the success of our £1.5 billion City
Deals programme with freeports, better connectivity and a
new UK Shared Prosperity Fund.”
www.gov.uk/scotland-office
177
A voice for Wales

The Wales Office establishes a smooth working relationship
between Parliament in Westminster and the Senedd in Cardiff
Welsh Department of the Board of Education. In 1919 came

the Welsh Board of Health, followed in 1922 by the Welsh
Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
In 1951, the Home Secretary was also designated Minister for
Welsh Affairs, coordinating work on a range of administrative
functions that were undertaken by separate government
departments in Wales. By 1956 the Parliament for Wales
campaign presented a petition with 240,652 signatures to
Westminster, calling for greater devolution.
It wasn’t until 1964 that Wales actually had a role at the
Cabinet table. Prime Minister Harold Wilson replaced the
Minister for Welsh Affairs with a Secretary of State for Wales
– a role carved out by the veteran Llanelli MP Jim Griffiths –
and in 1965 the Welsh Office was formed. It took over functions
relating to economic planning, housing, local government,
sewerage, environmental health, town and country planning,
Welsh national parks, historic buildings and cultural activities.
By 1969 it had added many other responsibilities, including
highway construction, health and welfare services, tourism,
water, forestry, common land, the Historic Buildings Council
for Wales and the Countryside Commission.
In July 1997 the newly elected Labour government issued
a White Paper entitled “A Voice for Wales”, followed by a
referendum to set up a Welsh Assembly. The first assembly
o
Above
Simon Hart took over
I f it often seems as if Wales has a lesser appetite for devolution
– let alone full independence – than Scotland, it is probably
because the principality has always had a very different
elections were in May 1999 and, when the National Assembly
for Wales (or Senedd) was established on 1 July 1999, the Welsh
Office became the Wales Office. While many things were
as Wales Secretary in constitutional position to Scotland in the UK settlement. devolved in 1999, a host of “reserved powers” were still held by
December 2019 Historians have to go back to 1282 – when Edward I defeated Westminster, such as defence and foreign policy. Following the
the tempestuous Llywelyn ap Gruffydd – to find a time when Silk Commission on Devolution – established by the late
o Wales had a kind of independence. “Wales, save when united in Conservative Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan in 2011 – many more
Opposite opposition to England, was an aggregate of parish pumps rather powers were transferred to the Senedd by the Wales Act in 2017,
The Welsh Parliament, or than a nation,” wrote the historian Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1955. including areas of elections, transport, energy and the natural
Senedd, in Cardiff aims to Ever since Henry VIII sealed the 1536 Act of Union, Wales and environment, but others remain “reserved” by Westminster,
be a home of literal, and England had always been regarded as a single national entity, including policing, justice and large areas of crime policy.
figurative, transparency with the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542 incorporating As with the Scotland Office, nationalist voices have argued
the principality into English law. that the Wales Office is now difficult to justify, given that most
The former Secretary of State for Wales, Ron Davies, once of its previous functions have now been devolved. Where John
said: “Devolution is a process, not an event.” And the current Morris – now Lord Morris of Aberavon – recalls having more
Wales Office is the latest incarnation of a slow process of than 3,000 staff during his tenure as Welsh Secretary between
devolution that has been happening for more than a century. 1974 and 1979, the office now employs less than 50, split
The first move came in 1907 with the establishment of the between Gwydyr House (the Grade II-listed mansion in
178
NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“The office continues Whitehall that has housed the Welsh Office since 1971)
and 1 Caspian Point in Cardiff Bay. Nevertheless, the office
continues to ensure the smooth working of the devolution
to ensure the smooth settlement in Wales, representing both the UK government
in Wales and Welsh interests in Westminster. And the issues
working of the devolution raised by Brexit have made it even more important to maintain
a voice for Wales in Cabinet.
settlement in Wales” Since December 2019, the Wales Secretary has been Simon
Hart. “We have made clear our commitment to level up across
Wales and the whole of the United Kingdom and we are now
delivering on this commitment with a comprehensive plan of
action,” he said when unveiling his “Plan for Wales” in May
2021. “From improvements in local infrastructure through our
£4.8 billion levelling-up fund, to the development of new green
jobs of the future, this “Plan for Wales” brings together an
ambitious programme of renewal that will generate jobs and
prosperity in our local communities for years to come.”
www.gov.uk/wales-office
179
Building a community
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
is a small department with big responsibilities for decentralisation
and community cohesion
always been part of its remit. Under the current government,

the ministry describes its responsibilities as including driving up
housing supply, increasing home ownership, devolving powers
and budgets to boost local growth in England, and supporting
strong communities with excellent public services.
Its headquarters at 2 Marsham Street in Whitehall are shared
with the Home Office, but 500 of its civil servants are in the process
of relocating to Wolverhampton as part of an aim to ensure that
the MHCLG will be the first UK government ministry to have a
headquarters based outside of London.
Since 2010 the department has been at the centre of major
decentralising reforms. Arms-length regional development
agencies were ended, along with a network of regional government
offices. The Localism Act in 2011 transferred significant powers
from Whitehall to local government. Local authorities now control
more decisions about local services, housing, planning and
economic growth, which are made in consultation with local
communities and businesses.
The Localism Act was followed by the Cities and Local
Government Devolution Act in 2016, which aimed to introduce
directly elected mayors to combined local authorities around
o
Above
Communities Secretary
T he Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local
Government (MHCLG) is a small department with a
big budget (£28.1 billion in 2021) which covers a wide range
England and Wales, with those areas having similar control over
transport, housing, policing and strategic planning as the Greater
London Authority and the Mayor of London. The Greater
Robert Jenrick in Redcar, of high-profile policy areas for England, including local Manchester Combined Authority was the first to adopt this
June 2021, with local MP government, housing and planning, the fire service, integration “metro-mayor” status, with Andy Burnham being elected mayor
Jacob Young and faith. The department also shares responsibility for local in May 2017 and re-elected four years later. There were subsequent
economic growth with the Department for Business, Energy mayoral elections in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Tees
o and Industrial Strategy, and is accountable for the Homes and Valley, Liverpool, West Midlands (comprising Birmingham,
Opposite Communities Agency and the Planning Inspectorate. Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton),
Minister of Housing The MHCLG can trace its lineage back to 1950 when Hugh Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar,
and Local Government Dalton became Minister for Local Government and Planning. Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees), South Yorkshire, North of
Richard Crossman (third The current department was established in 2006 as the successor Tyne, and West Yorkshire.
from left) surveys a to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (which was created in The department has also been involved in agreements
housing exhibit at the 2001 and headed by John Prescott), and absorbed the Department to devolve some health and social-care services in London
Royal Festival Hall in for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in 2002. In 2006 boroughs, while there are 39 local growth deals that provide
London, 1965 it was renamed the Department for Communities and Local funds to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) for projects to
Government, a title it kept until 2018 when it was changed to a drive economic growth. While the department has transferred
ministry and added “housing” to its full title, something that had significant powers to local areas, it also maintains large capital
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NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“We want to build a society investment programmes for house building and administers
high-profile home ownership schemes such as Help to Buy
and Right to Buy.
that has re-established The post of Communities Secretary, as the Ministry’s
Secretary of State is often called, has been occupied by some
powerful links between heavyweights on both sides of the House, including David
Miliband, Eric Pickles and Sajid Javid. Since July 2019 the
identity and place” office has been held by Robert Jenrick. One of his department’s
initiatives was the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission,
set up by the late Sir Roger Scruton, to try to ensure that the
planning system embraced some of the principles of architecture
championed by Scruton and Prince Charles. “This government
doesn’t want to just build houses,” said Jenrick in a September 2020
speech. “We want to build a society that has re-established
powerful links between identity and place, between our
unmatchable architectural heritage and the future, between
community and purpose.”
www.communities.gov.uk
181
Keeping the
nation moving
The modern Department for Transport is responsible for policy,
legislation and public spending across road, rail, sea and air
o
Below
Grant Shapps took over
T ransport has been shaping the growth of Britain since
the first Roman roads were built almost 2,000 years ago.
For centuries, Britain’s prosperity was assisted by its dominance
our food and consumer goods, it is the job of the DfT to ensure
people and freight can get to their destination safely and reliably.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the DfT has also worked
as Transport Secretary of shipping routes and its pioneering role in developing the in tandem with the Home Office and the Foreign Office to issue
in July 2019 world’s first railways. But it was not until 1919 that David Lloyd travel guidance on entering and leaving the country, regarding
George’s coalition government created the Ministry of Transport visas, quarantine periods and the red, amber and green lists.
o – the first centralised body to oversee transport policy in Britain. For many years, British transport policy was about managing
Opposite The government body with responsibility for transport has the move from rail to road. The infamous 1963 and 1965 reports
Work continues on changed its name and had duties added or subtracted over the by Richard Beeching led to the removal of more than a third of the
Crossrail, one of the past century – for a while it was the Ministry of War Transport, UK’s railway routes and an increasing reliance on road transport.
DfT’s biggest ever or the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation; between 1997 In recent decades, government has tried to reverse many of these
infrastructure projects and 2001 it had environment added to its remit; and between cutbacks. A 1998 report entitled “A New Deal For Transport: Better
2001 and 2002 it was known as the Department for Transport, For Everyone” outlined various policies that have been maintained
Local Government and the Regions. by all governments ever since – cutting road taxes for less polluting
Since 2002 it has been the Department for Transport (DfT), cars, investing more in public transport, encouraging cycling,
and employs more than 18,000 staff across the country, with improving the safety of railway stations and granting more room
headquarters at Great Minister House on Horseferry Road in for bus lanes. Massive investment followed – including a £60 billion
Whitehall. The only surviving reminder of its original name is injection into railways starting in 2000, as well as £3 billion into
the annual safety check for the roadworthiness of vehicles – still tram schemes in several northern cities. It also gave the go-ahead
called the MOT test – but the modern Department for Transport for local authorities to bring in congestion charges, as introduced
is responsible for a lot more than road safety. Its ministers are by London Mayor Ken Livingstone in February 2003. Alistair
accountable for policy, legislation and public spending across Darling, who took over the transport department in 2002 and
road, rail, sea and air. Whether it is regulating one-man minicab stayed until 2006, recalls telling civil servants: “The first task
firms or the global shipping companies that move 95 per cent of we’ve got is to sort out the trains. It’s a minority of the population
who travel on the trains every day, but until we’ve got them off
the front pages we’re never going to get anything else done.”
Today the DfT is overseeing the most ambitious transport
infrastructure programme for generations. Crossrail’s army of
engineers are completing the biggest construction project in
Europe – a 73-mile east-west route through central London,
linking Reading in Berkshire with Shenfield in Essex. It has also
started building HS2 – a national high-speed rail network to link
London Euston with the Midlands, the north west and Yorkshire
– and possibly the north east of England and central Scotland.
Since 2019, the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant
Shapps, has been committed to increasing public transport,
despite also announcing a £27 billion road-building programme.
“Public transport and active travel will be the natural first choice
for our daily activities,” he said in a March 2020 speech. “We need
to reduce transport emissions, ensuring we reach net-zero by 2050.”
www.gov.uk/dft
182
NATIONAL GOVERNANCE
“Today the DfT is overseeing the most ambitious

transport infrastructure programme for generations.
Crossrail’s army of engineers are completing the
biggest construction project in Europe”
183
184
CHAPTER SIX
THE
GLOBAL
STAGE
185
A temple of diplomacy
Britain’s most glamorous government department,
the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
has been bedazzling foreign dignitaries since 1792
o
Below
Dominic Raab took over
F or the former Foreign Secretary, R A “Rab” Butler, the
Foreign Office was rather like a Rolls-Royce – “you know it’s
the best machine in the world, but you’re not quite sure what to do
in Whitehall, built at the height of Victorian imperial power, were
specifically designed to impress and bedazzle foreign diplomats,
with grand halls such as the Locarno Suite, the India Office
as Foreign Secretary in with it”. Margaret Thatcher was also rather baffled by its function. Council Chamber and Durbar Court. Commissioned in 1861 by
July 2019 “We have a Department of Agriculture to look after the farmers,” Prime Minister Lord Palmerston – who spent 15 years as Foreign
she once said, “the Ministry of Defence to look after the soldiers Secretary – the building was completed in 1868 by George Gilbert
o – and we’ve got the Foreign Office to look after the foreigners.” Scott as a kind of national palace. Hewn from Portland stone
Opposite The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and richly decorated, it established explicit parallels between the
The FCDO’s Whitehall (FCDO), however, actually has a number of crucial functions. British and Roman empires: its 22-ft high corridors are even lined
headquarters were Britain no longer has an empire, nor is it a member of the EU, but with statues of Victorian luminaries in togas to resemble Romans.
built to bedazzle it is still a permanent member of the UN Security Council, with “You get a strong sense that this is a building that has
foreign diplomats seats at the top table of the G8 and NATO. And the FCDO employs shaped the world,” says former Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
around 14,000 staff around the world, with a network of 270 “It’s where the Liberal Foreign Secretary Edward Gray looked
diplomatic posts in 160 countries. It safeguards national security out his window on the eve of World War I and made his famous
(it is ultimately in charge of MI6 and GCHQ); it aims to increase speech about ‘the lights going off all over Europe’. Many of the
exports and investment; and it deals with more than 1.7 million problems in this world have been started in this building, or have
consular requests each year from British nationals abroad. had very real links to it – from failed treaties or British-enforced
The department was launched in 1782 and known as the borders that went wrong. So there is a sense of humility in this
Foreign Office (FO) until 1968 when it was united with the building, as well as a sense of grandeur.”
Commonwealth Relations Office and the Colonial Office to Miliband is one of many high-profile Foreign Secretaries who
become the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). In 2020, were tipped for Prime Minister, including Tony Crosland, David
it absorbed the Department for International Development Owen, Douglas Hurd and William Hague. Many others did go on
(an office formed in 1964) to become the FCDO. Its headquarters to get the top job, including Ramsay MacDonald, Anthony Eden,
Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, James Callaghan, John
Major and Boris Johnson. The current occupant, Dominic Raab,
took over in July 2019 from Jeremy Hunt. “If these islands, if this
rainy archipelago off the European coast, has a particular destiny,
it’s surely to act as a beacon of hope at home and abroad, to fight
for peace and prosperity, to defeat the enemies of mankind, and to
act as a force for good,” he said at the Aspen Security Conference
in March 2021.
The department has long had a reputation as being “full of
toffs”. In his history of Foreign Secretaries, Algernon Cecil wrote
that it was “the last choice preserve of administration practised as
a sport”. Even though it has recently opened up to a more diverse
intake, former Foreign and Home Secretary Jack Straw observed
that its mandarins still have to work in a very different way to
other departments: “Where the Home Office works by diktat,”
he said, “the Foreign Office has to work by persuasion.”
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-
development-office
186
THE GLOBAL STAGE
“Many of the problems in this world have been started

in this building. So there is a sense of humility in this
building, as well as a sense of grandeur”
187
Defence and attack

Despite budgetary cuts in recent years, the Ministry of Defence
is still helping to expand the UK’s role around the world
and the Royal Air Force – that form the UK’s Armed Forces.
The modern MOD was formed in 1964, combining the roles of five
departments – the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry,
the Ministry of Aviation and a previous iteration of the MOD.
Defence of the realm is the MOD’s key responsibility. It also
needs to provide strategic intelligence; be it an aircraft scanning
the ground for movements or a soldier studying terrorist groups,
the MOD needs to provide an understanding of what is going on
in the world in order that the government can react appropriately.
Providing nuclear deterrence is also a key function: it is regarded
as the nation’s ultimate response and final guarantee that Britain
will never be an easy target.
A 2021 government document, “Global Britain in a
Competitive Age”, serves as an “integrated review of security,
defence, development and foreign policy”, written in cooperation
between the MOD and the Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office. For Wallace, part of the review reflects
plans to equip the Armed Forces to fight the wars of the future.
Instead of sending entire battalions abroad, as happened in Iraq
o
Above
Defence Secretary
T he current Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace,
remembers serving as an officer in the Scots Guards in 1991,
when he was summoned to the drill square to be read aloud key
and Afghanistan, the plans are that small teams of troops will be
sent all over the world to train and assist partner nations with
the focus on conflict prevention. There are also plans to counter
Ben Wallace (left) with decisions from the government’s defence review, “Options for cyber-attacks and disinformation – the new front line of the
General Sir Nick Carter, Change”. “We did not know it then but the world was set for so-called “grey zone” now being exploited by Russia and China.
Chief of the Defence Staff massive change,” said Wallace. “The fall of the Soviet Union, the The Royal Marines will be transformed into a new Future
rise of China, the global impact of the internet and emergence Commando Force, taking on many of the traditional tasks of
o of Al Qaeda were some way off, which meant no one was really the SAS and the SBS, while the MOD is also going to spend
Opposite prepared for what happened when they did.” This constantly £6.6 billion on research and development in space and satellites.
Sailors at a changing international landscape is something that the British It all links in with MOD duties that go beyond immediate
decommissioning government has had to deal with over the past three decades, military functions, such as supporting civil emergency
ceremony for the aircraft both in its own defence, and in defence of its allies. And this organisations in times of crisis – be it floods or terrorist attacks.
carrier HMS Illustrious strategic plan is something that is the work of the Ministry of The MOD also works to support British influence around the
in Portsmouth, 2015 Defence (MOD). world, not just by fighting wars, but by sending defence attachés
The MOD developed from the need for greater co-operation around the world, or demonstrating British military skills with
between the three services – the Royal Navy, the British Army groups like the Red Arrows, or providing expeditionary capability
188
THE GLOBAL STAGE
to partners in the United Nations or NATO. And finally, the

“You can’t begin to tackle climate MOD provides security for stabilisation. This involves working
very closely with other parts of government, none more so
change, or world poverty, or than with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office. Often this might be to help rebuild countries after
violence against women and wars or disasters.

“In the past two decades,” said Wallace, “we’ve helped
tackle Ebola in Sierra Leone, provided vital humanitarian aid
girls without addressing the in Kosovo, led NATO efforts to stop genocide in parts of former
Yugoslavia, supported allies in Oman, in Brunei and in Jordan.
underlying conflicts that make These efforts have had a huge role in enhancing the reputation
of the UK around the globe. And the reality is, you can’t begin
the situations work” to tackle climate change, or world poverty, or violence against
women and girls without addressing the underlying conflicts
that make the situations work.”
www.mod.uk
189
Sense of security
“We decided to focus on people.
Employee engagement is so important
and has won us a number of awards”
Chris Fieldhouse, Brooknight Security
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THE GLOBAL STAGE
W hen Chris Fieldhouse was invited to join Brooknight

by founder and CEO Jim Moyes, the company was a
small but successful player in the security industry. Moyes and
Fieldhouse, however, believed it had the potential to rise much
further up the rankings of the near-800 government-approved
UK security contractors. “Our plan was to strategically manage
how we took the company into the top 30,” says Fieldhouse,
Brooknight’s Managing Director. “We are currently sitting at 28.
That meant we went from a turnover of £1.9 million to above
£20 million in five years. We then created a series of milestones
for the next three years that we absolutely smashed.”
That rapid growth makes Brooknight one of a handful
of privately owned security contractors in the UK industry
top 30, with a series of contracts with big retailers such as
Primark, Pets at Home and Hobbycraft, as well as Odeon
cinemas. To support these important contracts, Brooknight
has invested in new technology, developing a state-of-the-art
CCTV monitoring centre in Milton Keynes. But above all,
Fieldhouse and his team have elected to invest in people, both
in terms of employee support to improve recruitment and
retention, and in external relationships with clients to help
gain new business and continue to build the company’s profile.
Internal success stories include one employee who started as a
recruitment administrator and now oversees all the operational
support departments, bar HR and finance. She has recently been
nominated for a Women In Security award.
“We decided to focus on people,” says Fieldhouse (pictured, different retailers and are always seeking to bring in trusted
right). “Employee engagement is so important and has won us partners. That cycle of growth provides additional resources,
a number of awards. We are currently at around 800 staff and so Brooknight can invest in the staff and infrastructure required
are always looking at things like wellbeing and welfare tools to deliver on promises and maintain its strong reputation.
for our employees. We created an employee portal to improve A successful company can do so much more in the world,
communication and get instant feedback. Our customer base is not simply for the owners or employees, but for the wider
predominantly in the retail and supply chain sector. These are community. The team at Brooknight takes this seriously, working
very large international operations and they expect our staff on a range of projects including the anti-racism in football charity
to mirror their needs and objectives, so we have to align with Kick It Out, Alzheimer’s Society and local swimming clubs,
their brands while doing a specific job. It is seen as an to deliver positive outcomes outside the company structure
extension of their customer service.” and security sector. “We have a real opportunity here,” says
Fieldhouse estimates that 80 per cent of the company’s Fieldhouse. “And these are some of the things we are most proud
organic growth over the past five years can be attributed to the of. We sponsor a swimming club and we attend their awards
relationships that he and his executive team have developed over ceremony on an annual basis. It is such a pleasure to see the
two decades in the industry. Brooknight has many established joy and the work that is put in by volunteers.”
partners in retail, whose heads of security move between www.brooknight.com
191
Working on the
balance of trade
The newest government department, the
Department for International Trade, actually
has roots that date back 400 years
the department has had a range of challenges, ranging from

the care of the colonies in the 18th and 19th centuries to clothes
rationing in the Second World War; from dealing with insolvency
to calibrating weights and measures. Today, the core purpose
of the Board of Trade is to increase economic growth, with
the Secretary of State for the Department for International
Trade carrying out the dual role of President of the Board
of Trade (prior to July 2016, the President of the Board of
Trade role previously doubled up with the Secretary of State
for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy).
The purpose of the DIT is to develop and deliver a new
trade policy for the UK, including negotiating free trade
agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries.
Part of this involves assisting trade with emerging economies
and assisting the process often described as “globalisation”,
but as former President of the Board of Trade Peter Mandelson
observed, these deals need to be accompanied by a sense of
responsibility. “Instead of saying that globalisation is a fact,
that it’s inevitable, we’ve also got to demonstrate that, while
o
Above
Liz Truss (centre), with
T he Department for International Trade (DIT) is the government
department responsible for securing and extending trade
agreements between the UK and overseas countries. It is one of the
the growing interdependence of the world economy is indeed
a fact, it’s not uncontrollable.”
Under current government policy the DIT has four
her DIT predecessor Liam youngest government departments, established by Prime Minister priorities. First, to secure free-trade agreements and reduce
Fox (left) and Business Theresa May in July 2016 following the UK’s historic vote to leave market access barriers. Second, to deliver economic growth
Secretary Andrea the European Union. The department took on the responsibilities to all nations and regions of the UK through attracting and
Leadsom (right) of UK Trade and Investment – previously operated by the Foreign retaining inward investment. Third, to support UK business to
and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, take advantage of trade opportunities. And fourth, to champion
o Innovation and Skills (BIS) – as well as some of BIS’s trade the rules-based international trading system and operate the
Opposite functions. It has since had two Secretaries of State – Liam Fox UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses
Boris Johnson, Liz Truss (between 2016 and July 2019) and Liz Truss (since July 2019). from unfair trade practices.
and Andrea Leadsom It may only be five years old in its current incarnation, One of its recent initiatives has been the Developing
pose alongside delegates but the roots of the DIT stretch back as far as 1621, when James Countries Trading Scheme, which aims to grow free and fair
from a UK–Africa I directed the Privy Council of England to establish The Board trade with developing nations. “Trade fundamentally empowers
Investment Summit of Trade to investigate the causes of a decline in trade and people and has done more than any single policy in history to
consequent financial difficulties. Over the subsequent centuries lift millions of people around the world out of poverty,” said
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THE GLOBAL STAGE
“Now the UK is an Truss in July 2021. “Now the UK is an independent trading

nation we have a huge opportunity to do things differently,
independent trading nation taking a more liberal, pro-trade approach that leads to growth
and opportunity. Countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam have
we have a huge opportunity

proven it’s possible to trade your way to better living standards,
and our new Developing Countries Trading Scheme will help
others do the same.”
to do things differently, Truss visited the US in July 2021 to try to smooth out several
bilateral trade issues, including the US’s ongoing tariffs on
taking a more liberal, British steel and aluminium, and forge ties with US technology
giants. “Workers in both the UK and US have suffered when
pro-trade approach”
their products are unfairly undercut,” she said. “We must
work together with our friends and allies in the US to protect
free enterprise from practices like industrial subsidies and
intellectual property theft, which give trade a bad name.”
www.gov.uk/dit
193
Building a greener future

The COP26 summit in Glasgow in November 2021 is a chance to build
a cleaner, greener world, says COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma
leaders. It is clearly a priority for the UK government, who

moved Sharma from Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy to serve as COP26 president.
The UNFCCC Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that the
pandemic, and the restart of the world economy that followed,
served as a chance “to shape the 21st century economy in ways
that are clean, green, healthy, just safe and more resilient”. It is
something that Sharma echoes. The UK government, he says, is
working with all countries to make a consistent and concerted
effort in four areas: limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees
Celsius, enabling communities and natural habitats to adapt to
the impacts of climate change, mobilising climate finance, and
working together to deliver action. Six years on from COP21,
when the Paris Agreement was reached and the world agreed to
limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, this year’s summit
will be where all countries commit to keep the Paris targets alive.
“This is our last hope of keeping 1.5 degrees alive,” says
Sharma. “Our best chance of building a brighter future. A future
of green jobs and cleaner air. I have faith that world leaders will
rise to the occasion and not be found wanting in their tryst with
destiny. That, in six months’ time, when we are packing up and
going home, we will be able to say that at this critical juncture,
each of us took responsibility. That we chose to act. And that we
o
Above
COP26 comes after
T his year’s major climate summit COP26 will be the world’s
best chance of building a cleaner, greener future, says COP26
President-Designate Alok Sharma. Speaking in Glasgow in May
kept 1.5 degrees alive. In preparing for this speech I asked my
daughters what message I should give to world leaders about
their priorities. Their response was simple: ‘Please tell them to
the UK has been 2021, Sharma outlined how the UK is striving to make sure that pick the planet.’ And that’s the message I want to leave you with
working to reduce the two-week conference will be the moment that every country today. A message from future generations. This is our moment.
fossil fuel dependency and every part of society embraces their responsibility to protect There are no second chances. Let’s pick the planet.”
the planet. For Sharma, one key aim of the summit is to end the world’s
o COP26 is the 26th meeting of the COP (conference of the reliance on coal, and embracing the opportunities of renewable
Opposite parties) and assembles all member countries of the United Nations power. “If we are serious about 1.5 degrees, Glasgow must be
Alok Sharma with Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is the the COP that consigns coal to history. We are working directly
Creative Earth Art 23rd COP meeting since the Kyoto Protocol in 1992, and the fifth with governments, and through international organisations, to
Competition winner since the Paris Agreement of 2015. It was initially due to be held end international coal financing. This is a personal priority.
Emma Khadeh in November 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic And to urge countries to abandon coal power, with the G7
and will now take place at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in leading the way.”
Glasgow from 1–12 November 2021. As well as climate negotiators Sharma insists that the UK is leading the way in climate
from 196 countries and the European Union, the summit also action. “In 2012, 40 per cent of our electricity came from coal,”
brings together businesses, organisations, experts and world he says. “That figure is now less than 2 per cent. Which shows
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THE GLOBAL STAGE
“This is our best chance that change is possible. The UK was the first country to pledge
to reduce carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, we will
completely phase out coal power by 2024 and will end the sale
of building a brighter future. of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. Indeed, going green
and boosting prosperity are not mutually exclusive. Over the
I have faith that world leaders last 30 years British governments have grown our economy by
78 per cent while cutting emissions by 44 per cent.”
will rise to the occasion and The UK government also wants to work with developing
countries to support their transition to clean energy. “The days
of coal providing the cheapest form of power are in the past,”
not be found wanting in says Sharma. “The coal business is, as the UN Secretary General
has said, going up in smoke. It’s old technology. So let’s make
their tryst with destiny” COP26 the moment we leave it in the past where it belongs,
while supporting workers and communities to make the
transition. Creating good green jobs to fill the gap.”
ukcop26.org
195
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CHAPTER SEVEN
HEALTH
AND
WELLBEING
197
The health of the nation

The Department of Health and Social Care is working to increase the
integration of health and social care, with long-term sustainability in mind
“And people, quite rightly, want to hold a health secretary

accountable for more than £100 billion of public money.”
The most famous minister of health has been Aneurin
Bevan, whose tenure between 1945 and 1951 was marked by the
establishment of the NHS. But the department has had several
names and roles over its long history. These have included the
Ministry of Health (formed in 1919) and the Department of
Health and Social Security (formed in 1968), which was divided
in two in 1988 to form the Department of Health. After a 2018
cabinet reshuffle it was renamed the Department of Health and
Social Care. This rebranding was the result of many years of
integrating health care with social care, something that many
health secretaries have tried over the years (Andy Burnham, the
last Labour incumbent between 2009 and 2010, attempted to
introduce a National Care Service to run alongside the NHS).
His successor, Andrew Lansley, introduced the 2012 Health and
Social Care Act, which attempted to integrate health and care
services, something believed to be crucial in view of the UK’s
ageing population.
Another key aim of the department, since the 2012 health
act, has been to set up NHS England as a statutorily independent
commissioning board, an attempt to “depoliticise” the NHS.
There is cross-party agreement that the government should
not intervene in the day-to-day running of the NHS. “I don’t
think when a bedpan falls on the floor in Tredegar it should
o
Above
Northampton residents
I n a phrase, the purpose of the Department of Health and
Social Care (DHSC) is to help people live better for longer.
Its responsibility is to lead, shape and fund health and care
echo around Whitehall anymore,” says Alan Johnson, Health
Secretary from 2007–09. But there was also scepticism about
how successfully any government can “depoliticise” the role.
applaud NHS staff and services across England, so as to ensure that every person has “Parliamentarians aren’t going to put up with being told:
key workers in April 2020 the support and treatment they need, when they need it, and nothing to do with us, write to NHS England,” said Johnson.
with the dignity and compassion they deserve. This is done His predecessor William Waldegrave, Health Secretary from
o through assuring the delivery of health services, and the creation 1990–92, agrees. “Is it possible in any business or organisation,
Opposite of relevant legislation and policies – always in the best interest truly, to separate policy from execution?” he ponders. But
Aneurin Bevan pictured of the individual patient, as well as the general public and the Kenneth Clarke, Health Secretary between 1988 and 1990,
with a group of nurses taxpayer. The department additionally oversees the work of the broadly agrees with Lansley’s reforms. “A lot of the bill was
on the day the National NHS, which is the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare sheer hubris,” he says. “But, once they settle down, these
Health Service was system in the world. Today, the department employs 1,588 staff reforms will have a beneficial effect.”
launched, 5 July 1948 across the country and is supported by numerous agencies, On a local level, the 2012 act introduced clinical
public bodies and “arms-length bodies”, or ALBs. “There is a commissioning groups (CCGs). These are groups of general
custodian role to play, and an accountability to discharge,” says practices in the same region that work together to plan and
Alan Milburn, Secretary of State for Health from 1999–2003. design local health services for that area, via the devolution
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HEALTH AND WELLBEING
of decision-making. According to Lansley: “CCGs put healthcare

professionals in the driving seat so that they have the freedom
“CCGs put healthcare
and responsibility to design services on behalf of their patients
– delivering better quality and integrated care.” professionals in the driving
The role of health secretary has become a particularly
high-profile one since the start of the Covid pandemic, with the
actions of Matt Hancock, Health Secretary between 2019 and 2021,
seat so that they have the
under particular scrutiny. “I think, if vaccination has been our
great triumph on the global stage, our biggest failure was not to
freedom and responsibility
learn from East Asian democracies,” says his predecessor Jeremy
Hunt. “We should have looked at countries like Singapore, to design services on behalf
Taiwan and South Korea, which showed us how we could have
pursued a zero-Covid strategy, with stricter border controls and
more testing. Instead we adhered to the groupthink of European
of their patients”
and American nations. That was a big lesson we have learned.”
www.gov.uk/dh
199
Engineering the
future of medicine
“We are cracking the operating system of life. Our technology
gives us precise control over cells that will allow us to create
the next generation of medicines”
Florian Schuster, Bit.bio
I t was in 2014 when Florian Schuster, co-founder of Bit.bio,

decided he needed a change in direction. He was at Harvard
on a three-month executive programme, as part of his role as an
any other human cell type with consistency and at scale. Schuster
immediately recognised the breakthrough that Kotter had made.
“Having spent three years in a cell-therapy start up, I knew
investment banker. But it left him cold. He realised success in that the big bottleneck was access to reliable and unlimited
the banking world was not going to give him the fulfilment he supplies of cells,” says Schuster. “It took me two minutes to
wanted. So he wrote down a question: “If I could dedicate the realise that my old friend had invented the solution. My wife
remaining hours of my life to a single cause, to make it a life noticed that a very special partnership was already forming.
well lived, what would that cause be?” I asked her on the train back if she could see herself moving
The answer, it turned out, was redefining healthcare and from Singapore to Cambridge. Which is what we then did, with
curing cancer. Which is how he ended up co-founding Bit.bio, our five-month-old daughter.” It was another leap of faith in
the cell-coding company, whose goal is to create unlimited pursuit of that goal to change healthcare.
batches of every human cell. And it all happened after a chance As co-founder of Bit.bio, Schuster brought his physics
meeting with an old friend from university in Austria – Dr principles to rapidly restructure the company. “In physics we
Mark Kotter – at a reunion lunch in Cambridge back in 2018. allow ourselves the freedom to challenge everything and don’t
“I was working at Tessa Therapeutics, which I’d joined right take the status quo as the unassailable truth,” he says. “We also
after that ‘aha’ moment during the Harvard course,” says start from a very empirical place when approaching problems.
Schuster. “Another delegate on the course was telling me about Those are things that are still true of the culture of Bit.bio today
a research breakthrough he’d made and asked if I would like and why we have such a strong ambition and vision.”
to help him turn it into a business. So I’d literally packed a few Within weeks, high-profile investors began to assemble;
bags and moved to Singapore, where he was based, and decided far-sighted entrepreneurs who could already recognise the
to develop cell therapies for cancer. It was going really well. potential of Bit.bio’s technology. They could see that this
After just three years, we’d built Tessa to a company of more direct reprogramming approach was something that could have
than 200 people with multiple assets in the clinic. And we were dramatic consequences for the treatment of cancer and neuro-
running one of the biggest cell therapies in cancer trials in degenerative diseases and could ultimately lead to breakthroughs
the world. But then I met Mark at this lunch. And everything regarding the growth of human organs. It could even be used to
changed again.” stop the degeneration caused by ageing.
Kotter and Schuster had been in the same undergraduate “We are cracking the operating system of life,” says Schuster.
scholarship programme in Austria before going their separate “Our technology gives us precise control over cells that will
ways. Schuster remembers Kotter as the medical student who allow us to create the next generation of medicines that could
wanted to be a neurosurgeon and Kotter thought Schuster, who improve the lives of every person. It allows us to precision-
studied physics, was still in banking. So at that reunion lunch, engineer command codes directly into the DNA of cells and
it was a real surprise to discover they were now both working then press enter to run the programs we want. It presents an
in remarkably similar fields and had very similar goals. approach to cells that is much more like engineering. We can
As well as being a neurosurgeon, Kotter had built a career produce cells with consistency, high purity, speed and at scale.”
as a stem-cell researcher at the University of Cambridge. He was Schuster has a formidable sense of vision and scale.
trying to solve a tricky problem regarding the cells that wrap His ambition for Bit.bio is to become like Microsoft and Intel
around the connections between neurons to make them more – companies that are so integral to their industry that their
stable and which can get destroyed by multiple sclerosis. In the industry is unimaginable without them. Behind his desk at
process, he discovered the key to unlocking the potential to stem his house in Cambridge, UK, Bit.bio’s hometown, he keeps a
cells – a technology that could directly reprogram stem cells into photograph of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and
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202
“It presents an
approach to cells
that is much more
like engineering”
Michael Collins. “They give me inspiration,” he says. “The Apollo from the mice, rats and monkeys on which new medicine is
programme was the biggest achievement in humanity in the tested. Bit.bio’s engineered cells allow clinical research to take
20th century. I want Bit.bio to do something similar for human place on human models, something that has the potential to
biology in the 21st.” revolutionise the industry.
As an experienced investor, Schuster also has the foresight A key ally is the London Institute of Mathematical Sciences,
to see where the company might go longer term. The founders a private non-profit organisation that is self-funding through
have already convened an ethics board, in anticipation of some research grants and donations. “As well as having the technology
of the issues that may be raised five or ten years down the line. to precision engineer cells, we also need to crack the operating
Not many new companies think that far ahead, or in such system of life, to find the codes for every cell type,” says
world-changing terms. “The results we see from our core Schuster. “For that, you need to invent new science and new
technology and the feedback we get from the researchers mathematics and that is what we are doing with the London
who are already beta testing our cells are mind-blowing,” Institute of Mathematical Sciences. We haven’t discovered the
says Schuster. “And it’s because we are looking at biology in operating system of life yet but we have a few commands that
a different way. We see cells as running this sort of software will take us on the way, such as the command that turns a stem
so we can directly reprogram them. And it’s working.” cell into a neuron and the one that turns a stem cell into a
The potential of Bit.bio’s discovery has drawn major muscle cell. Behind that we have a huge pile of other cells
investors from the US West Coast. More than $50 million that will be coming to the market.”
has been secured, including significant investment in spring After this will come therapeutic medicine, cures for cancer,
2020 from a fund led by Richard Klausner, whose former and neurological diseases and the means to combat ageing.
roles include Director of the National Cancer Institute, Bit.bio’s technology may allow for the growth of human organs.
presidential advisor and Executive Director of the Bill & And the company is already thinking about the potential
Melinda Gates Foundation. “Bit.bio’s approach represents a application of its cells beyond healthcare: a sister company,
paradigm shift in biology that will enable a new generation Meatable, is already making major progress where it comes to
of cell therapies, improving the lives of millions,” Klausner growing animal cells for food consumption. “That is a sign of
has said. With Klausner came other heavyweight biotech our ambition,” says Schuster. “If you think about how pervasive
investors such as Foresite Capital, Blueyard Capital and biology is, we can potentially program and precisely control
Arch Venture Partners. everything around us for the first time. The scope for the impact
Early applications of Bit.bio’s technology have been in this could have on human health and the health of our planet is
the field of drug development. Previously, the development almost too big to think about. But we are sure that what we are
of drugs and vaccines has often stalled at the clinical stage doing can help change the world for the better.”
because the human biological system differs in vital ways www.bit.bio
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Wake up and
smell the kefir
“Customers tell us what conditions kefir is helping with –
from skin problems to IBS to anxiety”
Shann Jones, Chuckling Goat
N obody knows how kefir grains were first created.

A mysterious mix of yeast and living bacteria, kefir grains
have been combined with goat milk to create a powerful natural
helping your body fight back against a wide range of health
issues, from skin, stomach and bowel conditions to anxiety.
Proponents believe it can boost their immune system and help
probiotic drink by residents of the Caucasus Mountains for them get better sleep. “People don’t mind the taste because it
decades but the grains only found their way to the outside makes them feel good,” she says. “It even boosts their energy.”
world in the early 20th century, when two Russian doctors Since Shann and her husband Richard discovered the magic of
were able to acquire some. When Shann Jones, founder of kefir in a stone barn on their farm in Wales, Chuckling Goat has
Chuckling Goat, first heard this story from the kitchen radio become the UK’s largest supplier of kefir goat milk. The farm’s
of her goat-filled farm in south-west Wales, she decided she herd now includes three breed of pedigree goats – British Saanens,
had to find out more. British Toggenburgs, and Anglo Nubians – but demand is so great
“I heard a Russian doctor on the radio talking about something that additional goat milk comes from St Helen’s Dairy in York.
called kefir which I had never heard of,” recalls Shann. “She said Chuckling Goat’s range of products includes the goat milk kefir,
that she was using it on her patients and I thought it sounded a prebiotic powder made from the food needed to feed digestive
interesting as a way to use our surplus goat milk. We were looking bacteria and a pregnancy prebiotic powder, which can be ordered
for ways to make this 24-acre farm wash its own face and I liked on a subscription basis via the website.
the idea of this kefir and thought it might be a new market. I got “We sell direct to our customers, which means the
in touch with the doctor who told me how to make it property with customers come to us and tell us what works on them,” says
goat’s milk and real kefir grains.” Shann. “That helps us find out the different conditions kefir is
It’s said that Marco Polo was one of the first westerners to helping with – from skin problems to IBS to anxiety. All of that
discover kefir, but he was refused permission to take any away came from the back-and-forth engagement with customers and
with him. According to the nomadic tribes of the Caucasus, it that is what has driven the business. I think that engagement
was a gift from the Prophet Muhammad. Shann was fascinated is so important. It’s about staying intimately connected with
by this rich history of kefir but also came to appreciate it more the customer.”
as the explored the science. She quickly came to understand Kefir is at the heart of everything they do. As well as
that the mixture of kefir grains and goat milk created unique the probiotic drink and prebiotic powders, the company has
properties which would equip the body to withstand the slowly developed a range of skin lotions that have a base of goat
devastating impact of sugar, antibiotics, stress and chemicals. milk and kefir grains. Essential oils are added to this, each
According to Shann, the drink tastes like “fizzy feta” and providing different benefits and fragrances. Similarly, a number
contains 36 strains of living bacteria that will survive digestion of different types of cleansing bars are produced in small
and replenish the microcommunity of bacteria living in your gut, batches on the farm. These also begin with a base of goat
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206
“People don’t mind

the taste because
it makes them feel
good. It even boosts
their energy”
milk and kefir, to which essential oils, natural herbs, roots results of the tests, one of which is taken at the start of the
and organic clays are added. They look and act much as treatment and the other at the end.
soaps, but don’t dry the skin so are ideal for those suffering These nutritionists are very much part of the team at the
from skin conditions. Chuckling Goat farm, having originally worked for the company
Shann learnt how to make the lotions after attending a course in other capacities. Needing nutritionists, she gave every
in Yorkshire. “I began to give the lotions to clients so they were member of staff the opportunity to retrain as nutritionists, and
drinking the probiotic and applying the lotion on the skin at half a dozen took up the offer. They are now on hand at the farm
the same time, healing themselves inside and out,” she says. to guide clients through the results and implications of the test.
“That’s the trick, you need to do it together. No application will “People really want to know what is in their guts,” she says.
work alone. We then had people come to see us after they’d heard “Up to 86 per cent of British adults had a gastro-intestinal episode
what had happened and we found we were getting these amazing last year. That means that nearly everybody in the country is
results when we combined the two. That’s what is unique and having problems and wants to know what is going on. We find
that’s what works.” that people using kefir will quite quickly get relief from IBS,
Rich had had to sell his precious motorcycle to raise anxiety and depression. Everything is connected so if you resolve
the funds to start Chuckling Goat, but within four years the the issues in the gut, the ones in the brain can be quite quickly
company had experienced 6,000 per cent growth. Shann has solved and kefir is the best way to push against that process and
written several books about their experiences, while the bring the living strains back into your gut.”
farm continues to expand its operations. The latest offering Shann and Rich were proud to donate over £100,000 worth
is a microbiome test that will reveal the bacteria present in of their health-boosting products to NHS workers during the
somebody’s gut, and which the kefir can help restore to recent COVID pandemic. “We started out offering our Calm
a natural harmony. Customers can produce the microbiome Down Lotion to help with cracked hands and mask-related
test in isolation or they can combine it with a six-week breakouts,” says Shann. “Then the requests started pouring in
probiotic gut cleanse which includes two microbiome tests, from doctors and nurses on the front lines, and I couldn’t bear
a six-week supply of probiotic goat milk kefir and six-week to refuse anyone – so we just kept giving! We were so thrilled to
supply of complete prebiotic powder. You also get two free be able to say thank you to our brave NHS workers in this way.”
sessions with a nutritional therapist to help interpret the www.chucklinggoat.co.uk
207
A healthy approach
to technology
“We are developing world-leading healthcare solutions.
Just imagine how we can distil the knowledge of 70 years
of the NHS and use that to help a nurse in rural Africa”
Frank Hester, TPP
A ll businesses need to grow, adapt and modernise. Failure

to do so means standing still and eventually – inevitably –
irrelevance. The need to stay ahead of the curve is even more
expand globally. “If we weren’t looking at countries across Asia
and the Middle East right now, companies in those nations
would have their sights on our existing market,” says Hester.
acute when a business operates within the technological sphere. “We are developing world-leading healthcare solutions.
“The technology sector demands innovation,” says Frank Just imagine how we can distil the knowledge of 70 years
Hester, the CEO of TPP (The Phoenix Partnership), a healthcare of the NHS and put that into rural Africa to help a nurse
technology company that provides IT solutions to healthcare there who might be dealing with some unfamiliar disease.”
organisations. “In this industry, if you do not innovate constantly Hester is a computer programmer by trade. “I tried to
you are dead. If we weren’t looking at new products or new do AI 30 years ago when I was doing my degree,” he explains,
markets then we would be left behind.” “but the computers weren’t powerful enough. Now they
TPP’s pioneering SystmOne solution is used in more than manage it easily.” TPP began as a way of relieving the
7,000 NHS organisations across 27 settings, including 40 per cent overwhelming administrative burden from his wife, an NHS
of the GP market. Its patient-facing service allows individuals GP. “I just thought all of this needs to disappear,” he recalls.
to proactively manage their care, and the data generated is used “Where people are dealing with our system they don’t have
for research, public health surveillance and analytics. to deal with all that admin anymore and can focus on caring
TPP’s software has actually saved lives: SystmOne, for for patients.”
instance, has helped with the early detection of ovarian cancer. Essentially, TPP’s SystmOne solution connects healthcare
Now, after leading the way across the UK, TPP’s goal is to on a scale previously unthinkable. It links hospitals and GP
practices and is used by everyone from community nurses and
mental health practitioners to doctors working in prisons.
The system is used by over 200,000 clinical and administrative
users and now contains more than 50 million patient records.
“When you have a system like that – and when we developed
it many said it was impossible – the prize is so great that it’s
worth doing,” Hester says. “For instance, if someone visits a GP
practice, or if they go to A&E, practitioners can immediately
see that they might have allergies or a mental health condition.
And, as a result, people get better care. It really does save lives.”
Caring for the people he works with – this is how Hester
sees leadership. His empathy shines through when he talks
about the daily realities of his employees. “They all have personal
issues, problems or worries and we recognise that it’s vital to
support them through these,” he says. “It is nothing more than
being human.”
As for whether running a company that’s in the healthcare
business brings added pressure, Hester says he thrives on it.
“It makes it easy,” he explains. “I personally find it so much
easier to get up in the morning knowing that my work helps
doctors save lives.”
www.tpp-uk.com
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Health drive
“We have always tried to drive collaboration
and what we’ve seen more of over the last
year is people working together”
Michael Pace, NHS London Procurement Partnership
T he NHS is never far from the national consciousness, but the

Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated its capacity to provide
care in extreme circumstances as never before. NHS London
In the past few years, NHS LPP has moved away from being
purely a procurement hub to offering expert business advice in
four key areas: estates and facilities, clinical digital solutions,
Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) is at the heart of the medicines and pharmacy, and workforce. Also available is
pan-London strategy to provide effective, efficient healthcare a consultancy service, which offers bespoke business solutions
across the capital. A membership organisation within the NHS, for the NHS. “We were finding that the trusts needed more
it helps the NHS in London make sustainable, sound commercial support from us. Our consultancy team comes in and does the
buying decisions to maximise use of their budgets. “We are pre-work before getting into procurement and, once a purchase
unique in the way that we are set up,” says Managing Director has been made, offers support in implementing it.”
Michael Pace. “Our members all have an equal share in the NHS LPP’s ability to respond quickly to health service demands
business. As owners, they have an equal voice and influence. came to the fore with the outbreak of Covid-19, with its teams
We aren’t here to make a profit, and if we do create a surplus involved in creating supplier databases, aiding medical recruitment
it is reinvested in improving our services to the NHS or it is and helping procure healthcare apps. “When the pandemic first
returned to our members and reinvested in front line services. hit, our estates team were involved in transforming wards into
Even before the pandemic, healthcare was shifting towards intensive care units. In the second wave, we helped put in
Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), bringing together the NHS, temporary surgical suites in St George’s University Hospitals
local government and other partners to coordinate joined up Foundation Trust to help with elective surgery.” Beyond the
services that improve population health and reduce pandemic, NHS LPP is supporting the NHS’s commitment to
inequalities. As a pan-London operation, NHS LPP promotes reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2040. This would make
closer collaboration between organisations, using members’ the NHS the first net-zero health service in the world, a target
data to provide a real-time overview of what is happening backed by the World Health Organisation. Among other
within the NHS in London. This helps reduce wasteful initiatives, tackling air pollution and its impact on respiratory
duplication of resources and increases efficiency. “We have diseases is a priority. NHS LPP is collaborating with the Greater
always tried to drive collaboration and what we’ve seen more London Authority on a pilot scheme to assess the complex
of over the last year is people working together.” Initiatives infrastructure that is needed to move the NHS’s in-house
such as CapitalNurse rely on collaboration to improve fleet, including ambulances, to ultra-low emitting vehicles.
international nurse recruitment. Instead of trusts competing “Our next three-year plan will show that we can work better
to recruit nurses by offering individual benefits, CapitalNurse together,” says Pace. “It is about creating a centre of excellence
offers the same pay and benefits across London. This means and a voice for London that supports real collaborative working
nurses can work where they are needed, helping some of the for the benefit of patients and tax payers.
smaller trusts to fulfil their staffing needs. www.lpp.nhs.uk
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Thinking allowed
“We often treat people with mental illness,
and their carers, as though they don’t really
have any agency over their care”
Danielle Hamm, Rethink Mental Illness
R ethink Mental Illness was founded in 1972 to give a voice to

people severely affected by mental illness. Nearly 50 years on
it remains a user-led organisation that works closely with those
To address this, Rethink Mental Illness puts pressure on
policymakers to improve the lives of those severely affected by
mental illness. The charity played an important role in the
it represents to shape its services and drive its campaigning. development of NHS England’s Long-Term Plan, which was
“People with experience of mental illness are at the heart of published in 2019 and includes targets to improve access to
everything that Rethink Mental Illness does,” says Danielle services for those living with mental illness. And Rethink
Hamm, Associate Director of Campaigns and Policy. Mental Illness is also campaigning hard to reform the Mental
The charity was formed by a group of people who were caring Health Act to give people the right to be more involved in the
for loved ones living with schizophrenia and was originally known decisions made about them.
as the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. Its focus has since “We see that as key in the way people who are severely
broadened to include anyone severely affected by mental illness affected by mental illness are treated and viewed,” says Hamm.
and in 2002 its name was changed to reflect this. The charity also provides a range of services across England,
From the start, Rethink Mental Illness has campaigned to including advocacy, supportive housing, employment support and
give people greater control over their own care. “As a society, we a national helpline offering practical advice and information.
often treat people living with mental illness, and their carers, as In every area, Rethink Mental Illness works closely with its
though they don’t really have any agency over their care,” says beneficiaries to ensure that it reflects their experiences and
Hamm. “While we have become more open about discussing delivers what they need and want. “We believe that people need to
mental health issues, that doesn’t always stretch to the ‘harder be treated as individuals, with dignity and respect,” says Hamm.
edge’ of those who are struggling day to day because they cannot “With that, it’s possible to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.”
access the care they need.” www.rethink.org
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Healthy business
“What we’re doing is raising debate and
engaging all parts of society in addressing
what a fit-for-purpose health and care
system should look like in the 21st century”
Andrew Whelan, Future Care Capital
“
W e are more than a think tank,” says Andrew Whelan,
Chairman of the self-funding healthcare charity Future
Care Capital. “We drive innovation and improvement through
enormous data repository – containing more than 70 years of
records – into a valuable asset that could generate income to
help sustain the NHS into the future.
leading-edge research and policy insights and by bringing “The phrase ‘privatising the NHS’ is very emotive,”
together policy makers and practitioners. We want to move UK acknowledges Whelan. “But it’s really misunderstood. We’re not
debate away from a focus on the NHS, which is just one piece of talking about getting your credit card out to pay for a GP
the puzzle, but it’s the only one the general public thinks about.” appointment, but who should provide care and who should pay
Founded in 1947, the charity began life as the National for it. GPs, pharmacists and dentists are all private providers,
Nursery Examination board. Over time, it evolved from an paid for by the NHS from our taxes. We need to educate the
awarding organisation for health and education, transforming public in order to push for change in the system. The private
in 2016 into Future Care Capital (FCC), an independent charity and public sector can work well together – just look at how
which aims to shape the future of health and social care. AstraZeneca worked with Oxford University to create the Covid
“The essence of what we’re doing is raising debate and vaccine. Our biggest challenge is the integration of health and
engaging all parts of society in addressing what a fit-for- social care. We live in a society that has two parallel systems
purpose health and care system should look like in the 21st that are funded and operate very differently.”
century,” says Whelan (pictured, above). “And then we want For the future, the charity plans to create its own venture-
to work out how to achieve it.” capital fund, enabling it to invest in innovative health and care
FCC has come up with the idea of a “Sovereign Health solutions that fit with its vision, while generating a return,
Fund”, which would be operated in a similar way to sovereign allowing it to remain sustainable.
wealth funds in countries like Norway, transforming the NHS’s www.futurecarecapital.org.uk
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Aiding mental health

“Mental health has to be part of everyday conversations.
The lack of understanding about mental health feeds the
stigma, and in turn the stigma feeds a lack of understanding”
Simon Blake OBE, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England
“
W e are on a mission to train one in 10 of the adult
population of England in mental-health knowledge,
skills and awareness,” says Simon Blake OBE, CEO of Mental
MHFA England works in partnership with – and provides
training to – a range of different organisations and sectors. It is
currently working in the construction sector with the Lighthouse
Health First Aid (MHFA) England. “Mental health has to be Charity and has provided training in organisations of all shapes
part of everyday conversations. The lack of understanding and sizes, from hairdressers and investment banks to sporting
about mental health feeds the stigma, and in turn the stigma bodies. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, MHFA England
feeds a lack of understanding. This hurts people and it has has shifted from being a face-to-face training organisation to an
to change.” online one, and has also launched an app to support Mental
The MHFA programme in England is based on an Australian Health First Aiders in carrying out their roles.
programme. It was first brought to England by the Department “We have re-developed and adapted all our courses so they
of Health, later becoming a Community Interest Company under can be delivered virtually,” says Blake. “ The resources we produce
the leadership of MHFA’s founding CEO, Poppy Jaman OBE. were downloaded thousands of times during the first year of
MHFA England’s instructor-training programme, where the pandemic.” The organisation has been recognised on Social
instructors train Mental Health First Aiders in every corner Enterprise UK’s Roll of Honour for its pandemic response.
of the country, is accredited by the Royal Society for Public “Mental health is both a cause and consequence of social
Health. “Our instructors have worked with over 20,000 inequality,” says Blake. “Looking ahead, we are determined to
organisations over the last decade,” says Blake. “Some deliver play our part in tackling and addressing inequalities in mental
training in the companies they work for and some run their health outcomes, including racial disparities in mental health.
own training businesses or consultancies. When a person Everything we do aims to improve the mental health of the nation.”
completes an MHFA course, they will develop skills for life.” www.mhfaengland.org
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Innovation for patient care

“We work with scientists, healthcare professionals,
payers and policy makers to drive medical innovation
and make a real difference for patients”
Dr Ian Weatherhead, Ipsen
“
A t Ipsen, our mantra is ‘working with patients, for patients’,” says
Dr Ian Weatherhead, Head of Corporate Affairs UK & Ireland,
for the global biopharmaceutical company Ipsen, which specialises
development and continues to contribute royalties from
product sales to Public Health England – a sum in excess
of £31 million in 2020.
in finding treatments for cancer, rare diseases and neurological Ipsen prioritises innovation across its business, from R&D
conditions. “We seek to bring value through better patient outcomes, and manufacturing, through to digital initiatives and device
and we understand that patients don’t have time to wait for development. Products in the pipeline include further therapies
treatment. Innovating to deliver improved patient care is what drives for the treatment of selected cancers, neurological conditions,
us, and patients are key stakeholders, from the start of the research and experimental medicines to treat orphan diseases. Every year,
and development (R&D) process. They shape our thinking, take over 15 per cent of Ipsen’s revenue is invested back into research
part in advisory boards and support the design of clinical trials.” and development.
A global company, with hubs in the UK, Paris and in Cambridge, Ipsen strives to bring new innovation to the NHS and patients,
Massachusetts, Ipsen has operated in the UK for 40 years, where it both through investment in innovative delivery devices, and
employs 750 staff across its sites in Oxford, Slough and Wrexham. through the ways that medicines are brought to patients, supporting
“Our UK operations span the full bench-to-bedside spectrum – increased homecare and self-administration of treatment. “This
from early research through to manufacturing and commercial patient-centred approach to both devices, and how and where
activities,” says Dr Weatherhead. “We work with scientists, medicines are delivered, enables patients to have more control of
healthcare professionals, payers and policy makers to drive their disease by supporting self or partner injection, potentially
medical innovation and make a real difference for patients.” requiring fewer hospital visits,” says Dr Weatherhead. “This is just
The company has forged close ties with the NHS. Ipsen has one example of the innovation we are bringing to patient care.”
worked in partnership with the UK government in medicine www.ipsen.com/uk
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Virus busters
“We created a sanitiser that focuses
on the coronavirus and other enveloped
viruses without damaging the skin”
Giby George, GMP Healthcare
W hile many companies in Britain and around the world

found themselves unwillingly paralysed by the arrival
of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, one Yorkshire-
We launched our product, from development to manufacture,
in seven weeks with external laboratory coronavirus test data.”
Convinced by the need to provide better hygiene for work
based healthcare company was able to spring into action. and home, the GMP team continued to invest in developing
GMP Healthcare was founded by Giby George, who has several innovative products, including anti-viral and anti-bacterial wipes,
decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, working hand cream and even mouthwash. Of particular interest is the
in innovation, research, quality and technology transfer. Aseptic Clean Cut Salon Sanitiser. “We all enjoy an occasional
The company’s consultancy arm supports world-leading pharma visit to the hairdresser, yet this is an environment where clients
manufacturers in optimising the process to meet regulatory and staff are in close contact and the spread of bacteria and
and technical challenges. GMP group’s manufacturing arm viruses is a real risk,” says George. “We know these viruses can
focuses on high-quality healthcare-product manufacturing mutate and that our current environment will create similar
and packing in the UK. viruses in the future. So building this knowledge and capability
“Our team of 53 has something like 500 years of collective is very important. There is a great potential for future-proofing
pharmaceutical industry experience,” says George. “There was so we can fight any further infections.”
a company here in Hull called Seven Seas, one of the world’s Although there has been a peak in the demand for hygiene
largest Omega-3 manufacturing facilities, founded in the products in 2020 and 2021, the nation’s habits have changed
1930s. When production was transferred to Europe we secured forever, as has its awareness of the threat of viruses. “There will
some of the staff and acquired state-of-the-art German be an ongoing need for innovative solutions for consumers
manufacturing facilities and equipment. So we have that combining both excellent performance with convenience,” says
heritage, that technical capability and that wealth of George. “One such example is our snap-pack design, a single
pharmaceutical manufacturing experience.” use sachet made from recycled plastic for on-the-go usage.”
The GMP research team had studied coronavirus structures GMP Healthcare holds a UK medicines manufacturing
and was concerned about the overuse of alcohol-based hand licence (MIA) and provides services to the pharma industry,
sanitisers as they are not designed for frequent use. “We created including contract manufacturing, packaging, medical device
a sanitiser that might be the only one available in the UK that manufacturing, training, audits, quality management, technical
focuses on the coronavirus and other enveloped viruses without and regulatory assistance. For the GMP team, its location in
damaging the skin,” says George. “It is alcohol-free and designed Yorkshire has been an important part of its success. “Hull is a
for frequent use. When we tested it, we found that 99.99 per cent knowledge hub,” says George, “and we know that it’s essential
of the virus will be eradicated within 30 seconds. Still, it won’t that we have this manufacturing capacity in this country – for
damage the skin or destroy the natural microflora that is required our future health and security as a nation.”
for the maintenance of healthy skin and immune development. www.gmpcom.com
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Trust in
progress
“The trust’s culture foregrounds values
including compassion, openness, improvement,
learning, partnership and pride”
Andy Hardy, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust
218
“
P eople are seeing a doctor much quicker in the children’s
emergency department since we improved the process,”
says Andy Hardy, CEO of the University Hospitals Coventry
Team of the Year at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2018.
“We look to provide the safest possible services to our patients,”
says Hardy, “so if anything does occur we immediately look
& Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust. “Sometimes small changes at whether changes need to be made.”
can make a big difference.” The trust also launched an innovation hub this year,
The trust is constantly exploring ways to improve and providing a space for staff and visiting speakers to step back
innovate. Recruitment has also come under the spotlight, with from the daily bustle of hospital life and discover ways of doing
estimates indicating that there could be up to 40,000 vacancies for things differently. It has already yielded several good ideas.
nurses across the NHS in five years. “As a country, we just haven’t The most recent NHS National Patient Survey identified
been able to train enough nurses to meet demand,” says Hardy. the UHCW Trust as one of the most improved hospitals across
The UHCW Trust has responded by exploring ways to streamline the NHS with waiting times and noise in the wards at night
hiring processes and expanding the number of training places among the areas that have been successfully tackled.
available at its hospitals in Coventry and Rugby. As one of the Some of the UHCW Trust’s most celebrated work has
UK’s largest teaching trusts, it already has a large placements centred around fertility. Professor Siobhan Quenby of Warwick
programme, with around 500 junior doctors and several hundred Medical School is renowned for her success in dealing with the
nurses and other medical staff in training at any one time. “killer cells” that result in repeated miscarriage, and women
“We pride ourselves on having a high retention rate, with from all over the world have successfully sought out her
over 90 per cent of trainees choosing to stay on,” says Hardy. expertise. “They’re known as Quenby babies,” says Hardy.
“This is partly down to the trust’s culture, which foregrounds “Without the work that Siobhan and her team do, these births
values including compassion, openness, improvement, learning, wouldn’t have been possible.”
partnership and pride.” The trust is also a pioneer in robotic surgeries and is looking
A few months ago, it added “respect” to that list. It’s a at developing the range of procedures it offers, particularly in
principle that the trust shares with its partner hospital in the gynaecology and oncology. “We want to reach bigger populations
United States, Virginia Mason Institute. The institute helps across the Midlands so they can benefit from the most advanced
healthcare organisations around the world to improve their medical technologies available,” says Hardy. Currently, the
services and is advising the UHCW Trust on patient care. trust delivers 1.5 million patient contacts across Warwickshire,
This has led to the formation of a patient-response team, Coventry and the surrounding areas but, as its reputation
which investigates issues related to safety. If an incident arises, continues to grow under its slogan “Together Toward World
the team interviews patients and staff then highlights lessons Class”, it hopes to expand its reach and enable more patients
that can be drawn from the experience. The success of this to benefit from its award-winning services.
approach was recognised when it was named Patient Safety www.uhcw.nhs.uk
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Resilient staff,
resilient company
“We want people to learn, adapt and thrive
in the face of adversity, thereby enhancing
individual and company-wide resilience”
Dr Stephen Pereira, Happence
D uring a long and successful career spent working in

psychiatry for the NHS and in private practice, Dr Stephen
Pereira (pictured, right) has conducted more than 80,000
consultations, helping thousands of clients overcome a range
of mental health issues. He has now taken all that hard-won
experience and poured it into Happence – an innovative
workplace wellbeing start-up headed up by Dr Pereira and
a team of experts from the fields of psychology and technology.
Its products and services are already being used by leading
banks to help senior leaders and the wider workforce make
measurable improvements to their wellbeing and performance.
“My philosophy is making people more resilient,” he explains.
“We want people to learn, adapt and thrive in the face of adversity,
thereby enhancing individual and company-wide resilience. Many
employers want to help but don’t know how. We offer solutions
that will not only help employees feel happier in themselves,
but also foster a more healthy, focused and productive workforce.”
The immediate inspiration for Happence was Dr Pereira’s work
in private practice, where he has treated top CEOs from the
country’s leading institutions, including household names such
as Prince William’s brother-in-law James Middleton and the
broadcaster Tom Bradby. Dr Pereira first trained in psychiatry
in Mumbai in the 1980s, followed by the Institute of Psychiatry
at the Maudsley Hospital, Oxford University and King’s College
London. He is an honorary senior lecturer in psychiatry at Guy’s, has developed a best-in-class digital application that provides
King’s College and St Thomas’s School of Medicine in London holistic wellbeing support and performance enhancement to
and a senior medical adviser to a number of City of London the entire organisation. The app contains a library of articles,
boards. He co-founded and chairs the National Association of animations, podcasts and webinars as well as self-guided courses
Psychiatric Intensive Care Units and has developed the UK’s and community forums supported by specialists. Its aim is to
national policy, helping to raise awareness of mental health. make people happier, healthier, and more resilient both inside and
“In 2015, some CEOs started telling me that the executive outside of work, whilst reducing anxiety, sleep disorders and other
coaching they were doing at work wasn’t as helpful as the hour mental-health issues. As well has helping the employee, employers
they spent with me each week,” he explains. “They asked if will see improvements in productivity, a more connected and
I could develop a programme that would allow them to fulfil collaborative culture and reduced presenteeism and absenteeism.
their potential, improve their management style and change “What we are trying to do is the equivalent of putting
their relationships with colleagues. I did this by helping them penicillin in the water,” explains Dr Pereira. “It is teaching people
to declutter their brains and identify the blind spots they had the strategies they need to prevent serious mental health problems
developed during their journey to the top of the corporate ladder.” from developing. We want to bring good science and good mental
Following the success of this programme in a top bank, a health to the masses. Our vision is to reach every company that
number of executives asked if something similar could be done values its staff, and help them make meaningful differences to
for the rest of the company. It was then that Happence was born. the lives of their employees.”
In addition to delivering the successful leadership programmes, it www.happence.com
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Patient development
“Our new developments confirm our
position as one of the most technologically
advanced hospitals in the UK”
Joe Harrison, Milton Keynes University Hospital
“
F or us, anniversaries are a spur to greater progress,” says
Joe Harrison, CEO of Milton Keynes University Hospital
(MKUH). “We’re especially proud of three new developments
patients with gestational diabetes. Patients can carry out checks
at home and transfer the information instantly to midwives in
the hospital, who can follow up the results if necessary.”
that implement the next phase of clinical technology in the NHS, With the third of its developments – the opening of the new
and confirm our position as one of the most technologically Medical School and Academic Centre in partnership with the
advanced hospitals in the UK.” University of Buckingham – MKUH has taken a bold step towards
The first of these is eCARE, a £33 million system that next-generation medical training. The centre’s state-of-the-art
electronically collates a patient’s records in one place where connectivity allows training to be streamed globally, while
they are secure, confidential and easy to access. “This paperless students are all equipped with iPads rather than textbooks,
records system saves time transporting records and eliminates enabling interactive, constantly updated training materials.
the potential for mistakes in transcribing notes,” says Harrison. Perhaps the most dramatic innovations are the simulation
“It gives all staff involved in a patient’s care, including their GP, suites featuring highly realistic training mannequins, including
real-time access to a patient’s information. Patient data can be SimMan, SimMum and SimBaby. “They cost £70,000 each,” says
accessed on the hospital’s new mobile Workstations on Wheels.” Harrison, “but the functionality is incredible: they cry, bleed,
For the convenience of patients, MKUH has introduced the give birth and are operated on just like real patients, giving
MyCare patient portal. “Once registered, patients have direct student doctors an enviably realistic training.”
access, via an online portal, to cancel or change appointments,” For Harrison, the fact that these developments were
says Harrison. “They can confirm attendances, receive text implemented during the 70th anniversary of the NHS is
reminders and add appointments to their calendar.” The potential significant. “These are innovations that we need to prepare
in this area is huge. “We have two new apps in maternity,” says for another great 70 years,” he concludes.
Harrison, “one for patients with hypertension and another for www.mkuh.nhs.uk
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Hearts and minds

“Our robotic cardiac surgery service is just
one of many projects where we’re currently
leading the way on innovation”
Jane Tomkinson, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
“
L iverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH) is the largest
single-site heart and chest hospital in the country,” says
Jane Tomkinson, Chief Executive of LHCH. “We deliver the
implications for hospitals that could safely use the cheaper drug,
in high volumes, saving significant sums.”
LHCH also offers the UK’s only robotic cardiac surgery
most complex heart and chest surgery available in the UK.” service. Using a four-armed “Da Vinci” robot, overseen by a
The hospital has a core team of around 1,700 staff and consultant surgeon and their team, it provides minimally invasive
serves a population of almost three million across Cheshire, surgery through tiny holes. “It’s proven to reduce blood loss, to
Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man, although many reduce potential infections in patients and to get them up and
other cardiac patients from across the country opt to be treated active within a number of days rather than weeks,” says Tomkinson.
at Liverpool. “It’s one of many projects where we’re currently leading the way
“Cardiovascular disease is the second-largest killer,” says on innovation.” The hospital is also leading work on a technique
Tomkinson. “It’s why tackling it is one of the UK government’s called HeartFlow, which uses diagnostic imaging instead of
top priorities and there’s a real focus around prevention. invasive techniques to diagnose heart disease.
The exacerbation of cardiovascular disease linked to lifestyle, LHCH was the first specialist hospital to be rated “outstanding”
obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse and lack of exercise is really by independent regulator the Care Quality Commission, and
impacting on individuals and their personal and economic life.” maintained this status in 2019, one of only five trusts in the
In 2014, LHCH undertook the largest ever single-centre country to receive this rating. It’s also popular with patients.
randomised trial – HEAT PPCI – testing the effectiveness of two “We consistently score number one in national patient surveys,”
drugs. “One cost around £400 per treatment; the other around says Tomkinson. “We’ve a long track record of outstanding
70p,” says Tomkinson. “The trial demonstrated that the cheaper clinical outcomes. It’s a pretty impressive place to be.”
drug had better clinical outcomes. And this had massive www.lhch.nhs.uk
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From lab to life

“As well as our paying clients, we also think of future
patients as customers, as important non-paying
stockholders in everything we do”
Alistair Macdonald, Syneos Health
W hen Alistair Macdonald received an email from a

complete stranger, he didn’t understand why the sender
had attached a picture of a disused wheelchair in the corner
culture of encouraging fresh thinking is key to ensuring his teams
can adapt to ever-changing circumstances, and a year of lockdown
has certainly brought fresh challenges. As well as engaging in
of a garage until he read her note. “This is my daughter’s old 80 studies associated with treatment for Covid-19, Syneos Health
wheelchair,” read the email. “The epilepsy drug you helped has worked with regulators and adapted protocols to ensure its
develop has set my daughter free.” thousands of patients remain safe while trials are maintained.
This was just one satisfying moment among many for the Despite the huge scale of its operation, the mission for Syneos
CEO of Syneos Health. Macdonald has been with the company Health remains simple: to help its customers get drugs to market
since 2002 and has watched it evolve from a brain-injury research as quickly as possible and to ensure those treatments are
clinic into the world’s largest clinical and commercial contract affordable and accessible for patients. “There’s always a patient
organisation, with a 25,000-strong workforce operating in more out there who needs a treatment yesterday, not tomorrow, but
than 100 countries, running 1,000 separate clinical trials at any time. there’s no point developing a drug that people can’t access or
Its 600 regular clients range in scale from two people with a afford,” says Macdonald. “As well as our paying clients, we also
test-tube to the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, with think of future patients as customers, as important non-paying
Syneos Health providing expertise at every stage of the drug stockholders in everything we do. A few years ago, we worked on
development and delivery process – as the company mantra has it, a blood cancer product and the speed at which the team executed
“from lab to life”. “We’ll help someone move from having an idea the programme was extraordinary. The drug that resulted took
to creating the right formulation and go from there, through trials, the survival rate from 4 per cent to 40 per cent. Being involved
safety monitoring, sales, all the way to market or any single aspect in such life-changing work is extremely satisfying.”
the customer requires,” explains Macdonald. The company’s www.syneoshealth.com
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A stroke of genius
“It is probably the biggest public-health improvement in the last
five years. We’ll do upwards of a million scans this year, all tailored to
the individual patient’s brain rather than an arbitrary stopwatch”
Don Listwin, RapidAI
U ntil 1995, a stroke victim’s treatment window was typically

two to three hours. That was the year Dr Greg Albers’ team
at Stanford University Medical Center in California developed
new guidelines that expanded the treatment window for stroke
from six to 24 hours. “To have them change their guidelines
based on our data was extremely gratifying,” he says now.
MRI scans allowing doctors to track the path of a stroke in real Since then, RapidAI, the company co-founded by Dr Albers to
time. Contrary to conventional wisdom, he saw areas of brain develop neuroimaging software, has grown quickly. Its products
injury increasing in size for up to 48 hours after the onset of are now used in 1,600 hospitals in 60 countries across the world.
stroke symptoms. For the first time, doctors could determine RapidAI technology includes a mobile application allowing
how much brain tissue was already destroyed and how much images recorded on CT or MRI machines to be assessed by
was still salvageable – crucial information to help treat the doctors on their phones almost instantly, and patient treatment
world’s fifth-biggest killer and number-one cause of disability. quickly determined. “It is probably the biggest public-health
“When we published this, nobody believed it,” says Dr Albers. improvement in the last five years,” explains CEO Don Listwin.
“Subsequent trials from Stanford demonstrated that selected “We’ll do upwards of a million scans this year, all tailored to the
patients could recover with treatment administered up to individual patient’s brain rather than an arbitrary stopwatch.”
12 hours, but we were still doubted, and our grant applications RapidAI is now developing technology to help early diagnosis
were often rejected. It was a huge uphill battle. Convincing for stroke victims at home, with plans to extend further its
a sceptical world took 20 years.” medical scope. “I hope we begin to redefine acute care in global
Finally, in 2018, after two key trials extended possible hospital systems,” says Listwin. “I think we can have a profound
treatment time to 24 hours for eligible patients, Dr Albers impact on other disease states and that’s our vision. Our mission
presented his findings at the International Stroke Conference. is to help as many people as we can.”
Two hours later, the American Heart Association announced www.rapidai.com
225
Making insulin easier

“The treatment with PanInsula involves a minimally invasive
surgical procedure. Then patients will be free from insulin injections
for at least a couple of years, before returning for a new implant”
Dr Jacqueline Ameri, Pancryos
D aily insulin injections taken by millions of type 1 diabetes

patients across the world could become a thing of the past
if the team at the Danish biotech firm Pancryos can fulfil their
University of Copenhagen. Within a crowded medical field,
Pancryos has already set itself apart in creating a therapy both
safe in eliminating unwanted cells and productive in yielding the
mission. Type 1 diabetes is one of the world’s major medical right ones. “Stem-cell therapy is expensive,” Dr Ameri explains.
disorders, with approximately 50 million people forced to take “We’ve simplified the process of creating cells, which means we
injections to regulate their glucose levels and avoid serious health can automate it. This is key from a manufacturing point of view,
problems. “Some patients say they have to be mathematicians making it cost-efficient, and no one else has been able to do that.”
to calculate their levels,” says Dr Jacqueline Ameri, CEO of Pancryos is now working with regulators and collaborators
Pancryos. “For patients and their families, particularly parents towards its first clinical trials, which presents new challenges
with young children suffering, it is a huge burden.” for Dr Ameri and her team. “We’re developing something that
Now Pancryos has developed PanInsula, a groundbreaking doesn’t exist, so we have to ask, how do we manufacture, how
therapy consisting of insulin-producing cells to be implanted do we automate, how do we scale up? We have to invent new
into patients, meaning no more needles. “We’re still establishing methods for everything. There are no recipes to follow, but
the best delivery method,” explains Dr Ameri (pictured, above). that’s also what makes it exciting.”
“But the surgery will be a minimally invasive procedure. Then Dr Ameri remains set on her bold ambition. “It would be
patients will be free from insulin injections for at least a couple a dream come true to see a product I’ve developed in the lab
of years, before returning for a new implant.” making its way to a clinic, and ultimately extending and
For nearly two decades, Dr Ameri has been focused on improving the lives of so many people,” she says. “That would
the development of medicinal stem cell products. In 2017, she be immensely satisfying.”
co-founded Pancryos, launched as a spinout company from the www.pancryos.com
226
Meeting the nation’s health needs

“The NHS is under so much pressure.
We want to utilise our pipeline, all that
expertise and innovation, to meet the
needs of as many patients as possible”
Nicola Allbut, Celltrion Healthcare
C elltrion Healthcare UK could not have picked a more

challenging time than February 2020 to launch a brand-new
healthcare distribution business. But the timing has only
the NHS’s mammoth task of keeping people healthy during this
time of unprecedented medical need, by trialling its product
Infliximab in Covid patients. “We’re seeing if this could prevent
strengthened its mission to address the country’s unmet health further progression of the disease,” says JungYong Shin, UK and
needs and become a guiding star in the bio-medical industry. Ireland General Manager. “To get a Covid-related product across
As the UK affiliate of South Korea’s leading biologics company, the line would be very satisfying. For all our treatments, we’re
Celltrion UK is able to tap into a global pipeline of groundbreaking constantly seeking gaps and opportunities, to lower thresholds
research and development and ever-evolving technology. Based for treatment and help as many patients as possible.”
in Berkshire the UK team aims to provide quality products at an In one year, Celltrion has already weathered the challenges
affordable price for the NHS. of launching its UK business during a global pandemic,
Celltrion has already forged ahead in innovation with the distributing products despite restrictions and adapting to
world’s first antibody with biosimilar medicines for autoimmune Brexit and its implications. Now it looks to the future, with
diseases and other conditions. “We recently launched a the ambitious plan of introducing one new product annually
‘subcutaneous’ formulation for patients to be treated at home, for the next 30 years. “The NHS is under so much pressure,”
rather than constantly having to go to hospital for infusion,” reflects Allbut. “We want to utilise our pipeline, and all that
explains Celltrion’s Marketing Manager Nicola Allbut. “We want expertise and innovation, to meet the needs of as many patients
to provide accessible, convenient solutions wherever possible.” as possible. Living with long-term conditions must be very
The company wants to continue improving its products challenging. For me, it’s all about addressing those needs and
and services in the treatment of autoimmune conditions, and providing solutions wherever we can.”
develop other oncology medicines. Celltrion is also supporting https://www.celltrionhealthcare.co.uk
227
Body language
“Patients became engaged and invested
in their own health. They felt represented
electronically and empowered”
Dr Charles Gutteridge, SNOMED CT
W hen Dr Charles Gutteridge rearranged his consulting room

so that patients could sit alongside him and look at their
test results on a computer screen, the response was more than
optimal care to a patient by accessing test reminders, academic
resources and everything else available on this global research
system. With more than 350,000 medical concepts available, it offers
encouraging. “It was transformative,” he says. “Patients became an infinite amount of combinations to describe the human condition;
engaged and invested in their own health. They felt represented which promises better health and improved patient outcomes.
electronically and empowered.” The veteran haematologist and SNOMED CT is currently used by 40 member nations, through a
specialist in clinical informatics was immediately convinced licensed model based on a country’s size and wealth. For the past two
of the power of sharing electronic medical data. years, every GP and major hospital in Britain has had it embedded
For the past five years, Dr Gutteridge has been monitoring into their electronic systems, meaning that millions of UK patients
similar benefits in the expansion of SNOMED CT, the world’s are already reaping the benefits of having their records encoded.
most comprehensive computable language of health for use in For Dr Gutteridge, the biggest challenge has been persuading
electronic health records. Standing for “Systemised Nomenclature practitioners to change old habits and “to adopt digital health systems
Of Medicine”, it has been nearly two decades in development, with in place of writing with a gold pen”. But he hopes they will begin to
specialist programmers and clinicians creating a vast dictionary of add data and create an ever-expanding research system for global use.
clinical vocabulary that stands to become the medical equivalent The rewards for those who do will be increasingly advanced
of Google’s codification of the English language. personal health records, new medical discoveries and information
Since forming in 2007, the company has been operating as a sharing with any health system in the world. “The more people
non-profit organisation to prioritise the strategic development of participate,” says Dr Gutteridge, “the better it will be, and the
this system to meet the healthcare sector’s needs. Now, simply by more benefits for patients everywhere.”
entering a code in an electronic health record, a doctor can bring www.snomed.org
228
Trial of success
“We work in the community to improve clinical trials. Many of
the procedures that would ordinarily take place in the hospital
can take place in the home, the office or school”
Doug Cookson, Medical Research Network
T he importance of fast and efficient drug trials has never

been more apparent to the public than during the Covid-19
pandemic. One company that has spent 15 years striving to
in the hospital can take place in the home, office or school.
Our healthcare professionals are trained in all they need to know
around clinical research, and provided with hi-tech equipment.”
improve a system that has got slower and more expensive over This approach reduces the drop-out rate seen in regular trials
the years is Medical Research Network (MRN), pioneer of due to the frequent hospital visits (38 per cent of retention failures
decentralised clinical trials. MRN’s is an important innovation: are because of this). It brings in demographic groups who are often
instead of making trial subjects go to hospitals frequently, it takes excluded from trials due to their socio-economic background.
that experience into the subjects’ home. That approach has so far It also speeds up the entire process of recruiting patients into the
supported over 146 products across 118 indications and has been trial, reducing the time it takes to bring a drug to market, to the
shown to reduce large studies by approximately five months, benefit of both patients and pharmaceutical companies.
potentially bringing medicines to patients faster than expected MRN operates in Europe, Asia, South America and the USA,
using traditional methods, for essentially the same price. with demand accelerating during the pandemic when hospitals
“The problem with hospital drug trials is they limit your were closed for conventional trials. “Our company was running
patient population, geographically and socio-economically,” an average of 350 home visits in December 2019, and we were
says Doug Cookson, Vice President, Commercial Development. doing over 1,500 by June 2021,” says Cookson. “We were dealing
“Trials are time-consuming because of the time taken to recruit with the innovators and early adopters, but we are now reaching
enough people, and sites in different countries may need to be the mainstream. We are acquiring high-quality data faster and
opened, which becomes extremely expensive. As a clinical research obtaining potentially better and more diverse pools of patients,
support organisation, we specialise in working in the community which in turn makes drug development more efficient.”
to improve clinical trials. Many of the procedures that take place www.themrn.io
229
Medical miracles start here

“We give partners peace of mind and the flexibility to cope
with their own uncertainty. Our deep knowledge and expertise
enables us to predict problems and provide solutions”
Sean Robinson, Lonza
Y ou won’t find the name Lonza in any medicine cabinet, but

millions of people everywhere are better off thanks to the
pioneering work of this Swiss drug manufacturer. With therapies
code asking us to provide a molecule. At the other end, we support
huge pharma companies looking for dedicated manufacturing
capacity. Our Slough facility is primarily an early-development
ranging from arthritis and oncology to Moderna’s vaccine for site, but it’s also part of a network which provides swift scale-up
COVID-19, the company has been developing biopharmaceuticals based on trial results.”
for 30 years. “Our industry support is widespread,” says Lonza’s “Each project is different,” says Robinson. “We give
Director of Commercial Development, Sean Robinson. “We’re partners peace of mind and the flexibility to cope with their
the global healthcare partner you’ve never heard of.” own uncertainty. Our deep knowledge and expertise enables
At Lonza’s manufacturing facility in Slough, engineers, us to predict problems and provide solutions. This gives clients
technicians and scientists have led the industry in developing the confidence to go to regulatory authorities and financial
300 separate processes, with more drugs transferred into phase-1 markets, knowing our recognised reputation really counts.”
clinical trials than any other biologics company. Lonza is a world Within this highly regulated, results-driven landscape, Lonza
-class, full-service contract development and manufacturing seeks to interact with digital and manufacturing industries to
organisation, offering bespoke solutions to support improve British healthcare offerings and meet global needs.
pharmaceutical firms, from late discovery to market supply. “We need to be part of a consortium to collaborate in developing
With many products now created by small biotech companies, innovative drugs, increasing the efficiency of clinical trials,
Lonza’s clients are often tiny start-ups armed with genetic to quickly get new products to more patients,” says Robinson.
information that promises to heal a disease. “Every drug needs Lonza is happy to keep its name out of the spotlight, but what
a complete development chain,” says Senior Director Alexander shines brightly is its passion for innovation to help save lives.
Herget. “We might get just an email with complex lines of genetic www.lonza.com
230
Breaking down barriers

“People don’t just want to live for treatment,
they want to live while they are having treatment.
Our technologies help them to do that”
Stephen Stamp, Midatech Pharma
S ince the first cancer therapies evolved from First World War
mustard gas in the 1940s, scientists have brought us increasingly
effective cancer drugs, culminating in latest generation blockbusters
(DIPG) or glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), small, nimble and
disruptive companies often perform better than big pharma.
Midatech Pharma is advancing clinical trials of MTX110,
like Keytruda, Opdivo and Avastin. Most chemotherapy drugs are, a novel formulation of the drug panobinostat. “It is not useful in
however, dose limited because they are also toxic to healthy cells oral form for treating brain cancers because not enough of the drug
and organs. This is why Midatech Pharma has created a suite of can get to the brain, but MidaSolve makes that possible,” says Stamp.
breakthrough technologies that provide precision targeting “We can deliver effective concentrations directly into the tumour
of medicines to the tumour site. while also minimising its exposure to healthy tissue, providing hope
“Our Q-Sphera micro-technology encapsulates medicine in of improved outcomes for patients with rare brain cancers.”
biodegradable polymer microspheres,” says CEO Stephen Stamp. Many of the latest generation cancer drugs are biologics or
“These can be injected to a specific site in the tumour and monoclonal antibodies. Midatech Pharma recently scored a major
programmed to release their payload over time to destroy a cancer breakthrough by devising a process to encapsulate a monoclonal
from within. And our MidaSolve technology makes inherently antibody in its Q-Sphera technology so that these powerful biologic
insoluble drugs soluble so they can be administered in liquid form products can be delivered as long-acting injectable formulations.
directly into tumours via a pump and catheter system.” These platforms provide clinicians with new, effective ways to
Around 12,000 new brain cancers are diagnosed every year treat cancer. “For patients it means fewer hospital visits, fewer side
in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK, but treating them effects and potentially greater efficacy with higher doses,” says
presents huge problems with drugs unable to pass through the Stamp. “People don’t just want to live for treatment; they want to
blood-brain barrier and reach their target. When it comes to rare live while having treatment. Our technologies help them do that.”
but deadly conditions such as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma www.midatechpharma.com
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Helping patients embrace life

“You really feel like you are making
a difference when you’re able to help
patients and families around the world”
Carsten Thiel, EUSA Pharma
W hen EUSA Pharma was founded, it wasn’t clear that

it would specialise in oncology and rare diseases
right away. But this rapidly growing global pharmaceutical
companies and we don’t want to. We can do a lot with these
medicines that treat rare diseases and there are a lot of people
around the globe who need them.”
company has now found itself driving change in the sector, It is difficult, but fulfilling, and the company is proud
helping patients around the world receive medicines they to be able to help people living with very rare conditions
desperately need so they can lead fulfilling lives. like Castleman disease. Thiel is also proud of the company’s
“We are particularly pleased with the access we have global reach, like when a desperately ill child in China finally
seen to our treatments in the UK,” says EUSA Pharma’s received the treatment he needed. “You really feel like you
CEO, Carsten Thiel. “In 2017, we received European Medicines are making a difference when you’re able to help patients
Agency (EMA) approval for two important treatments: one and families around the world,” he says.
for the treatment of neuroblastoma (a rare cancer in children) Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Hemel Hempstead,
and one for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (a kidney EUSA Pharma has grown from 25 employees to more than 250,
cancer in adults). with offices in the five major European markets and the United
“We subsequently saw quick positive recommendations States. “The bigger we become, the more important our culture
from UK regional authorities to support access for patients. becomes,” says Thiel. “We hire people who want to make
We have developed a reputation as being able to advance a difference and our drive now is to help even more people
niche medicines that require a bit of work to get to regulatory embrace life. We have knocked over a lot of barriers in the
approval and can then take to commercialisation. We don’t last few years, and that drives us even more to keep going.”
have the firepower to compete with the big pharmaceutical www.eusapharma.com
232
Fingerprints of hope
“Many drug developers work within the realms of what they
already know. Accepting that we still have much to learn
enables us to challenge these boundaries and truly discover”
Tiffany Daniels, BiVictriX
W hen Tiffany Daniels was just eight years old, she had
a remarkable teacher who sparked her passion for
science. Suddenly, that teacher disappeared, and days later
private sector to invent a truly revolutionary concept (Bi-Cygni)
to deliver a novel class of highly effective cancer drugs, already
successfully proven in laboratory and animal trials. “Many drug
Daniels heard she had died from acute myeloid leukaemia developers prefer to work within the realms of what they already
(AML). “I associated AML with instant death,” says Daniels. know,” says Daniels. “Accepting that we still have much to learn
Sure enough, for more than 60,000 adults and children enables us to challenge these boundaries and truly discover.”
diagnosed each year worldwide, AML is one of the most BiVictriX plans to take its lead drug through pre-clinical
aggressive forms of leukaemia, and among the hardest to detect. testing in preparation for use in AML patients. With further
For those fortunate to be diagnosed in time, outlook remains funds and more early-stage partnerships, Daniels is optimistic
dismal, with just 5 out of 100 patients aged 65 and over expected the new drug could be expedited to reach patients in just three
to live for five years or more. “I have spent my life fearing this years. “We are working on a potential game-changer in this
disease,” says Daniels, “but I want to change that. I strive to space, and have had lots of interest,” she says.
challenge my fears so that we can collectively fear it no longer.” Only months after founding BiVictriX, Daniels’ father was
And challenge it she has. Daniels’ broad professional diagnosed with AML. This led her to set up the charity Action
experience includes working within the NHS as a clinical AML, raising public awareness of this devastating disease and
immunologist supporting the diagnosis of leukaemias through seeking to improve outcomes through timely diagnosis. “I went
identifying unique “fingerprints” on the surface of the cancer into science to make a difference and improve healthcare,” she
cells, and applying this clinical knowledge to develop more says. “Now I have an opportunity to do just that.”
effective therapies. At 27, Daniels founded the biotech company www.bivictrix.com
BiVictriX, marrying her unique experience from the clinic and www.actionaml.org
233
A picture of health
“We deliver images to the right person at the
right time, allowing decisions to be made about
a patient’s care in the most well-informed way”
Jane Rendall, Sectra
A nyone invested in the delivery of effective healthcare will

recognise that efficiency is crucial. One key development
has been the digitisation of medical imaging, a specialist area
NHS and the private sector, transferring more than 16 million
images every day. Rendall points out that Sectra’s IT solutions
have enabled a much more connected environment. Hospitals
of the technology software provider Sectra. and regions no longer work in isolation and trusts have become
Medical imaging is essentially any image created in the much more focused on collaboration. Sectra also supports
delivery of patient care – a chest X-ray, a photograph or even a population-based healthcare initiatives.
video of surgery. Previously, in an analogue world, only one image “It has become part of the fabric of the diagnostic landscape
would exist, which would be filed away. Collaborative diagnosis within the NHS,” says Rendall. This collaborative approach has
was difficult, images were prone to damage or even loss, and it seen Sectra named best in class by the global healthcare and
was hard to deliver diagnosis in an efficient and co-ordinated way. insights company KLAS for seven years in a row. “Working with
As medical departments and trusts have digitised, they have the NHS is challenging, exciting and incredibly rewarding,” says
become increasingly reliant on solutions such as Sectra’s. “We Rendall. “It’s a market that demonstrates how diagnostics can be
use technologies in a highly integrated way to provide a complete delivered in the future. We want to be a part of that.”
patient history and context,” says Jane Rendall, Sectra UK’s Formed in Sweden’s Linköping University in 1978, the
Managing Director. “Our systems allow images to be managed company entered the UK market around 15 years ago and is
more effectively than before. We deliver images to the right now the number-one provider of medical imaging IT systems.
person at the right time, accurately and in full, allowing decisions “We can’t compete with the big corporates,” says Rendall.
to be made about a patient’s care in the most well-informed way.” “So we offer something different – flexibility and agility, both
Sectra’s platforms enable the communication of medical technically and financially. And partnership. Real partnership.”
images between more than 300 healthcare organisations in the www.sectra.com
234
The air essentials

“International development came with an
environmental toll, but U-Earth has found solutions
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions”
Betta Maggio, U-Earth
B ased on and inspired by the extraordinary qualities of

nature and its ability to heal itself, U-Earth’s biotech air
purification systems have been created to have a positive impact
U-Earth’s Pure Air Zone concept is becoming a must-have
system for businesses. It allows them to measure the air quality of
their space in real-time and promote these clean-air statistics to
on the world. “At U-Earth, we want to improve the lives of customers and clients, creating a global community. “When you
everyone,” says its founder Betta Maggio, who believes that just enter a Pure Air Zone and start to breathe and taste the flavour of
as clean water is a fundamental right, clean air should be, too. clean air – which is very specific – your brain learns to differentiate
“The combined effects of outdoor and household air pollution the good stuff from the bad,” says Maggio. “This genuine sensory
cause about seven million premature deaths every year response is our greatest marketing tool.” Used across a broad range
worldwide,” she says. “This urgently needs to change.” of sectors from hospitals and schools to hospitality, retail and
To execute her vision, Maggio’s team has built a wide range multi-national companies, the Pure Air Zone is creating safer,
of air purifiers that protect people from pollutants and upload cleaner air wherever it goes, setting new standards for industries.
the data for further analysis. “These bioreactors have biomass Now based in London, after initially being founded in Italy
inside, which captures and destroys airborne contaminants, – where Maggio’s uncle, a scientist, developed the basis of this
leaving no harmful waste,” she says. The company also produces technology 40 years ago – U-Earth is optimistically looking
antigen test kits, a range of masks and shields that eradicate to the future. “U-Earth can offer a tangible tool to help fix a
bacteria and viruses, and it has several other biotech projects problem that is literally killing people,” says Maggio. “But the
in the pipeline. “Unfortunately, international growth and real heroes are those who want to change the world. Our mission
development came with an environmental toll, and we can’t turn – and our vision – is to make their lives easier by giving them
back the clock, but U-Earth has found sustainable solutions the means to do so.”
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Maggio. www.u-earth.eu
235
Ahead of the curve

“Such a simple procedure means someone can return
to a functioning, fulfilling lifestyle when before they
struggled to walk to the corner shop”
Nick Yeo, Veryan Medical
F or many of us, leg aches and pains are something we simply

put down to getting on in years. In fact, in the UK, for one
in five people aged over 60, the problem is caused by peripheral
progressive helix running through it, that promises to
keep an artery open for much longer than standard treatment.
A pharmacist by training, Yeo is excited by the positive clinical
arterial disease, where arterial wall deposits reduce blood supply. outcomes of his company’s device.
Even with lifestyle changes and medication this condition can “Such a simple procedure means someone can return to a
lead to mobility problems and even amputation. The good functioning, fulfilling lifestyle when before they struggled to walk
news is that, in most cases, it is remarkably simple to treat. to the corner shop,” he says. “For some it can prevent the disease
Previously, the solution has been to insert a straight stent progressing to the point where a more invasive intervention
into the artery of the leg to open the vessel, allowing blood might have been required, possibly even amputation.”
to flow once again. However, this treatment brings its own Around 7,500 patients across the UK and Europe are already
challenges and follow-up procedures are often required. enjoying the benefits of Veryan’s BioMimics 3D stent, and FDA
Now, Veryan Medical has pioneered a brand-new scaffold, approval means the device has recently been launched in the
inspired by the decades-old research of Imperial College’s US, following the company’s acquisition by Otsuka Medical
Emeritus Professor Colin Caro into the mechanics of blood Devices, a subsidiary of the global Tokyo-based Otsuka group.
flow. “He noted that most of our arteries are naturally curved, Veryan can now expand its product range and reach
creating swirling blood flow which provides a vital contribution patients in a worldwide market. “With really credible science
to a healthy vessel wall,” explains Veryan’s CEO Nick Yeo. and brilliant engineers, you can do something special,” says
“Thirty years ago, he predicted exactly what we found in our Yeo. “To go from an idea in Professor Caro’s mind to a global
own clinical studies.” Veryan Medical has spent a decade business, that will be quite an impressive journey.”
developing a stent unique in its curved shape, with a www.veryanmed.com
236
Smiles ahead
“We can provide access to care that so many people might not
otherwise be able to afford. For some, whose teeth have bothered
them throughout their lives, this can be literally life-changing”
David Cran, SmileDirectClub
“
O ur mission is to democratise access to the smile a customer
wants by making it safe, affordable, accessible and
convenient,” says David Cran, Vice President for the UK, Ireland
prescribe and monitor the customer throughout their journey,
even after the initial treatment finishes.”
Innovation is at the heart of the company’s ethos. Its latest
and Iberia at SmileDirectClub, the first direct-to-consumer trademarked technological development, ComfortSense, allows
telehealth platform in the world. the teeth to be straightened more gradually, giving customers a
In the seven years since it was founded in the US, the much more comfortable experience than with traditional braces.
orthodontics pioneer – originally the idea of two friends at summer SmileDirectClub has just launched the SmileBus: a mobile
camp – has delivered on this mission, helping to transform the shop that is touring the UK, stopping off for four days in areas not
smiles of more than a million customers using clear, invisible currently served by SmileShops. In the US, a partner network will
aligners, at up to 60 per cent less than braces (£1,539, instead of up allow potential customers to start treatment with SmileDirectClub
to £8,000). SmileDirectClub now operates in 13 countries. Its UK from their own dentist’s chair: a service soon to be rolled out
arm, which launched in 2019, offers not just a digital model, with throughout Europe.
impression kits sent out to customers’ homes, but also bricks-and- Like any disruptor, SmileDirectClub has faced opposition from
mortar SmileShops, where customers can have a 3D scan of their traditionalists. “We’ve created disruption within the industry,” says
teeth and gums. Cran. “But the more forward-looking orthodontists and dentists have
“We provide a dentist-directed experience, with 24/7 access embraced us, and will partner with us and work with us. We can
to professional orthodontic care and the backing of a ‘smile provide access to care that so many people might not otherwise be
guarantee’,” explains Cran. “Our customers can straighten their able to afford. For some, whose teeth have bothered them throughout
teeth in as little as four to six months, without costly and their lives, this can be literally life-changing.”
inconvenient dental visits. Registered dentists and orthodontists smiledirectclub.co.uk
237
A steadying hand
“For others, it’s debilitating, taking away one’s
ability to perform basic tasks such as pouring
a glass of water or writing one’s own name”
Dr Faii Ong, GyroGear
I n 2014, Dr Faii Ong was caring for a 103-year-old woman

whose hands were so tremulous she couldn’t feed herself
without spilling food. When he asked the nurses why something
and Nepal to working on stem cells and medical devices at
Harvard and MIT, and shadowing the face transplant unit at
Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. But it was in London
wasn’t being done, they replied, “She’s 103, has severe dementia, where his idea came to fruition: a glove to drastically reduce
and her medication no longer works. What else can we do?” severe hand tremors.
Not one to take no for an answer, Dr Ong set his mind to work. The GyroGlove is built with technology that dates back
Essential tremor is almost a forgotten disease, barely to our earliest civilisations – the gyroscope. This spinning disc
mentioned in medical school, if at all. As such, Dr Ong never that preserves its own motion and actively resists external forces
expected to discover nearly 200 million people suffering from has been honed by a team of engineers, clinicians and experts
this ever-progressing, lifelong condition. While tremors can in musculoskeletal biodynamics. When worn by a tremulous
be hereditary and are often exacerbated by anxiety, caffeine or hand, the GyroGlove counteracts the unwanted shaking
activity, the mechanism behind them has yet to be elucidated. instantaneously and proportionally.
“For some, the tremors are slight,” says Ong. “For others, While the concept is simple, the GyroGlove has undergone
it’s debilitating, taking away one’s ability to perform basic tasks multiple iterations, from wrapping elastic bands around a hand
such as pouring a glass of water or writing one’s own name. to building an exoskeleton suit. “In one’s younger years, one tends
Medication yields varying degrees of success. Yet no amount to be captivated by complexity and intricacy, yet such complexity
of medication can restore one’s self-worth or salve the associated is often the antithesis of success,” says Ong. The GyroGlove is
stigma. I simply sought to do right by that centenarian.” now in clinical trials, and Ong and his team have a chance to
Born in Singapore, Dr Ong has spent his career helping improve the lives of millions through good, old-fashioned physics.
others across the globe, from humanitarian projects in India www.gyrogear.co
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Final flourish
“We are lucky to live in a society of choice and
this should follow right through to end-of-life care
to ensure that residents live their fullest life”
Melissa Magee, Carless + Adams
C onversations around end-of-life care are never easy.

The thought of a loved one entering an institution is
sometimes too hard to acknowledge, but it’s a difficulty that
“It’s easy for the care sector to get stale, so we prefer to work
with clients that are looking to challenge the sector. Working
tirelessly to make care homes a choice move, eradicating the
architectural practice Carless + Adams is working hard to institutional misconception. We are lucky to live in a society
eradicate. Owner Melissa Magee believes that the duty of of choice and this should follow right through to end-of-life
Carless + Adams, as a specialist in the care sector, is to ensure care to ensure that residents can live their fullest life.”
that care homes put the needs of their residents front and centre. This means leading the care market as it strives to become
“What we’re trying to do is make the homes enablers for more sustainable, using eco-friendly technologies and ensuring
one’s final days,” she explains. “This means making these places that heating and water usage is as efficient as possible. It is
more comfortable and high-end by making the facilities less just one example of how Carless + Adams is pushing the sector
institutional. You might, for instance, need a small shop, forward. Whether that be at Harpwood House in Sevenoaks,
a postbox, and a therapy and treatment room for a local dentist Kent (a project that enables its ageing residents to live an
and chiropodist.” independent and fulfilled life on site), or the redevelopment
Established in 1952 as an architectural practice, of existing sites, Carless + Adams recognises that high-quality
Carless + Adams has, for the last 15 years, worked solely in care matters.
the care sector, covering all architectural commissions. Today “As a young trainee architect I didn’t plan to work in the
it works with around 15 per cent of all operators in the care care sector,” says Magee. “But, having seen the difference
sector across the UK, taking a site from concept through to providing well-considered homes makes to people, I wouldn’t
the handing over of the keys. Innovation is at the heart of this leave the sector now if you paid me.”
process. “Every one of our designs is bespoke,” says Magee. www.carless-adams.co.uk
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Care with a difference

“At the heart of Bright Horizons are our practitioners and
the real, personal connections they establish with children,
families, clients and each other, delivering exceptional care”
Ros Marshall, Bright Horizons
“
W e truly understand parents and are uniquely positioned to
support both families and employers,” says Ros Marshall,
Managing Director at care and education company Bright Horizons.
exceptional care, education and family advice and guidance.
Each nursery reflects its local community, establishing
a true partnership with parents by prioritising what matters to
“Not only do we provide inspirational early years education and them; they blend corporate strength with individual relationships.”
childcare, we also support parents by fulfilling the educational The company has recently rolled out a new curriculum, Bright
aspirations they have for their children, and help employers to Beginnings, developed by its specialist in-house education experts,
attract and retain employees by providing innovative family benefits which enhances children’s learning and development opportunities,
that enable them to balance their work and life commitments.” and is underpinned by the latest research into children’s wellbeing.
Established 35 years ago in the US, Bright Horizons is now Bright Horizons also offers its staff a wide range of career
the UK’s leading childcare provider, with a portfolio of over -development opportunities, from entry-level apprenticeships to
300 nurseries, and caring for around 20,000 children every year. MBAs. It is working to support the removal of gender stereotypes,
The nurseries, both community and employer-sponsored, are which will in turn contribute to narrowing the gender pay gap.
complemented by a wide range of work and family services This focus is not only in the workplace but in wider society –
designed to support employers with their employee retention including from the very start with the nursery children.
and reward strategies. Client solutions include emergency and “We’re in a privileged position of helping to nurture children’s
holiday back-up care for dependants of all ages, workplace development from three months old, and also supporting their
nursery places, coaching and an innovative parental-leave toolkit. parents,” says Marshall. “We can be instrumental in shaping a better
“At the heart of Bright Horizons,” says Marshall, “are our future for our children, by encouraging each child to be confident
practitioners and the real, personal connections they establish and develop their self-esteem in order to reach their own potential.”
every day with children, families, clients, and each other, delivering www.brighthorizons.co.uk
240
Gut health made simple

“The public is getting more in tune with their overall health,
and interest in gut health is continually on the upswing”
Per Rehné, Clasado Biosciences
G ut health is an ever-shifting field. As we learn more about

key areas of our wellbeing such as mental health and the
immune system, many are finding the trillions of organisms that
company has flourished in a competitive field. Bimuno is found
across the globe in a range of functional food and supplement
brands, as well as the company’s own range of finished consumer
reside in our gut a great place to start. “Bacteria in our gut can products. Rehné credits Bimuno’s versatility for its success, as
do more than just aid digestion,” explains Per Rehné, CEO of well as the science behind it. “Consumers demand authenticity
Clasado Biosciences. “They have a key role in many other areas and transparency in health products,” he says.
of the body too.” Initially, the focus of Clasado was to “let the scientific
Clasado, a leading bio-technology innovator in the field strength of the product do the talking”. Today, Clasado is
of galactooligosaccharide (GOS) technology, collaborated on a commercial and market-driven organisation that builds
a research programme at the University of Reading in 2004. on strong science and technology. Meanwhile, the expanding
It sought to influence the gut microbiome by nourishing a market has demanded constant vigilance in adherence to
type of beneficial bacteria, bifidobacteria. sports anti-doping requirements, as well as needs from
Out of this research came a unique composition that, in consumers with special diets.
2007, Clasado developed into its prebiotic ingredient, which During Clasado’s 16 years of growth, however, the
has been trademarked as Bimuno. This is now supplied to company’s mission has always remained “improving human
customers across the globe from the company’s headquarters health”. “Our vision is to continue being a leader in prebiotic
in Reading, and its subsidiary in the US. science,” Rehné explains. “We continue turning research into
“The public is getting more in tune with their overall health, products and ingredients that benefit the consumer. That was
and interest in gut health is continually on the upswing,” says the driving force in 2004, and it still powers us forward today.”
Rehné. Clasado’s focus on this area of wellness means the www.clasado.com
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242
CHAPTER EIGHT
EDUCATION
& CREATIVE
MINDS
243
Educating the nation

The Department for Education may have changed name,
form and remit over the years, but education remains
a crucial and contentious area of government
There is a long and rich history of UK government

departments devoted to education issues. In its first incarnation,
established in 1839, this was called the Committee of the Privy
Council on Education. Since then, name, form and remit has
shifted from time to time, taking in Education and Science, for
example, from 1964–92; adding employment to its portfolio to
become the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)
between 1995 and 2001; and then rebranded as the Department
for Education and Skills (2001–07) and the Department for
Children, Schools and Families (2007–10).
The Department for Education (DfE), in its current form, has
existed since 12 May 2010. It is responsible for education and
children’s services for those aged three to 19 in England, while
also supporting professionals working with these young people.
Education in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales is delivered
by different bodies in each respective region. The Secretary of
State for Education is not considered one of the “big” positions
in government, but it is a high-profile role that has been
occupied by many leading names on both sides of the House –
as well as Williams and Crosland, these have included Rab
Butler, Margaret Thatcher, Keith Joseph, Kenneth Baker,
Kenneth Clarke, David Blunkett, Ed Balls and Michael Gove.
Education secretaries tend to focus either on structural
reform (like Blunkett) or changes to education content (like
Baker). Gove, who occupied the role from 2010–14, attempted
o
Above
Gavin Williamson took
P olicies and practices around education can always be relied
upon to spark debate. Most people have an opinion about the
subject, and the reason for this is simple: it is something we have
both. He famously described the educational establishment –
the unions, teacher training colleges and local authorities – as
“the blob” and made it his aim to destroy their influence on the
over as Education all experienced – both in having gone to school ourselves, and, system. He also introduced the “phonics check” into schools,
Secretary in July 2019 usually, in seeing children we know attend. One former education ensuring that children were taught to read by breaking down
secretary, Shirley Williams, remembers the feverish debates about words into “synthetic phonics” – something that had been
o schools policy that would take place when she was deputy to her common for decades but not rigorously implemented by
Opposite predecessor as education secretary, Anthony Crosland, in the government policy. Another less publicised achievement was
Former Education mid-1960s. “On Saturday evening, the regular nights for our opening up the National Pupil Database, allowing researchers
Secretary Shirley ‘brains trust’, either side of the sacrosanct Match Of The Day, to access details of the educational achievements of every single
Williams pictured at we would discuss comprehensive schools, tertiary and sixth-form child in education in England – something that could have
the opening of a school colleges, and how to integrate the state system and the public far-reaching consequences for research on the links between
in Manchester, 1967 schools,” she recalls in her 2009 autobiography. “The abolition poverty, disadvantage and educational achievement. “Education
of the eleven-plus examination, under which less than allows individuals to choose a fulfilling job, to shape the society
a quarter of the nation’s children were selected for a grammar around them, to enrich their inner life,” said Gove in 2010.
school education, was our guiding star.” “It allows us all to become authors of our own life stories.”
244
EDUCATION AND CREATIVE MINDS
Although not without controversy, the English National

Curriculum is usually presented as a tool for achieving such parity “Education allows
of opportunity. First introduced in 1987 by Kenneth Baker, it is
a guideline outlining teaching requirements, set by government. individuals to choose a
Most state schools are currently required to follow every area of
this, although greater flexibility is extended to state-funded schools
that exist outside local authority control, such as academies.
fulfilling job, to shape the
A new “slimmed down” version of the National Curriculum
was introduced in England in 2014, promoting traditional, society around them, to
knowledge-based teaching, such as spelling in English, times
tables in maths, and a chronological study of history. Emerging enrich their inner life”
subject areas were also introduced, including computer coding.
“Every parent wants to know their child is getting a great
education,” says current Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson,
“and I will leave no stone unturned in my drive to deliver that.”
www.education.gov.uk
245
Power to the people

“If you go to any private or government entity you’ll often find
that their leaders are alumni of Tshwane University of Technology.
These people influence government and industry”
Stanley Mukhola, Tshwane University of Technology
F or 15 years Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has

been providing opportunities to some of South Africa’s
poorest students, empowering them to build better lives, not
ranked ninth in South Africa in the Sunday Times Higher
Education World Rankings 2019 and it offers more than
400 career-focused qualifications across seven faculties
only for themselves but also for those around them. “We call ranging from engineering to business to the arts.
ourselves ‘the people’s university’ because TUT gives access A number of TUT’s departments have become nationally
and opportunity to financially needy students,” says Professor and even internationally renowned. Its Department of
Stanley Mukhola, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching, Fashion Design and Technology is ranked among the world’s
Learning and Technology. “Almost 90 per cent of our students top 50 training fashion design departments and its Motion
get financial assistance from the government to study here, Picture Academy, known as the Pretoria Film School, is the
and when they complete their studies they go out and make oldest training institution for filmmakers in South Africa.
a huge contribution to their communities.” In addition, the university’s Department of Journalism is
TUT was established in 2004 through the merger of three ranked by UNESCO as a Centre of Excellence. TUT also
former institutions – Pretoria Technikon, Technikon Northern boasts South Africa’s largest engineering faculty, with around
Gauteng and Technikon North West. A new identity was created 10,000 students, and the first Information Technology Banking
for the university during the merger, along with its tagline: Learnership Programme to be registered in South Africa.
“We empower people”. Today, the university has six campuses This aims to meet an urgent need for skilled workers in IT
across the provinces of Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and banking.
with two additional learning sites in Cape Town and Durban. Over the past few years, the university has focused on
Around 65,000 students are enrolled at the university and some ensuring that every one of its professors and lecturers is fully
2,000 of these are international students. trained to facilitate effective learning. As a result, close to 80 per
The majority of TUT’s students receive funding through cent of students now successfully graduate. And when they leave
South Africa’s National Student Financial Aid Scheme. TUT, these students go on to make a significant impact in their
“These are young people coming from the poorest of the chosen field. “If you go to any private or government entity
poor,” says Professor Mukhola. While their beginnings may and check who its leaders are, often you’ll find they are alumni
be humble, however, on joining TUT these students gain access from TUT,” says Professor Mukhola. “These are the people who
to an internationally recognized education. The university was influence government and industry.”
246
247
248
“Our young people

don’t aim to only
achieve academically,
they achieve in every
sphere of life”
Professor Mukhola adds that TUT students don’t just Africa and Climate Change and Disaster Management.
go out and look for employment, they create employment for There are 11 research chairs at the university and around
themselves and for others. There is a strong entrepreneurial 49 NRF-rated researchers – the NRF (National Research
focus at TUT, boosted by its Centre for Entrepreneurship Federation) is a national ranking system that recognises South
Development. “Our students are innovative because innovation Africa’s leading researchers. “These are top researchers,” says
is an area that we embrace at the university,” says Professor Professor Mukhola. “Every university wants them. So we are
Mukhola, citing as an example a solar car that was developed very proud to have them as they are the ones who put our
at TUT and went on to take third place in an international university at a high level in terms of research.”
solar car race. “We say, come with your ideas, develop them While academic excellence is a primary goal, the university
here and we will help you to commercialize them.” is committed to nurturing well-rounded students through a
Research and innovation that will benefit communities and vibrant and varied programme of extracurricular activities.
improve lives is a priority for TUT. The university’s Faculty of Clubs and societies range from the cultural to the spiritual and
Engineering and the Built Environment and Faculty of Science sports plays an important role. Both the men and women’s
have contributed groundbreaking work to SafeWaterAfrica. football teams have been crowned champions of South Africa’s
This major project was launched in 2017 by a consortium of annual Varsity Football tournament for the past three and
international bodies to address the major challenge of water five years, respectively, and a number of TUT’s students
scarcity and quality in African countries. participated in the 2018 Olympics. “Our young people don’t
The university also has a number of Centres of Excellence, aim to only achieve academically, they achieve in every sphere
Institutes, Technology, Stations and Incubators (CITSIs). of life,” says Professor Mukhola.
These promote research, innovation, partnerships and Looking to the future, TUT’s Institutional Strategic Plan
community engagement with the aim of addressing complex for 2020–2025 aims to build on the university’s commitment to
problems in order to serve local, national and international harnessing its knowledge and resources to respond to national
needs. The CITSIs include the Centre for Tissue Engineering and international needs. Many of its graduates have come
– South Africa’s first skin bank – and the Centre for from the most disadvantaged of backgrounds but, empowered
Environmental Health. by the opportunities provided by TUT, they are going on to
Alongside the CITSIs are TUT’s 13 niche research and build a better future for all.
innovation areas, including Appropriate Architecture for www.tut.ac.za
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250
Page turner
“By giving kids the chance to read books in weekly
instalments – like watching series on Netflix – we can
change how they feel about reading”
Cristina Puig, Fiction Express
“
F iction Express is the Netflix of reading,” says Cristina Puig,
co-founder of the Barcelona and London-based educational
publishing company, which she runs with CEO Sven Huber.
campaigns. The publisher’s contribution to literacy has been
recognised, making it the winner of several prizes, including
a prestigious 2020 Bett Award, a 2019 Teach Primary Award
By combining bespoke, serialised fiction crafted by top authors and a 2021 Education Resources Award.
with an innovative technological platform and reader Completed books remain on the platform, forming a growing
interaction, the company has introduced a highly successful digital library, and there are now more than 200 books available
new model of reading for pleasure to children across the world. to readers. Rights may be sold to other publishers to be printed
“Children today get bored very easily and have short attention in a more traditional model, and Fiction Express has also
spans,” explains Puig. “But by giving them the chance to read launched a print-on-demand model in 2021. The publisher,
books in short chapters in weekly instalments – in the same way which says that it is “bringing the English language to the
that they watch series on Netflix – we can change the way they world”, plans to have a presence in 50 countries by 2024.
feel about reading.” “Fiction Express is good for children because it helps them
Puig and Huber, who both have backgrounds as entrepreneurs to feel part of the story,” says Huber. “Reading shouldn’t be
and leaders in technology and publishing, initially founded Spanish something passive. By becoming involved with the creative
company Boolino in 2011, with the goal of boosting children’s process, children read a story with much more interest, and they
reading habits. Five years later, they took over the fledgling Fiction then go on to read far more books. The result is a much-needed
Express, founded by Paul Humphrey, which was then a very small skill for the future: better literacy.”
UK business. They relaunched it in 2017, turning it into a successful www.fictionexpress.com
global enterprise, which now reaches over 150,000 children in
25 countries, and operates in three different languages: English,
Spanish and Catalan.
“Reading plays a central part in a child’s education, and
in preparing them for life after school,” says Huber. “It helps
children develop emotionally, socially, intellectually and
culturally. But children’s interest in reading, as a habit, is going
down worldwide. Between 20 to 40 per cent of children do not
read for pleasure, and round-the-clock access to technology
— in the form of phones, screens, tablets and gaming — is one
of the main reasons. The beauty of Fiction Express is in how
we bring reading to 21st-century pupils using technology, and
by changing the way we publish content. Rather than the usual
linear system, our approach is interactive and puts young
people at the centre of the creative process.”
The process begins with the commissioning of an established
author to write the first chapter of a short novel. Readers are
then given three options for the continuation of the story,
and vote online for their choice. Based on the result, the author
writes the following chapters in weekly instalments. Readers take
part in quizzes and perform comprehension exercises, and can
communicate with authors via an online forum.
Fiction Express produces 18 new live books per language
each academic year, with three stories at three different reading
levels produced every half term. All stories, teaching materials
and worksheets are mapped to the UK curriculum, and the
platform is marketed to schools via exhibitions and online
251
High achievers
“We are celebrating the start of a new, transformative journey.
The purpose-built school marks what we believe to be the
biggest UK investment in girls’ education in decades”
Richard Nicholson, King’s High, Warwick
I n addition to being one of the UK’s top independent girls’

schools, King’s High, Warwick is celebrating the opening of
its new school. The new buildings have been sympathetically
The new school is part of a broader development, “Project
One Campus”, which offers enhanced facilities for all pupils in the
Warwick Independent Schools Foundation. These include a shared
designed within a pedestrian-friendly campus and provide a Sixth Form Centre for King’s High and Warwick School, a new
stunning home for King’s High girls – one that it shares with all-weather rugby pitch, enhanced play space for Warwick Prep
its foundation partner schools. pupils and new landscaping, forming beautiful, traffic-free quads.
“We are celebrating the start of a new, transformative “King’s High girls enjoy the best of both worlds,” says
journey,” says Head Master Richard Nicholson. “The spectacular, Nicholson. “The foundation combines single-sex education
purpose-built school marks what we believe to be the biggest from Year 7 and a shared Sixth Form Centre with the boys from
UK investment in girls’ education in decades.” Warwick School for shared co-curricular and social activities.”
The new school includes a main building with 10 science The school has been educating girls for 140 years, and remains
labs, an innovation centre, a school hall, a spacious green at the forefront of girls’ education, being named 2019’s best West
quad and two professional-level drama studios. A sports and Midlands Independent Secondary School in The Sunday Times.
technology “wrap-around” has been built onto the existing Its latest A level results were once again outstanding, with some
sports centre, along with a gym, a fitness suite and four 87 per cent achieving A*–B. This, however, is only part of the
additional netball and tennis courts. As well as a purpose- King’s High story. With well over 100 activities a week, the breadth
built, high-tech School of Music for Warwick Prep and King’s and depth of the girls’ interests and successes is exceptional.
High, including practice rooms and performance spaces, there “There is much to celebrate,” says Nicholson. “We are proud
is a food room, two design technology labs and five art rooms, of what every girl achieves, both in her time at school and beyond.”
including specialist facilities for print and ceramics. www.kingshighwarwick.co.uk
252
Teaching business responsibly

“What I want us to do is become known as the school for
responsible leadership and one which is harmonising its teaching,
research and community engagement through that lens”
Chris Marshall, University of Bedfordshire Business School
T he word of business is changing. And, as companies that

demonstrate responsible and authentic leadership become
increasingly attractive to both customers and employees, the
their employees, and can therefore make a significant difference to
the local community. The school is also creating short-term courses
to focus on post-pandemic issues of start-up, growth and survival.
education received by future business leaders needs to similarly “We are looking at digital and logistics, revising and innovating
evolve. That’s why Chris Marshall, Dean of the University of around what our businesses want and helping them with come out
Bedfordshire Business School, views his entire curriculum of the current crisis,” says Marshall. “We are now growing our aspects
business education through the lens of responsible leadership of leadership and innovation. We embrace entrepreneurship and
and sustainable business practices. embed it into our post-grad and MBA provision and are working
“There is an alignment in producing future leaders of with other faculties to see where the business school can contribute.”
business who will be the future leaders of society,” he says. The shift in focus to responsible leadership came as a result of
“What I want us to do is become known as the school for business schools more widely embracing the UN’s Sustainability
responsible leadership and one which is harmonising its Development Goals as well as reacting to the 2008 financial crisis,
teaching, research and community engagement through that which saw people raise questions regarding the sort of ethics
lens. That’s something the students can appreciate and it’s entrepreneurs and business leaders were bringing into business
something the staff can really work towards with pride.” following their education at business school. “We have developed
Marshall believes that this is particularly important in their this focus in business ethics alongside marketing, finance and
ethnically diverse location of Luton and Bedford, where the school everything else we teach,” says Marshall. “I felt we could be more
often finds itself teaching people who work at (or are hoping to definitive about this and be proud to say what we stand for and
start) small and medium-sized enterprises. These are the sorts of what we do.”
business that are more engaged with their neighbours and with www.beds.ac.uk
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254
Schooled in
innovation
“The role of a school in transferring knowledge
will soon be a thing of the past. Young people can
use other sources to learn and develop their skills”
Anne Tham, Sri Emas & Dwi Emas International Schools
M alaysia’s Dwi Emas and Sri Emas International Schools

are both firmly established at the forefront of educational
innovation, with their passion for enthusing and engaging pupils
emphasis on active learning, and an underlying commitment
to provide a rich educational experience and environment for
pupils, Dwi Emas and Sri Emas have challenged the traditional
combined with a creative approach to delivering the Cambridge “bell curve” of academic performance – which regards only 16
IGCSE curriculum. But, for founder Anne Tham, the next per cent of students as “high performers” – by motivating more
chapter in their story will be one that challenges conventional students to improve.
attitudes to education and the traditional concept of schooling. While enabling children to reach their true potential is a key
“Right now, everybody is looking to the future of education,” element of the curriculum, Tham believes the skills they acquire
says Tham. “The role of a school in transferring knowledge will are just as important as academic achievement. “To get kids
soon be a thing of the past – that change is already evident at future-ready, we need to focus on the skills of the future,” says
tertiary level. Children and young people can use other sources Tham. “Skills that are now known as ‘power skills’ – creativity,
rather than school or university to learn and develop their skills. empathy, collaboration – are not ‘soft skills’, they are essential.
We’ve realised this, and others have too, which is why we now “Alongside the intelligence quotient, IQ, and emotional
focus on the transference of behaviour.” quotient, EQ, children need to develop their curiosity quotient
Tham is Group CEO of ACE EdVenture, which runs the Sri – the desire to learn – and their cultural quotient – a greater
Emas School in Petaling Jaya, as well as its sister school, Dwi awareness of one’s own culture and the culture of others,” she
Emas (in Shah Alam, just west of Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia’s adds. “And then there’s the adaptive quotient, which enables
first entrepreneurial school. For 25 years she has focused on young people to be aware of the changing landscape. We live in a
transforming education, re-energising teaching and engaging world where jobs can disappear shockingly quickly, so we need to
students of all abilities by using approaches to learning that train people to be adaptive and willing to embrace uncertainty.”
stimulate children’s interest. As a result, ACE EdVenture has built Tham is also an admirer of the educational philosophy
an enviable reputation for breaking down the usual boundaries pioneered by British academic Anthony Seldon. “Seldon said
of education. Their schools’ cross-subject learning, for instance, that students need to be taught to become more fully human,
explores the science in art – such as studying the Kinetic Rain but the current system teaches our young to become more
sculpture at Singapore Changi Airport or considering the physics like machines,” she says. “If schools and educators don’t do
of hip-hop choreography. Teachers constantly strive to inspire something to change soon, they will no longer be seen as
students in exciting ways, with innovations including relevant to the working world.” Once again, ACE EdVenture’s
ChemCaper, the world’s first chemistry-based role-playing game. two international schools and their students find themselves
Much of this takes place away from the classroom, with at the cutting edge of educational development.
normally extracurricular activities including sport and arts given www.sriemas.edu.my
a high profile as core parts of a regular school day. With the www.dwiemas.edu.my
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Croatian theory
“New careers are appearing while other jobs
disappear. It’s up to us to prepare students with
the skills and knowledge for a better tomorrow”
Tino Sven Časl, British International School of Zagreb
T he British International School of Zagreb (BISZ) prides

itself on making strides in education. The school’s student
diversity, high academic and sporting standards and first-rate
“We want our students to grow academically,” continues
Časl, “but also to become confident and curious and strive
for life goals. Sport has always been an important part of the
facilities keep on evolving and improving. curriculum too, giving students the opportunity to socialise,
BISZ is built on a strong sense of family: no surprise, given to act as part of a team, to respond to pressure; and also to see
that its founder and Principal, Martin-Tino Časl, opened his that they can fall today and stand again tomorrow.”
first school in Croatia in 1995 partly to educate his own son, BISZ welcomes students aged between 3 and 18 from more
Tino Sven Časl. “My father was a very forward-thinking than 50 countries, many of them the children of international
educator and I was his first customer!” says Časl, himself diplomats and business leaders. A highly trained teaching
now the school’s Director. staff combines with first-rate facilities to maintain the school’s
Having grown his private elementary school into a high academic and sporting achievements.
school, Časl senior launched BISZ in 2013, the year Croatia joined BISZ is keen to keep evolving. It recently opened a new
the European Union. It offered a British curriculum and a fresh boarding facility offering hotel-style accommodation to
educational approach to Croatian and international students. 150 students. But key to its ongoing success is its desire to
“We are a family business,” says Časl, “and that sense of family adapt and innovate its educational offering into the future.
includes the school community. A founding philosophy for the “The world is changing unbelievably quickly,” says Časl.
first school 25 years ago was that it should be a place of pleasure, “New careers are appearing while other jobs disappear.
where teachers, students and parents collaborate to achieve the It’s up to us to prepare students with the skills and knowledge
best possible academic results and a high standard of social and for a better tomorrow.”
emotional development. That’s just as important now as it was then. www.britishschool.hr
256
The appliances of science

“We develop products on a basis of trial and experimentation.
We pick out the best ideas – ones that kids, parents and
teachers might enjoy”
Joseph Birks, Mindsets
“
I t always begins with an idea,” says Joseph Birks, Managing
Director of Mindsets. “In this company, we are all creators
and innovators. It means we have an inexhaustible list of ideas.”
Baird’s Televisor, to real-world problem-solving seismometer kits
that can measure and detect earthquakes as far away as Japan.
By far the company’s biggest product is the Crumble
This emphasis on innovation is at the heart of the not-for- Controller, which stems from an idea that Birks had as a student
profit organisation, which designs and manufactures gadgets himself at school, and later developed into a product at Redfern
and materials for STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) Electronics, a company he founded and which now effectively
education. The company was the vision of Professor John Cave, operates as one with Mindsets to pool their resources for
who founded it at Middlesex University in the early 1990s to maximum impact. “We had a brilliant teacher at A-level who
provide innovative, low-cost resources for teaching. encouraged us to tinker and experiment in class,” he says.
“Professor Cave changed the way people think about education,” “I won an award for a microcontroller programming system that
says Birks. “Things like smart materials were written into the I designed, and I later continued to develop it – designing a few
curriculum because of what he was doing at that time. Inspired bits and pieces that eventually built up into the Crumble.”
by him, we develop products on a basis of trial and experimentation. The aim was to create something that would allow teachers
We pick out the best ideas – ones that kids, parents and teachers who were non-specialists to expose their students to high-tech
might enjoy – and try them out in small batches to see if they electronics, enabling them to programme and play around with
work. We manufacture in-house using our own electronics the kit. “We want people to try it for themselves, not just build
production line, laser cutters and 3D printers, which gives us the stuff out of the box,” says Birks. “The Crumble Controller is
freedom and flexibility to experiment with new ideas.” This has great for that because it’s open ended: some experiments will
led to a rich and varied catalogue of products, from a working work, some won’t, and that’s all part of the fun.”
model of an early mechanical television, based on John Logie www.mindsetsonline.co.uk
257
Creative thinking
“We’re about making technology accessible to everybody,
regardless of finance and privilege. We want to make sure
people of all ages can access technology”
Paul Croft, CREATE Education
S peak to any teacher and they’ll tell you that success in

education takes on many forms. However, critical to any
form of attainment is engagement. If children’s interest isn’t
explains, the collaborative platform is designed to provide
free support to introduce and embed 3D-printing technology
into the classroom. This includes professional development
piqued in a subject, success can be harder to achieve. and lesson resources and training workshops, as well as
Paul Croft knew this from early on. His parents were both a 3D printer loan scheme and access to a wider community
teachers and his father would speak proudly of watching children’s of educators.
eyes flicker with interest when confronted with new topics. “We’re about making technology accessible to everybody,
When he saw a 3D printer for the first time in 2013, he knew regardless of finance and privilege,” he says. “We want to
this technology would be key in the classrooms of the future. make sure people of all ages, including life-long learners, can
“I instinctively felt this was a once-in-a-generation opportunity access not only the knowledge from people that are using the
to put that engagement back into the classroom with millennials technology but also have their questions answered so they
and Generation Z-ers – the digital natives,” he says. “To switch can attack it with confidence.”
these people back on.” The potential of 3D printing – essentially 3D printing is a cross-curricular technology. It can be
a process for making a physical object from a three-dimensional used for printing molecules for assembly in biology or
digital model – to have a transformative effect persuaded Croft tackling topography in geography so that students can learn
and his business partner to establish CREATE Education in the lie of the land. Moreover, it enables learners to attain
2014. It was initially part of the 3D printing manufacturer transferrable skills that will help them in later life.
Ultimaker GB but, since 2017, it has existed as its own concern, “It’s all about engagement and empowerment,” says Croft.
with “CREATE” serving as an acronym for Community, “If we can ensure that, by using this technology, people are
Reliability, Education, Access, Teachability and Economics. empowered to take ownership of their own learning and
CREATE Education combines game-changing technology development – at whatever age – then I’ll be a happy man.”
with inspirational content and creative thinking. As Croft www.createeducation.com
258
Evidence-informed EdTech
“The golden triangle approach – grounded
in evidence, design and application – is the
key way to develop true technologies”
Professor Rose Luckin, UCL EDUCATE
T he inception of the UCL EDUCATE programme in 2017

heralded the start of a revolution in global education
technology, or “EdTech”. For the first time, innovators and
the formal settings of school and university,” says Dr Clark-Wilson.
“We have an open door to technologies designed for positive
human social impacts.”
entrepreneurs were creating teaching and learning tools using Professor Luckin views the programme as promoting “British
a solid base of pedagogical research. It has since supported educational prestige” due to the “golden triangle” principle that
more than 250 EdTech companies who can finesse their concepts connects developers, researchers and users. “The use of evidence
into products that are robust, purposeful and fit for purpose. is vital to understanding whether a particular product or service
“We want to enable as many tech entrepreneurs as possible,” is delivering the educational need that it claims to be addressing,”
says Dr Alison Clark-Wilson, the Principal Research Lead. “The she says. “This has been largely missing in the EdTech sector.”
programme is helping shape the future of EdTech across the world.” The programme’s approach has become a template that is
Based at Idea London in Shoreditch, the programme was now being rolled out in other countries, via its global digital
founded by Professor Rose Luckin of University College London’s accelerator programme. This allows innovators from all over the
Institute of Education, who spotted a gap in the market. “Bigger world to access its tried-and-tested approach – another world
companies have in-house research teams to evaluate effectiveness first. For Professor Luckin, this is all part of a progressive plan
and efficiency studies,” says Professor Luckin. “Small companies to create universally lauded and trusted EdTech.
with limited resources can’t do that so easily.” “We want to promote the evidence-informed approach
The companies with which UCL EDUCATE has worked cover globally,” she says. “We believe that the golden triangle approach
preschool education through to professional and vocational – grounded in evidence, design and application – is the key way
education; from educational toys and games to diagnostic virtual to develop effective technologies.”
reality and artificial intelligence. “The scope extends way beyond www.ucleducate.com
259
Learning without limits

“There’s definitely an appetite for
online learning now that so many
people have experienced its potential,
particularly under lockdown”
Tom Crombie, My Online Schooling
“
T here were definitely some raised eyebrows,” says Tom
Crombie, recalling his decision to turn down an impressive
job offer to instead set up My Online Schooling. This innovative
a British education. Of course, the 2020 lockdown brought
even more students online. As schools closed around the world,
My Online Schooling saw a surge in numbers, growing from
school delivers a first-class British education via the internet, 450 students in March 2020 to 1,500 students by the end of the
and the concept was still very new in the UK when the year. The majority of those have stayed on. “I think a lot of people
first lessons went live in 2017. But Crombie saw a need for had never considered this as an option but are now seeing it
a progressive, flexible alternative to traditional schooling, could be a great way to continue, because their children are so
with more and more parents recognising how virtual learning engaged,” says Crombie.
could benefit their children. Pupils are able to pick and choose their subjects, and tailor
Crombie, who is based in Edinburgh, has worked in private their timetable to suit their needs. Learning is delivered through
and state schools in the UK and abroad. His broad experience a combination of live, interactive lessons and independent learning.
showed him that the traditional school model does not work for Students also have access to virtual assemblies, common rooms
everyone. “I could see that there were a number of young people and after-school clubs.
who were disengaging with education,” he says. He realised he Crombie acknowledges the value of bricks-and-mortar
could use technology to make lessons accessible to all children, schools but says they simply do not suit all children. He predicts
accommodating their personal needs and geographical locations. that online learning will play an increasingly important role
My Online Schooling’s diverse student body now spans in education, whether by itself or as part of a hybrid model.
70 nations and includes pupils with special educational needs, “There’s definitely an appetite for it, now that so many people
elite young sportspeople, actors and expat families, plus have experienced its potential, particularly under lockdown.”
overseas pupils who live in their home country but want www.myonlineschooling.com
260
Children’s crusade
“If we can get teenagers voting on issues that are engaging
to them and affecting them, then we can create the habits
that they then take into adulthood”
Kate Harris, VotesforSchools
“
T he dream was to create a way to capture what young people
think and feel about political issues and then use that data
to influence change,” says Kate Harris, explaining why she
accessible, with children recently being asked to consider
“Will vaping be banned?”, “Could we live without single-use
plastic?” and “Is gaming good for you?”
co-founded the online voting platform VotesforSchools. The results of the weekly polls are fed back to VotesforSchools,
But that was not all. By providing resources for teachers which uses the data to inform governmental departments and
to discuss big contemporary questions with pupils who then NGOs. The platform can break down the data in many different
vote on them, the former Surrey-based teacher also wants to ways – for example by gender, age or region. Already, the
“embed a sense of democratic practice in children from the company has supported 10 government departments, giving
age of five”. a youth perspective on everything from driverless cars to the
“If you talk to a lot of teenagers, they think that politics impact of social media on mental health. Its datasets have
doesn’t affect them,” she says. “They’re scared of voting – it’s also supported the Metropolitan Police and charities such
quite alien to them, it’s something that clever people or much as the NSPCC.
older people do. If we can get them voting on issues that are Kate Harris is also keen to stress how VotesforSchools’
engaging to them and affecting them, then we can create the unique approach could benefit politics itself. “Creating a
habits they then take into adulthood.” generation of informed people who can ask questions and
The company – whose front-line staff are all former or understand democracy could help the country move away
practising teachers – was founded in early 2016 but is already from the current polarised debate sparked by Brexit,” she
making a significant impact. Around 350,000 children in says. “Ultimately, this could take us towards a more civilised,
700 primary schools, secondary schools and colleges take part more nuanced type of politics.”
in weekly nationwide debates. Questions are deliberately www.votesforschools.com
261
One soul, one mind

“Our students are very proud of their school.
Each child formulates a sense of who they are and
what they are capable of – a sense of purpose”
Salwa McCauley, Soul Clinic International School
262
“
O ur motto is ‘I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me’, from Philippians 4:13, and our message is
‘Educating One Soul One Mind at a Time’,” says Salwa McCauley,
Executive Director at Soul Clinic International School (SCIS) in
Accra, Ghana. “Because when you start with one, it spreads –
and can you see the benefits across the whole community.”
McCauley inherited this unique faith-based, grassroots
approach to education from her husband, Reverend Vincent
E McCauley, a South American missionary whose vision was to
establish a Christian school in Africa. “From a very young age, he
knew that his mission was to educate future leaders,” she says.
“It was very important to him because, coming from a poor
background, he did not enter a classroom until he was 15 years
old. He then saw how education changes people’s lives.”
Arriving in Accra, he started his school in the suburb of
Abossey Okai, in a humble old building that it quickly outgrew.
“As the educational offering expanded, he found new land on
which to build but no one wanted this new area because it was a
swamp,” McCauley explains. “It was nothing but rock, water and
clay. But my husband met a stranger who told him to take it.”
His sense of faith wasn’t misplaced. SCIS took root and
flourished on these new premises, and has evolved a
comprehensive secondary offering in the decades since, enabling
students who join at kindergarten to stay right through until
their IGCSEs. “We teach the Cambridge curriculum on all
core subjects including maths, English, French, history and
geography,” says McCauley, “and students participate in a wide “The role of a teacher is to be supportive of students while
range of extracurricular activities including taekwondo, chess, maintaining a sense of adventure, spontaneity and creativity.
swimming and golf. We strongly encourage music: students are This encourages them to realise their unique potential and helps
taught the rudiments of music from the fourth grade, which them find the way. Our parents who recognise the great work
leads to them playing an instrument, reading music and taking and success of their children are a strong moral support to our
the ABRSM exam, in which they always excel.” school. We are truly fulfilled through the lasting relationships
Yet the most important lesson students learn at SCIS is, in with parents and families. This has brought forth second
McCauley’s estimation, a community-minded sense of purpose -generation children and we await the third!”
and belonging. “Our students are very proud of their school,” she The next phase of the school’s development is no less
explains. “No matter the length of their stay, there is a lasting significant, with plans in place for a new building. “We are
bond. Something unique is left with them, making them feel trusting God for funding,” says McCauley. “This will provide a
special. Each child begins to formulate a sense of who they are new geography room, a language room, a soundproofed music
and what they are capable of doing. That is the most important room and a hall. We’ve already got the drawings and we can’t wait!
thing. It’s not about being the smartest, most popular, or most It will create more space for students to learn, inspiring them to
successful student, but about realising their purpose.” the joys and purpose of education, and will also make coming to
A fiercely positive relationship between staff and students school exciting and learning fun. With hard work it can be done.”
is intrinsic to this developmental process, McCauley explains. www.soulclinicgh.com
263
Leadership support for teachers

“Recently, it’s been as much about the mental
health and wellbeing of everyone in the system.
In 30 years, I’ve never seen the teaching
profession having to address so many challenges”
Ann Palmer, Fig Tree International
T wo years ago, when Fig Tree International was launched to

offer a comprehensive support service to schools, its CEO,
Ann Palmer, couldn’t have predicted the issues about to test all our
spectrum.” These wide-ranging services are the fruits of Palmer’s
30 years of educational experience, including her headship of
several schools. “Our name ‘Fig Tree’ is symbolic of strength,
teachers and educational structures. “Recently, it’s been as much stability and productivity,” she says. “We’re a young company,
about the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in the system,” but built on similarly strong foundations.” As a successful CEO
she reflects. “In 30 years, I’ve never seen the teaching profession of African-Caribbean heritage, Ann is very keen to promote
under such strain and having to address so many challenges.” diversity. “I never wanted to be known as the black head,” she
A “safety net” is how Palmer describes her company’s says. “I wanted to be known for the quality of work that I do.”
mission. From its London office, Fig Tree works with 20 Sure enough, Fig Tree is helping schools to create sustainable
top-level advisors to provide classroom training, consultancy, action plans for best practice in racial equality. “I want my own
leadership coaching and many other bespoke products to grandson to grow up in a society that thinks the best of him,
schools and educational organisations. In two years, the and that journey starts in school,” she says. “My work is key to
company’s positive impact has reached clients across the that, bringing in and training leaders and role models that he
UK and further afield, from the US to the Middle East. can relate to.”
As well as year-long progression programmes, clients can For everyone in the education system, Palmer’s commitment
benefit from one-off workshops on key skills such as budget is tireless. “I want to use my knowledge to support the
and personnel management. Fig Tree also helps newcomers profession in every way. Fig Tree is my way of giving that
to navigate the recruitment process. “The rate of drop-out in support, particularly now when both schools and individuals
teaching is too high,” says Palmer. “We want to support and need it.”
encourage teachers and leaders at every stage of the professional www.f igtreeinternational.org.uk
264
The joy of learning

“When I created IQBar, my aim was to combine
high quality, structured lessons with entertainment
to help students achieve a love of learning”
Helen Cao, IQBar
“
W e want our students to enjoy learning and our teachers
to enjoy teaching,” says Helen Cao, who set up online
education platform IQBar in 2018. “When I created IQBar
or International English Language Testing System, and gain an
understanding of British culture through easy-to-follow engaging
content. Finally, the third branch, IQTEFL, provides everything
I wanted to combine high-quality, structured lessons with needed to become a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language)
entertainment to help students achieve a love of learning.” teacher, with CPD (continual professional development) modules
IQBar started by offering high-quality online academic for continued learning for qualified teachers.
tuition to Chinese students. However, due to the high market Today, IQBar produces new content and resources on a weekly
demand for English language learning, IQBar proceeded to basis across all branches, ensuring continued learning for all levels
develop partnerships with well-known publishers and took and age groups. The two YouTube channels developed by the IQBar
on a team of expert developers to meet the market need. Suite – Explore Planet English and Learn & Teach – have thousands of
With the Covid pandemic changing the landscape for students subscribers who follow the weekly live webinars, tutorials and shows.
globally, driving learning online in 2020, Helen Cao and Sarah With offices in Beijing and Liverpool, IQBar currently has 20,000
Spargo, the UK branch director, took this opportunity to expand subscribers, and multiple partnerships with schools and businesses.
IQBar into the global market and develop three branches. The “We recognise there are many different types of learners, and
first branch, Explore Planet English, is an online international our content allows students and teachers to engage in the way that
school for all students – including those in the UK, providing suits them,” says Cao. “We’re very innovative and don’t rely on
courses aligned to the National Curriculum for England, and traditional ways of teaching. We know we have great products.
learning resources to prepare children for Cambridge Young Now, we need more people to learn about our products, and our
Learners exams. The second branch, IQGlobal, is aimed at teens uniqueness in the market.”
and adults wishing to learn English, prepare for Cambridge exams www.iqbar.co.uk
265
Class act
“Our unique approach to teaching and
learning has been highly successful in helping
students from diverse backgrounds to stay
motivated about the future”
Jacqueline Gold, JG Educate
G rowing up in a household alongside four brothers, two

sisters, her grandad, her uncle, her godmother and her
godmother’s partner was not easy for Jacqueline Gold. “It was
all abilities to prepare for exams or vocational assessments.
All involve one-to-one tuition and an approach which meets
students where they are in their educational development.
difficult to get a word heard,” she says. “I became quite Staff are legally checked and trained to take time in every session
introverted and unsure of what my aspirations were; no one to have a conversation with students about their week before
ever stopped to have a chat about it.” getting started. They are actively encouraged to discuss and
Had it not been for her teachers and a move away from the challenge the ideas being presented to them. The process begins
traditional model of education, Gold might never have developed with a free diagnosis and interview so that staff can draw up
the mindset and skills to achieve her ambitions. But she qualified a specific plan for each student. If progress is slower than
as a chartered certified accountant and then retrained as a expected, staff will hold an intervention. Parents get frequent
teacher. Gold then wanted to bring to others everything that she feedback, and there are assessments at regular intervals.
had learned. “Today’s increasingly globalised world is getting The pandemic might have disrupted education for many,
more competitive and noisier,” she says. “This contributes to the but JG Educate courses remain unaffected. “Our unique
downward spiral for students who, like me, were unable to find a approach to teaching and learning has been highly successful
voice in their normal environment and pursue their aspirations.” in helping students from diverse backgrounds to stay motivated
In schools, Gold found that there were many students who about the future,” says Gold. “Now is the time to teach young
struggled with complex home lives and found it hard to be heard people the key skills of resilience, responsibility, collaboration,
in a class of 30. They would often share their concerns with her. communication, social skills and techniques which will help
Gold set up her first business JG Educate Ltd to work with such them along whichever path they choose.”
students. It offers wholly inclusive courses that help students of www.jgeducate.com
266
Beyond books and boundaries

“We’re there for students when universities
can’t be, like in an essay crisis at 3am”
Isabelle Bristow, Studiosity
S tudiosity – an online 24/7 learning support service – has a

mission to help all students. “We want to ensure that, whatever
their background, students have access to learning support and
Globally, more than 1.6 million students have access to
Studiosity. An independent study across six UK universities found
that the student continuation rate was higher among Studiosity
better life chances,” says Isabelle Bristow, Managing Director of users, and that users were more satisfied with their courses overall.
Studiosity Europe. Founded in Australia by Jack Goodman in 2003, It also revealed that 79 per cent felt Studiosity had improved their
Studiosity now also operates across the UK, Europe and Canada, confidence, with 50 per cent feeling less anxious. “Students give
using user-led technology to connect students with teachers, us wonderful feedback,” says Bristow. “Over 93 per cent of users
experts and their peers, who provide formative feedback and currently rate us four or five out of five for satisfaction. They
support. In the UK it is partnered with 13 universities, including particularly like the personal feedback and detailed comments.”
Manchester Metropolitan and the University of Exeter. An ethically driven organisation, Studiosity takes its corporate
Students can access two main services: Writing Feedback for social responsibilities very seriously, working with social partners
written work, with guidance on improving arguments and structure, to help disadvantaged students go to university. Many users are
plus checks for unintended plagiarism; and Connect Live, which first-in-family students, or mature students returning to formal
offers online study support sessions with highly qualified specialists, education. Ensuring equity of access to address digital poverty,
who can provide structured learning at any hour. Additionally, Studiosity has made its online platform fully accessible by phone
Student Connect offers peer-to-peer mentoring and all the services app. “Studiosity aims to help as many students as possible,” says
are free to access for students. “We collaborate with our partner Bristow. “We’re hoping to partner with more universities and
universities, providing data from all interactions, and work very form more social partnerships. Every day we get messages from
closely with student services,” says Bristow. “We’re there for students who’ve heard about our services saying they’d love to be
students when universities can’t be, like in an essay crisis at 3am – able to use Studiosity.”
60 per cent of our usage is outside of normal university hours.” www.studiosity.com
267
Where technology meets tradition

“We have people coming together from all over the
world, excited to be learning from the best”
Elspeth Briscoe, Learning with Experts
G etting online learning right is a real challenge. While

it can be the ideal way to develop a new skill or enjoy
a hobby, a surprising number of people still struggle to complete
live classes alongside the pre-recorded curriculum, with just
20 students in each session, and the emphasis on a two-way
process. “We have people coming together from all over the
their courses. “Apparently 80 per cent of people drop out of world, excited to be learning from the best,” says Briscoe.
online learning,” says Elspeth Briscoe, CEO and founder of “This is how to utilise technology in learning, where you
Learning with Experts. “It’s the opposite with us – more than have the human element as well – so, Hugh and his team
80 per cent of our participants complete the courses they will be marking your work, for example.”
sign up for.” An eclectic mix of courses currently includes gardening,
Having worked in technology with eBay, Skype and food and drink, jewellery, photography, floristry, antiques,
The Guardian, Briscoe knew exactly what she wanted wellbeing, and art and design, with a business and
to do when she launched Learning with Experts in 2015. entrepreneurship category under development. “A lot of
“Technology can enhance our age-old abilities in passing people will be retraining due to Covid,” says Briscoe, “so I
on knowledge, and I wanted Learning with Experts to be want to make sure we’re offering what they want and need.”
human, creative and innovative, to work with people who This merging of the old and new is key to preserving
are passionate about education and their own subjects,” and passing on knowledge. “All these people really love
says Briscoe. “They value the sharing of knowledge and what they do,” says Briscoe. “It’s their life’s work, often
wisdom, and revel in passing it on.” steeped in history – yet the currency in making it universally
As the company’s name suggests, its courses are led by available is technology, letting us pass down knowledge to
such high-profile experts as Michel Roux Jr, Hugh Fearnley- generations to come.”
Whittingstall, Chris Beardshaw and Sir Muir Gray. There are www.learningwithexperts.com
268
Vocational training, online

“I want to help democratise education. It doesn’t
matter who a person is or where they live, they
should have access to quality education”
Sana Farooq, The e-Learning Network
“
M y vision is that high-quality, accredited education should
be accessible to everyone, everywhere,” says Sana Farooq,
Director of the e-Learning Network (ELN), which provides online
Six years on, and ELN is now the market leader in its sector,
and growing fast. As of January 2021, it had registrations from 31
countries, from Trinidad and Tobago to China, with a total of 250,
courses for teacher training, assessment and quality assurance, as 117 learning hours completed. Its qualifications, accredited by bodies
well as occupational health and safety, first aid and entrepreneurship. such as Pearson Edexcel and NOCN, are recognised worldwide.
“I want to help democratise education,” says Farooq (pictured, “Our customers range from individuals building careers –
above). “It doesn’t matter who a person is or where they live, they in sectors as diverse as construction workers and beauty
should have access to quality education. For example, I was taught therapists – to companies building teams, and government
English literature by Oxford professors, but because I studied in organisations building better educational standards,” says
Pakistan, not in Oxford, my education wasn’t valued as much. Farooq. “Some are military-service leavers, gaining
People should get recognition for their skills and their competence.” qualifications before re-entering civilian life.”
Farooq established ELN in 2015, during a career break while Many new clients found their way to ELN during the
looking after her two young children. She intended to do her Level Covid pandemic, and the company is mainly staffed and run
5 teaching diploma, but didn’t have either the funds or time for a remotely, with a small head office in London. For the future,
university course. So, after 15 months looking fruitlessly for online Farooq is focusing on growing ELN’s client base in more
programmes, she decided to start her own, with just £500 from her territories, and on its remit. “We’re looking to get more into
savings. In six months she taught herself everything from scratch the recruitment side,” she says. “We want to work with our
– web design, coding, marketing and finance – and when her first students to help them get good jobs, or better-paid jobs, using
clients signed up, she answered the phone, marked their the relationship we build with them while they train.”
assignments and sent out invoices. www.eln.co.uk
269
Teaching through tech

“I am working with the Educational App Store to recommend safe
and effective educational apps to teachers and parents. We know
how to evaluate which apps are based on sound principles”
Mike Sharples, Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology, The Open University
J ustin Smith, the CEO of Educational App Store, knows that life
without teachers would be very challenging. He understood this
sooner than most and established his platform long before home
what their child needs, so in planning and setting up this site we
worked with Mike Sharples, Emeritus Professor of Educational
Technology at the Open University, along with educationalists
schooling made the past year even more trying. “The Educational and teachers to assess, review and recommend the apps available.”
App Store originally sprung from a simple belief, which is that we Every new app is reviewed and certified by a team of skilled
can all benefit from education, whether formal or informal,” says teachers, constantly aware of fresh challenges, new technology
Smith. “Parents and teachers have always wanted to give children and updated content. Professor Sharples has been a trusted
extra support but COVID 19 has meant that many more parents advisor and supporter since the planning stages and is confident
are worrying about schooling outside traditional modes.” that the teacher checks flag up both accessibility and practicality.
From the start of lockdown in 2020, parents and teachers have “I have worked with major organisations, government agencies
both reached out for considerably more support. The challenge and start-up companies on innovations in educational
with what educational apps to use varies depending on whether technology,” he says. “We know how to evaluate which apps are
teachers or parents are sourcing them, as teachers obviously have child-friendly and based on sound principles of learning. I am
extensive curriculum awareness. “There’s been a huge change working with the Educational App Store to recommend safe
for parents which is reflected in the increase we’ve seen in the and effective educational apps to teachers and parents.”
numbers registering for our weekly newsletter,” says Smith. Retaining a student’s interest is of equal importance.
“We have a catalogue of over 3,500 apps and while a direct result “Edutainment sums it up,” says Smith. “Resources that are both
of COVID is an acceleration in the awareness and usage of apps, educational and enjoyable is priceless, and Educational App
that’s mirrored by the numbers available. Few people have the Store can help identify that at all stages.”
time needed to sift through these to ensure they’re getting exactly www.educationalappstore.com
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Faith in education
“When students from Africa started travelling abroad
to study, some 70 per cent did not return. This prompted
us to develop our Doctor of Philosophy degree”
Canon Dr Vinay Samuel, The Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life
T he Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life (OCRPL) has

long contributed to a wider understanding of Christian
leadership. Its global perspective in tertiary education goes back
of Christian theology and ministry – public life, mission studies,
world religions, Christian ethics and pastoral theology. Universities
report that the programme has cut their drop-out rate by half.
to the development of extension theological education in India in The centre has also recently entered into partnership with
the ’70s and of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in the ’80s. Barnabas Fund Academia led by Professor Patrick Sookhdeo, the
“Our experience in Africa and Asia has shown that effective director of OCRPL, a specialist in studying and supporting Christian
leaders can bridge national, cultural, ethnic and tribal barriers,” communities who experience persecution and the challenge of other
says Canon Dr Vinay Samuel, the centre’s founder. “However, from faiths. “This new development provides the programme with a
the 1950s, when African and Asian students started travelling abroad secure financial base and access to leading scholars in this field,”
to study, some 70 per cent did not return to their home countries. he says. “In response to demand from over 50 African colleges we
The loss of this valuable resource impoverished those countries, so are also beginning a Master’s degree in Religion and Culture.”
we developed our first Doctor of Philosophy degree with the Open The typical PhD student is a Christian with experience in
University and others in Oxford in 1983.” ministry and a commitment to Biblical, orthodox faith. Applicants
OCRPL also factored finance into the course. “The cost for a student have a master’s degree and significant relevant experience.
to relocate their family to their place of study can be prohibitive,” says The PhD includes one month’s university residency in each of the
Dr Chris Sugden, the centre’s secretary. “Those looking to attend the course’s four years, with the remainder completed as distance
course tend to be in high-ranking careers who need to maintain their learning and supported by a supervisor and online resources. “The
work commitments while studying.” To address this challenge, the centre response has been overwhelming,” says Professor Sookhdeo. “This
is partnering with Stellenbosch, Pretoria, Free State and North West innovative and highly relevant qualification is meeting a real need.”
universities in South Africa. The doctorate covers research in all areas www.ocrpl.org
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More than a ministry of fun

The fortunes of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS) have been radically transformed by the National Lottery, while
the culture sector now represents an eighth of the UK’s economy
However, the department’s first Secretary of State, David

Mellor, saw it as an opportunity to give “culture” in all its forms
– the arts, sport, broadcasting and the tourism industry – more
of a voice in government. He knew the key factor in the
department’s success would be the creation of a National
Lottery, with the explicit aim of using it to raise money for the
arts, heritage, sport and charities, as well as funding projects
to mark the fast-approaching new millennium.
Pundits predicted that the National Lottery might raise as
much as £1 billion to that end but, by the time it celebrated its
20th birthday, it had raised more than £32 billion. More broadly,
the DCMS has also grown in terms of the policy areas it covers.
As well as the National Lottery, and the original subject areas
from 1992, the department has taken on responsibility in
government for gambling, the horse-racing industry and
entertainment licensing. It oversees Ofcom and the BBC.
It stretches from luvvies to navvies – commissioning the rollout
of broadband infrastructure to the rural areas that the commercial
world would not stretch to. It took the lead role in government for
delivering the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Queen’s
Golden and Diamond Jubilees and numerous other high-profile
o
Above
Culture Secretary Oliver
T he Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
can date its formation to 1992. Originally the Department of
National Heritage, it was renamed the Department for Culture,
ceremonial events. And, as a sponsor of the Equality and Human
Rights Commission, it led on the groundbreaking legislation to
introduce same-sex marriage through Parliament.
Dowden with Prince Media and Sport by the new Labour government in 1997 – the “The idea that DCMS was ever the ‘Ministry of Fun’ is a
Charles in February 2020 prefix “digital” was added in July 2017 to reflect the department’s myth – although of course there is still a lot of fun to be had,”
increased activity in the digital sector. It brought together those says Oliver Dowden, who has been Culture Secretary since
o policy responsibilities most associated with leisure and quality of February 2020. “DCMS is in fact the ministry of the future
Opposite life from six different Whitehall ministries. – a delivery-focused department that is a shining example of
The DCMS took a lead Its introduction was not universally welcomed. The author the qualities that will enable us to thrive as a nation outside the
role in organising the Robert Harris likened it to “a magpie’s nest of glittering EU. It is a department with real economic heft, representing
2012 Olympics and trinkets stolen from other departments: prizes that will one heavyweight sectors that are flourishing and growing.
Paralympics in London day have to be returned to their rightful owners”. A leader in “Few people would believe that Digital, Culture, Media
The Times warned that the sectors represented by it “may be and Sport sectors contribute more to the economy than
cheering the new citadel, but they will soon turn to assault”. manufacturing and agriculture combined,” says Dowden.
For most observers, however, the department was simply “In fact, our sectors now account for almost 12 per cent of the
known as the “Ministry of Fun”. UK economy. And this is showing no sign of slowing down.
272
Our creative industries are growing at over five times the rate
“DCMS sectors contribute of the UK economy as a whole.”
The Labour Party’s first Culture Minister, Chris Smith,
more to the economy than occupied the post from 1997 to 2001, and ensured that all public
art galleries and museums were made free to the public. But Smith
manufacturing and agriculture always maintained that arts institutions, even when government
funded, should be kept at arm’s length from the state. “It’s not a
government’s job to create art or to create interpretations of art,”
combined. In fact, our sectors he said in June 2021, in response to what he described as the
current government’s “war on woke”. “Most governments that
now account for almost 12 per have tried to do so – the Soviet era in Russia comes immediately
to mind – have diminished the art and the country in the process.
cent of the UK economy” It’s a government’s job to establish a strong platform on which
artists, collections, museums and galleries can thrive. And then
to leave it up to them. That way, we all benefit.”
www.gov.uk/dcms
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Leadership by design
“We know we will not be here forever,
but innovative leaders have the ability
to come up with great ideas that will”
Graham Shapiro, Graham Shapiro Design
“
I nnovation springs from shared endeavour,” says Graham
Shapiro, the award-winning inventor, designer and digital
entrepreneur behind Graham Shapiro Design. “This, above all,
with solid creativity,” he says. “We know we will not be here
forever, but innovative leaders have the ability to come up with
great ideas that will. Of equal importance, they are able to express
is where we excel, by seeking to collaborate with like-minded their concept and share information, rather than hoard it or
leaders in their respective fields.” suppress implementation, for whatever reason.”
Founded 25 years ago, the company works online and offline, Shapiro is also proud to support the Duke of Edinburgh’s
creating brands and websites from Tudor House, its 400-year-old International Award with brand and website development. The
head office building in Cheshire. Shapiro’s expertise has been innovative expertise to provide insight and direction comes with
extolled by an array of global clients, including Clive Christian, the responsibility to preside over one of the world’s most trusted
CSIRO, Liverpool FC, Philips, Rolex, Siemens and Samsung, and and respected international organisations. Operating in more
Shapiro was showcased as an “ambassador of innovation” in a 2018 than 130 countries, the award empowers young people to find
overview of global innovation published by Cambridge University their purpose, passion and place in the world through non-formal
Students’ Union (CUSU). These collaborations have made Shapiro education and learning framework.
a leader of innovation with an evangelical passion for change. “As a leader I have tried not to offer reproof but seek instead
“What is clear is that change is here to stay,” he says. “If 300 years to respect and inspire with energy, to stimulate others,” says
of leadership and innovation teaches us anything, it is that leaders Shapiro. “Sometimes, I have been seen to be unreasonable in the
are changers – those truly inspirational people who are constantly pursuit of excellence but maybe that is an element of leadership.
creating the best ideas and, crucially, are prepared to share them.” I surround myself with the best people, communicate closely with
For Shapiro, this ability to respond to change marks true my team and will always continue to dream big and laugh a lot.”
leadership. “Changers are the people who respond to evolution www.grahamshapiro.com
274
Skill seekers
“We’ve created a blueprint for developing skills in people
who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access them”
Diana Dwamena FRSA , The Learning Nuggets Company Limited
I t was while studying for her Doctor of Business Administration

while working full-time at BT that Diana Dwamena first
realised the need for a digital learning platform that would enable
adapt for our platform to provide a bespoke offering based on every
client’s unique needs,” says Dwamena. So successful was the
company’s model – combining online and face-to-face teaching,
countries and businesses to develop the competencies and skills in-work projects and mentoring – that the Learning Nuggets ended
of their workforce. She soon realised she wasn’t alone. “More and up working with the UN’s special envoy for education, Gordon
more people want to combine their education with employment,” Brown, over a two-year period, helping to develop the Global
she says. “And I wanted to find a way to help them do that.” Education Platform. “It was incredibly satisfying to be recognised as
As a veteran of the telecommunications industry with a visionary in our field,” says Dwamena. Other projects have included
particular focus on the internet, Dwamena envisaged a digital LNC Digital Academy Week, focusing on young people, and African
learning framework that could be adapted by different countries Women in Leadership: Leading in the Digital Age.
and organisations, regardless of industry or geography. In 2007, Initially, the company faced an uphill task of convincing
she founded The Learning Nuggets Company to do exactly this. organisations that remote working and digital learning were viable.
The intellectual work is all done in the UK but the platform With both now increasingly common, Dwamena is hopeful that her
can be used anywhere, and found its initial market in the business model, having worked so successfully in West Africa, will
Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) where inter- find a receptive market in countries across the Commonwealth.
regional migration is high but cross-border qualifications are “We’ve proved what’s possible,” she says. “We’ve created a blueprint
not always recognised. From hubs in Ghana and Nigeria, The for developing skills in people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to
Learning Nuggets Company was quickly able to provide products access them. Now, we can adapt our platform for other parts of the
for schools, universities and businesses to develop competencies world, whether it’s in learning or the workplace, and contribute to
and skills in their students and employees. “We work with content development, on both an individual and national scale.”
partners to provide technical and business skills, which we then www.thelearningnuggets.com
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Digital media
without the jargon
“The digital media industry is a fragmented
mess so we need people who can connect and
collaborate. Marketers are eager to work with
those who can speak to them in plain language”
Patrick Johnson, Hybrid Theory Global
W hen Patrick Johnson was on the maternity ward of a

London hospital where his wife was giving birth to their
first child, the last thing he expected was a job opportunity.
and incredibly rewarding to be in the position to support and
invest in the team,” he says. “As a result, we see both personal
growth as well as business acceleration.”
But that’s where he made the contact that led to him running One of Johnson’s challenges was addressing the fragmentation
Hybrid Theory Global, a digital service partner delivering that characterises his industry. “The digital media has a long
data-driven advertising through its unique proprietary tradition of operating in silos resulting in challenges related to
solution. “I knew this was going to be a challenge,” he says. complexity and visibility,” he says. “There is breadth and depth
“In 2016, I was asked to take over this company, sitting in the world of digital marketing disciplines. What is really
within an industry that was facing significant upheaval important is the harmony of all these disciplines.”
caused by an overly complex marketplace and challenges Taking on this challenge, he has seen the opportunity
to understanding the benefits of jargon-filled offerings to turn Hybrid Theory into a market leader – a company that
that were hard to understand.” can support the whole industry’s progress by being more
Johnson was born in New Zealand but has spent most of transparent and collaborative in the way it does business.
his adult life living between New York and London, working “The digital media industry is a fragmented mess so we
for a range of companies in the world of advertising and need people who can connect and collaborate,” he says.
marketing. He often finds himself gravitating towards “the “Marketers are eager to work with those who can speak to
new and the different, the innovative and the unconventional”, them in plain language and there is a lot of opportunity for
and particularly enjoys working with people who push growth as agencies look for supportive partners and
boundaries. At Hybrid Theory, he has relished the challenge marketers look for transparency.”
of developing new talent. “It’s great watching people develop www.hybridtheory.com
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The shape of things to come

“Design has a unique role across all dimensions
of business and I don’t believe we use it to its fullest
potential. There is so much still to do”
Martin Darbyshire, Tangerine
I t’s 30 years since CEO Martin Darbyshire co-founded

Tangerine in one of Hoxton’s first design studios. “There was
one park, no bars and not a single young man on a fixed-gear
asking: What do people really need to be able to do while they’re
moving through time zones, and what are the wider issues?”
The result was the breakthrough Yin-Yang seating layout that
bike,” he remembers. Back then, Tangerine’s mission was simple: delivered fully lie-flat beds for the first time without reducing
to design the right products for people. Blessed by huge talent seat count, allowing people greater freedom and proper rest while
from the start, one of its very first designs was created by flying. Similarly, when Tangerine designed the first set-top box for
a young Jonathan Ive in his pre-Apple days. Sky, it identified that early potential customers didn’t understand
Three decades later, Tangerine’s team of 40 works out of studios how to use the product, so they created a spinning ring of LEDs
in London, Seoul and Brazil, serving global clients who include to communicate the benefits of time-shift TV.
Huawei, Toyota, Unilever, Seiko, Nikon, Cisco and Finnair “Any challenge we’re given, we look at the wider context,”
(pictured, below). The firm’s mission has broadened to creating the says Darbyshire. “This helps break new ground and disrupt
right customer experience in a diverse range of sectors, from airport the status quo. And that comes through powerful thinking.”
lounges in Helsinki to retail stores in Asia. Darbyshire likens the For every project, with ever more demanding clients, more
process to therapy. “For many projects, clients start by tackling informed consumers and larger-scale challenges, Tangerine’s
the wrong problem,” he explains. “We have to ask them, what are solution involves team dialogue, collaboration and never settling
you trying to achieve? What is actually the right problem to solve?” for second-best solutions. “Design has a unique role across all
As well as bringing business benefits, this can mean dimensions of business,” says Darbyshire. “It’s a uniquely powerful
revolutionising industries. “When we created the world’s first fully position at times, but also uniquely responsible. And I don’t believe
flat airline bed for British Airways, it wasn’t just about improving we use it to its fullest potential. There is so much still to do.”
an aircraft seat,” says Chief Creative Officer Matt Round. “It was www.tangerine.net
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Licence to skill
“I am excited by scale. If we have a good
idea, we will find a way to get it out there
to as many people as possible”
Gori Yahaya, UpSkill Digital
“
T he future of learning is human-led, enabled by technology,”
says Gori Yahaya, founder and CEO of UpSkill Digital.
“Our mission is to empower people to succeed with technology.”
companies and individuals. They could be a social media expert
in Nigeria, for example, doing a one-to-one with a freelancer on
how to grow their brand.”
The London-based company, founded in 2015, provides As a black CEO and entrepreneur – UpSkill Digital is his third
personalised digital-coaching programmes, content development business launch – Yahaya is conscious of the scarcity of BAME role
and virtual training for major corporations such as Google, BT, models in technology. “My lived experience has shown me that we
Lloyds and the NHS as well as for small businesses and individuals. need to support people of colour to help them progress and navigate
UpSkill Digital helps industries improve their digital skills the work environment.” UpSkill Digital works alongside business
training, allowing them to embrace change and understand how leaders to support inclusive hiring and leadership, helping to ensure
technology can enhance their businesses. The World Economic that employee diversity is valued and its benefits fully realised.
Forum estimates that, by 2022, 54 per cent of all employees will UpSkill Digital is also working with universities to support
need significant digital skills training. By offering online digital the career development and retention of BAME students in the
workshops, executive coaching and immersive learning experience, digital workplace. “We need to amplify their voices and make
UpSkill Digital is ideally equipped to support an increasingly sure they are at the forefront of change.”
digitally dependent workforce and has trained nearly 500,000 Dispelling tech-phobia and championing the benefits of
people across the UK alone. “I am excited by scale,” says Yahaya. digital skills are goals that motivate Yahaya. “I’m really excited
“If we have a good idea, we will find a way to get it out there to about the ability to shape the future of learning and education,
as many people as possible. UpSkill Digital has built a global to move it beyond the academic, institutional approach towards
network of charismatic digital experts who can really help change a more adaptable, accessible, inclusive and equitable space.”
businesses. We have over 500 coaches who work directly with www.upskilldigital.com
278
“The nation will find it

very hard to look up to
the leaders who are keeping
their ears to the ground”
Sir Winston Churchill
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CHAPTER NINE
FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE
281
Country matters
The Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs is tasked with
the ever-important responsibilities for
food, farming and the environment
o
Below
George Eustice speaking
I n the often complex development of government departments,
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) has one of the most convoluted histories. It can trace its
May appointed Michael Gove to succeed Andrea Leadsom in
2017 it was seen as a deliberate attempt to raise Defra’s profile
in preparation for tricky post-Brexit negotiations.
at a National Farmers evolution back to August 1793, when a Royal Charter set up the The department in its current form dates back to 2001, when
Union conference in 2020 Board or Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and the government united MAFF with significant parts of the
Internal Improvement. It was succeeded in 1841 by the Tithe Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
o Commission Board for Agriculture, and the Cattle Plague (DETR), as well as a small part of the Home Office. The Climate
Opposite Department, all of which were consolidated as the Board of team at Defra was merged with the energy team from the
Former Environment Agriculture in 1889. Other mutations occurred throughout the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to
Secretary Margaret 20th century: in 1919 it became Agriculture and Fisheries, adding create the Department of Energy and Climate Change, although
Beckett at the Defra Food to its title in 1955 to become the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May disbanded that department
headquarters, 2002 Fisheries and Food (MAFF). and brought it back under the ambit of Defra.
Over the years, some sources have been dismissive of the Part of the reason for the 2001 reorganisation was due to
environment secretary role – Farmers Weekly rather witheringly the way in which MAFF was – perhaps unfairly – perceived of
described it as “the parking spot for ministers not capable of having dealt with outbreaks of both Mad Cow Disease in the
managing a serious department”. Yet this doesn’t really appear 1990s and the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth. Due to the
to be the case when you look at some of the big names on both nature of its remit, government’s farming and environmental
sides of the house who have filled the job, including Anthony policy is often held up to scrutiny, be it for policies related
Crosland, Peter Shore, Michael Heseltine, Kenneth Baker, to farming diseases, flooding, badger culling or fox-hunting.
Nicholas Ridley, Chris Patten, Michael Howard, John Gummer, When a government department finds itself splashed across
John Prescott, David Miliband and Hilary Benn. When Theresa the headlines for weeks on end, it is probably a sign that things
are going wrong.
Margaret Beckett, who took over as Environment Secretary
from John Prescott in 2001, saw the new Defra as something
of a battle between the “environmental” and the “agricultural”
sides of the department, which were sometimes in conflict.
Beckett amplified the debate about climate change and when,
after five years at Defra, she was moved to Foreign Secretary
in 2006, Blair made it clear that he wanted Beckett to maintain
an emphasis on climate change. She applied her Defra agenda
to foreign policy, raising awareness of the security issues that
come from climate change. “Resource-based conflicts are not
new,” said Beckett. “But in climate change we have a new and
potentially disastrous dynamic.”
The department has around 10,000 staff, mainly based at
its headquarters in Novel House, 17 Smith Square, Whitehall
and at regional bases in York, Bristol and Alnwick in
Northumberland, but also at many other offices around
England. Most of its responsibilities outside of England have
been devolved to the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament
and the Northern Ireland Executive. Defra currently has a
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
huge number of responsibilities: for the natural environment,

biodiversity, plants and animals; for sustainable development
“Margaret Beckett saw Defra
and the green economy; for food farming and fisheries, animal
welfare, environmental protection, pollution control, and other as something of a battle
issues facing rural communities.
The current Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, George Eustice, made a far-reaching speech in
between the ‘environmental’
May 2021 outlining a raft of new environmental initiatives, which
included a series of legally binding targets to protect certain
and the ‘agricultural’
species of animal. “I think the events of the last 12 months have
led people to appreciate the difference that nature makes to our sides of the department”
lives more than ever before,” he said. “There is an increased
awareness of the link between our own health, and economic
prosperity, and that of the planet – as highlighted by the recent
Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity.
“This is a huge step forward, and a world-leading measure
in the year of COP15 and COP26 as we build back greener from
the pandemic. We hope that this will be the net-zero equivalent
for nature, spurring action of the scale required to address the
biodiversity crisis.”
www.defra.gov.uk
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284
More than
gut instinct
“A depleted microbiome is not resilient.
With our goat milk kefir we have the most
diverse and natural microbiome possible”
it as an additional organ in your body. And the health of your

microbiome is determined by diversity. The more different
strains you have in there the better. A depleted microbiome is
not resilient. With our goat milk kefir we have the most diverse
and natural microbiome possible. Our kefir has been tested and
it contains 36 different strains of living bacteria, so you can see
how important that is to your system.”
Chuckling Goat started out as a regular small sustainable
farm in south-west Wales. Shann and Richard Jones turned to
kefir by chance after they were working out what do with their
surplus goat milk. The revelation of kefir’s unique properties
and Shann and Rich’s passionate belief in the product has
catapulted the company into rapid growth, with kefir at the
centre of everything they do, including lotions and skincare
bars. But it’s the development of the microbiome test that has
allowed them to take the latest stage in their journey, as they
continue to find ways to improve digestive health.
“We started out manufacturing kefir but because we are
in very close contact with our customers, when a microbiome
V ariety is the spice of life, but it’s also the key to great health.
Inside the human digestive system are trillions of bacteria
forming a complex ecosystem that keeps our mind and body in
test that could be used in your own home became available,
I was very keen to grab that as it provides more information
about how you can look after your gut,” she says. “I am
perfect harmony. But this bacteria comes under constant attack focussing now on fertility. We are currently working with
from external factors such as stress and sugar. Restoring the Royal College of Obstetricians and their mum-plus-one
the balance is Chuckling Goat’s probiotic goat milk kefir, initiative. We will be providing the probiotics they recommend
an extraordinary product that combines goat milk with the to 600,000 pregnant women. They understand that the baby
kefir grain, a living blend of yeast and bacteria that comes gets their microbiome from mum so the best way to intervene
from the Caucasus Mountains. Chuckling Goat even provide a with the wellness cycle of the baby is to intervene with the
microbiome test, allowing customers to test their gut health and microbiome of the mother. She will have a healthy and happy
get feedback from the company’s team of trained nutritionists. pregnancy and can pass on a healthy microbiome to baby.”
“The health of your microbiome determines your mood, your Shann was already well aware of the benefits of kefir, and
brain function, your sleep pattern, your weight, your protection the use of a microbiome test allows her to further understand
against type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, Crohn’s disease, what is happening inside our digestive system. “It means you
colitis and any kind of inflammatory bowel disorder,” says don’t need to guess what is in your gut, you take the test and
the company founder Shann Jones. “It all comes from the gut. they will tell you with 99.99 per cent accuracy,” she says.
Research has been pouring out and it’s now considered so “So we know what strains you are lacking and what strains
important to the way you function that some scientists regard you need.”
285
286
“There are 80 autoimmune

disorders recognised by the NHS,
and replenishing what is in your
gut is the most effective way of
boosting your immune system”
Chuckling Goat sell the microbiome test via their website as creating further opportunities for delivering the sort of
a standalone item or as part of a six-week packages that includes products that people really need to improve their health such
supplies of their probiotic goat milk kefir and prebiotic powder as the prebiotic powder.
and free consultations with a nutritionist. These nutritionists “Along the road of listening to the customer as a result of
came from within the Chuckling Goat team. “I gave that the microbiome test, we found there are all these foods that
opportunity to everybody on the staff – the people who milk you are supposed to eat to give your gut bacteria the food they
the goats, the people who pack the boxes, everybody,” she says. need,” she explains. “So probiotics are the things in your gut
“I said, if you want to train to be a nutritionist, I’ll pay for it. and they eat prebiotics. Prebiotics feed probiotics and the
Six of my team took me up on that, I paid to put them through microbiome test gives you a list of all the food you need to feed
the training and they loved the experience. So when the tests those gut bugs. Customers were struggling to find the sort of
come back, we have a team who are able to sit there and food they were told they needed so we got a list of 18 different
understand the results.” prebiotic fibres from a scientist and found natural sources that
Shann believes that kefir is the perfect solution to many we then mixed into a powder. That is the complete gut package.
health problems, as it will restore the harmony of our digestive You take the kefir and the prebiotic it will revolutionise how
system. She has had remarkable results from customers, you feel quite quickly.”
especially when they use the probiotic goat milk kefir in Shann believes that the sort of discoveries being made
conjunction with the lotions and skincare products. “We know by Chuckling Goat will soon become an accepted part of
that there are 80 autoimmune disorders recognised by the NHS, the health system. “The information will percolate through
and replenishing what is in your gut is the most effective way of the health system,” she says. “In several counties you are
boosting your immune system,” she says. “It boosts everything. already asked to take kefir after antibiotics. In Romania,
People often have a number of illnesses, they don’t have one, they they drink it every day. It’s been a fascinating discovery
might have anxiety and IBS and skin conditions, and kefir will process. Kefir gets me up in the morning, keeps me up
help all of them as they are all connected through the body.” at night and we are constantly making these very
Through selling via its own website, Chuckling Goat has exciting discoveries.”
managed to retain close connections with the customers, www.chucklinggoat.co.uk
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288
Food for thought

“We love backing people from the roots of the
company if they represent our values”
Angus Davison, Haygrove
H orticulture may seem like an unlikely industry to be at the

frontier of one of the most important challenges on earth,
and leading the way through it, however the industry provides
the vital food we need for health and the world’s growing
population. Horticulture employs large numbers of low-skilled
workers, often in rural regions with high unemployment, and
it operates working hand in glove with the climate. “We live in the
front trenches of social and climate change,” says Angus Davison,
founder of berry grower and growing systems manufacturer
Haygrove. “We don’t need to read reports, we feel the pulse.
We have no excuse but to understand, to innovate fast, to try
to do it really well, and to share this rapidly with others.”
Haygrove has farms in the UK, South Africa, Portugal and
China, which produce high-quality berries and cherries for
some of the world’s biggest retailers. The company also designs
and supplies field-scale polytunnels and growing systems for
leading large growers and investors, now in 50 countries,
covering over 30 crops. This unusual combination keeps
Haygrove very well informed and enables the constant testing
of new ideas on its own farms in different climates, meaning it
is well positioned to advise and assist others in optimising their
environment for maximum productivity and quality of crop.
“As growers, we understand the complex challenges presented
by a changing climate, geography, crop sensitivities, labour
resourcing, market demands and the ongoing development
of technology,” says Davison. “We are constantly innovating
functional, practical and commercial solutions. We give an open
invitation for customers to visit us – we enjoy sharing ideas.”
The company’s mission is, “Do something remarkable, Crucial to the company’s success is the ability to develop
dammit! Create opportunities for great people, particularly strong partnerships internationally, often with people who
those that have drawn the short straw. Move minds as to started as Haygrove fruit pickers. They understand the company
what defines a great business.” This, explains Davison, says ethos and have thrived. “We love backing people from the roots
something about the company’s approach and its story of of the company if they represent our values. We want Haygrove
innovation and adventure. Acting broadly has always been part people to exceed their own expectations,” says Davison.
of that story: the company has had multiple community and Haygrove has measured itself against the triple bottom line
environmental initiatives, from running a global award- of planet, people and profit for many years, with, for example,
winning charity in Gambia, to a community garden scheme monthly carbon calculations. “Business is the way most of the
in the UK, to a social upliftment programme in South Africa. world organises itself and it can adapt faster than government,”
Davison started Haygrove by growing one hectare of says Davison. “If we can be a modest inspiration to our far-and-
strawberries as part of his degree thesis and to raise money wide customers through delivering on our aim of ‘quality over
for travel. He began to take this more seriously after studying scale’, that will be good. We are about trying to be helpful to those
progressive growers around the world. He purchased polytunnels who visit us and buy from us, as well as looking for practical
from Spain, which he adapted for UK conditions, and founded solutions and ideas that we can all apply to do the best job we
a company to manufacture them. It became international as possibly can in horticulture, across all three bottom lines.”
more and more growers made contact with similar challenges. www.haygrove.com
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Investing in testing
“New product development in food relies on pace, so when we
provide nutritional analysis it’s needed yesterday! To keep up with
the demand we have to partner closely with our customers”
Mark Carnaghan, Eurofins
T he safety, composition and authenticity of the food and

water we consume every day depends on companies such as
Eurofins, who perform 450 million tests a year to protect public
at a regional level. “Local leaders are encouraged to lead
their business through their people,” says Carnaghan. “It is
more about coaching and inspiring than controlling, so the
health. Founded in 1987 as a single laboratory employing four conversations I have with my line manager are very relaxed
people, the Eurofins Group now has more than 50,000 employees and informal and I can continue that approach all the way
in 800 laboratories worldwide. Such rapid growth stems from down the organisation. It works because we treat the business
the company’s innovative and entrepreneurial culture, which as if it were our own.”
requires local leaders to look to future opportunities while As well as testing food and drink for nutritional value and
continuing to produce fast, accurate and reliable results today. microbiological activity, Eurofins is pushing the boundaries
“We live in a competitive landscape and need to meet the in other areas. “For example, at our Wolverhampton site we
future needs of our customers,” says Mark Carnaghan, Managing have a strong track record in allergen testing,” says Carnaghan,
Director of Food and Water Testing at Eurofins UK and Ireland. “while in Europe, Eurofins scientists have developed methods
“New product development in food relies on pace, so when for identifying individual strains of listeria using genomic
we provide nutritional analysis for product claims it’s needed sequencing.” Eurofins works directly with food manufacturers
yesterday! In our microbiological labs we’re similarly challenged to meet their food safety agendas, but it also works with
as we test for the presence of potentially harmful food-borne retailers to provide an auditing service, to validate whether
pathogens such as salmonella or listeria. To keep up with the their high standards are being met.
demand we have to partner closely with our customers.” Carnaghan is constantly seeking ways to improve the
Eurofins does this by encouraging an entrepreneurial customer value proposition. “Eurofins has one of the best
spirit that starts at the top, allowing the company to respond customer portals on the market which interacts with our
customers all the way through the process,” he says. “We want
to go even further and make it functionally brilliant and
innovative from enquiry to the moment the swab is taken
right down to the testing process itself. This is something
we will achieve through a combination of apps and online
functionality.” Similar innovation by Eurofins scientists is
taking place in areas such as food authenticity checks, to
ensure food is indeed what it claims to be whether that be
its region or composition (extra virgin olive oil). Risk in food
and ingredients is ever present as supply chains become more
global; constantly analysing areas of future risk is essential
to highlighting future product-testing needs.
Eurofins’ vast global data pool and knowledge collected
across its centres of excellence are powerful additional tools to
be harnessed in this battle to analyse potential future risk and
improvement. “Our clients tell us they want a fast turnaround,
responsiveness and accuracy,” says Carnaghan. “Those are
their priorities so it’s important to excel in those areas while
continuing to innovate. It’s not always easy to see what lies
ahead, though. That’s where our insights, data and partnering
can make the difference.”
www.eurofins.co.uk
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Praise be to cheeses
“We are the only dairy in the UK making
hard, soft, goat and blue cheeses. We can
make the perfect British cheeseboard!”
Gill Hall, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses
W hen Gill Hall started working at the family dairy in

Lancashire, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses was best known
for making traditional Lancashire to a recipe her grandmother
in the UK making hard, soft, goat and blue cheeses,” says Hall.
“We can make the perfect British cheeseboard!”
Despite its expansion, Butlers continues to do things the
had developed when she started the farm in 1932. Now the traditional way. Cheese is made by hand at the farmhouse dairy
company makes a range of exceptional soft, hard and blue cheese, by a team of 20 cheesemakers and everything is cut and packed
supplying leading supermarkets and hotels as well as creating manually. But innovation runs through their veins and it is
their own delivery service during Covid lockdown. a passion for creating a new consumer experience which led
“What stands out is our people, our product and our pioneering the family to experiment with a wider range of cheeses before
spirit,” says Hall. “That heritage gives you the confidence to push perfecting the recipe for Blacksticks Blue – a process that took
boundaries like making an orange-coloured soft blue cheese in a decade – as well as to take on the goats. Butlers has recently
a Lancashire farmhouse dairy or adding 1,000 goats to our herd introduced fully recyclable packaging, another first for this
of 600 cows.” adventurous family firm.
She’s referring to Butlers’ Blacksticks Blue, an award-winning With Hall’s two sons joining the business, this heritage
French-style soft blue cheese that is the number-one in the country looks set to continue into another generation. “Our mission has
but continues to find new fans every week. Other popular cheeses been about making farmhouse cheeses that are more accessible
include the traditional Lancashire (made over 24 hours and left to and more relevant,” she says. “We are very strong on family
mature for a year, giving it a buttery texture rather than the crumbly values and the culture that comes from that. It’s not always
Lancashire produced in factories) along with the Camembert-like been easy, but we’ve never stopped doing whatever is required
Button Mill and the smooth Kidderton Ash (a cheese log made from to get real farmhouse cheese to market.”
goat’s milk and coated in a layer of charcoal). “We are the only dairy www.butlerscheeses.co.uk
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Waste not, want not

“You need to persuade farmers and processors by showing
them the economic benefits of reducing waste. You need
to show that sustainability is common sense”
Athanasios Mandis, De La Tierra
W hen Athanasios Mandis formed De La Tierra in 2012,

his initial plan was to capitalise on the expertise he had
acquired sourcing products for the fresh food and beverage
education, so farmers no longer think in terms of a single crop
but instead realise they are producing biomass with infinite
possibilities that, if managed effectively, will unlock a circular
industry. His company has since developed three interlinked agricultural economy and eliminate inefficiencies. “We cannot
but essential strands, all of which support farming communities talk about reducing our carbon footprint and negating climate
around the world through trade and technology, driven by his change if we do not address the abundant waste in our existing
passion for sustainability. supply chains,” he says.
“I am passionate about reducing food waste,” he explains. A second strand sees Mandis working with the food and
“A lot of my work is finding ways to take a by-product and drink sector to develop international sustainability standards and
optimise its value rather than simply putting it in landfill. guide leading brands on their sustainability strategy. He is a firm
You need to persuade farmers and processors by showing them advocate for sustainability through his position on two platforms
the economic benefits of reducing waste and how improving their – Juice CSR and the Sustainable Agricultural Initiative – which
methods will lead to biodiversification, from which they will involved the design and implementation of a fruit production and
benefit. You need to show that sustainability is common sense.” processing facility in Malawi. He continues to work in the import
Some of Mandis’s most important work comes in the field and sale of fresh produce to the retail and processing sectors, with
of post-harvest solutions. The current focus is developing green a focus on niche crops. “I feel I have an innate understanding of
technologies that take compounds which are obtained from produce, not just in terms of managing post-harvest but driving
by-products from the food industry and uses them to create new quality improvements,” he says. “I can troubleshoot where there
products that will rival chemical disinfectants and fungicides is a problem and identify innovative solutions.”
to extend the shelf-life of fresh food. This requires a process of www.de-la-tierra.com
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Let them eat brioche

“If your team are good and you apply yourself, we are
living proof that incredible things can happen”
Paul Baker, St Pierre Groupe
B rioche is a regular in supermarkets and store cupboards

around the globe – but it was St Pierre Groupe who helped
it get there. The Manchester-based company was founded in
Challenger, filling the boot with brioche, and driving across six
states to deliver samples. Baker and his team attended trade fairs
incognito for two years to understand the market, ahead of his
the 1980s and in 2004 was acquired by dynamic duo Paul Baker epic road trip to build brand awareness and find a distributor.
and Jeremy Gilboy. “That attitude can inspire the team,” he says. “It shows what is
In 2008, the financial crash forced St Pierre Groupe to possible, and it resonated deeply in America as they admire that
leverage its European contacts and it started focusing on pioneering spirit.”
brioche, eventually becoming the number-one brioche brand It helps that brioche is such a translatable product and has
in the US. One reward was a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, been adapted to be used for burgers, hot dogs, dinner rolls and
for International Trade. “Very few British companies can French toast. “Not everybody knows immediately what to do
crack America,” says Paul Baker. “We managed to pull that with brioche, but we’ve built a brand that makes people want to
off because we have a very high-quality proposition.” learn,” he says. “We took those American icons in hamburgers
As his surname suggests, Baker knows bread. He is from and hot dogs and built a brand that talks about the romance of
a family of bakers and spent the first ten years of his working France. The success is in its simplicity as a product.”
life in a bakery. “Bread is in my blood,” he says. “It’s what The story of St Pierre, he hopes, will inspire other British
I am here to do by name, training and virtue.” He believes companies in challenging circumstances. “If your team are good
the key to good leadership is to develop teams that are and you apply yourself, we are living proof that incredible things
motivated, to lead from the front, to devolve responsibility can happen,” he says. “We hope that companies like ourselves
and to buck trends. He demonstrated these qualities himself can act as glimmers of hope.”
when trying to break America by hiring a bright red Dodge www.stpierregroupe.com
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Brewed awakening
“From grain to glass, we ensure
that sustainable practices flow all
the way through our supply chain”
Phil Whitehead, Molson Coors
W e now know Molson Coors as a North American brewer,

but its legacy dates back to the 1770s when Englishmen
William Worthington and William Bass set up their rival breweries
to the fact that our company put people first, and stayed true to
that all the way through,” says Whitehead. Looking ahead, a key
focus for Molson Coors is its commitment to sustainability.
in Burton upon Trent; while, in 1786, English immigrant John Already, the company has launched a low-carbon glass beer bottle
Molson established his first brewery in Montreal. The combined for its Staropramen brand that reduces the carbon impact of its
efforts of all these men – along with German-Americans Adolph production by up to 90 per cent; abandoned plastic rings from all
Coors and Frederick J Miller – formed the basis of Molson Coors, its major brands; and removed more than 700 tonnes of single-use
which has gone on to become one of the world’s largest brewers. plastic from its operations since 2019. By 2025, the company also
“Together, these two names – Molson and Coors – have gone aims to halve its carbon emissions across all global operations.
on to revolutionise beer in their own right,” says Phil Whitehead, In the UK, Molson Coors became the first major brewer to use
Western Europe Managing Director for Molson Coors Beverage 100 per cent renewable electricity to produce all its beers and ciders.
Company. Created after a merger of the two brands in 2005, the At the Tween Bridge Wind Farm in Doncaster, 22 turbines provide all
company also produces world-renowned drinks such as Carling, the electricity required to power Molson Coors’ breweries in Burton
Blue Moon, Miller Genuine Draft and Staropramen, and has moved and Tadcaster, Sharp’s Brewery in Cornwall, and the Aspall Cyder
into cider with Aspall Cyder and Rekorderlig, and wider adult House in Suffolk, as well as its offices and distribution centres.
beverages including ready-to-drink cocktails and hard seltzers. This approach translates to around one billion UK-brewed pints
During 2020, amid the backdrop of a global pandemic, Molson made each year with 100 per cent renewable electricity sources.
Coors maintained its momentum by launching the European-style “From grain to glass, we’ve made sure that sustainable practices
lager Madrí Excepcional, and Three Fold, its first hard seltzer flow all the way through our supply chain,” says Whitehead.
brand in the UK. “Our success over that difficult period was down www.molsoncoors.com
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Seaweed superheroes
“Seaweed absorbs masses of carbon
– far more than any tree can”
Alec Watt, Green Ocean Seaweed Farming
W rapped around ropes anchored to the ocean floor grows

a miracle crop. Marine algae – better known as seaweed –
is not only an increasingly popular foodstuff rich in Omega-3,
means the creation of a whole new ecosystem, one that
slowly but surely helps to mend the damage caused by human
exploitation of the oceans. In addition to providing cover for
but also a vital ingredient in bioplastics and animal feed, crabs, lobsters and small fish, says Watt, “seaweed absorbs
fertiliser and medicines. Alec Watt’s company, Green Ocean masses of carbon – far more than any tree can.”
Seaweed Farming, cultivates and grows marine algae for all As such, Green Ocean regularly consults with corporations
of these applications – and business is booming. around the world on ways they can use seaweed to help offset
“We’re talking really large amounts for export”, says Watt, their carbon emissions. Watt has also seen new applications
typically hundreds of tonnes per order. As such, the company’s emerge in clothes manufacturing, biochar and medicines.
farms have proliferated rapidly up and down the UK coast, “Bladderwrack, which grows in the intertidal zone, will be
from Torbay and Portland to the Pembrokeshire coast, grown for extracts for diabetes,” he explains. “Knotted rack
Cumbria and the west of Scotland. will be fed to cattle, to offset methane emissions.”
Most of Green Ocean’s supply consists of two seaweed Green Ocean stands ready to meet this demand. As well as
species: sugar kelp and oarweed, both native to UK waters. being on the lookout for new farming sites, Watt is also interested
The company grows these between October and April, swapping in cultivating the next generation of aquaculture talent in the UK.
them for ulva, a type of sea lettuce, in the summer months. “It’s a “We’re in the process of setting up a seaweed hatchery laboratory,”
seasonal, bright green vegetable that happens to be a seaweed,” he says. “We’ll be taking students from different universities to
says Watt. “It’s my preferred eating seaweed, actually.” teach them the art. We’ll have those people trained up and able
Watt almost always chooses barren sites for his new to drive the aquaculture world forward in the next few decades.”
offshore farms, the result being that Green Ocean’s arrival www.greenoceanfarming.co.uk
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The big cheese

“I have staff who’ve been with me since the beginning and
recognising the benefit to business of building such lasting
relationships has played a large part in our success”
Ian Galletly, Ingredient Solutions Ltd
Y ou might not have heard of Ingredient Solutions Ltd but,

in nine out of 10 supermarkets across the UK and Ireland,
and many more throughout Europe, you’ll find sandwiches,
to market. “Some of my suppliers have been with me since
day one and including my previous experience I have working
relationships stretching back 35 years,” he says. “I have staff
snacks, ready meals and pizzas containing its high-quality who’ve been with me since the beginning and building such
cheese and dairy ingredients. The company is based in Boherbue, lasting relationships has played a large part in our success.
County Cork, the heart of Ireland’s cheese-producing region, Whether clients phone our customer-service department,
and covers all the aspects of cheese that its food-manufacturing technical support or new product development team, they
clients might require – from consultancy, product design and always get to speak to someone. That very personal connection
development through to full service production. means that any problems can be sorted immediately.”
“I was working with a market leader in England and knew Now employing 75 staff, with an annual turnover of
I had the experience and skills needed to found my own company,” £45 million and exporting to more than 30 countries, Ingredient
says Managing Director Ian Galletly. “My wife wanted to move Solutions still has big plans. Planning permission has been
back to her native Ireland so I started Ingredient Solutions Ltd granted for expansion on the Boherbue site, with Galletly aiming
in 2000 with just five people and a plan to become the market to double the company in size and reach a £100 million annual
leader. I had a very clear idea of the company I wanted to run, turnover in the next five years. “Investment is vital to keep
offering the best quality and servicing every section of the food us at the top of the game and so is never losing sight of our
market in the most professional way, while providing the best customers,” he says. “Most of them have my direct phone
personal service.” number and that’s the type of working relationship that has
Between them, Galletly’s team has over a century of helped make such a success of Ingredient Solutions Ltd.”
combined experience in helping bring profitable products www.ingredientsolutionsltd.com
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All in good taste

“We are natural, innovative and creative
and we champion provenance – so we
know where our flavours come from”
Steve Pearce, Omega Ingredients
S teve Pearce is passionate about flavours. At Omega

Ingredients, he has made it his mission to create flavours
for the food and beverage industries using high-quality natural
Marks & Spencer wanted a special strawberry flavour for
the Diamond Jubilee and 2012 Olympics using only British
strawberries,” says Pearce. “People said that was impossible,
ingredients extracted from real foods, with a traceable and but we could do that – and it was so popular it has become one
ethical provenance. “There are 12,000 materials that have been of their standard lines.” Omega’s latest innovation is OmegaSweet,
analytically identified as responsible for flavour and aroma in a natural flavour system that replaces sugar in food, reducing
food and beverage – and there’s no shortcut to understanding calories and giving the perception of sweetness, while improving
what those look, smell and taste like,” he says. “It’s a combination mouthfeel and enhancing flavour.
of science and art. A strawberry has something like 250 flavour The company has a laboratory in Suffolk, where it is
components – we can make a passable flavour out of as few as six building a dedicated production facility in a sustainable and
materials, none of which smell or taste like strawberry until you environmentally friendly fashion. There is also an office in
combine them. You have to make dilutions, smell them, taste Philadelphia to deal with the growing US market. Ethics are
them and use them in combinations. You need to understand essential to Omega. Pearce will not work with companies that
food science and biochemistry. We are natural, innovative and make e-cigarettes and is strict about understanding provenance
creative, and we champion provenance – so we know where our and working conditions throughout the supply chain. The company
flavours come from.” spends time and money investing in staff, providing them with the
Omega Ingredients works with 185 customers in 70 countries support and training they require. “We have won awards for our
on every continent except Antarctica. Different cultures training,” he says. “As with everything else, it is something we want
have different tastes, and some flavours will need to be baked, to do as well as we possibly can.”
combined with dairy, or added to powder. “For instance, www.omegaingredients.co.uk
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Hebridean spirit
“I asked the guy from Kazakhstan how he found himself
here on this remote Hebridean island, and he replied
‘Why wouldn’t I be? It’s Bunnahabhain!’”
Joseph Walsh, Distell Group
S outh African drinks company Distell might be a global

business but, when it comes to whisky, the crown jewels
of its vast portfolio are three single malts from remote parts
Revolution, before being converted in 1966,” says Walsh.
“So there’s a community of workers and families built around it,
with the river used as a source of energy.” Deanston’s whiskies
of Scotland. These three brands – Tobermory, Deanston and are smooth, soft and honeyed, making great use of the constant
Bunnahabhain – have a wealth of history and the quality supply of exceptionally pure water.
to match. Distell’s flagship whisky, however, is Bunnahabhain.
Tobermory is the only whisky distillery on the picturesque The distillery was built in 1881 on the Isle of Islay and, because
Isle of Mull, taking its name from the island’s charming capital, of how remote it is, everything has to be shipped in. This is the
home to the brightly coloured houses featured on the children’s tipple of choice for those who prefer a sweeter, more sherry-like,
TV show Balamory. “Tobermory is our oldest distillery, dating non-peaty finish. Like Tobermory and Deanston, Bunnahabhain
back to 1797,” explains Joseph Walsh, Distell’s Head of Europe. is a true connoisseur’s whisky. “At the Islay festival, I was
“It’s had a turbulent history, changing hands many times queueing up in the distillery shop and got talking to a guy next
over the years, but we know we’ve got a gem on our hands.” to me, who turned out to be from Kazakhstan,” says Walsh.
Two whiskies are produced here: a bright and vibrant single “I asked how he found himself here on this remote island,
malt called Tobermory; and a smaller amount of Ledaig, and he replied ‘Why wouldn’t I be? It’s Bunnahabhain!’”
a smoky, peated whisky. These whiskies have won many dozens of awards in recent
The Deanston hydro-energy distillery sits on the banks of years, including golds at the Scotch Whisky Masters, World
the River Teith on the mainland, at what’s known as the gateway Whisky Awards and many more. But it’s their centuries-old
to the Highlands. “It started life as a cotton mill in 1785, set up authentic stories that truly make them stand out from the crowd.
by Richard Arkwright, one of the fathers of the Industrial www.distell.co.za
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Prawn this way

“With seafood, the onus is on the importer
to do the work. It’s not just about quality, but
also environment, ethics and welfare”
Steve Money, NSF Foods Ltd
W ith so many of us increasingly choosing fish over meat in our

meals, Steve Money has never been busier. After spending
27 years specialising in seafood, and all his working life in food, he
and management. It has built the brand on market knowledge,
close working relationships, robust due diligence and providing
a bespoke package of customer service.
formed NSF Foods in 2018, inspired by the burgeoning demand Although much of the company’s product portfolio is
for high-quality, ethically sourced and sustainable products. It has distributed and sold under customer labels, Steve still feels
grown substantially in just three years, processing more than immense pride to see the final product reaching satisfied
1,000 tons of seafood each year with annual sales in the millions. customers. “We developed a product using a freshwater king
Rare among UK importers, NSF Foods manages a fully integrated prawn from Bangladesh,” he remembers. “It was very satisfying
process of food management, from hatchery to harvesting, processing to see the product in store, promoted in magazines and then on
and shipping. At its Wolverhampton head office, the family-run TV in the run up to Christmas.”
firm employs six full-time staff, with additional team members NSF Foods is dealing with the challenges of Brexit and has
strategically positioned in Bangladesh, India and Vietnam, where weathered a Covid-reduced market in the hospitality industry by
the company has invested in farms and facilities to ensure pedigree rapidly adapting its business into more retail-friendly offerings.
trading standards across its global supply chain. Its success with seafood has prompted other manufacturers to
Product quality has been key to its success. “One major come knocking, and the team is now developing Italian food
supermarket we work with has a 96-page supply criteria just products including pasta, meats and cheeses. “We’re still the
for prawns,” explains Steve. “With seafood, the onus is on the prawn boys,” says Steve Money, “but it’s time to expand – with
importer and producer to do the work. It’s not just about quality, good quality products that meet ethical and environmental
but also environment, ethics and welfare.” His team draws on standards everyone demands.”
more than 120 years combined expertise in food production www.nsffoods.com
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Alchemy through algae

“Nowadays we have a greater awareness that what
we eat is very important, that exercise is vital, and that
superfoods are an important part of our lives”
Arthur Spurling, AquaSource
“
L ong before it was fashionable, Arthur Spurling pioneered the use
in the UK of blue-green algae, one of the planet’s most nutrient-
rich superfoods. Through his company, AquaSource, founded in 1994,
use flow additives. We only want the ingredients in our capsules,
so you buy an entirely pure product.” Where possible, AquaSource
products are vegan, and the company has been registered with the
he sells a range of organic, algae-based products that are championed Vegan Society since 2000. “It’s part of who we are, we haven’t just
by leading homeopaths, naturopaths and nutritionists. “Nowadays come to this,” says Spurling. Blue-green algae supplements are
we have a greater awareness that what we eat is very important and only part of AquaSource’s range, which also includes a natural
that exercise is vital,” he says, “and that superfoods are an important skincare range and colostrum nutritional supplements, which
part of our lives, especially during these modern stressful times.” are beneficial for athletes as well as providing immunity to all.
Blue-green algae provides emotional balance, boosts levels of AquaSource has strong sales and distribution ties in Bulgaria,
energy and concentration, and enhances the body’s ability to heal. where Spurling’s wife Albena works with many schools through
“Our business has spread by distributors through word of mouth their UK-registered charity LightSource. AquaSource donates
as people get real results from the products,” Spurling adds. 10 per cent of profit after tax to LightSource, which transforms
The blue-green algae in AquaSource products comes exclusively schools around the world with brightly coloured murals that
from Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, USA, where it grows wild in create positive, uplifting environments to inspire better learning.
pollution-free, mineral-rich waters. Air-dried under strict controls “I believe it is our social responsibility to give back,” Spurling says.
to preserve its nutrient content, the algae is the most complete While sales of AquaSource’s superfoods are growing,
natural food available. As it regrows rapidly, it is also sustainable. Spurling never loses sight of what the company stands for.
Maintaining the integrity of the production process is vital for “We do what we do from the heart,” he says. “Our business
Spurling. “We build our products to a quality, not to a price,” he is not profit-motivated, it is about really helping people.”
says. “We never look at a cheaper way of doing things and never www.aquasource.net
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Spice world
“We have full traceability back to the farm. Our retail
products are coeliac and vegan certified, 100 per cent
natural and packed with beautiful fresh flavour”
Arun Kapil, Green Saf fron Spices
I f any man knows his cardamom from his cumin, it’s spice
master Arun Kapil. Born in Lincolnshire of Indian parentage,
Kapil (pictured, above) moved to Ireland and started to sell fresh
natural and packed full of beautiful fresh flavour. We think it’s
better that way.” Kapil maintains that good food and best-in-class
ethical standards go hand in hand, and Green Saffron works
spices imported from India at a market stall in Cork in 2007. with partner farms in India to develop sustainable programmes
The delicious scents and Kapil’s enthusiastic knowledge of spices to ensure it can bring the highest-grade and freshest spice to
began to attract fascinated customers, and over the next few years customers, at no cost to its ethical standards. The company uses
the business snowballed into Green Saffron Spices, a company that these strong relationships with suppliers to ensure spices that
imports fresh spices direct from partner farms in India to its spice arrive in Europe are as fresh as possible – it maintains an eight-
hub in the Netherlands. The brand – which has won numerous week turnaround from farm to retail – thus providing fresh and
prizes, including several from the Great Taste Awards – provides vibrant flavours for European kitchens. And there is more to come.
a range of spices, spice blends, sachets, sauces, rice, chutneys “There are three main reasons I think spice is so important
and naan for the retail market. It also has seasonal specials such as an ingredient and why chefs should incorporate it onto their
as mulled wine spices, a uniquely spiced pudding, and eco- menus: it opens up a wealth of beautiful flavours, it is natural
friendly plates made from the leaves of the areca palm tree. and has many natural health benefits,” said Kapil. “A chef might
“Our skill set is in sustainable, ethical sourcing, gastronomic have between 12 and 20 spices in his or her dry store; the
innovation and extolling the virtues of the vibrant spice,” says permutations and combinations alone with that amount of
Kapil, who has written a cookbook, Fresh Spice, and regularly spices are phenomenal. I’ve played around with spice over
appears on TV and radio – including the BBC’s MasterChef – as the last 15 years and I have over 520 blends, working with
a go-to spice expert. “We have full traceability back to the farm. 30 spices, and that’s only so far. I am just scraping the surface.”
Our retail products are coeliac and vegan certified, 100 per cent www.greensaff ron.com
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Sowing the seeds

“We’ve brought home baking into industrial
production. It’s a long and costly process,
but it has worked in our favour”
Robert Sak, Seedful
I n the rapidly expanding healthy eating and “free from” food

sector, Seedful has grown from a small start-up to an expected
£2 million turnover business in just five years. But, for founder
her as a friend, and with customers already enthusiastic about
Heart of Nature products, the launch of the Seedful brand took
things to another level. Seedful has since won prestigious awards
and owner Robert Sak, one thing is worth much more than the from Lux Life, FreeFrom and the Nourish Awards.
business itself: the closely-guarded recipe and production process. That complex baking process, using 100 per cent natural
“They are Seedful’s IP,” says Polish entrepreneur Sak, who ingredients with no additives or preservatives, means Seedful’s
launched the business in 2016. “My wife, Magda, is a biologist, products also boast a 10-month shelf life. Already established
and is far more into health and wellness than I’ve ever been. She in major UK stores such as Waitrose, Ocado, Abel & Cole and
has always made this type of bread, and we’ve brought that home Holland & Barrett, Seedful’s online success (it was nominated
baking into industrial production. It’s a long and costly process, for Ocado’s Rising Star 2021 awards) has attracted international
but it has worked in our favour – the big players in the gluten- customers, and the company now exports to clients as far afield as
free market are not taking us on, because it’s so complicated.” Singapore, China and India, and across Europe and Scandinavia.
The business started life as the Heart of Nature range of In 2021, Seedful entered the growing “grab and go” market,
seeded, high-fibre, wheat- and gluten-free vegan loaves; but it with its selection of “make it yourself” sandwiches. “We’ve
was Sak’s successful pitch on Dragons’ Den, when he accepted established recognition in the market as a unique brand,” says Sak.
Deborah Meaden’s offer of £40,000 for a stake in the business, “Whatever bakery product we sell – rolls, bread or anything else
that helped to shape Seedful. “The experience had a big impact,” – people recognise that behind it is the Seedful quality, name and
says Sak. “It convinced me that we needed to go a different way, production process, which is fantastic. Growing business and
and find the right name and brand, which was invaluable.” While helping people is a very satisfactory experience.”
the business partnership with Meaden ended, Sak still regards www.seedful.com
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CHAPTER TEN
ECONOMY
AND
INDUSTRY
305
Pulling the purse strings

Her Majesty’s Treasury is the nation’s bank manager and the
most important of the government departments – always
ready to throw cold water on any spending plans
brake on government policy. “Whichever party is in office,” said

Harold Wilson, “the Treasury is in power.” Jim Callaghan recalls
how on his first day as Chancellor in 1967, the Permanent Secretary
presented him with a thick document of foolscap papers, outlining
the economic problems he had to address. “It was like someone had
thrown a bucket of cold water over me,” he said.
When Norman Lamont started as Chancellor in 1990 he
remembers his Permanent Secretary, Terry Burns, telling him
that, “within a month you’ll be the most unpopular man in
England”. “If you do this job and you’re popular, you’re not doing
it properly,” said Lamont. “You tend to have very few friends
among your colleagues, because you’re having to say no to their
spending plans.”
The one government member who does need to be close to the
Chancellor is the Prime Minister. “The two are like policemen,”
said Denis Healey, Chancellor under Wilson and Callaghan from
1974–79. “The Prime Minister is the good cop and the Chancellor
is the nasty cop. And they have to work together very closely.
It’s why number 10 and number 11 Downing Street are linked
together at every floor. The Prime Minister’s door should always
be open to the Chancellor. If it’s not, you’re in trouble.” It’s why
so many Chancellors of the Exchequer have gone on to become
PMs: in the last century alone it’s happened to everyone from
Baldwin to Brown, Macmillan to Major, Churchill to Callaghan;
Chamberlain, Lloyd George and Asquith.
o
Above
11 Downing Street,
T he nation’s tax collector and bank manager, HM Treasury
is the longest-established government department. It’s the
government’s economic and finance ministry, maintaining
Treasury staff have long had a reputation as rather dour
maths obsessives. “The atmosphere is like the cross between
an Oxbridge lecture and a monastery,” said Kenneth Clarke,
the traditional home control over public spending, setting the direction of the UK’s Chancellor from 1993–97. “It is filled with brilliant minds engaged
of the Chancellor of economic policy and working to achieve strong and sustainable in open debate – but you quickly realise that they are completely
the Exchequer economic growth. It employs almost 1,500 staff directly but detached from the real world. That’s where you, as Chancellor,
thousands more through its departments such as NS&I (National have to intervene.” For Alistair Darling, Chancellor from 2007–10,
o Savings and Investments) and the Royal Mint – HM Revenue the Treasury was “a rather gloomy cathedral”; while Lamont
Opposite & Customs (HMRC) alone has 67,000 staff around the UK. described it as “a dreary building, with red linoleum floors that
Since taking over as The position of collecting taxes and revenue has always resembled a Soviet psychiatric hospital”. It’s why its headquarters
Chancellor in February been one of the state’s most important jobs, and the role of at 1 Horse Guards Road in Whitehall was substantially refurbished
2020, Rishi Sunak has Chancellor is the oldest of the great offices of state, one that in 2002 by Norman Foster’s architectural practice.
helped lead the response predates that of Prime Minister and even Parliament itself – Chancellors are also the government’s fire fighters,
to the Covid pandemic the term “exchequer” comes from the chequered cloth used the ministers in the front line of every catastrophe to hit the
by the king’s treasurer nearly a millennium ago to count taxes. economy. Jim Callaghan had to deal with the devaluation of
The Treasury also has the reputation as being the constant the pound in 1967; Denis Healey had to seek a loan from the
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ECONOMY AND INDUSTRY
IMF to deal with a sterling crisis in 1976; Norman Lamont’s

withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in “Whichever party is in office,
1992 led to the catastrophic Black Wednesday; Alistair Darling
was on watch during the 2007–08 financial crisis; while Rishi the Treasury is in power”
Sunak has had to provide unprecedented state intervention
to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My number-one worry since the start has been trying
to protect as many people’s jobs as possible,” said Sunak in
an interview last year. “Clearly the health restrictions have
an impact on the economy and I know how worrying and
damaging it is when your job is at risk. That’s why I put the
furlough scheme in place. But I can’t save every single job,
that won’t be possible, no chancellor can. What I can do is
provide new possibilities.”
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
307
Investing
in people
“This business is all about social inclusion,
helping customers and supporting
merchants who are competing with
the major online marketplaces.”
Daniel Holden, Trust Payments
T he constantly evolving and endlessly exciting world of

Fintech requires the creation and implementation of
innovative new technology, but according to Trust Payments
and it’s very exciting to work in an expanding and interesting
sector. This business is all about social inclusion, helping
customers and supporting merchants who are competing
CEO Daniel Holden, the most important factor remains the with the major online marketplaces. If we get that right,
people. Trust Payments – headquartered in the UK but with it really benefits people.”
offices in Europe, Singapore, the United States and Canada – Trust Payments is a leading-edge Fintech platform with
provides a secure and simple platform for digital payments for a clear vision to build omnichannel converged commerce
more than 20,000 customers, processing more than £5 billion solutions, making it easier for customers and retailers to
transactions annually all over the world. It has enjoyed rapid connect in a digital world. In 2019, the company embraced a
success and 60 per cent net revenue growth year on year. new business model that encompassed a change in corporate
“It’s not about payments or technology, it’s about how culture, which led to strong investment and rapid growth.
we have led a company over two years and grown the business Trust Payments provides a range of services, including TRU
with the help of some exceptional people,” says Holden. Connect, which enables credit, debit, mobile and alternative
“We recruited more than 100 people in lockdown, and it payment; TRU POS, which are robust and reliable point-of-
can be hard to find good people – but they love our story, sale devices; TRU Mobile, which allow in-app payments;
308
and TRU Security, which offer total protection against 24/7 technical support. This superior customer service is
fraudsters. On top of that are systems such as TRU Link, a core part of the offering, and clients are supported by
which can integrate with existing point-of-sale and property account managers with industry expertise and a strong
management systems, and TRU Connect Enterprise, an desire to help.
advanced gateway solution primed for social commerce and “We have a very clear model,” explains Holden. “We offer
deep customisation. a range of payment options and that is the entry point to the
These solutions enable companies of all sizes to accept system. We support merchants of any size, whether they are
payments from all over the world, supporting their growth just starting or are more established, and our journey is to
and international expansion, allowing them to advance their make the entire process frictionless and painless, to make
market share and gain more insight from payments data. it easier for people to start or continue trading or for
Services include a wide selection of payment methods to customers to make payments. We want to link that to the
increase conversion; simple, cost-effective integration; a online marketplace, where some retailers simply can’t pay the
customised payment page with company branding for best rates demanded by the big online marketplaces. Meanwhile,
customer experience; data insights; payments-linked lots of banks are charging UK merchants astronomical fees
customer loyalty data and local account managers with compared to what it should actually cost and they are not
309
310
“We recruited more than

100 people in lockdown, and
it can be hard to find good
people – but they love our
story, and it’s very exciting to
work in an expanding and
interesting sector”
really innovating or making it easier for them. Then there is immensely valuable for a company that has international
are things like crypto currencies – so paying with things aspirations, as there are vastly different cultural values and
like Bitcoin, which will soon become a very seamless part expectations in different parts of the world.
of the payment experience.” The company is also taking part in the UK government’s
In 2020, Trust Payments broke new ground when it acquired new Kickstarter scheme to expand this diversity of thought.
the loyalty card scheme for retailer Matalan. The company “The government is funding under-25s to do six-month
feels this new service – TRU Loyalty – provides an avenue for apprenticeship schemes, and we can support up to 120 people
further innovation, with loyalty schemes directly linked digitally who we can train in different sectors of the business,” says
to payment methods, supporting a more fulfilling customer Holden. “This is generally those aged between 18 and 25,
experience. “There is a real convergence in these technologies,” and is designed to help social inclusion and diversity, not just
says Holden. “At the moment, when a customer walks into a with regards to race and gender but also to create a diversity
shop they are anonymous. The retailer has no idea about their of thought by bringing in young people who instinctively
personal tastes and preferences. So if the retailer does have some have a digital worldview. It is ingrained in them. We can
of that knowledge then the shopping experience can be richer. conceptualise it, but they have that instinctively.”
The way to gain that knowledge is through payments. So we Holden relates an anecdote as an example of the difference
have acquired this loyalty card business to innovate in that a single individual, however lowly, can make to an enterprise
area, we can use it as an app that links to a virtual wallet. if they are valued and listened to. “There is a story about one
That works brilliantly and there are great rewards for the of the major banks in the UK about 20 years ago,” he says.
customer. The details are then in the system and it can all be “They had a graduate training programme and opened it
managed via the credit or debit card, while more and more out to more applicants. There was a meeting at a branch and
people are using mobile payments like Apple Pay.” one of these graduates asked why everybody in the bank was
All of this is made possible because Trust Payments sitting behind glass panels as that isn’t what happened in
believes the key to innovation is investing in people. It has normal shops. That led to a complete revolution where banks
also recently won awards, including one from the UK’s Best suddenly changed, becoming more open with people meeting
Companies To Work For website. The company employs customers and asking what they wanted, rather than
people all over the world, creating a workplace that is expecting everybody to queue at the counter. It’s that kind
interconnected and integrated regardless of where somebody of innovation that we want to bring to the digital world.”
is physically based. This provides a broad cultural reach which www.trustpayments.com
311
Investing in
green energy
“New forms of energy encourage innovation and growth. And, in
response, growing markets can attract diverse talent from around
the world who want to pursue careers in green technologies”
Jean Missinhoun, Visium Investment Management
T hroughout his prosperous career in technology, finance

and hedge funds, Jean Missinhoun has gained a reputation
as one of the world’s most successful oil and energy investors
Missinhoun takes a wide-ranging, ambitious approach to
social media to advocate for change and share positive messages to
relevant audiences. To reach the upcoming generation, for example,
of the past 25 years. His knowledge, interest and commitment Visium Investment Management has sponsored a competition
to sustainability has led to the creation of Visium Investment on the social networking service TikTok. The TikTok competition
Management, a private investment partnership with a focus on offers relevant prizes (including hoverboards and TV subscriptions)
renewable energy. The firm has operations in New York, London to encourage users to make and share creative videos about the
and Hong Kong, and Missinhoun states that its mission is to dangers that climate change presents to small islands. As one of the
“accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable and green energy.” most vulnerable regions to climate change, small island populations
The negative environmental impact of climate change poses will experience hazards and vulnerability from increased tropical
huge economic risks across the globe. And yet, in the face of cyclones, marine heatwaves and fluctuations in temperature and
global catastrophe, the transition to sustainable and green rainfall patterns. Given that many small-island communities are
energy also creates economic opportunities. “Renewable energy located in coastal zones, these will be some of the first people to
makes the world less reliant on the countries that control experience the negative impact of climate change.
the limited number of fossil fuel reservoirs,” says Missinhoun. The Tik Tok competition is an example of Visium’s imaginative
“Instead, it allows countries to harness their natural resources and clever approach to inspiring interest and engendering change.
and convert them into reliable sources of energy. As a result, the Through Visium Investment Management, Missinhoun focuses
new forms of energy encourage innovation and growth within on fostering meaningful and sustainable partnerships with
those countries. And in response, their growing markets can a variety of world-class organisations, events and activities.
attract diverse talent from around the world who want to pursue Through this support and collaboration, the company hopes
careers in green technologies.” to nurture the spirit of curiosity and encourage exploration
In his recently published book, The Green Energy Boom, he and innovation. Partnerships include student hackathons,
sets out his belief that a better future – for investors as well as organisations that support women in engineering, coding
the planet – lies in renewable and sustainable energy. His mission competitions, open-source initiatives, university affiliate
is to build a community of like-minded people around the globe programmes and research centres.
who work together to promote sustainable energy. His targets “Change is never easy, and human progress doesn’t
include the international community of wealth creators – CEOs, happen overnight,” says Missinhoun. “But with proper
billionaires, entrepreneurs and board members – who are in the investment and innovation, employers and policymakers
best position to create change on a mass scale. He engages with can successfully facilitate that transition into the new
different people in multiple languages, using whatever platform era of green energy.”
that is relevant for their campaign or industry. www.visium-ai.com
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313
314
Tools of the trade

“Fintech firms have been building new technologies
and tools for finance professionals for years, but
adoption lagged behind innovation. The pandemic
has accelerated a change in that dynamic”
Christophe Roupie, MarketA xess
“
F rom its inception in 2000, MarketAxess has placed an
emphasis on creating a global electronic marketplace and
connecting investors across the world,” says Christophe Roupie,
dealers, giving clients significant cost savings and a wider
choice of trading counterparties.
Adoption of electronic trading is rapidly accelerating
the company’s UK Chief Executive and Head of EMEA and across the bond markets that MarketAxess serves. “Fintech firms
APAC. MarketAxess – a leading electronic trading platform for like us have been building new technologies and tools for finance
fixed-income securities, and one of the world’s fastest-growing professionals for years, but adoption has sometimes lagged behind
global fintech companies – was able to demonstrate this more innovation,” says Roupie. “The pandemic has accelerated a change
than ever in 2020 when the pandemic hit financial firms and in that dynamic.” Larger and more complex trades are conducted
markets. In contrast to the chaos of the financial crisis of 2008, across its platform, helping fixed income markets to become more
when markets closed for several days and liquidity dried up, “democratised” globally. “You could be using the same technology
traders were able to use Open Trading, the all-to-all trading and accessing the same network from absolutely anywhere in
marketplace created by MarketAxess after 2008. “This time, the world,” he says.
we were able to help markets remain relatively orderly and What makes the firm a leader in its field, says Roupie, is the
liquid, by helping to find and match buyers and sellers, and way it listens. “We spend a lot of time listening to our clients’ needs
provide price transparency even at the height of the volatility and pain points. Most are leaders in their field – leading trading
– all while our clients and employees pivoted to remote working.” teams, or leading investment functions in their firms.” The firm’s
Roupie, who joined the company in 2017 after a storied clients include over 1,800 of the world’s leading investment banks,
career in trading, is leading an expanding international team asset management firms, wealth managers and hedge funds, in
that supports clients out of London, Amsterdam, Singapore more than 120 countries. “By listening, we can anticipate future
and Hong Kong. Along with its electronic trading platform, needs and trends, and be ready when the unexpected happens,
MarketAxess – listed on the S&P 500 index since 2019 – like last year. By listening, we’ve become leaders ourselves.”
also supplies market data and post-trade services across The firm takes its leadership position seriously, committing
the UK, the EMEA and Asia-Pacific. “We supply trading to support the communities in which it works. Roupie calls this
technology and workflow solutions to our clients, but its “duty of care”, which underpins volunteering, philanthropy
importantly we also provide the critical fuel for those and community projects that MarketAxess contributes to
solutions – data,” he says. across the world. In addition, the firm is exploring how to use
Wall Street banks have long dominated the corporate its technology and data to better support sustainable finance
bond market. But radical shifts in data and technology mean and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing
that, alongside them, MarketAxess has become a leader in initiatives, which Roupie believes are critical for the future:
corporate bond trading. Its platform offers greater efficiency, “Technology is one of the answers to making our world more
more accessible liquidity and a broader range of competitive sustainable. We must help the leaders of today to prepare for
pricing than traditional voice trading. It also allows buyside the world of tomorrow. The time for change is now.”
clients to trade directly with each other, rather than just with www.marketaxess.com
315
How investing
goes viral
“By mid-March, it was obvious just how serious the pandemic
was. Clients had huge worries and they expected to hear from
their financial adviser at such a time”
Kerry Nelson, Nexus
F inancial advisers always emphasise the importance of

sticking to a long-term financial and investment plan.
And that usually means encouraging clients to screen out a lot
it had reorganised into Nexus IFA (which providing independent
financial advice) and Nexus Investment Managers (which created
and managed the investment solutions accompanying that advice).
of the short-term noise. However, Nexus CEO Kerry Nelson says The first step for the management team was to ensure that
the challenges of 2020 meant that clients needed and expected both arms could operate effectively through lockdown and
a lot more especially in terms of communications. to implement a plan to work remotely. It was then a matter of
“By mid-March, it was obvious just how serious the pandemic the firm’s investment committee taking stock of the economic
was,” she says. “Most governments decided that a lockdown was situation, bringing its analytical experience to bear and
the only way to get a grip on events. The British government establishing its views. It then commenced a wide-ranging
effectively ordered a big swathe of the economy into hibernation. communications programme, significantly stepping up the
Stock markets saw several weeks of huge losses. Clients had health frequency of communications with a weekly letter from the
worries, wealth worries and faced huge restrictions in the lives. CEO and a separate market commentary.
They expected to hear from their financial adviser at such a time.” “We set out to provide a lot more information about
The first priority for Nexus was to ensure that the business government support and even news about the virus and progress
could work remotely. The firm had just revamped its information in combating it,” says Nelson. “In addition to writing much
technology and phone systems as part of a programme of more frequently, we decided to contact every client and talk
improvements which already put it in a good position. It was also to them about the situation. Far and away the most important
embedding new staff and completing the integration of another thing was to listen to their concerns, worries and fears.”
business, Thames Valley Investments. As part of that process, Wealthy older clients were worried about their vulnerability
to the virus but also concerned about not seeing younger family
members. Some business owners were fretting about keeping their
locked-down businesses ticking over. Others just wanted some
questions answered to get a view on markets. The team then fed
back client views and experiences into the overall thinking at the
firm. “For example, in extremely volatile markets, it is best not
to withdraw too much from a portfolio as big market falls can be
compounded, and thus capital eroded,” says Nelson. “But we also
knew from talking to clients, the lockdown meant they were
spending much less, so being conservative about withdrawals
was less of a challenge.”
Nelson says the group is now fully adapted to the new situation.
The view of the Nexus Investment Managers investment committee
is that we are now at the stage of looking through the next few
challenging months to hopefully a degree of normality with better
treatments and a vaccination programme. “We advocate long-term
investing and planning,” she says. “We would never tell clients
everything will be fine by such and such a date. But we have
provided much needed reassurance, proved the resilience of the
business, reinforced client relationships and are now really well
positioned to build our business.”
www.nexusifa.co.uk
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317
Triple alliance
“If we do our job properly, the corporate client
raises the capital they need to allow their
business to flourish, while the investor makes
a good return on their investment”
Christian Dennis, Optiva Securities
W here many business leaders talk about offering a win–win

strategy, Christian Dennis, CEO of Optiva Securities,
prefers to think of it in terms of “the three wins”. His is a
corporate broking and investment management teams. Its teams
of experienced researchers and analysts identify corporate
clients seeking investment, choosing those with the greatest
stockbroking business whose Optiva Marketplace allows market potential. “Investors then come in through referral and
individual investors seeking strong returns to connect with word of mouth,” says Dennis. “We offer them the opportunity
companies that are looking to raise capital. to get into firms at an early stage of their development through
“Our core value is to put the investor at the heart of everything quoted investments that are not private equity or venture capital.
we do,” says Dennis. “As a company, we place huge emphasis on That appeals to a lot of investors and is massively scalable.
carrying out in-depth due diligence on businesses, selecting those We have a pool of capital of around £500 million, which gives
that offer high growth potential in expanding markets such as us a real opportunity to back growth companies and Optiva will
renewable energy, natural resources, commodities, technology also use its own balance sheet to back companies.”
and biotech and connecting those opportunities with our Dennis has dual Australian and UK nationality and three
investor base. We match the corporate client who requires decades of experience as a broker in London and New York, which
capital with the investor who has capital to deploy. If we do our has taught him the importance of a global outlook. “We are a
job properly, the corporate client raises the capital they need to globally focused company,” he says. “We have always had people
allow their business to flourish, while the investor makes a good coming from all over the world who see London as the right place
return on their investment. Our success is directly linked to their for them to raise capital with its global perspective, ability to price
success. We are rewarded when the first two wins win!” international risk and its cultural links to many parts of the world,
The company was founded in 1995. Dennis bought into the and that is not going to change.”
business as part of a management buy-in in 2008, introducing www.optivasecurities.com
318
Don’t break the bank

“We work out precisely where companies are
being overcharged and how they can save
money. Everyone gets engaged when you say:
‘We can cut your costs by 25 per cent’”
Neil Fillbrook FCII, Bank Brokers
S ince 2008, when Bank Brokers first launched its innovative

service, it has helped thousands of companies to reduce
costs by ensuring that they have the right financial products
of my colleagues. We’ve grown our business through
recommendation – a true testament to the quality of this team.”
Key to Bank Brokers’ success is that it understands its
and services at the right price. The offer to clients is a cost clients’ needs and acts as a “poacher turned gamekeeper”.
reduction service on a “no-saving, no-fee” basis, through “I joined Bank Brokers in 2013 and set up the UK branch of
benchmarking and renegotiation. Bank Brokers’ unique selling the group with two trusted colleagues,” says Fillbrook. “I had
point is its extensive database, used by a team of experts to 27 years’ of financial services’ experience by this point and yet
create transparency for their clients in an opaque marketplace. I’d always felt I was an entrepreneur trapped in a bureaucracy.
“Most companies have no idea how much they’re being I particularly enjoyed international assignments and was
charged for the myriad of banking and payment services they fortunate to experience key markets as diverse as Hong Kong,
consume,” says UK CEO Neil Fillbrook. “Companies are wary India, Brazil, France, Germany and the US. The richness of
of challenging their providers, especially if they’ve used them for learnings from these opportunities now delivers significant
decades, but there’s really no need as the vast majority simply value to Bank Brokers’ clients around the world.”
stay and save – in other words it’s a true win/win scenario. Bank Brokers, which has several offices across Europe,
We work out precisely where companies are being overcharged has always followed a policy of recruiting the best talent in
by their banks and payment providers and how they can save banking and analytics. “I’m a strong believer in the importance
money. Everyone gets engaged when you say: ‘We can cut your of teamwork,” says Fillbrook. “We aim to bring out the best
costs by 25 per cent’. It can take just one conversation with the in people and create an empowering environment, where
bank to secure significantly better terms. We cover all sectors, their talent is unleashed for the benefit of our clients.”
and the quality of our service is matched only by the expertise www.bankbrokers.co.uk
319
On the money
“As well as working to attract and stimulate
investment, Invest Durban supports investors
throughout the whole process”
Invest Durban
A nyone who has visited the coastal city of Durban, South

Africa, will be familiar with its charms. Named the world’s
greenest city in 2019 and ranked the South African city with
Quite a few large-scale projects are already underway. “The Point
Waterfront Development, for example, fits very well into the category
of a Catalytic Project,” says Phillip Sithole, Deputy City Manager for
the highest quality of living, Durban is now also being promoted the Economic Development and Planning Cluster for the City of
as a great destination to invest in. Durban. “Some projections put the potential investment value at
Invest Durban is dedicated to attracting new investment 40 billion South African rand ($2.75 billion) and the number of
to the city and stimulating economic growth in South Africa’s permanent jobs to be created at 6,750.”
second-largest industrial region. The organisation, which acts An ambitious plan that links the city’s beach promenade and
as a go-between for the Metro City Council and private investors, the harbour, the Point Waterfront Development consists of a mix
has identified three main kinds of investment that are a priority for of office space, retail shops, residential dwellings and leisure options.
the area. The first of these is Premium Destination, a proposition There are also several cluster initiatives in the city, which are
that emphasises Durban as a profitable, sustainable location with designed to bring experience and expertise from particular sectors
plenty of available land. The second, known as Catalytic Projects, together to create hubs of industry, such as clothing and textiles.
relates to projects that bring social benefits or can help to break As well as working to attract and stimulate investment,
down old apartheid dynamics. The third is Priority Sectors, which Invest Durban supports investors throughout the whole
focuses on those industries – including automotive, logistics, life process. This work includes marketing support, free investment
sciences and tourism – that have been identified as key to Durban. advisory services, project management assistance, opportunity
These either play to existing strengths or aim to exploit new identification and regulatory process facilitation for foreign
opportunities such as renewable energies and a growing interest investors and local partners.
in the ocean economy. www.invest.durban
320
Investing in meritocracy
“We’re privately owned, by our employees. It’s a model
that both attracts and retains talent. Given the volatility
of the markets, this creates a bedrock of stability”
Anna Lundén, Wellington Management
“
W e have a very strong culture, and it sets us apart,” says
Anna Lundén, Equity Portfolio Manager for Wellington
Management. “In an industry where some of our peers are purely
is a very open and collaborative environment that not only fosters
strong investment talent but is also positive for clients.
Promoting and fostering diversity is central to its philosophy.
focused on the next set of quarterly figures, we take a holistic, “Women are underrepresented in our industry and particularly in
long-term view on how we run our business and how we invest.” senior positions,” says Lundén. “We have many strong examples of
Founded in 1928, Wellington Management is a global active female leadership in the firm. For instance, one of our managing
investment management firm focusing on institutional and wealth partners, who is a woman, has been announced as our next CEO.
investor markets, with around a trillion dollars of client assets We’re making a conscious effort to encourage more young women
and a growing global presence. into the business and to foster diversity across gender, ethnicity
“We’re privately owned, by our employees,” says Lundén. and all other forms, by partnering with schools and offering
“It’s a model that both attracts and retains talent. A meritocracy. internship programmes in investing.”
Given the volatility of the markets, this creates a bedrock of The firm’s current focus is on globalisation and sustainable
stability for the business. I’ve rarely seen such a dedicated and investment. “It’s difficult to predict exactly where the markets
talented group of people who are so laser-focused on doing may go next,” says Lundén. “But we believe doing the right
what’s best for our clients.” thing is unlikely to go out of fashion. We have high levels of
While Wellington expects all staff to have a high level of engagement with companies and seek to align ourselves with
integrity and shared values, it also prizes diversity of thought businesses that take a long-term view, as we do. As an industry
and investment approach. For example, unusually for a firm of its and as an economy, we are moving into a different era when it
size, Wellington has no Chief Investment Officer. This promotes comes to sustainability.”
independent thinking among its investment teams. The result www.wellington.com
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Taking care of business

One of the newest government departments, the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy is working to aid economic
growth through higher education, research and enterprise
the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and

Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform. It also folded in the functions of the Department of
Energy and Climate Change (DECC, formed in October 2008),
which recognised that climate change and energy use are
inseparable. “When two thirds of our emissions come from
the use of energy, energy and climate change should not be
considered separately, but together,” said Ed Miliband, the
first Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, in
October 2008. BEIS can thus be seen as the successor to the
old Department of Energy, which was formed by Prime Minister
Edward Heath in January 1974 following the 1973 oil crisis.
o
Above
Ed Miliband addressing
T he government department with a responsibility for business
and industry has been through more changes than any other
area of cabinet since 1970, when it was first named the Department
BEIS has four key responsibilities. First, developing and
delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy and leading the
government’s relationship with business. Second, ensuring
a Carbon Sequestration of Trade and Industry (DTI). Since then, it has been through an that the country has secure energy supplies that are reliable,
Leadership Forum in alphabet soup of acronyms, gaining and losing policy areas and affordable and clean. Third, ensuring the UK remains at the
October 2009 being recalibrated under successive governments. Over that leading edge of science, research and innovation. And fourth,
time, secretaries of state with the business and industry brief tackling climate change. “We’re building a stronger, greener
o have included prominent figures on both sides of the House, future by fighting coronavirus, tackling climate change,
Opposite including Edward Heath, Tony Benn, Keith Joseph, Norman unleashing innovation and making the UK a great place
Kwasi Kwarteng Tebbit, Michael Heseltine, Margaret Beckett, Patricia Hewitt, to work and do business,” says current Secretary of State
announces new private Peter Mandelson and Vince Cable. Kwasi Kwarteng.
investment at Vauxhall's Its current incarnation – the Department for Business, The department has around 3,000 staff working for BEIS
Ellesmere Port plant in Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – was formed on 14 July around the UK and controls a budget of nearly £14 billion.
July 2021 2016 by Theresa May shortly after she became prime minister. It also has 46 partner organisations and public bodies. As well
It replaced the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as regional offices around the country, there are major offices in
(BIS, formed in June 2009) – the latter having been created from Sheffield and Aberdeen. BEIS oversees several key government
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“We’re building a stronger, agencies, including Companies House, HM Land Registry,

The Insolvency Service, Intellectual Property Office, the Met
greener future by fighting Office, the Office for Product Safety and Standards, the UK
Space Agency, and the Oil and Gas Authority.
The first Secretary of State for BEIS was Greg Clark, who after
coronavirus, tackling climate three years was replaced by Andrea Leadsom in 2019, who was
then succeeded by Alok Sharma in 2020. Kwasi Kwarteng took
change, unleashing innovation over in January 2021. “Today we’re seizing the opportunities of
being an independent trading nation to back new and emerging
and making the UK a great British industries, create more jobs and make the UK the best
possible place to start and grow a business,” he said in June 2021,
after the launch of a new subsidy system. “We want to use our
place to work and do business” newfound freedoms as an independent, sovereign country to
empower public authorities across the UK to deliver financial
support – without facing burdensome red tape.”
www.gov.uk/beis
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Electric avenues
“Our goal is to provide the light for children to
do their homework, the power to run factories,
and the energy needed to drive nations forward”
Akinwole Omoboriowo II, Genesis Energy Holding
“
J ust seeing the impact of that small amount of energy
brought home to me the significance of power as a tool for
socio-economic change and development,” says Akinwole
São Tomé project. “There were two options,” he says. “Either the
project didn’t complete and we lost all the money we’d invested in
it so far; or we took further risks and had the future opportunity.”
Omoboriowo II, Chairman and CEO of Genesis Energy Holding. Since then, Genesis has developed more than 360
“After this, I became an apostle of power investments!” megawatts (MW) of power across Africa. This includes capacity
The project in question was the first investment made by of more than 170MW in Nigeria, including an 84MW gas-fired
former oil-trader Omoboriowo’s new company, Genesis. That was power plant for the Port Harcourt refinery which today enjoys
over 10 years ago. Since then Genesis has been involved in a whole a lower tariff compared to the national grid in the area.
range of remarkable energy projects across Africa. Genesis Energy Holding was one of the few companies in
“We sum up our vision as ‘Lighting up Africa, one community Africa to believe everybody should have easy access to affordable
a time’,” says Omoboriowo. Genesis aims to set up operations electricity. It has developed several thriving businesses in the
or instigate other investors to bring sustainable electricity to African energy sector and is a market leader in the countries
all of Africa in the long term. The projects Genesis continue to in which it operates. It offers a broad spectrum of electricity
develop range from the giant economic powerhouses of Nigeria solutions to clients to help them light up their communities.
and South Africa to relative minnows such as Guinea and São With the cooperation of a strong network of local businesses
Tomé and Principe. and international partnerships, it helps provide the right
Genesis runs integrated oil, gas and electricity operations. solution for every situation.
It provides strategic, high-quality and competitive services for Genesis has an excellent track record for completing power
the production, transmission and distribution of electric power. projects with global market leaders such as project sponsors,
It produces the power to light up the lives of millions of people counterparts and co-investors. Financial guarantors include
and is making great progress towards an even brighter future. the American development agency USAID and InfraCredit –
“Our goal is to provide the light for children to do their homework,” the latter is co-sponsored by GuarantCo-UK, which is a
says Omoboriowo, “the power to run entrepreneurs’ factories, contingent credit provider owned by the governments of
and to ensure governments have the energy they need to drive Australia, five European countries, the UK, and IFC through
their nations forward.” the Private Infrastructure Development Group.
Starting the company took a huge commitment of time and On the strategic technical, financial and operational side,
resources. Omoboriowo had to overcome many obstacles in the company’s partners include blue-chip names such as the
accessing finance and dealing with myriads of inhibitors to US firm General Electric (GE), Canadian Solar, the multinational
investment grade projects. He sold a three-bedroomed property commodities trading company Trafigura, Pembani Infrastructure
he owned near Park Lane to raise the capital to part finance the Development Fund, and Voith, the German mechanical
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“We do not believe that

one size fits all in Africa.
In Nigeria we have over
286 languages and each
one of those communities
has its own concerns”
engineering company. Working with these companies Genesis Omoboriowo. “By innovating and developing high-quality technical
has developed power plants ranging from 10MW to 190MW. services and solutions, we make sure the lights go on and stay on.”
Although Genesis started out using diesel and heavy fuel He credits the postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation
oil, which were the predominant sources at the time, it has he took away from the Saïd Business School at the University of
now eliminated both from its portfolio. Since 2010, most of its Oxford with turning his strategic intuition into a business tool.
projects have been gas-powered with a growing number based Omoboriowo thinks what makes Genesis stand out is
on solar and hydropower. It is in the final stages of acquiring the high capabilities of its workforce and the work it puts
two hydro projects, one in Rwanda and the other in Kenya. in to understanding the culture and mindset of the different
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Genesis partnered communities in which it operates. “It’s what I call soft
with Voith on a 40MW regional hydropower development project, knowledge,” he says. “We do not believe that one size fits all in
the Mpiana-Mwanga hydropower station. The two companies Africa. You will find that in Nigeria, for instance, we have over
are planning to invest in deploying brand new hydro turbines 286 languages and each one of those communities has its own
on an existing dam that will not only replace diesel power cultural perspectives. Understanding how they view agreements
supplied to nearby mines but also provide affordable energy and how they share value is critical in designing sustainable and
to all the surrounding communities, so delivering a significant successful projects.”
social benefit. What also sets Genesis apart is a proven track record of
Genesis has won accolades for projects and services across working successfully with large multinational companies.
Africa, including African Power Utility of the Year in 2014. “We are African-owned, African-managed and, despite difficult
This was based on its track record culminating in the 84MW experiences, we have been able to attract the right partners.
gas-fired power plant at Port Harcourt. As GE’s first-ever risk Together we have been able to execute projects that bring
equity investment in sub-Saharan Africa, this was hugely immense benefits to the countries in which we operate.”
significant for the Nigerian economy. By providing reliable Looking ahead, Genesis is determined to continue to
and competitive power, Genesis and GE ensured the refinery promote clean energy solutions that are sustainable and
stayed constantly online. competitive while also being catalysts to social and economic
Innovation is of paramount importance to Genesis. development. In this way, the company intends to fulfil
“We are focused on systemic innovations, product innovations, its mission to light up Africa, one community a time.
project innovations and financial solution innovations,” says www.genesisenergygroup.net
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Risky business
“We are able to parachute into a company and
holistically appraise all risks, essentially covering
the full spectrum of business operations”
Yousif Ashaa, Panoptic Consultancy Group
“
O rganisational development is a critical and science-based
process,” says Paul Nicholls, co-founder of Panoptic
Consultancy Group. “It helps organisations build their capacity
The trio of founders have all been able to transfer crucial
military skills into civilian life. Yousif Ashaa left the Army after
10 years and worked as a security risk consultant, working for
to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, high-net-worth families and businesses. “I quickly realised that
improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes. I had to address concerns about the changing threat landscape,”
Panoptic Group offers strategic and social leadership within says Ashaa. “The rise of cybercrime, digitisation and changing
every organisation we work with.” data-protection legislation left people feeling vulnerable.”
Panoptic Group is a global risk-mitigation specialist, He studied for an MBA and became a certified Information
established in 2019 by Paul Nicholls, Greg Olenczuk and Security Manager to be able to tackle the rapidly growing digital
Yousif Ashaa, who all previously served in the UK Armed Forces. side of risk, later working as head of risk and information
The three have taken a unique approach to what is described as security at a global company. At Panoptic Consultancy Group,
“people risk management”. “People risk can be defined as the risk Ashaa was able to combine the best of the leadership styles
that people do not follow the organisation’s procedures, practices from the military and the corporate world to great effect.
or rules, thus deviating from expected behaviour in a way that Following a career in the Royal Marines, Greg Olenczuk
could damage the business’s performance and reputation,” says worked for a global security company in the Middle East that
Nicholls, who served for 14 years as a Royal Marines Commando provided risk management, counterterrorism and surveillance
before embarking in a career in commercial management. “Be it for critical infrastructure projects. Similar roles in the UK and
fraud, bad business decisions, illegal activity or lax corporate North Africa followed, where Olenczuk began to extend his
governance, people risk presents a growing challenge in today’s skills to include consultancy on improvements to business
complex, dispersed business organisations.” processes, policies and procedures. “Panoptic combines our three
overlapping skillsets,” he explains. “I deliver risk-management
consultancy and business advisory services, Yousif has skillsets
in information, data and cyber security, while Paul has high-level
experience in commercial management within construction law
and framework contracting across multiple sectors.”
Panoptic Consultancy Group has enabled all three to
combine their military and corporate experience to great effect.
“We are able to parachute into a company and holistically
appraise all risks essentially covering the full spectrum of
business operations,” says Ashaa. “We drive social and strategic
leadership from within, applying principles that inspire an
energised, resilient, and forward-thinking workforce that has
a positive impact for their employees, clients and customers.”
Increasingly, Panoptic is addressing the challenge of
globalisation. “As our world becomes more connected, savvy
companies are starting to expand internationally,” says Nicholls.
“But only 3 per cent of organisations rate themselves as ‘world-
class’ in global deployments. They manage international
endeavours as they would any venture in their home country.
We ask our consultants to ‘think globally, act locally’. It’s what we
call global localism, and it has helped to drive performance and
efficiency for those companies with whom we’ve worked.”
www.panoptic-consultancy.com
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Covering ground
“People are business, and business is about
people – that will never change, regardless of
the digitisation that is taking place”
Greg Ferguson, Price Forbes & Partners
W hen Price Forbes & Partners International CEO Greg

Ferguson was job-hunting after finishing his A levels,
he flipped a coin to decide whether to go for a job in banking or
insurance. The coin landed on heads for insurance, which turned
out to be an auspicious choice. Ferguson began his career in the
City, working alongside an underwriter at Lloyds, and through
that first foray into insurance, he learned the trade – meeting
brokers and observing how business was done. “I still think that’s
the best way to learn, regardless of what you do,” says Ferguson.
From this foundation, he moved into the broker side of the
business, attracted by the dynamic nature of the role and the
prospect of international travel. Ferguson then most notably
spent some years at Willis Corroon and Howden specialising
in casualty. Today, he has more than 20 years’ experience in
insurance and has built up knowledge across many product
lines. He specialises in complex client solutions, including
working with several Fortune 500-listed clients, and joined
Price Forbes in 2015 to lead the company in its growth on
the international stage.
Price Forbes, which has more than 500 employees, operates
in more than 100 countries and has offices in 10 major cities.
It was founded in 1893 and prides itself on being an independent
broker working with large national corporations, SMEs and
start-ups, and in particular placing non-standard risks for The key to being successful in insurance broking is quite
large multinational companies. “We understand how to work simple, according to Ferguson. “What our company prides
with different clients in different territories with different ourselves on is that we listen to the client,” he says. “If you
requirements,” says Ferguson. listen to people, you find out where their company comes from,
But along with his enthusiasm for working with clients their culture, their business plan – you get a much broader
in locations as diverse as Scandinavia, Latin America and the sense not only of the risk but of the client themselves.”
Middle East, Ferguson has a special regard for the city where This outlook has helped Price & Forbes continue its
he began his career. “The London market is steeped in history,” growth trajectory over the past two years, despite the impact
he says. “It has some of the best practitioners in the world and, of Covid on the industry generally. Heavy investment in a
to this day, stays incredibly relevant in a dynamic marketplace.” digitisation programme ahead of the pandemic contributed to
The largest corporate brokers now are US-owned, but they the firm’s ability to weather the storm and come out stronger
have a strong presence in London. And while the industry has than before. “It is fantastic that we have been so robust
changed since the 1990s as many face-to-face processes have through a difficult time, especially when we generate so much
gone digital, some of the core principles remain the same, he business through personal relationships,” says Ferguson.
believes. “People are business, and business is about people,” he “Now we are about to start investing more extensively
says. “That will never change, regardless of the digitisation that overseas as an extension to our platform.”
is taking place in our industry and those our clients belong to.” www.priceforbes.com
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Patent genius
“Understanding your competitors’ patent portfolios and how
they compare to your own is critical for business survival”
Ann Chapman-Daniel, Minesof t
I n a world of rapid technological change, the key to achieving

real advances is often in identifying the most effective
applications of those changes. And no one is better at helping
Chapman-Daniel is in no doubt about the importance of
patents for SMEs. “Having intellectual property rights not only
stops imitators from copying your ideas, but also means you can
businesses to navigate their way through this ever-increasing negotiate on equal terms with large corporations. And, in this
flood of information than Minesoft, a British company that increasingly competitive and global world, understanding your
records and documents every new innovation as it is patented. competitors’ patent portfolios and how they compare to your
“The rate at which new inventions are being patented is own is critical for business survival.”
ever-increasing,” says Managing Director Ann Chapman-Daniel. Minesoft’s core role is in monitoring, collating and providing
“Continuous monitoring of new patents is vital to ensure searchable access to the wealth of patent information, but it is
corporate success and financial stability when attempting no stranger to innovation itself. Alongside the original PatBase
to access new markets, exploit existing ones, and scope the patent database the company has launched a number of
profitability of emerging products.” associated services, including Chemical Explorer (which extracts
The company has developed a range of online solutions for chemical information from full text patents); Legal StatusTracker
the intellectual property (IP) industry, and works with complex (a web-based alerting service for the granting, ownership and
worldwide patent data to create streamlined and user-friendly withdrawal of patents); and Orangebook (a free access tool for
searchable databases. Launched in London in 1996, Minesoft’s searching the FDA drug database).
databases now hold more than 130 million patent documents. More recently, the company has unveiled two innovative
“Patent data yields a rich and essential source of competitive new products for legal teams: PatDocs, a streamlined system
intelligence,” explains Chapman-Daniel. “There is a significant for IP legal professionals; and IPShare, an online project-based
volume of technical and scientific information that is only ever collaboration tool that replaces static reports. However, the
made available through patent publications. This information company is most excited about the launch of the latest version
can be converted using specialist software into technical, business of PatBase.
and legal knowledge that can help shape corporate strategy and “This new search engine is sure to revolutionise patent
steer R&D efforts in the right direction.” searching and analysis,” says Chapman-Daniel. “PatBase is
incredibly fast; there is no loading time at all, regardless of the
size of search or analysis being run. Latin and non-Latin searches
can be run simultaneously with no limitations, which will be
enormously popular for the Asian markets – particularly China,
where patent applications have exploded in the past 10 years.”
Minesoft is working hard to ensure that low-income
economies benefit from technical innovation. The firm has
been involved in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s
ASPI programme since it was launched in 2010, providing
developing countries with free or low-cost access to PatBase.
“According to the recently published Global Innovation
Index 2018, the gap between low-income and middle-income
economies is decreasing,” says Chapman-Daniel. “Of the
top 10 ranked economies in the low-income group, six
currently benefit from free access to PatBase – a testament
to the success of ASPI and Minesoft.”
With an experienced, knowledgeable team based in
Dusseldorf, Washington and Tokyo, as well as London,
Minesoft looks set to spread the benefit of its expertise
around the world.
www.minesoft.com
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Intelligent
automation
“Business leaders don’t like to hear that the
things that got them to where they are now
will not be relevant in a few years, but they
need to be open to that level of change”
Tony Scott, NeuralRays AI
A s we enter a fourth industrial revolution, it is apparent

that working practices and habits will have to adapt to
keep abreast of emerging technology and changing attitudes.
that provides flight training for the RAF. “The aspiration
here is to take performance data from flight simulators and
map it through a pilot’s career so they can look at particular
For Tony Scott, the founder and CEO of NeuralRays AI, things that were done in the simulator, pick out correlations
there is a clear and seamless link between these new digital and refine the training process,” Scott explains.
technologies – such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual This desire to find technological solutions that will help
reality – and modern concepts of leadership in the workplace. give people a more fulfilling working experience extends to
Scott founded NeuralRays AI in October 2018 to develop Scott’s leadership principles, which place great emphasis
innovative solutions for an increasingly connected world. on the individual. “Leadership is about inspiring people,”
His belief in ethical AI chimes with his own intuitive, empathic he says. “It’s about having a vision, selling it to a team and
and forward-thinking leadership style. understanding that how those individuals achieve that vision
“Digital for me is about using innovative technology to will be different from the way you might have done it, so you
create outcomes that were previously considered impossible give them the space and tools to do it. It’s also about finding
or had never before been conceived,” he says. “And digital people who are passionate and recognising what they are
transformation means applying this at an organisational level passionate about, and having the empathy to understand
to transform everything the organisation does both internally what drives somebody, knowing that intrinsic motivators
and when dealing with its clients. This can sometimes involve change from person to person.”
creating completely new business models. CEOs and business The increased use of AI and virtual reality raises
leaders who have worked for the same firm for many years don’t profound ethical and moral questions that need to be
like to hear that the things that got them to where they are now answered in real time. Tech is changing faster than
might not be relevant in just a few years’ time. But they need to people can imagine, with facial recognition and algorithms
be open to this level of change by embracing newer forms of increasingly being used in major real-world situations.
revenue generation and client engagement.” For Scott, this presents an opportunity as much as a
NeuralRays AI’s staff of 70 are based in London, India, challenge. “We chose the company name to show we
the UAE and Germany. The company creates innovative are shining a light on to the world of digital,” he says.
software and technology that can automate tasks that are “Ethical AI is about finding solutions that are trustworthy,
either needlessly time-consuming or extremely complex, predictable, fair and transparent. Our vision is to use these
freeing up workers to perform other tasks to the benefit of principles to help build solutions for a better world.”
both the individual and organisation. One client is a company www.NeuralRays.ai
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The pioneering problem-solver

“Maybe it’s my background as a scientist, but I’ve always
been interested in investigating new techniques to resolve
problems in a more efficient and secure way”
Xavier Pujos, XP 49
X avier Pujos has embodied the pioneer spirit throughout

his 30-years-and-counting career in finance, from the
emergence of derivatives at the outset of his career to the most
Pujos believes all firms, particularly financial firms, must integrate
these risks and respond to their clients’ evolving needs.
To meet these challenges, and bring value to its clients, XP 49
pressing elements affecting the sector today: environmental, operates in an agile and flexible manner, utilising Pujos’s expertise,
social and governance (ESG) and sustainability. and pulling in his associates’ knowledge when required. “We call it
Pujos works best when analysing and formulating new crowd-consulting,” he says. “I have colleagues all over the world
ways of looking at capital and risk. “Maybe it’s because of my with their own speciality. They are great professionals, so we can
background as an engineer and scientist,” he says, “but I’ve operate together to deliver excellent value to our clients.”
always been interested in investigating new techniques to The initial results have been extremely positive. For instance,
resolve problems in a more efficient and secure way.” XP 49 ran a project for a Japanese thinktank, the Nomura Research
Today, as founder of the consultancy firm XP 49, Pujos Institute, to prepare for a forthcoming climate-change workgroup
leverages his knowledge of financial markets to assist financial led by the Japanese authorities. Pujos managed that assignment
institutions in their transformational projects and strategies. with two other experts based in Madrid and Sydney. These new
While the need for companies to respond to change has always ways of operating represent a cultural shift in business – one that
been critical, today’s rapidly shifting landscape presents a XP 49 is leading. “Just as scientific research requires experts
unique set of circumstances – which is where XP 49 comes in. covering complementary domains to collaborate through virtual
“We are going through a series of massive transformations, teams,” concludes Pujos, “the complexity of modern finance
triggered by the state of the planet,” says Pujos. “Climate, problems is best handled through flexible expert networks,
drinkable water availability, pollution, biodiversity and zoonotic such as the one I am building around XP 49.”
diseases such as Covid-19 or Ebola all require urgent action.” www.xp-49.com
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The right revolution

“You’ve got private equity coming into sports
teams or leagues to buy positions, because they
all see how Covid-19 has affected the world”
Stephen Duval, Empowerment IP
E mpowerment IP Capital may have only started life in July

2020, but the idea’s roots go back a lot further than that.
“It was an overnight success that took 20 years to get there,”
asset and access all its future value. It’s an alternative to selling
their IP assets, and comes at a time when there is a “rights
revolution” thanks partly to the digital wave and also the impact
says Stephen Duval, Empowerment’s CEO. of Covid-19. “There are big funds coming in to buy music
Previously a co-founder of 23 Capital – a provider of capital catalogues,” says Duval. “You’ve got private equity coming
and solutions working exclusively for the sports, music and into sports teams or leagues to buy positions, because they
entertainment sectors – Duval also worked for sports companies all see how Covid-19 has affected the world.”
IMG and SFX, and on the Sydney Olympics. His company In that climate, Empowerment IP Capital was launched
deployed billions into European football, music rights and other to give talent and rights holders a voice – and to give them an
parts of the entertainment industry. This extensive experience option other than selling their IP to firms. “The message is in
highlighted to him the lack of a finance house dedicated the title,” says Duval. “We are empowering rights holders to
exclusively to music, entertainment and sports. The structured retain their IP, but still have the ability to monetise it.”
processes of traditional banks were poorly suited to these Music rights holders often need to be educated about the
sectors, and hedge funds could be prohibitively expensive. increasing value of their work as digitisation opens new revenue
Then Duval partnered with manager and entertainment streams online. At the same time, the company is building a
mogul Guy Oseary – whose client roster includes Madonna and robust data set for the sports and entertainment sector, which
U2 – to form Empowerment IP Capital. The company provides Stephen says is worth $2 trillion. “It is a high-performing sector,
financing to intellectual property (IP) rights holders across the but we need decades of data to show why this is a good asset
music, sports and entertainment spectrum to monetise, retain class and to bring down the costs of credit for our clients.”
or repurchase their IP. Holders can retain full control of the www.empowermentip.com
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Property
management,
smarter
“We help you plot your physical estate
into a digital world – then use our expertise
to interpret what that data is telling you”
David Smith, Bellrock Property & Facilities Management Ltd
O ver time, large companies or public institutions often

find themselves in possession of vast estates of diverse
buildings, including everything from small outbuildings to huge
Estate Assets) will help you assess the maturity of your
facilities management systems and provide clear guidance as to
how your estate can work towards your strategic aims. Think of
campuses containing numerous buildings of different ages and it as a health check – we ask a series of questions to get an idea
uses. Understanding such a complex property portfolio can be of the maturity of your estate knowledge and how it links to your
a major challenge, which is why so many organisations turn business strategy. We can then create a series of steps that will
to Bellrock’s technology-enabled workplace solutions. Clients allow you to improve your digital maturity over time.”
include local authorities, government departments, the NHS, The company has an army of trained chartered surveyors
universities as well as private companies. “We are building your who can collect information, or Bellrock can incorporate a
estate strategy for a digital world,” explains CEO David Smith. company’s existing data into their system. The net result is all
“For us, innovation and leadership is all about the utilisation of the information about an estate of at least 50 buildings and
digital technologies in estate management, which is something often many more will be in a single place so an organisation can
that has never been more relevant or critical to an organisation.” make informed decisions about energy, maintenance and asset
As Smith explains, the post-pandemic world has raised vital management, allowing them to develop a long-term strategy.
new issues regarding buildings and estate utilisation, including “As you get further into the process,” says Smith, “we will
such things as employee wellbeing, work–life balance and Covid measure and monitor the estate and then look at the standard
security. Institutions will need to rapidly adapt to this new key performance indicators and benchmark you against the
environment, as well as create energy efficient and zero-carbon rest of our universe, so you can see the cost and quality of your
buildings. Then there are concerns such as maintenance, services service model against the rest of the market.”
and operational costs, plus compliance with new building Smith came to Bellrock from the Royal Mail. He originally
regulations such as those around cladding that were introduced trained as an accountant but developed a speciality in
following the Grenfell tragedy. Property is also at the centre of operational change management, helping companies deliver a
wider societal concerns regarding institutional responsibility, new strategy where major change was implemented. “When I
social value and community support. To understand all of that, joined, this was a relatively small £40 million turnover business,
you need information and a way to interpret and understand and we then made a number of acquisitions to widen and
that data. That is what Bellrock offers its clients. deepen our capability,” he says. “We are now a £150 million
“We have mapped out an estate maturity model for all turnover with more than 1,000 employees and over 700
organisations who see significant opportunity and risk customers, which are largely very big, sophisticated and
mitigation in improving the way their estates function,” says complex companies and public organisations.”
Smith. “Our market-leading model IDEA (Integrated Digital www.bellrockgroup.co.uk
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V for victory
“VCode is the world’s most secure scannable code. One code
can deliver infinite amounts of different information based
on the user’s location, time, date of scan and more”
Louis-James Davis, Innovator and entrepreneur
W hen Louis-James Davis was 20, he realised his dream

career was over. Davis (pictured, opposite) had been a
professional musician, playing drums for a number of bands
to interact with the audience and give them an experience
unique to them.” VCode can be scanned up to and over
100 metres away and can be shrunk to 100 microns, meaning
include Outrage and Madison State, but almost died when he that all items on the planet can be VCoded, from a diamond to
contracted pneumonia. “My lungs popped,” he says. “It was a billboard. VCode differs to other barcodes as it is not open-
too strenuous and I kept relapsing every time I tried to drum source, meaning no one can generate them outside the VCode
so I had to find something else, which ended up being the eco-system. This also enhances security, whereas with QR you
technology sector.” can scan with the wrong reader and expose data. VCode can
After developing the world’s smallest mobile GPS tracker only give information to the person who has permission to see
device to be used for children and vulnerable adults, Davis it, allowing one VCode to change who sees what information
launched his own company, VST Enterprises. His main focus based on where they are, their device type, time date and more.”
then became the development of his trademarked VCode, The start of the Covid-19 pandemic provided Davis with a
a next-generation, scannable code with 2.2 quintillion possible new challenge and within six weeks he had created the V-Health
variations. Although originally designed for consumer Passport which is used globally within emergency services,
applications, most interest is within the security and tracking travel, leisure, education and business. The Health Passport
sectors. A single unique VCode can be used by anybody on the allows for all health details to be added creating a future-proof
planet for a variety of uses – travel, shopping, health, personal platform for pandemic prevention. Ambassadors included
identification, banking – but offering a level of security beyond members of the British Royal Family, government and sports
its time that ensures information is not shared to the wrong stars such as Sir Kenny Dalglish.
people throughout. “VCode is the world’s most secure scannable It’s a long way from drumming, although Davis believes
code,” says Davis. “It’s not made up of its destination data and there are key similarities between his old industry and his new
doesn’t allow for any security leaks. One code can deliver infinite life as an inventor, engineer and innovator. “I see the patterns
amounts of different information based on the user’s location, in both music and technology,” he says. “When designing new
time and date of scan and much more.” products it’s like playing a song for the first time. Having been
Davis came up with the idea as a means of solving a able to sight read and play music in groups from a young age
personal bugbear he couldn’t solve with existing technology I think it has helped my brain separate, compartmentalise and
– the fact that entertainers did not know who was in their put into action my skills in a unique way.”
audience at their events. “I wanted to find a way for artists www.louis-jamesdavis.com
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Hive mentality
“We understand the development process
from concepts to design, prototyping, testing,
certification and finally approval for use”
Gerry Boyce, Hive Composites Ltd
“
O ur company is a hive of activity and ideas,” says
Gerry Boyce, co-founder and Managing Director
of Hive Composites. Working in composite materials,
With its track record of problem-solving in the aerospace,
space, defence, energy, infrastructure, automotive, rail, marine
and sports and leisure industries, Hive is nothing if not adaptable.
with a focus on energy and infrastructure, Hive designs It responds creatively to an ever-changing world; and devises
groundbreaking solutions for companies of all sizes across new solutions based on those changes.
a wide range of sectors. Even the pandemic has proven fertile ground for innovation.
“We are a business that has done a number of world “We’ve just filed a patent on dissolvable gloves,” says Boyce.
firsts,” says Boyce, who has specialised in this field for “You wash them off in warm water and the gloves dissolve and
decades. “We were one of the first companies to design actually form soap so you sanitise your hands in the process.
breakaway, crash-friendly posts for the highways,” he says. The contamination issue of PPE has been very evident, plus it leads
“The fact is, people are now driving on much safer roads to a mountain of waste. This is one example that we’re working on of
as a result of the pioneering work we did.” sustainable elements for the environment that can be recycled very
Some of the company’s other innovative solutions are easily. There’s a transition going on and sustainability is driving it.”
spoolable thermoplastic composite pipelines; and electrically So many of Hive’s revolutionary solutions are woven into our
resistant cross arms for the National Grid. “We don’t just day-to-day lives, we go about our business unaware of the role
come up with the solution, we see it all the way through they play. “We’re like an Intel chip in a computer,” says Boyce.
to commercialisation,” says Boyce. “We understand the “A lot of people don’t know that the design and development
development process – from concepts to design, to for a lot of mass-produced products come from a little business
prototyping, testing, certification and, finally, approval in Loughborough.”
to use. We take the solution to technology readiness.” www.hivecomposites.com
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Digital payment made easy

“You can use it on any device anywhere in the world so long
as you have WiFi. We maintain the highest levels of security
because the money is encrypted straight away”
Kent Vorland, SimplyPayMe
“
W e’re going to be the WordPress of payments – totally
customisable to the needs of our users,” says Kent
Vorland, CEO of payments technology company SimplyPayMe.
The app – which won the “Most Disruptive Payments
Technology” category at the 2019 Payments Awards – is available
on both Apple and Android smartphones, and also as a web
The company aims to make working life simpler by providing application. “It’s built to be modular and scaleable,” says
seamless payments, invoicing and software solutions for small Vorland. “You can use it anywhere in the world, at any point
businesses. It began as a simple job-lead generator, transforming in time. As we work with multiple partners, it means we
itself into a smartphone payment collection app when the owners always have the best deals for SMEs, without having to deal
realised the significant issues that sole traders and SMEs faced with regulatory requirements as we never actually touch the
in getting paid, and the lack of access to a flexible system with money. We are the technology front-end where our acquiring
beneficial terms. Since 2017, SimplyPayMe has been focusing partners process the funds.”
on building relationships with, and delivering its technological The company has a strong relationship with Mastercard,
innovations to, companies and banks with large merchant as part of the global giant’s initiative to bring a digital economy
bases worldwide. to SMEs. “Alongside Mastercard we are driving key innovation
Vorland says that the USP of the company’s application is its around Real Time and alternative payments such as Mastercard’s
simplicity. “We are the only, card-payments app that allows you Pay by Bank app for small-business owners,” says Vorland.
to run your company and take a full suite and range of payments “We are now looking to spread this on a mass scale. I really want
– meaning face-to-face, over-the-phone, and online invoicing to reach as many small companies as we can in every corner of
– without any need for logistics or hardware. It’s built to be the world. We understand their struggles, and we give them an
intuitive. For example, a carpenter in his mid-sixties, with his first option they’ve never had, which makes their working life better.”
smartphone, told me he was able to download and use it easily.” www.simplypayme.com
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Digital
empowerment
“If you can make the digital world work properly, then
you give people the choice of where they work, how
they work and whether they need to travel for work”
Dave Page, Actual Experience
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A ctual Experience was formed with an ambition that is

simultaneously wide-ranging and precise. Put simply, it seeks
to improve the digital experience for everybody, everywhere, all the
time. Formed out of research conducted at Queen Mary University
of London by Professor Jonathan Pitts, Actual Experience allows
companies to analyse the digital workplace to see which employees
are experiencing frustratingly slow and demoralising connectivity
and application issues that can build up into hours of lost
productivity, and impact wellbeing and digital equality. “We can
build a data set that provides senior business decision-makers
with key metrics about their digital business, and the impact it
has on their employee’s experiences, their productivity as well
as the environmental footprint,” says CEO Dave Page. “We are
then able to explore and map the entire digital supply chain
to see where the issue lies and suggest ways to improve it –
creating a continual loop of assessment and improvement.”
The company has its origins in research conducted by
Professor Pitts into improving the efficiency and quality of the
internet. Page suggested he came at the problem in terms of
human impact rather than technology performance – how did
a glitch affect somebody’s actual experience of the internet?
As the workplace has been increasingly digitised, the impact
of a poor experience has led to the problem of digital inequality.
These can be the small things, not serious enough to warrant a
call to IT, such as slow buffering or a Zoom call that drops out
a couple of times – significant enough to be irritating but not
so much that people feel they can do anything about it. Then we go round in a loop, assessing and improving each
According to analysis undertaken by Actual Experience, time until it’s better for everybody all the time.”
these vexations and interruptions to the working day can The company measures the digital experience against six
cause the worst-hit employees to lose as much as nine working metrics and translates these into a Human Experience Score,
hours a month. Translated across a multinational company which represents a proxy of how a person would describe their
or national economy, this is a huge amount of wasted time, interaction with the internet. This provides the opportunity for a
money and energy. “Working with partners such as Accenture, business to improve its carbon footprint and meet environmental,
Verizon, Vodafone and Dell, we analyse every digital service social and corporate governance (ESG) issues by increasing its
an employee uses so we can assess the amount of time that is digital efficiency. “If you can make the digital world work properly,
being wasted every day,” explains Page. “We can then see that then you give people the choice of where they work, how they work
people are being paid to essentially do nothing through no and whether they need to travel for work,” says Page. “It can all be
fault of their own, so there is a business impact as well as an done remotely. We can tell companies what their carbon-footprint
individual one. Some employees can’t do their jobs as well as saving might be if everything worked for everybody all the time
their peers because of digital inequality. We can then tell a – and a relatively small investment in digital infrastructure can
business where to prioritise their investment to get the best completely change the carbon and financial cost of travel.”
impact for their own efficiency and employees’ wellbeing. www.actual-experience.com
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Quick on the up-tech

“If your technology is going to be replaced,
the person replacing it should be you”
Samuel Anderson, IceMOS
S amuel Anderson’s journey as the founder of IceMOS has

taken the company from Northern Ireland to Mars, via
Arizona. The entrepreneur began his career in electrical
“so anything that can reduce that translates into substantial
carbon savings. If people believe in what they are doing,
their behaviour follows their belief. That gives the recipe
engineering in his home town of Belfast before he relocated to for a team that can deliver generation after generation of
Phoenix. After 20 years, he left corporate life and founded the leadership technology. Because if your technology is going
first of four start-ups. One of these, IceMOS, was established in to be replaced, the person replacing it should be you.”
2004 with the support of Invest Northern Ireland. The company Finally, Anderson encourages his team to be creative and
is an advanced tech company focused primarily on hardware. not to fear failure. “You want people who are confident enough
It manufactures two products at its facility in Belfast: safety to try and experiment and who will learn from their mistakes,”
sensors, with applications that include helping cars to detect he says. “What people need to understand is, don’t worry about
blind spots; and power management systems that allow energy failure because there is no such thing as failure, there are cycles
saving for data centres. The company’s innovative products place of learning. So if a project has problems, it’s to be expected and
it in the centre of numerous trends including energy-saving the faster you experience that the better. But learn from it and
data-centred technology, assisted driving, autonomous driving, don’t repeat it.”
electric driving, wireless communications, artificial intelligence, www.icemostech.com
machine learning and the Internet of Things.
“We are now developing a high-voltage power transistor
for robust environments including deep space, and have been
awarded a contract by NASA for the Moon to Mars project,”
says Anderson. “We have an exciting growth plan based on
products with a sustainable competitive advantage. Our product
development is based on innovative technology that is
competitive, taking scientific principles and applying them
in a disciplined fashion so they are manufacturable.”
The IceMOS factory is based in Belfast, although Anderson
has lived in Arizona since the 1980s. It was thanks to some
professors at his alma mater, Queen’s University, that he
became aware of the opportunity to set up there; and the
location suited the business. Anderson believes in rapid
competitive innovation and feels the UK provides an excellent
platform for this. It combines two crucial advantages: a large
talent pool of trainable graduates and the more rigorous
protection of a company’s intellectual property. “If you are
an entrepreneur you need a good idea and it has to solve a
problem that people are prepared to pay for,” he says. “You need
to protect that intellectual property and the UK is a good place
to do that. It also has a really good education system. That means
the rate at which you can innovate is competitive.”
Anderson makes recruitment a central focus, building teams
that are ambitious, passionate and persistent. He feels that it
helps if you are producing products that people believe in; which
for IceMOS means devices that offer better safety for vehicles
and reduced energy use. “Data centres in the US consume
15 per cent of all national energy consumption,” he says,
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Data’s base
“Every time someone orders a product online,
streams a film, orders a taxi or goes on a dating
app, data centres like ours are used”
Giuliano Di Vitantonio, Digital Realty
W hen the global Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, it

is estimated that the world economy fast-tracked years
of digitisation into a few months. Digital Realty experienced this
a global capital for data exchange and the logical site for
Digital Realty data centres.
The nature of Digital Realty’s work means it is intimately
virtual surge at the sharp end. The company is one of the world’s connected to the four pillars that shape the way the world does
largest owners and operators of data centres – the essential business today: mobility, communication, digitisation and climate
physical platforms that underpin the virtual world and the change. With climate change, Digital Realty’s leadership team
digital economy. “Every time someone orders a product online, are aware that the digital economy is making an increasing
streams a film, orders a taxi or goes on a dating app, data centres contribution to the world’s carbon emissions, something that
like ours are used,” says Giuliano Di Vitantonio, Executive Vice can be mitigated by an accelerated switch to renewables.
President for Strategy & Business Segments. “We understand our role in this and have plans in place that
Digital Realty’s clients include cloud service providers, ensure we can have a positive impact,” says Di Vitantonio.
content providers, mobile operators, and enterprises such retail As the world’s desire for data increases and larger volumes are
and financial institutions – a rich combination of applications. being moved around, Digital Realty is building additional data
Di Vitantonio likens data centres to ports and airports: places centres to ensure customers can access their data wherever they
where data – goods and passengers – can arrive, connect, be need it. Data security, which includes both the virtual security
processed and rapidly redirected. It’s an analogy pertinent to of the data and the physical security of the infrastructure, is an
Marseille, a port city that is the location of multiple subsea essential component for all data centres.
cables connecting Europe with Africa, the Middle East and When accessing and processing data, speed is essential,
Asia. As well as being France’s busiest port, Marseille is also particularly in areas such as financial services where a millisecond
makes all the difference with machine-to-machine trades executed
via algorithms. “Even the human mind can perceive any delay
greater than 100 milliseconds, and the best way to mitigate this is
by constructing data centres close to smaller cities and the data,
reducing any lag time,” says Di Vitantonio. “With the amount of
data being processed growing exponentially, it is more practical to
bring the computing power closer to the data than having to move
the data around. We refer to this trend as ‘data gravity’, which is
reshaping the way enterprises architect their business processes.”
Data centres are also increasingly being built in emerging
markets where the need for data is being accelerated.
Anticipating the rate of this acceleration is a core part of the
business and Di Vitantonio’s job involves predicting the effect
that innovations such as virtual reality and digital value chains
will have on data-flow patterns. “We constantly think about the
future of tech and talk to the big players in the digital economy
to understand where we might be in five or 10 years,” he says.
“These centres take time to build, so we need to anticipate future
demand to ensure they are not obsolete before they’re completed.”
www.digitalrealty.co.uk
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The energy to succeed

“We use digital technology to develop new products to help our
clients to succeed. The company’s success is down to our culture
and our people, who are innovative and resilient, never giving up”
Peter Adam, Add Energy Asset and Integrity Management (AIM)
I n 2004, Peter Adam co-founded the Asset and Integrity

Management (AIM) part of Add Energy. Working out of
a shared office above a restaurant in Aberdeen, it offered
AIM has worked with Salford University to create new digital
services for the energy industry and beyond. This partnership
has already achieved two awards for excellence on cloud-based
consultancy services and had just two clients on its books. solutions, as well as two successful knowledge-transfer projects.
Fifteen years later, through investment in technology, expanding These leaps in tech are key to the future of the business. “What’s
services, repeat business, client referral and acquisition in 2009, exciting is that the first clients we’re engaging with on this aren’t in
Adam is Executive Vice President of Add Energy AIM with a the energy business,” says Adam. “They range from the retail and
workforce of 170 in three global offices. The company shares medical sectors to manufacturing and even an international police
its wide expertise with major energy companies as well clients force. These new projects are industry-agnostic.”
across the drilling, power-generation, utility and mining sectors. How to explain such success? “Essentially, we’re still that
The Add Energy group has been involved in the response same innovative, agile business, but the projects have got
teams for some significant blowouts, such as Deepwater Horizon bigger,” he says. “It’s satisfying that we’re supporting so many
and Elgin Franklin. In understanding the hazards that lead to new areas, but our people are our greatest asset: they provide
such devastating events, the AIM division works with clients support, listen to clients and deliver our duty of care. We use
to put measures in place to stop these incidents from occurring. digital technology to develop new products to help our clients
“We have a diverse team of expert engineers, scientists, analysts to succeed. The company’s success is down to our culture and
and consultants, and offer solutions from strategy to execution,” our people, who are innovative and resilient, never giving up.
says Adam. “We provide guidelines and philosophies, then we We’ve always been relentless in our pursuit of excellence and
can help make these a reality on the ground, improving efficiency, our focus is on retaining that culture, however big we get.”
reducing costs and making our clients and their assets safer.” www.addenergy.no
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Mission granted
“We work for the thrill of revolutionary change,
helping our clients to realise innovative projects
that make a difference and have a positive impact”
Tom Kennard, Granted Consultancy
“
T he UK leads the world at originating ideas, but it’s not
so good at getting those ideas to market,” says Tom
Kennard, Director of Granted Consultancy. The company
Our grant-writers are then able to present that information
clearly to a potential funder and win the bid. To date, we’ve
raised over £100 million for our clients.”
helps others – both start-ups and established firms – to realise Among the hundreds of successful clients, a couple
their world-changing innovations, and support them in stand out in particular. One is a company that developed
securing non-dilutive funding. “Non-dilutive” funding enables an AI-driven solution to assess damage to vehicles, which
clients to retain equity and not pay any interest, from sources is now partnered with industry giants Jaguar Land Rover.
such as research-and-development grants or tax credits. Another is a world-leading company that utilises cutting-
“What sets us apart is our decade-long experience, our edge environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques for monitoring
teams understanding of the funding landscape and how to biodiversity. “Not only was there an economic and
translate complex technological propositions,” says Kennard. environmental benefit to the work, it also enabled local
“We work for the thrill of revolutionary change, helping our stakeholders in developing nations to take ownership,”
clients to realise innovative projects that make a difference says Kennard. “The wives of local fisherman conducted
and have a positive impact.” the sampling that local universities analysed.
Founded in 2010 with the remit to “make projects happen”, “In the long term, we want to be able to help funders
Granted Consultancy works with companies in sectors ranging and government to make decisions about where they’re
from clean technology and agritech to artificial intelligence and applying grant funds in a more joined-up and proactive way.
health and life sciences. “In a very short window,” says Kennard, We want to provide a voice for the next wave of technology
“our multiskilled and highly trained team has the ability to get innovation in the UK.”
under the skin of a new technology and see how it will operate. www.grantedltd.co.uk
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352
Net-zero tech heroes

“We design and make the technology that allows customers to
make anything from a phone to a skyscraper to an entire city”
Lynelle Cameron, Autodesk
A s a company that creates the software used by the world’s

leading architects, engineers, manufacturers and designers,
Autodesk is in a unique position to enable innovation. Its solutions
because a single tool allowed complex data to be shared by all
stakeholders. In its quest to innovate and offer better solutions
for clients, Autodesk recently acquired Innovyze, a company that
empower customers to harness their data to achieve actionable specialises in building software around water infrastructure.
insights that lead to better design and make decisions – advancing Climate change is putting increased pressure on water resources
a more sustainable, resilient and equitable world. “We innovate in the UK, with wetter winters and drier summers leading to
to enable innovators,” says Lynelle Cameron (pictured, opposite), localised flooding. Innovyze’s floodmodelling solutions allow
Vice President for Sustainability and Foundation. “We design the local governments and water companies, such as Anglian Water,
technology that allows customers to make anything from a phone to predict floods and plan mitigation strategies to minimise risk.
to a skyscraper to an entire city. That gives us an incredible “The UK government is well-positioned to drive net-zero
opportunity to embed sustainability into the tools that are used strategies and is a world leader in improving the built
by people around the world, and to accelerate positive outcomes. environment and developing the skills required by the industry,”
When you look across all the industries we serve, the potential says Cameron. “Autodesk believes in engaging governments to
impact is massive.” drive public policies around the world and advising how
Autodesk is a net-zero emissions company – across its technology can support these global issues.”
business and value chain – and one of its goals is to help others www.autodesk.co.uk
mitigate their own climate impacts. Businesses and industries
around the world are striving to hit national targets for carbon
reduction, which in the UK includes a 50 per cent reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 for UK construction. With an
estimated 25 per cent of construction materials ending up in
landfill, the ability to cut waste supports the reduction of carbon
emissions produced in manufacturing material, something that
prefabrication and Design for Manufacture and Assembly
(DfMA) look to resolve. The UK-based architectural firm Bryden
Wood is a pioneer in this field and uses Autodesk software
to design and build off-site, minimising waste, increasing
efficiency and reducing emissions.
“We are investing in better design and construction methods,
such as constructing a building in a factory and putting it together
on site, almost like Lego,” explains Cameron. “That reduces a
huge amount of waste. We can embed the data into the technology
providing information that allows architects to decide which
material to use early on in the design phase. We have an almost
meta effect as we democratise the ability to build a better future
because our tools permeate through so many different layers:
architects, contractors, designers, clients.”
Autodesk’s Government Affairs Director, Adam Matthews,
affirms that Autodesk supports the UK government’s “levelling
up” agenda and its desire to increase infrastructure investment
outside London. In Birmingham, Tilbury Douglas (formerly
Interserve) used the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform to
transform the Birmingham NEC into a Nightingale Hospital
during the Covid pandemic, something achieved in nine days
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Electric A s one of the country’s six electricity distribution network

operators, Electricity North West is on the front row in the
race towards decarbonisation. The company is responsible for
dreams maintaining and upgrading 13,000 km of overhead power lines

and 44,000 km of underground cables as it brings electricity
to more than 2.4 million homes in Cumbria, Lancashire and
Greater Manchester. As the country replaces diesel and petrol
cars with electric vehicles, the pressure on the electricity supply
“We recognise our fundamental role in
will only increase. Electricity North West is at the cutting edge
helping the region and the nation achieve of global innovation to meet the challenge.
net zero carbon and we’ve had global “We recognise our fundamental role in helping the region and
interest in our innovative activities too” the nation achieve net zero carbon and we’ve had global interest
in our innovative activities too,” explains Peter Emery, Electricity
Peter Emery, Electricity North West North West’s CEO. “We have set out a plan and we are investing
to make it happen. We have a unique role as a network operator
in reaching net zero. It’s not like any other business: what we do
affects everybody.”
Greater Manchester has a target of achieving carbon neutrality
by 2038, so for Electricity North West the clock is already ticking.
The company’s three-part strategy – titled Leading the North
West to Net Zero – involves decarbonising its own operations,
enabling customers and stakeholders such as businesses and
local authorities to decarbonise, and helping customers and
households to adopt low-carbon technologies, like electric cars
and solar panels.
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Innovation is essential to the plan. Electricity North lower the voltage through voltage control devices that have
West’s CLASS (Customer Load Active System Services) project been installed at substations across the network. “Everybody
helps balance electricity grids in real time and has received gets the energy they need but at a slightly lower voltage that
worldwide interest. Rather than increasing generation to meet won’t affect appliances but will mean less is consumed overall,”
peaks in demand, this technology reduces demand by lowering says Emery. “That causes less pressure on the grid, so we can
voltage by an imperceptible amount for a short time. “CLASS be more efficient. Customers have lower bills and there is
has had international interest and we are in active discussions a carbon benefit for everybody.”
about the technology across three continents,” says Emery. Electricity North West’s leadership team understand
“Because the project reduces electricity demand it’s cheaper the importance of regional and national collaboration as it
and greener than the alternatives. Our innovative engineers moves towards net zero. The company is building strong
are developing the technologies that will be the bread and relationships, working closely with a gas network in its
butter of tomorrow.” patch to discuss a total energy pathway to net zero for local
Another project, Smart Street, allows Electricity North authorities, businesses and infrastructure providers – the first
West to control more precisely the voltage that goes to of its kind in the UK. “We published our net-zero plan in 2019
each home in the long term, reducing customer electricity and that has been the basis of everything we do,” says Emery.
consumption by 5-8 per cent and reducing carbon emissions “It’s a very exciting time for companies in our line of work as
by 7-10 per cent. Voltage usually fluctuates throughout a day it is such a significant change and we are right at the forefront
due to changes in supply and demand but, with Street Smart, of that.”
Electricity North West has found a way to stabilise and then www.enwl.co.uk/netzero
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Exceptional efficiency
“We offer exceptional efficiency and simplified control
via our unique single dashboard, encompassing a suite
of modular services, accessible anytime, from anywhere”
Rob Denham, C3 Post Trade
T echnological innovation has transformed financial markets,

greatly enhancing the variety and speed of services that are
available throughout the globe. This applies equally to “post-trade”
Once a client places a captured trade into their books and
records system, C3’s four-part solution gets underway. This starts
with matching, finding a single point of resolution for all trade-
activities – the processes that essentially verify the details of a matching exceptions, and allowing customers to clearly view every
transaction, which can include confirmation, clearing, settlement, asset status. Next comes reconciling, which configures two-party
custody, regulatory reporting and asset serving. reconciliations quickly and easily. The third stage is tracking,
Rob Denham experienced first-hand the challenges faced by which clears up life-cycle problems with ease by spotting and
operations during the two decades he spent at some of the world’s resolving anything from failures and corporate actions to
leading banks and financial institutions. He then co-founded C3 regulatory reporting and checklists. Finally, there is compliance,
Post Trade, working as CEO alongside fellow partners Ashley Helm which eases regulatory headaches by allowing customers to
(Chief Technology Officer) and Paul Gill (Chief Product Officer). follow industry best practice, ensuring compliance with multiple
“We develop and operate cloud technology to offer exceptional regulatory regimes.
efficiency and simplified control via our unique single dashboard, C3 is a user-friendly platform, simplifying the complexities
encompassing a suite of modular services, accessible anytime, of the post-trade environment. “Our modular offering meets
from anywhere,” says Denham. “We’ve sat in the seat of clients, so the needs of all funds,” says Denham. “Clients range from those
our team can provide valuable insight and expertise to strengthen with funds of £200 million to those with more than £30 billion.
operations while building a collaborative community in the process.” Our philosophy is all about collaboration, an approach that goes
Values of honesty, openness and fair mindedness are important well beyond our own business. We’re a proud patron of Building
for C3 Post Trade. “All essential qualities in the world of operations Heroes, a charity that provides skills training to military veterans.”
where trust is such an important part of the process,” says Denham. www.c3posttrade.com
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Constructing a smarter world

“We wanted to consume the complex data that exists in the
architecture, engineering and construction world and turn
it into a format that anybody can start working with”
Arman Gukasyan, Revizto
H ow do architecture, engineering and construction (AEC)

industries work smarter, become more efficient and cut
waste? Arman Gukasyan, founder and CEO of software platform
Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. With over 80 companies involved
in construction, Revizto enabled the decision makers to see the
overall picture. “Enormous problems were detected in the early
Revizto, believes it’s all about communication. The problem, days,” recalls Gukasyan. “We brought hundreds of millions of
until the very recent advent of digitalisation, was the lack of it. dollars of efficiencies right there.
“That was the problem we wanted to solve,” says Gukasyan. Today, there are over 160,000 users of Revizto across
“We wanted to consume the complex data that exists in the AEC 150 countries, all with access to this user-friendly way of analysing
world and turn it into a format that anybody can work with.” Hence and interpreting complex data. The transformative software is
the formation of Revizto in Switzerland in 2008, and its integrated compatible with all the leading CAD/BIM tools and customers
building information modelling (BIM) collaboration software include construction giants Atkins, AECOM, Arup, Balfour
platform. The goal was to allow all the stakeholders involved Beatty, Foster & Partners, Jacobs, Lendlease, Skanska, Vinci and
in a construction project to see, via an intuitive interface, what Willmott Dixon. The latest iteration of its integrated collaboration
the building would look like in an interactive 3D environment, platform, Revizto 5, is certainly making good on its promise of
as well as giving an ability to access any project data within clicks. propelling the AEC industries towards a smarter, more time-
“For years the AEC industries had problems with efficiency,” and cost-efficient and more sustainable future. “The rate of
explains Gukasyan. “Official stats show that if you’re not utilising investment we’ve seen on every single project is absolutely
BIM in your projects you are losing on average 30 per cent of enormous,” says Gukasyan. “One of our customers recently said
your overall construction budget on correcting the errors made that within the first three months of using our platform on five
in the planning phase during construction.” A breakthrough for projects alone they calculated they had saved $5 million.”
Revizto (“visual check” in Latin) came when it worked on the www.revizto.com
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Simple twist of freight

“We are creating a solution to get the
aviation industry on its feet while supporting
the demands of the world for freight”
Cristian Sutter, Avensis
F ew industries were impacted more adversely by the Covid

pandemic than aviation. But for Cristian Sutter, an aircraft
designer with decades of experience designing cabin interiors for
passenger carriers as demand changes. So the company is
ready to meet every conceivable challenge the aviation
industry may throw at it.
leading airlines, this presented an opportunity. He realised that Sutter’s impressive foresight has highlighted another
just as the demand for freight was increasing, the grounding of potential area of growth for Avensis. Still looking ahead, he
commercial flights would dramatically reduce capacity. He swiftly plans to introduce a service that will help redesign existing
set up Avensis Aviation Ltd; and the company, well, took off. cabin layouts for a post-pandemic world. “Commercial aviation
The idea was to adapt and repurpose unwanted commercial will evolve and people will be very conscious of their personal
planes for freight. “There was a need to convert these passenger space,” he says. “We are going to develop solutions for this to
aircraft into freighters to meet the demand that was no longer reconfigure aircraft. We will launch a division to install the
being met,” he says. “We were simultaneously finding a very latest cabin interiors.”
solution for the aircraft that were capable of flying but no “Throughout history, the UK has been at the forefront of
longer required.” innovation,” says Sutter. “This is one of the most innovative
Sutter put together an elite team of experts to develop a countries in the world in any industry you care to name.
portfolio of solutions that needed to be scalable. They took Aviation was an industry that got dramatically impacted by the
in at all aspects of the cargo market and all sizes of client, pandemic; but we are taking that British spirit of innovation
from small companies just starting out to established cargo and reinventing part of the aviation industry. So we are
airlines requiring top-of-the-range additions to their fleets. creating a solution to get the industry on its feet while
Better still, these solutions are also reversible. The aircraft supporting the demands of the world for freight.”
Avensis has configured for freight can be converted back to www.avensisaviation.com
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Clean machines
“We know that if it’s good enough for Formula 1
then it’s good enough for the consumer”
Andy Smith, Ultimotive
O n the surface, driving to work every morning or using the

car to pick up the weekly supermarket shop might not
seem to have much in common with Lando Norris speeding
to market a range of Williams-branded car-cleaning products.
That contract still stands today. “We’re their longest-serving
licensee and also one of their largest licensees,” says Smith.
around the track at Silverstone. But, thanks to car-care expert Based in Colchester, with offices in Australia and a presence in
Ultimotive, that isn’t the case. Every millisecond counts in motor the Middle East, Ultimotive also makes the MotoGP cleaning
racing, and any extra weight or damaged paintwork can impact range, Caiman car-care products, Stayzon air-con treatment
upon performance. So, when Formula 1 teams endorse systems and is also the licensee for Michelin wiper blades.
Ultimotive cleaning products, it’s the ultimate seal of approval. Pioneering new products is integral to the firm. “We don’t
“People might say a polish is a polish,” says Ultimotive’s just sit back, satisfied that we’ve found a product that works,”
Managing Director Andy Smith, “but you’d be amazed at what says Smith. “We ask: how can we improve? How can we make
a fly or a small piece of rubber hitting a car at 200 mph can the consumers enjoy the experience? We’re very flexible in what
do to its paintwork.” we do. If somebody asks us to make something because they
Ultimotive has applied the knowledge it has developed can’t, or asks us to resolve an issue, that’s what we’re good at.”
working alongside the McLaren F1 team to the products it sells This expertise has been taken abroad too – recognition of
to the automotive trade, which ultimately get used on everyday Ultimotive’s overseas achievements came in 2019 when it was
road cars. “We know that if it’s good enough for F1 it’s good awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for International Trade.
enough for the consumer,” says Smith. “We like a challenge,” says Smith. “It’s our philosophy. Because
Set up in 2004 by Smith, a former International Sales we’re a small and flexible company we can react quickly. We like
Director at Turtle Wax, and his wife, Lynette, Ultimotive’s first to go to people and tell them we can do this.”
big break came almost immediately when it won the contract www.ultimotive.com
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The portable workspace

“The next generation of furniture needs to be movable,
adaptable, to integrate technology and be sustainable
and hygienic – Nook is all of those things and more”
David O’Coimin, The Do Company
W hen David O’Coimin formed The Do Company in 2016,

he was determined to drive change in a rapidly evolving
world by offering solutions that would empower more flexible
The company has also teamed up with partners who integrate
their technology into the furniture to make smart and sensory
solutions, and has gained international certification for Nook
and inclusive working environments. Already anticipating the as an autism resource.
move away from a nine to five in traditional offices, he came up Nooks are now regularly used around the world in corporate
with the Nook, a movable and adaptable office space that forms offices, in education and healthcare settings, and hired for
a key ingredient of an adaptive workplace. events. They are even being used in care homes to create an
“I am a product designer and I am always imagining a better experiential space for occupational therapy, and as locations
world,” says O’Coimin. “I have a set of design tools, particularly for the elderly to communicate remotely with relatives.
geared around furniture, and it was obvious to me that I needed “CBRE states in its late 2020 report The Future of Furniture
to do something for the workplace. I wanted to make a personal that the next generation of furniture needs to be movable,
sanctuary space – a focus and meeting pod – which would add adaptable, to integrate technology and be sustainable and
a missing element to the open-plan office. And that’s Nook.” hygienic. Nook is all of those things and more,” says O’Coimin.
O’Coimin originally designed the Nook to help introverts “The future of work is flexible and personal, it takes place in
and people on the spectrum, who do not thrive in a traditional an office, at home or somewhere in between – Nook helps to
office space; but he believes its qualities are beneficial for all. activate all of these spaces, ensuring there is dexterity,
According to O’Coimin, it is based on the principal of “Design inclusivity and sustainability.” Designed with responsibly
for the Extreme, Benefits the Mean”. sourced materials and the circular economy in mind, the
In recent times, Do Company has created additional Nook’s end of life is a long time away.
designs for one-person use and for wheelchair accessibility. www.nookpod.com
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Constructing technology
“Through a commitment to working closely with our customers,
we now have over 1.9 million professionals in 130 countries using our
software solutions to manage and progress construction projects”
Jon Elliott, Bluebeam
W ith origins in the Mars Rover project, Bluebeam is instantly

very different to most tech firms working in engineering,
construction and architecture. But that isn’t the only thing that sets
time zones can access the same complex data and drawings and
collaborate in real time. The results are startling. One firm with
5,600 Bluebeam Revu users estimated savings of 45 minutes per
this software company apart from its peers. As CEO Jon Elliott user per day, which equated to £40 million a year. One major
explains, Bluebeam also has a unique philosophy that compels it to contractor reported a 60 per cent reduction in time cost during
act as an advocate and partner to the construction industry with the plan review, another noted a 50 per cent time saving on design
belief that human collaboration is the greatest driver of innovation. reviews and another could precisely pinpoint £38,000 that they
“With our flagship project, Bluebeam Revu, we created certain saved the first time they used Revu for digital estimation when
specific capabilities, and yet we’re continually amazed by the the software helped catch a major mistake on the initial plan.
innovative ways our customers find to utilise them – they use them “Through a commitment to working closely with our
in ways we never could have imagined,” he says. “We want to be customers, we now have over 1.9 million professionals in 130
a global catalyst of radical change in construction, and we believe countries using our software solutions to manage and progress
that people can accomplish incredible things when they come construction projects,” says Elliott. “Everything we do is a result
together to collectively solve problems and overcome challenges.” of our underlying beliefs about the future. We believe technology
Bluebeam creates cloud-centric desktop, web and mobile is the enabler of boundless innovation, and we envisage a future
software solutions that allow construction and engineering firms where human ingenuity, productivity and teamwork are flourishing
to share information in real time. Bluebeam’s software solutions across every project in the built environment. By providing
were built to create a paperless future and solve some of the technology solutions that are open and flexible, we believe that our
problems of inefficiency that were hampering construction. customers will discover and invent new ways to build our world.”
Using Bluebeam software, teams in multiple locations across www.bluebeam.co.uk
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362
Building inclusion
from the ground up
“Creating a culture which empowers everyone
to bring their true self to work, raising our
consciousness about diversity and inclusion –
this is the journey we are proud to be on”
Jessica Chu, Electrocomponents
F ounded as RS Components over 80 years ago to sell radio

parts in the UK, Electrocomponents plc has grown to
become a global provider of industrial and electronic products
personal stories on challenging topics such as race, mental health,
LGBTQ+, disability and the progression of women. “Candidates
seeking an employer of choice see the stories our people are
and solutions, operating in 32 countries and shipping over sharing both internally and externally,” says Chu, “and are
60,000 parcels each day all over the world. beginning to recognise us as a diverse and inclusive organisation.”
“Our company has long understood the importance of With a large engineering customer base, the organisation
moving with the times,” says Jessica Chu (pictured, above), also embraces the important role it needs to play in inspiring,
Group Head of Diversity and Inclusion. “Our vision is to become developing and empowering the next generation of young
first choice for our people, customers, suppliers, shareholders talent to ensure a vibrant future for the engineering and
and the communities around us. This vision is underpinned by technology industries. Recognising the engineering profession
our purpose – making amazing happen for a better world. We are has a way to go to become more diverse and inclusive,
committed to inspiring a more sustainable and inclusive world Electrocomponents’ Grass Roots education programmes
through education and innovative solutions that improve lives.” are tailored for specific audiences.
One of the ways Electrocomponents does this is by creating There is also a focus on delivering workshops specifically
a working environment where its 7,000-plus employees feel designed to make STEM (science, technology, engineering and
empowered. “Creating a culture which empowers everyone to maths) more accessible to girls. The organisation’s annual REflect
bring their true self to work, raising our consciousness about Event engages with young people from black and minority ethnic
diversity and inclusion – this is the journey that we are proud backgrounds to excite and inspire them about the possibilities and
to be on,” says Chu. “Work can be somebody’s safe space, variety of engineering careers. The organisation is also a strong
where they can thrive and be themselves. Being able to do this supporter of Women in Engineering student societies in
is hugely important. We aren’t there yet but we have a strategy universities around the world.
to get there. In 2020 we were shortlisted for ITV National “Diverse talent will always gravitate towards those companies
Diversity Awards and placed in the Top 50 UK most diverse that demonstrate an inclusive culture,” says Chu, “so we focus our
companies list, so we are heading in the right direction.” energies on developing a great candidate experience, attracting
Electrocomponents has a five-year diversity and inclusion and retaining talent and creating programmes that develop global
strategy, and while only 18 months into their journey, the talent. Ultimately, this leads to higher engagement scores which
organisation has already seen increased employee engagement, means really engaged people who give their very best every day,
especially notable given the challenges of the Covid-19 yielding increased performance and satisfied shareholders.”
pandemic. The company also uses storytelling to engage people www.electrocomponents.com
and build empathy. Its diverse employees regularly share their www.rs-online.com
363
A clean slate
“It’s about educating the public that
the days of getting three quotes and going
with the cheapest are long gone”
Mark Williams, Confederation of Roofing Contractors (CORC)
A s a former roofer, Mark Williams cares passionately about

his trade. As such, it hurts him to see the reputation of his
craft damaged by the disreputable actions of those masquerading
alike – hence the CORC. Established in 1985 as a consumer-
orientated organisation, it now has close to 1,000 members and
these are considered the best roofing contractors in the business.
as roofers. “If you look at TV shows like Rogue Traders and “Having work carried out on your roof is probably the
Cowboy Builders, it’s all roofers on there,” he says. “The industry biggest and most expensive project you will have done at your
as a whole hasn’t got a great reputation because of these types.” property,” says Williams. “In a lot of cases a customer cannot see
However, as director of the Confederation of Roofing everything that was done once the roof is tiled and covered and
Contractors (CORC), Williams is now in a prime position to therefore have to rely on the honesty and professionalism of the
restore the trade’s image. Indeed, one of his association’s stated contractor. All CORC members are able to supply an Insurance
aims is to weed out the rogue element within the industry and Backed Guarantee (IBG) to their customers which covers them
enhance customer confidence in the sector. “There are two should the roofer cease to trade or go out of business during
main trade bodies of roofing associations in the UK,” he says. the guarantee period. This gives added peace of mind to the
“Between us, we’ve got about 2,000 members. There are 67,000 customer and is something the CORC would like to see become
roofers in the UK – which means there are a lot out there that mandatory within the roofing industry.”
are not being monitored, vetted or checked.” Crucially, the CORC wants to make it harder for anyone
Williams believes that if it was mandatory to belong to just to get up on your roof. “It’s about educating the public
an association of some sort, this figure of 67,000 would fall that the days of getting three quotes and going with the
immediately to below 15,000. Unlike fitting a boiler (where an cheapest are long gone,” Williams says. “The volume of calls
engineer has to be registered Gas Safe), there is no obligation to we get now asking about our members is encouraging.”
adhere to a set of regulations that protect the trade and consumer www.corc.co.uk
364
A creative economy
“The challenge for UK investors and institutions is in
recognising the rapidly growing scale of this opportunity
and the consequent huge benefits for UK plc”
Jim Reeve, Great Point Media
G reat Point Media was founded by Jim Reeve and Robert

Halmi in 2013. Since then, the company has witnessed a sea
change in the sector, that has seen former challenger brands dwarf
creativity are there,” says Reeve. “There is huge investment
opportunity, ranging from funding entire production slates,
TV series, games or single films to backing UK media start-ups.
mainstream broadcast media, and traditional commissioning, And there is a corresponding demand for studios, facilities and
financing and production rules transformed. This is a new age crew, across all technical and trade disciplines. Educating, training
of entertainment, rich in potential for producers, developers, and retraining more people is vital to the industry’s sustained
financiers, distributors and intellectual property owners – and growth.” Great Point continues to find solutions to new issues
for the UK economy as a whole. which arise in this fast-moving sector: it has recently created a
“This is an exciting time, with new opportunities arising US-regulated insurance company to provide essential and otherwise
as a result of unprecedented demand for content,” says Reeve unavailable Covid-19 risk cover for independent film and television
(pictured above, right). “The UK has a wealth of resources – production globally.
creative, geographical, structural, technical and financial – “The competition for subscription revenue – itself driven by the
to meet the burgeoning global need for content. Great Point rapid technological advances in the way media is consumed – has
connects different elements within the entertainment industry generated a burning demand for a continuous supply of attention-
via production and distribution infrastructure initiatives, grabbing product,” says Reeve. “In this climate, the opportunities
investment opportunities, finance solutions and venture capital.” for UK entities to be involved in the financing, manufacturing and
Great Point offers a presence in the UK and the US, over distribution of content have never been greater. The challenge for UK
100 years of collective experience of investment in the media investors and institutions is in recognising the rapidly growing scale
sector, and more than £500 million deployed into the creative of this opportunity and the consequent huge benefits for UK plc.”
economy to date. It understands this sector. “The demand and www.greatpointmedia.com
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Back to your roots

“Lockdown has been a blessing in disguise
for us. People can’t get to salons, but we
can give their hair the love it needs”
Akash Mehta, Fable & Mane
W hen Akash Mehta’s sister, Nikita, started to experience

hair loss, both she and her brother knew exactly where to
look for a solution: their own childhood, when their grandmother
Mehta has used his own formidable marketing skills,
honed in previous roles including global digital manager
for Dior, and more recently his own digital agency CO-ANU.
used to visit them in London, bringing along ingredients and oils “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to use modern sales
from her native India. “Our grandma used to make potions in the techniques to support products that have ancient roots,” he
kitchen and massage the oils into our hair,” remembers Mehta. says. This expertise is matched by his ambition to give back
“As she did this, she’d share with us her ancient family stories. to wildlife, particularly India’s tigers. The company’s Fable
Storytelling and hair care have always been intertwined for us.” Fund has already provided money for solar-powered water
Now, Akash and Nikita Mehta have created Fable & Mane, wells for this endangered species, and the Mehta siblings
a modern hair wellness brand inspired by the 4,000-year old will continue to support this cause.
science of Ayurveda. “It’s our way of paying homage to our Fable & Mane now has plans to launch more products
grandmother,” says Akash, “keeping her memory alive.” and expand into the wellness industry. “We want to spread
Their company has gone from strength to strength, the brand more widely across the globe, sharing more
surpassing $1million in revenue in just six months, despite ancient stories and secrets,” says Mehta, who stresses that
the siblings’ challenge of launching their new business authenticity remains key. “I’m proud to be working with my
in a year of lockdown. “Lockdown has been a blessing in sister, together honouring our childhood memories and our
disguise for us,” reflects Mehta on the timing. “Our mission Indian roots while contributing to the preservation of our
is to bring our products and rituals to everyone’s homes so wildlife. This brand is created from our memories and we
that they can experience our childhood memories. They can’t hope to make many more for the generations to come.”
get to salons, but we can give their hair the love it needs.” www.fableandmane.com
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“The art of leadership

is saying no, not saying yes.
It is very easy to say yes”
Tony Blair
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From work to retirement

Looking after the fundamental areas of work, family welfare
and benefits, the Department for Work and Pensions has its
roots in more than a century of government departments
for Work and Pensions between 2016 and 2017. “It is the work of
every political party that has held office in that period, both on
the right and the left. Welfare does not belong to any political
party. Lloyd George and the Liberals introduced the old age
pension. Attlee and Labour brought in comprehensive National
Insurance. Margaret Thatcher’s government introduced Family
Credit. So it would be wrong to see there being a single moment
in history, under a single party, when the current welfare system
sparked into being – and, of course, there will never be a point in
the future when the job is done and no further reform is needed.”
The DWP, in its current form, was created in June 2001 as a
result of a merger between the Department of Social Security,
the Employment Service and the relevant policy groups of the
Department for Education and Employment. Its priorities
include helping to reduce poverty and improve social justice,
helping people to find employment and stay in work, and
providing the state pension and child maintenance. It aims
to reduce poverty, increase financial inclusion, cut workplace
accidents and promote greater savings for retirement. It works
with many operational organisations to do so, such as Jobcentre
Plus, the Pension Service, the Child Maintenance Service, and
the Pension, Disability and Carers Service.
o
Above
Damian Green, Secretary
T he largest of the government departments, the Department
for Work and Pensions (DWP) has the responsibility for
welfare, pensions and child maintenance policies, and employs
Most recently, the DWP has been heavily involved in the
response to Covid-19. “The Department for Work and Pensions
has been at the heart of helping to deliver the government’s
of State for Work and more than 85,000 staff. It offers support and advice to all plan for jobs to support, protect and create jobs following the
Pensions between 2016 working-age people, employers, pensioners, families, disabled pandemic,” says Dr Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work
and 2017 people and vulnerable groups, and a range of benefits to more and Pensions since 2019. “It involved modifying access to sick
than 20 million claimants and customers. pay and streamlining our main social security system [Universal
o The head of the DWP is, effectively, the successor to the Credit], which had to respond to unprecedented numbers of
Opposite Minister of Labour and the Minister of Pensions, cabinet claims during the pandemic. We did make temporary changes on
Protesters call for an positions that were established in 1916. Through 14 name access to the benefits to manage that demand and get money to
increase in pension changes, and around 80 secretaries and ministers of state, the people as quickly as possible. We avoided mass unemployment
rates, 1957 department has been trying to improve people’s lives for 105 with the swift introduction of the Job Retention Scheme, also
years. In 1942, William Beveridge set out how he would tackle known as the furlough scheme, in which taxpayers guaranteed
the “five giant evils” of society and created the framework for 80 per cent of employees’ pay up to £2,500 per month, and the
the modern welfare state, which was put into action by the Self-Employment [Income] Support Scheme. Both of these have
Labour government in 1945. been a lifeline to millions.”
“The welfare state as we know it has been more than a Dr Coffey has also identified several key areas to boost
century in the making,” says Damian Green, Secretary of State employment post-pandemic, securing premises for 139 new
368
Jobcentres, opening more than 110 new youth hubs and

“Throughout our existence, delivering programmes for young people. Kickstart, for instance
– an employment scheme that was launched by Chancellor Rishi
we have been helping people Sunak in September 2020 – has helped more than 40,000 benefit
from work placements; JETS (job entry targeted support scheme)
find work, which I believe is has propelled more than 5,000 into employment by providing
personalised support; and SWAP (sector-based work academy
programme) has assisted people in reskilling and retraining to
one of the prime objectives move into growing sectors such as construction, infrastructure
and social care. There has also been a £2.9 billion Restart scheme,
of the welfare system” complemented by specialist providers, charities and SMEs.
“The government plan for jobs, through the coronavirus
job retention scheme and other support, has protected jobs and
kept millions of people connected to the labour market during
our emergency response to the pandemic,” says Dr Coffey.
“Now, through the continued delivery of our part of plan for
jobs, we are helping get Britain back on its feet.”
www.gov.uk/dwp
369
Saving graces
“At the heart of everything we do is a personal human touch.
We recognise that our service needs to be about the individual, which
applies as much in workplaces as it does in one-to-one consultations”
Steve Butler, Punter Southall Aspire
O n the face of it, Punter Southall Aspire is a classic,

high-quality financial planning and retirement savings
business, yet the wealth of experience and expertise behind it
He fully understands the big decisions that lie around
retirement. “Giving up work completely is only one aspect
of retirement,” he says. “There are many different options to
adds something very special. “We have a very clear idea of the consider, such as working part-time and easing into retirement,
services we want to provide for both businesses and individuals,” the lifestyle you currently have and changes you might make,
says CEO Steve Butler. “At the heart of everything we do is a family commitments and even hobbies and holiday plans.”
personal human touch. We recognise that our service needs to This flexible approach by Punter Southall Aspire is
be about the individual, which applies as much in workplaces reflected in what it offers its own employees, employing all ages,
as it does in one-to-one consultations.” part-time and fulltime. After surviving lockdown the company
The tailored service provided by the company is accessible is embracing a new, hybrid way of working which has evolved
to all, starting from a telephone service specifically about naturally with its employees, as has its interaction with clients.
retirement, right up to major financial planning on every aspect “We make retirement saving engaging and much of that
of life. “We’re looking at creating saving habits that work,” is down to the relationships we build with clients,” says Butler.
says Butler. “Sometimes people put these decisions off for “Our services involve the most up-to-date technology, coupled
a long time yet often we find that, when they do get in touch, with an ethos which recognises the value in tailoring our
they’re interested in a complete service and want to discuss life services to suit each client’s unique needs. We’re constantly
insurance or health insurance as well as retirement options. finding new ways to transform people’s financial future and
We’re happy to talk about finance at every stage, though we improving their tomorrow and one piece of advice can be
undoubtedly specialise in helping people manage their enough to make a vital difference.”
aims and ambitions in the latter part of their careers.” www.psaspire.com
370
A very digital transformation

“Our gambit is that we know we understand globalisation
and are savvy round the tech, so we know what tools and
solutions can be used for a specific outcome”
Neil Ward, Neil Ward & Associates (NW/A)
M ost people associate the term “tech disruptors” with

young entrepreneurs straight out of college, but the team
at Neil Ward & Associates (NW/A) is drawn from seasoned and
between a product’s implicit value and its full value given
targeted and effective sales assistance. This value delta is the core
of what makes any business special – it’s essentially the difference
experienced individuals who have worked in hi-tech for years. between a company and its competitors, the unique properties
The firm was founded in 2015 and is positioned as a hybrid that help it stand out. The value delta can be identified, improved
between a traditional management consultancy and an asset and expanded with the support of Neil Ward & Associates.
manager, using its knowledge, commitment and results-based NW/A also has an investment arm that invests in businesses
thinking to drive value creation for clients. that have an environmental, social and governance agenda.
“As we came out of corporate life we saw two opportunities,” “We want to find funding for businesses that are at the forefront
says founder and CEO Neil Ward. “One was to help small of making positive change,” says Ward. “By using our networks
start-ups to understand the journey they were undertaking as and experience, we can help these businesses flourish and make
businesses and as characters. The other was to act as the glue an impact. Our gambit is that we understand internationalisation
between technology and deployment, and the economic and social and globalisation and are savvy round the tech so we know
impact those developments can have. We look after clients who what tools and solutions can be used for a specific outcome.
have transformations to make and want to drive value creation Our growth will be geographic and we are adaptable and agile,
based on solid principles, while retaining the flexibility to embrace which gives us great leverage in the market. We attract people
new concepts. If you understand what you want, we will deliver it.” who are reliable and get things done, and we want to stay humble
Specialising in media, tech, finance and fintech, NW/A begins and quality-driven, while also managing the growth that comes
by establishing a baseline, listening to the client’s challenges and our way as a British company with global experience.”
exploring the data to identify their “value delta” – the difference www.nwaassociates.com
371
372
CHAPTER ELEVEN ⁄ FORMER PRIME MINISTERS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MODERN
NATIONAL
LEADERSHIP
373
Slow and steady

wins the race
A traditional Conservative, as prime minister
John Major steered the country out of recession in
the early 1990s and left a legacy of achievements
o
Below
John Major with President
F ollowing a leader as formidable as Margaret Thatcher was
no easy matter but John Major belied his natural humility
to show considerable strength and tenacity during his years
adhering to traditional Conservative values of low taxation,
increased property ownership, law and order, privatisation
and reduced state intervention. The Conservative Party had
Jacques Chirac at the as Prime Minister. This was drawn in part from Major’s own a small majority and were beset by a series of internal arguments
Elysée Palace, 1995 lower-middle-class background, which gave him personal about Europe, with Major – who believed the UK should be
experiences unique among modern prime ministers and drove “at the very heart of Europe” – winning a vote of confidence
o his determination to create a “classless society”. It’s not easy for in 1993 to secure the passage of the Maastricht Treaty. It was
Opposite anybody to become Prime Minister, but Major’s journey was gruelling and often brutal politics as Major faced a resurgent
Addressing tougher than most and gave him a unique understanding of his opposition and was beset by a series of tabloid scandals
the Conservative country and politics. “The first requirement of politics is not surrounding Tory MPs. “It is hard to imagine any other figure
Party Conference intellect or stamina but patience,” he said. “Politics is a very capable of stringing along a late-20th-century Conservative
in Brighton, 1992 long-run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.” administration so many years beyond the end of its natural life,”
Growing up in difficult circumstances, Major had left school Matthew Parris later commented.
with only three O Levels but was bright, hardworking and focused. Despite these problems, Major secured what would come
He was elected MP for Huntingdon in 1979 and progressed to to be recognised as impressive and lasting achievements: the
Foreign Secretary and then Chancellor, before becoming Prime Council Tax replaced the Poll Tax; the National Lottery was
Minister in November 1989 – the youngest for nearly 100 years. created, leading to transformative funding for artistic, heritage
He led a party in disarray and a country in recession, but and charitable causes; and he began the arduous process
managed a surprise victory in the 1992 general election by of negotiating peace talks in Northern Ireland. Major also
privatised British Rail, lowered the homosexual age of consent
and introduced nursery vouchers for pre-school. In 1991 he
was confronted with an international crisis when Iraq invaded
Kuwait, which saw the UK armed forces take a leading role
in the first Gulf War.
These achievements were all the more impressive given
the economic and reputational damage caused by Black
Wednesday, a financial crash that saw the pound collapse in
September 1992, forcing a humiliated UK to leave the European
Exchange Rate Mechanism. Major came close to resignation,
but in the turbulent aftermath the economy began to improve,
starting a recovery that continued until the 2008 financial crisis.
His own career summary was typically thoughtful and humble.
“I inherited a sick economy and passed on a sound one,”
he later said. “But one abiding regret for me is that, in between,
I did not have the resources to put in place the educational and
social changes about which I cared so much; I made only a
beginning, and it was not enough.” After defeat in the 1997
general election, Major pursued a variety of commercial and
philanthropic interests and wrote a fine autobiography as well
as books about his typically idiosyncratic passions of cricket
and music hall.
374
MODERN NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
“Politics is a very long-run game and

the tortoise will usually beat the hare”
375
“The third way stands for a modernised social democracy,

passionate in its commitment to the goals of the centre-left,
but flexible in the means to achieve them”
376
A new approach
A relentless moderniser, Tony Blair is the only Labour
leader to have fought and won three general elections
in a row, serving for 11 years as prime minister
o
A
n ironclad conviction ran through Tony Blair’s decade of and ruthless moderniser with a talent for winning elections,
Opposite Premiership and continues in his current role as head of he swept to victory in the 1997 General Election, promising to
Tony Blair at the Labour the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which allows him represent a new kind of politics that would fuse left and right
Party Conference in to maintain an incisive presence on the international stage wings. “The third way stands for a modernised social democracy,
Brighton in 2005 despite critics from all parties who continue to dispute his legacy. passionate in its commitment to social justice and the goals of
That conviction is something he first demonstrated as leader of the centre-left, but flexible, innovative and forward-looking in
o the opposition when he abolished Clause IV – the Labour party’s the means to achieve them,” he said.
Below formal commitment to nationalisation. It was the first of many This meant major investment in health and education
Blair is welcomed as a bold moves he made as a public figure, in this case demonstrating (part-funded through controversial PFI policies), the reform of
hero in Kosovo in 2010, that Labour were no longer committed to socialism. “I think the House of Lords and the creation of a UK Supreme Court.
alongside nine Kosovar the journey for a politician goes from wanting to please all the The Bank of England was given the power to set interest rates
Albanian boys named people all the time to a political leader that realises in the end his and Labour introduced devolved administrations in Scotland
after him responsibility is to decide,” he once said. “And when he decides, and Wales as well as a new administrative body for London.
he divides.” Blair was the master of decision. New Labour introduced a minimum wage, signed the Human
Blair joined the Labour Party after leaving Oxford, where Rights Act, banned fox hunting, introduced civil partnerships
he studied law. He became MP for Sedgefield in 1983 – a rare for homosexuals and created the Sure Start scheme. His astute
victory in an electoral washout for Labour that he vowed politicking in Northern Ireland concluded with the Good Friday
never to see repeated. When Labour leader John Smith died Agreement in 1998. Yet significantly, he maintained aspects of
unexpectedly in 1994, Blair won the leadership. A gifted orator Conservative legislation related to Trade Union law and right to
buy, chose not to construct social housing or liberalise welfare
legislation, while his policies on law and order lent rightwards.
This combination of left and right led to three successive
victories in 1997, 2001 and 2005.
Blair’s conviction involved pursuing an international
doctrine of humanitarian intervention in his determination
to oppose dictatorships and ethnic cleansing. UK forces
were deployed in Kosovo and Sierra Leone in 1990 and 2000.
Following 9/11, the UK joined the invasion of Afghanistan in
2001 and then Iraq in 2003. While the actions in Kosovo and
Sierra Leone proved effective and popular, the Middle East
invasions were widely opposed – by the public and within
his own party – and trust in Blair plummeted.
Blair eventually stood down in 2007 but has remained more
active on the world stage than any previous prime minster.
“I’ve never claimed to have a monopoly of wisdom, but one thing
I’ve learned in this job is you should always try to do the right
thing, not the easy thing,” he once said. His personal style,
“third way” approach and gift for communication impressed a
generation of politicians, among them Barack Obama who said,
“He has been an example for so many people around the world
of what dedicated leadership can accomplish.”
377
A policy of prudence
When Gordon Brown, the chancellor to Tony Blair’s
premiership, became Prime Minister, he faced the
daunting challenge of the 2008 financial crisis
o
Below
Gordon Brown with
U nlike his predecessor, Gordon Brown has rarely taken
to the world stage since leaving office, but when roused
into action – as he was during the 2014 referendum on Scottish
relationship, with Brown’s steady hand and self-imposed fiscal
rules providing an economic backbone for the Blair premiership.
“The British economy of the future must be built not on the
German Chancellor independence – he still resonates the qualities of sincerity shifting sands of boom and bust, but on the bedrock of prudent
Angela Merkel at the and resolve that he exhibited as a leading politician for two and wise economic management for the long term,” he argued.
Prime Minister’s official decades. In his Premiership, this was most apparent when he “It is only [with] these firm foundations that we can raise
country residence, was presented by the catastrophe of a global financial crash. Britain’s underlying economic performance.”
Chequers, in 2010 Brown’s response was swift and decisive. “We may have saved It is worth dwelling on those successes – sustained growth
the world from a second great depression,” he says. “I had an combined with low unemployment and low inflation – as this
o inner sense that, what mattered was not what I said about formed the basis of Brown’s political appeal. But Brown was
Opposite myself, but what our government could do for our country.” never content with being Britain’s most influential and powerful
Brown at the Labour The son of a Church of Scotland minister, Brown entered post-war chancellor. When Blair stood down in 2007, Brown was
Party Conference, parliament in 1983 as MP for Dunfermline East. He joined the elected leader of Labour and became Prime Minister. He toyed
Manchester, in 2008 shadow cabinet in 1985 and became shadow chancellor in 1992, with calling an early general election to cement his authority but
a role he continued when Tony Blair won the 1997 general any new policies – his “Manifesto For Change” – were rapidly
election. The duo established a prickly but productive overcome by world events following the financial crash, which
started in 2007 and extended into 2008.
Brown moved swiftly to bail out compromised financial
institutions and inject liquidity into the system, coordinating
a global approach to the situation. It was an impressive response
but Brown was unable to build on its foundations, nor reverse
public opinion on his personality. As chancellor, he had been
seen as serious and focussed, but now he was grouchy and
stubborn, lacking the natural charisma of Blair or his rival,
David Cameron, the leader of the revitalised Conservatives.
Allegations of bullying did not help. This scuppered his attempt
to pull together a coalition after the 2010 general election
resulted in a hung parliament. Brown had served fewer than
three years in the highest office.
He remained an MP until 2015, playing a significant role
in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, campaigning for
Scotland to remain part of the union. As well as working for the
World Economic Forum and UN, he created the Gordon And
Sarah Brown Foundation to support a variety of social concerns
based on the knowledge and experience he gained from 20 years
at the top of British politics. Anthony Seldon is one of those
who believes Brown’s reputation has grown since leaving office,
seeing him as “a man of deep intellect and passion whose
ambition and temperament often got the better of him, but
who served his country with honour and good judgement at
a time of grave national crisis”.
378
“The British economy of the future must

be built not on the shifting sands of boom
and bust, but on the bedrock of prudent
and wise economic management”
379
“Britain’s position needed to be

sorted and we needed a renegotiation
and a referendum – I believed then
that was the right approach”
380
Reform and referendum

After the coalition years, David Cameron won
the Conservatives their first outright majority since
1992. Quietly radical reforms followed
o
Opposite Prime Minister
David Cameron, 2016
W hen David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010 it
was as the head of a coalition between the Conservatives
and Liberal Democrats. This was a rare challenge in British
and we needed a renegotiation and a referendum – I believed
then that was the right approach.”
Cameron came from a wealthy upper-class background,
politics but one Cameron executed with impressive skill and educated at Eton and Oxford, to become Prime Minister at just
o tact. Personal charm was a major part of his success, and in 43, despite having been an MP for under a decade following a
Below Cameron with 2015 Cameron persuaded voters to hand the Conservatives career in public relations. In opposition, he presented an image
Chancellor George their first outright majority since 1992. As Prime Minister, of a more inclusive, environmentally friendly Conservative
Osborne in 2016, this charm masked a quietly radical administration that reduced party, while as PM – particularly after the coalition ended in
campaigning to stay the vast deficit caused by the financial crash of 2007–8 through 2015 – he balanced socially liberal policies with right-wing
in the EU aggressive cuts to public services. But Cameron’s career has been economics. He introduced radical reform to the welfare system
defined by his decision to hold a referendum on UK involvement in the form of Universal Credit, reorganised education, the
in the EU, which ultimately led to the UK leaving the European judicial system and the NHS, and slashed spending to arts,
Union. That result was not what Cameron intended but he local authorities, welfare, housing subsidies and social services.
maintained it was the right thing to do. “There isn’t a day that The deficit was reduced and unemployment fell, even if economic
goes by when I don’t think about all the decisions I made growth remained sluggish. Cameron also introduced gay
and all that has followed,” he said. “But when I go back to marriage, against the wishes of the majority of his own MPs,
that decision, that Britain’s position needed to be sorted promoted environmental policies and established the Fixed
Parliament Act, which created fixed terms of five years for
British elections. “The centre is still the right place to be –
a bold, radical, exciting place to be,” he said.
On a succession of issues, Cameron sought resolution
through referenda. The first two of these – on moderate changes
to the voting system and on Scottish independence – saw him
support the winning sides but then came Brexit. Cameron
believed it was essential to resolve the nature of the UK’s
involvement in the EU, something that for decades had been
a contentious issue within the Conservative party. Before the
2015 general election he promised to hold a referendum, to
shore up support for the Conservatives and ensure his party
won an outright majority.
The Brexit referendum followed in 2016, resulting in a
narrow victory for those who wanted the UK to leave the EU.
Cameron resigned, unwilling to execute a policy he did
not support (after leaving parliament he took a number of
contentious commercial and business roles, as well as becoming
president of Alzheimer’s Research UK). In his final speech as
Prime Minister, he left a message to those who followed him.
“The last thing I would say is that you can achieve a lot of things
in politics and get a lot of things done,” he said. “In the end,
public service and the national interest is what it is all about.
Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it.”
381
A house divided
Brought to power after the referendum result in June 2016,
Theresa May outlined her vision of what Brexit would look like,
despite facing opposition from both sides of the debate
o
Below
Theresa May became
I t’s debatable whether any Prime Minister since Winston
Churchill inherited a more difficult position than Theresa
May, who won an internal leadership election to become PM
She proved to be a tough and resourceful minister. Despite cuts
to the police budget, crime was reduced on her watch. She also
pledged to create a “hostile environment” for migrants,
party leader in 2016 in 2016 following David Cameron’s Brexit-induced resignation. undertaking a series of measures aimed at reducing immigration.
She came to power promising to fight the “burning injustices” Therefore May came to power with a reputation for
o of inequality while pledging to carry out the wishes of the competency and the right-wing credentials to appease
Opposite majority in the EU referendum. “Brexit means Brexit,” became Conservative members who were concerned she had not
The Brexit debate her mantra and she rapidly became drawn into the legal, fiscal campaigned in favour of Brexit. In the process, she became
dominated May’s tenure and political complexities and contradictions of leaving the Britain’s second female prime minister and the first woman to
as Prime Minister world’s second largest economy. hold two of the great offices of state. She immediately created
May was the daughter of a vicar who attended grammar the new role of Brexit Secretary and then handed key Brexit,
school in Oxfordshire before reading geography at Oxford. trade and foreign policy offices to Brexiteers. In a landmark
She worked at the Bank of England before becoming MP for speech in 2017, she outlined her vision of what Brexit would
Maidenhead in 1997. She became the first female Chairman ultimately look like – the so-called red lines that defined future
of the Conservative party in 2002 – famously arguing that the negotiations between the UK and the EU.
“nasty party” needed to change its approach to win voters – and May repeatedly pledged not to cause further disruption
was then appointed Home Secretary by David Cameron in 2010. by holding a General Election but was persuaded to go to the
country in 2017. However, controversial social care reforms
and a stronger than expected performance from Labour resulted
in a lost majority, with the Conservatives retaining power only
by brokering a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party in
Northern Ireland. This meant May’s administration was
perpetually engaged in parliamentary discord over Brexit as
she attempted to find a solution that appeased several opposing
factions. She ultimately struck a deal with the EU but was
defeated in the Commons in January 2019 by the largest majority
against a United Kingdom government in history. Several stinging
defeats followed, leading to May’s resignation that summer.
She returned to the backbenches, and was re-elected in the
December 2019 General Election.
Her time in office was short – just over three years – but
the deal she struck with the EU became the basis for the final
deal eventually passed through Parliament by her successor
Boris Johnson. As a backbencher, she remained vocal, speaking
out on a range of issues, retaining the gravitas that made her
such an impressive Home Secretary. “I will shortly leave the job
that it has been the honour of my life to hold,” she said upon
her departure. “The second female prime minister, but certainly
not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and
enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the
country I love.”
382
“May came to power with a reputation for

competency and the right-wing credentials
to appease Conservative members concerned
she had not campaigned in favour of Brexit”
383
384
AN INTERNATIONAL ICON
CHAPTER TWELVE
AN
INTERNATIONAL
ICON
385
The father of a nation

Perhaps the greatest man of his age, Nelson Mandela
was not only a noble and steadfast anti-apartheid activist,
but a man whose leadership of South Africa was shrewd,
pragmatic, inspirational and unblemished by corruption
F ive years on from Nelson Mandela’s release from prison,

and just a year since he had been elected President, South
Africa was still a fractured nation, riven by infighting among
its black factions, with many of the country’s white minority
resentful of their loss of supremacy. Poverty and crime were
running rampant. The 1995 Rugby World Cup, however, which
South Africa were hosting, afforded a unique opportunity to
bring the nation together.
Mandela, a freedom fighter turned politician and perhaps the
greatest man of his age, was wise enough to seize the moment.
He understood sports, and how they can speak to a nation’s soul.
He was a keen fan. On receiving an Australian delegate, his first
question to him was whether the legendary cricketer Donald
Bradman was still alive. In 1990, meanwhile, during a tour of the
United States in which A-list celebrities who had not been at the
forefront of the campaign for his release now vied for proximity
to him, a courteous but weary Mandela’s eyes finally lit up when
he was introduced to Muhammad Ali. “Champ!” he whispered.
Both had been prepared to lay down their lives for their beliefs.
Mandela himself was a keen boxer in his youth, if not exactly
the greatest – but the lessons he learned from boxing – the arts
of defence, of fleet footwork, of measuring your opponent
psychologically – would set him in good stead in politics.
o
Right
Nelson Mandela outside
Westminster on a visit
to London in 1962
o
Opposite
Mandela in 1996,
admiring the vineyards of
the Franschhoek Valley in
Western Cape Province
386
387
“He was born into the Thembu royal family in Mvvezo

and inherited a certain confident, regal air. When he
met The Queen he greeted her as an equal – they
addressed each other on first-name terms”
388
Mandela’s first shrewd move was to resist calls for the

South African team to drop their name Springboks. Rugby was
considered a white man’s sport, deeply loathed by many black
South Africans – one prisoner recalled being kicked around his
Robben Island cell by a warder sneering “Now we’re playing
rugby.” Mandela, however, arranged a meeting with South
African captain Francois Pienaar, which was a sort of melding
of spirits. Mandela read to him the poem “Invictus”, by William
Henley (“I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my
soul”), which had sustained him during captivity. Pienaar was
deeply moved, as so many were in the kind heat of Mandela’s
solar charm, which, as he showed time and again could melt
even the flintiest of white hearts. The team were inspired to
victory against New Zealand in the final, the mostly white crowd
chanting “Nelson! Nelson!” as Mandela presented Pienaar with
the trophy. It was a moment of unity from which South Africa
never looked back.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) sometimes described
himself as a “country boy”, with an affinity for the humble and
a sense of being an outsider in grand circles. However, he was
born into the Thembu royal family in Mvvezo and inherited a
certain confident, regal air. When he met Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II he greeted her as an equal – they addressed each
other on first-name terms.
Following his law studies, he joined the African National
Congress in 1943, his politics never set in stone. He was affiliated to
the Communist Party but would later repudiate it, was attracted by
the pacifism of Gandhi as a means of resistance but later accepted
the necessity of violence, quoting the proverb “The attacks of the
wild beast cannot be averted with only bare hands.” However, his The prison warders attempted to dominate, bully and belittle
numerous attempts at sedition and treason throughout the 1950s Mandela, make them their “boy”. But these were often poor,
only succeeded in landing him in court and jail – guerrilla warfare young, uneducated Afrikaners and Mandela soon found that he
was not his forte. was able to draw on both his invincible air of moral authority
In 1964, however, he impressed even his prosecutors with and his self-possession, as well as his regal ancestry, to resist
his moral strength and courage when, on trial for his life at them, even turn the tables. When a prison officer sought to hit
the Palace of Justice in Pretoria, his words resounded down him, Mandela said, “If you as much as lay a hand on me, I will
the years and across the world. “I have cherished the ideal of a take you to the highest court in the land. And when I finish with
democratic and free society in which all persons live together you, you will be as poor as a church mouse.” He saw that the
in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope officer was trembling. “Once you have rid yourself of the fear
to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which of the oppressor and his prisons, his police, his army,” Mandela
I am prepared to die.” said. “There is nothing they can do. You are liberated.”
Sentenced to 27 years in prison alongside numerous Over the years, Mandela and his colleagues won extended o
comrades, Mandela’s incarceration was cruel, unjust, prolonged, privileges and, though prison life was gruelling, they managed Opposite
robbed him of his best years and of his family life. And yet, they to regard the place as a campus, a place for Socratic dialogue and Mandela joins The Queen
were not wasted years. These were the years when, in absentia education, in which the young guards themselves were among for tea at Buckingham
from public life, the man, the myth, making them as one. the students. Over the decades, Mandela was fully conscious Palace in May 2000
Much as he valued sports, Mandela valued clothes. He was of the “myth” he was becoming, the symbolism of black South
no ascetic, like Gandhi. “Gandhi took off his clothes: Nelson African resistance accruing round him. Towards the end of o
loved his clothes,” said fellow activist Fatima Meer. But this his incarceration, his warders were more like his servants and Above
wasn’t simply vanity. He understood the moral effect, the dignity Mandela himself was living in quite luxurious surroundings, Mandela presents
engendered by clothes. Which was why one of the first protests receiving visitors, privately meeting National Party leaders PW Springboks captain
he successfully carried out was in jail was against the wearing Botha and his successor FW De Klerk. It was clearly a matter Francois Pienaar with the
of short trousers by prisoners, as if to make “boys” of them. of time before he was released. He was a global symbol not just Rugby World Cup trophy
They were men, he insisted, and should be attired as such. of anti-Apartheid resistance but the struggle against inequality after the 1995 final
389
of all kinds. When he was released in 1990, it felt like the “wind by the poorest of the poor. They often lose their common touch
of change” predicted by Harold Macmillan in the early 1960s was and turn against their own people.”
at last coming good 30 years on, not just with Mandela’s release His belief in human dignity, equality and international
but the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the imminent dissolution racial harmony, above and beyond nationalist militancy and
of the USSR, as well as Mrs Thatcher’s departure from office. political dogma, were not merely platitudinous but rigorously
(Coincidentally, the night before Mandela’s release, boxer Mike thought through, arrived at through extensive discussion and
Tyson, apparent symbol of invincibility, suffered his first loss. reflection. It was that process of reflection, rather than merely
Mandela would have been aware of this.) brooding, which preventing him from descending into bitterness.
Mandela’s release was greeted with global euphoria and He therefore was uniquely equipped to deal with his Afrikaner
over a billion people tuned in worldwide to watch his inevitable oppressors. He understood, and reminded them, that they too
inauguration as President in 1994. His presidency was not had been freedom fighters themselves, against the British – they
entirely effective – he did not handle the AIDS crisis engulfing had that in common. Such was his personal magnetism, coming
his nation especially well, or cure all of South Africa’s social from a place of deep sincerity and conviction that he won over
ills. Moreover, his successors in the African National Congress not just even the most bitterly racist of his captors, one of whom
would prove far lesser, more corruptible men than he. ended up wishing him and his people “the best of luck” when
Mandela’s own personal reputation and unifying moral they parted company, but also an Afrikaner bodyguard who
force, however, remain untarnished. His idealism was strangely vowed he would “take a bullet for him”.
pragmatic, extremely effective in the way that he handled people Although described as “saintly” even by Percy Yutar, the
– coercion by charm. He liked to tell the story of the wind and lawyer who prosecuted him in 1964, Mandela was, he told his
o the sun competing to strip a man of his clothes. The wind tried biographer Anthony Sampson “no angel”. He had a religious
Above but the man clutched them to himself ever more firmly. Finally, aura, but was not a deeply religious man, though he drew
Mandela with his old the sun shone on him and he took his clothes off. Mandela was from all of the world’s great faiths. Essentially, he was one
friend Muhammad Ali the sun. But his charm was no ploy. “The man and the mask of history’s greatest humanitarians. If Gandhi was a human
at a 2003 Global Youth were one,” said one commentator. symbol for peace, Mandela was a symbol of freedom. When
Summit in Dublin Mandela was no egotist. He refrained from using the he died in 2013, one of the most eloquent tributes came from
first person in speeches, and quoted the proverb that “a person a friend who belonged in a similar immortal, iconic realm
o is a person because of other people.” He was incorruptible, – Muhammad Ali. “He inspired others to reach for what
Opposite living a generally simple life even when residing in a mansion, appeared to be impossible and moved them to break through
Mandela addresses drinking very little, happier with corn on the cob than a the barriers that held them hostage mentally, physically,
a Boston crowd in banquet. These were characteristics sadly too rare in political socially and economically. What I will remember most about
June 1990, only four leaders. “The history of liberation heroes shows that when Mr Mandela is that he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit
months after his release they come into office they interact with powerful groups,” he could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic
from prison said. “They can easily forget that they have been put in power injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge.”
390
“What I will remember most about Mr Mandela is that

he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be
contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices,
metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge”
391
Strength in depth
“Mining is a very long-term investment.
Our actions will impact generations to come
and we want to be remembered for our
positive impact on our host communities”
Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Mines
P atience, it is often said, is a virtue. For Canadian mineral

exploration and mining company Ivanhoe Mines, however,
it’s not just an admirable asset, it’s a fundamental quality at
“Mining is a very long-term investment,” explains Ivanhoe
Mines’ Executive Chairman and founder Robert Friedland.
“We are aware that our actions will impact generations to come
the centre of the firm’s success. and we want to be remembered for our positive impact on the
In 1993, the company began its quest for major mineral livelihoods and economies of our host communities, countries
discoveries in and around Africa’s most productive mineral fields and Africa as a continent.”
– the famous Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa and the Kamoa-Kakula is on track to begin production in 2021 and,
prolific Central African Copper Belt in the Democratic Republic with planned phased expansions, is projected to become the
of Congo (DRC). Today, Ivanhoe Mines operates three principal, world’s second-largest copper mine. Friedland notes that few
joint-venture, world-class projects in Africa: the development copper projects anywhere in the world boast such credentials.
of the new Kakula Mine at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery “Excellent development progress is also being made at Platreef
in the DRC; the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-copper- and Kipushi,” he adds, “and both projects are advancing
gold-rhodium discovery in South Africa; and the extensive positively along the path to production.”
redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc- Underpinning each project is the principle of Ubuntu – a term
copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC. popularised in post-apartheid Africa by Archbishop Desmond
392
Tutu – which focuses on, and enhances, the collective, or as he explains. “They are expected to generate sustainable long-
Friedland has it: “Humanity to others and a spirit of togetherness.” term benefits that will be shared with the host countries and
“Our approach to each of our projects is based on three communities where we operate.”
main pillars,” he explains. “Firstly, a strong resource foundation; Indeed, Friedland believes that we’re currently witnessing
secondly, well-functioning internal business operations; and, a paradigm shift that takes us beyond the cusp of a fourth
finally, strong corporate governance. Our people are our most industrial revolution. Gone, he says, are the days of manual
prized assets, and their skills and experience provide us with a labour and of workers toiling underground in cramped,
strong resource foundation to develop our world-class projects dark chambers to retrieve minerals by hand. “We will be
and maximise shareholder value.” participants in this new era of mechanisation, incorporating
To that end, and testament to the company’s belief that it’s large-scale, highly productive, mechanised underground
only just started on its transformation from a mineral explorer mining operations in all our projects,” he says. “Our mines
to a leading metals producer, Friedland says Ivanhoe Mines is will be air-conditioned, highly automated operations that
committed to building modern, safe, mechanised mines that will prioritise safety and employ a new generation of highly
will employ highly skilled, high-performing employees. “We will skilled women and men operating computerised equipment.
continue to strive toward building the world’s best new mines,” The remarkable thickness and relatively flat-lying nature of
393
394
“Our relationships with

communities can be built
in a long-lasting way as
they become entrepreneurs
themselves and create
spin-off employment”
our underground orebodies allows us to use the latest, most He adds that the demand for platinum-group metals is
advanced, bulk-scale mining technologies.” projected to benefit from stricter global emission standards,
Ivanhoe Mines works in areas where high unemployment and continued growth and industrialisation of emerging markets
challenging living conditions are commonplace. Friedland says and developing “green” technologies. Additionally, significant
the company has worked hard to form partnerships that can growth in global zinc consumption is expected, driven primarily
secure the delivery of long-term sustainability and economic by growth in China, which is projected to account for more than
benefits to the people living within its projects’ host communities. half of global demand by 2025.
“Our continued success requires cooperation with local All of this is rooted in a culture of persistence and fortitude.
communities, local governments, national governments and Ivanhoe Mines acquired its exploration permits at Kamoa
non-governmental organisations,” he notes. “In addition, our in 2003, launching its exploration effort the following year.
community enhancement initiatives, and our stakeholder To advance its exploration prospects, Ivanhoe Mines undertook
agreements with our host communities, local entrepreneurs a state-of-the-art, high-resolution geophysical survey in the
and employees, help to ensure that the social and economic DRC’s Katanga province in 2004 and 2005, which led to the
benefits from our discoveries are widely shared.” identification of significant new exploration targets.
In reality this means helping to improve the livelihoods In 2010, it made its world-class underground Flatreef
of the local communities by providing the tools that empower Discovery on its Platreef Project in South Africa, following
them to fulfil their potential, such as skills transfer programmes several years of extensive geological research, geophysical
and on-the-job training. surveys and deeper drilling, targeting thick, high-grade
“We believe our relationships with the communities can be underground resources. The discovery was a major advance
built in a long-lasting way through these investments as they, on its previous success with shallower exploration drilling,
in turn, become entrepreneurs themselves and create spin-off which it had begun in 2000.
employment,” says Friedland. Unsurprisingly, Friedland attributes much of Ivanhoe
As for the minerals that Ivanhoe will mine, Friedland Mines’ achievements to its patience. “Our progress over the
explains that the focus is on producing ethically sourced years,” he concludes, “has cemented our belief in Southern
minerals that are vital in sustaining our increasingly urbanised Africa’s potential to yield results for those who persevere and
world. Copper, nickel, platinum, palladium and rhodium are nurture a culture of exploration.” Sometimes, success really
all essential for the new era of electric and hydrogen-fuel-cell does come down to staying power.
vehicles, wind power, solar power and grid-storage batteries. www.ivanhoemines.com
395
396
APPENDICES
397
British Prime Ministers 1721–2021

Sir Robert Walpole 1721–42 William Ewart Gladstone 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, 1892–94
Spencer Compton, earl of Wilmington 1742–3 Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury 1885–6, 1886–92,
Henry Pelham 1743–54 1895–1902
Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle 1754–56, 1757–62 Archibald Primrose, earl of Rosebery, 1894–95
William Cavendish, duke of Devonshire 1756–57 Arthur James Balfour 1902–05
John Stuart, earl of Bute 1762–63 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1905–08
George Grenville 1763–65 Herbert Asquith 1908–16
Charles Watson Wentworth, marquess of Rockingham David Lloyd George 1916–22
1765–66, 1782 Andrew Bonar Law 1922–23
William Pitt the Elder 1766–67 Stanley Baldwin 1923–24, 1924–29, 1935–37
Augustus FitzRoy, duke of Grafton 1768–70 James Ramsay MacDonald 1924, 1929–35
Frederick North, Lord North 1770–82 Neville Chamberlain 1937–40
William Petty, earl of Shelburne 1782–83 Winston Churchill 1940–45, 1951–55
William Cavendish-Bentinck, duke of Portland 1783, 1807–09 Clement Attlee 1945–51
William Pitt the Younger 1783–1801, 1804–05 Sir Anthony Eden 1955–57
Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth 1801–04 Harold Macmillan 1957–63
William Grenville, Baron Grenville 1806–07 Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963–64
Spencer Perceval 1809–12 Harold Wilson 1964–70, 1974–76
Robert Jenkinson, earl of Liverpool 1812–27 Edward Heath 1970–74
George Canning 1827 James Callaghan 1976–79
Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich 1827–28 Margaret Thatcher 1979–90
Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington 1828–30 John Major 1990–97
Charles Grey, Earl Grey 1830–34 Tony Blair 1997–2007
William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne 1834, 1835–41 Gordon Brown 2007–10
Sir Robert Peel 1834–35, 1841–46 David Cameron 2010–16
John Russell, Lord John Russell (Earl Russell after 1861) Theresa May 2016–19
1846–52, 1865–66 Boris Johnson 2019–present
Edward Smith-Stanley, earl of Derby 1852, 1858–59, 1866–68
George Hamilton-Gordon, earl of Aberdeen 1852–55
Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston 1855–58, 1859–65
Benjamin Disraeli 1868, 1874–80
398
APPENDICES
Contributors
Caspar Bienek studied at the Graduate Institute of Donal Lowry is a Senior Member of Regent’s Park Max Skjönsberg is the author of The Persistence
International and Development Studies (Switzerland) College at the University of Oxford and a historian of Party: Ideas of Harmonious Discord in Eighteenth-
and Keele University (UK). His doctoral thesis of the Commonwealth, southern Africa and Century Britain (2021) and the winner of the
examined the policy making and diplomacy of Ireland’s relationship with the British Empire. Parliamentary History Essay Prize for 2020.
the UK towards the Single European Act.
Helen Parr teaches international relations at Andrew Thrush is Editor of the Elizabethan House
Robin Eagles is Editor of the House of Lords Keele University; and is author of the acclaimed of Lords section at the History of Parliament. He
1715–90 section at the History of Parliament Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper (2018). previously co-edited the volumes on the Commons
and writes on British history in the 17th and 1604–29, and has recently edited the accompanying
18th centuries. Emma Peplow is Head of Development at the Lords volumes.
History of Parliament Trust. She is responsible for
Stuart Handley has worked on 17th and 18th the History’s Oral History Project, interviewing Richard Toye is Professor of Modern History at
century British history for almost 40 years, the former MPs about their time in parliament, and the University of Exeter. He is the author of many
majority of that time for the History of Parliament publishes on the project. books, including Lloyd George and Churchill:
and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Rivals for Greatness (2007) and Winston Churchill:
Simon Peplow is a Senior Teaching Fellow in A Life in the News (2020).
David Howell is Emeritus Professor of Politics at 20th Century British History at the University of
the University of York. His publications include Warwick. His research interests concentrate on
MacDonald’s Party: Labour Identities and Crisis modern Britain, particularly focussing on Black
1922–1931 (2010), and Mosley and British Politics British political participation and engagement.
1918–32: Oswald’s Odyssey (2015).
Stephen K Roberts is Director Emeritus of the
Dominic Ingram currently works for the College of History of Parliament Trust.
Arms and is a freelance researcher for the History
of Parliament Trust. His Oxford DPhil was on the Philip Salmon is Editor of the 1832–1945 section at
country estates of 18th-century military officers. the History of Parliament and a research associate
at Keble College, Oxford. He is the author of
Charles Littleton is a Senior Research Officer in Electoral Reform at Work (2002).
the House of Lords 1660–1832 section of the History
of Parliament, for which he has written extensively Paul Seaward is Director of the History of
on the peerage and Parliament under Queen Anne. Parliament Trust.
399
Acknowledgements
T he editors are very grateful for the help of the contributors
and colleagues in the Parliamentary Art Collection in
sourcing and providing images for this book.
the History of Parliament is generally regarded as one of the
most ambitious, authoritative and well-researched projects
in British history. It consists of detailed studies of elections
and electoral politics in each constituency, and of closely
The Parliamentary Art Collection is owned jointly by the researched accounts of the lives of everyone who was elected
House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is the national to parliament in the period, together with surveys drawing
collection illustrating the history of parliament and British out the themes and discoveries of the research and adding
politics over the centuries. The Speaker’s Advisory Committee information on the operation of parliament as an institution.
on Works of Art and House of Lords Works of Art Panel pursue For more information about the History of Parliament,
active acquisition policies ensuring the Collection continues and to access over 20,000 articles on parliamentarians and
to reflect Parliament and its work. To find out more about the constituencies, visit www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
Collection, visit www.heritagecollections.parliament.uk
The History of Parliament is a research project creating a

comprehensive account of parliamentary politics in England,
then Britain, from their origins in the 13th century.
Unparalleled in the comprehensiveness of its treatment,
400
APPENDICES
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402
APPENDICES
Index
Atterbury, Francis 39 Ministry of Defence 188
Attlee, Clement 141 Ministry of Housing, Communities
Attorney General’s Office 170 and Local Government 180
Blair, Tony 156, 376 Ministry of Justice 168
Brown, Gordon 378 Montagu, Charles, 1st earl of Halifax 32
Cabinet Office 172 Nelson Mandela 386
Cecil, Robert, 3rd marquess of Salisbury 120 North, Frederick, Lord North 69
Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley 17 Northern Ireland Office 174
Churchill, John, 1st duke of Marlborough 40 Osborne, Thomas, 1st earl of Danby 28
Churchill, Winston 136 Peel, Sir Robert 93
Coke, Sir Edward 18 Pelham, Henry 61
Cooper, Anthony Ashley, Pitt the Elder, William 63
1st earl of Shaftesbury 31 Pitt the Younger, William 72
COP26 194 Pym, John 22
Cromwell, Oliver 25 Scotland Office 176
David Cameron 380 Smith-Stanley, Edward, 14th earl of Derby 96
Department for Business, Enterprise Spencer, Robert, 2nd earl of Sunderland 32
and Industrial Strategy 322 St John, Henry, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke 36
Department for Digital, Culture, Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 103
Media and Sport 272 Temple, Richard, 1st Viscount Cobham 59
Department for Education 244 Thatcher, Margaret 151
Department for Environment, Food Villiers, George, 1st duke of Buckingham 21
and Rural Affairs 282 Wales Office 178
Department of Health and Social Care 198 Walpole, Sir Robert 52
Department for International Trade 192 Watson-Wentworth, Charles,
Department for Transport 182 2nd marquess of Rockingham 66
Department for Work and Pensions 368 Wellesley, Arthur, 1st duke of Wellington 84
Disraeli, Benjamin 107 Wilson, Harold 144
Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office 186
Fox, Charles James 71
Gladstone, William Ewart 110
Godolphin, Sidney, 1st earl of Godolphin 43
Grenville, George 64
Grey, Charles, 2nd earl Grey 90
Hamilton-Gordon, George, 14th earl
of Aberdeen 100
Harley, Robert, Earl of Oxford 44
Heath, Edward 144
Her Majesty’s Treasury 306
Home Office 162
Hyde, Edward, 1st earl of Clarendon 27
Jenkinson, Robert, 2nd earl of Liverpool 81
Junto, The 35
Lloyd George, David 126
MacDonald, Ramsay 132
Macmillan, Harold 144
Major, John 144, 374
May, Theresa 382
403
Sponsors index
Actual Experience 344 Eurofins 290 Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital 223
Add Energy Asset and Integrity Management 350 EUSA Pharma 232 Lonza 230
AquaSource 301
Autodesk 352 Fable & Mane 366 MarketAxess 314
Avensis 358 Fiction Express 250 Medical Research Network 229
Fig Tree International 264 Mental Health First Aid England 214
Bank Brokers 319 Future Care Capital 213 Midatech Pharma 231
Bellrock Property & Facilities Milton Keynes University Hospital 222
Management Ltd 338 Genesis Energy Holding 324 Mindsets 257
Bit.bio 200 GMP Healthcare 216 Minesoft 332
BiVictriX 233 Graham Shapiro Design 274 Molson Coors 295
Bluebeam 361 Granted Consultancy 351 My Online Schooling 260
Bright Horizons 240 Great Point Media 365
British International School of Zagreb 256 Green Ocean Seaweed Farming 296 Neil Ward & Associates 371
Brooknight Security 190 Green Saffron Spices 302 NeuralRays AI 334
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses 292 GyroGear 238 Nexus 316
NHS London Procurement Partnership 210
C3 Post Trade 356 Happence 220 NSF Foods Ltd 300
Carless + Adams 239 Haygrove 288
Celltrion Healthcare 227 Hive Composites Ltd 342 Omega Ingredients 298
Chuckling Goat 204, 284 Hybrid Theory Global 276 Optiva Securities 318
Clasado Biosciences 241 Oxford Centre for Religion and
Confederation of Roofing Contractors 364 IceMOS 346 Public Life, The 271
CREATE Education 258 Ingredient Solutions Ltd 297
Invest Durban 320 Pancryos 226
De La Tierra 293 Ipsen 215 Panoptic Consultancy Group 328
Digital Realty 348 IQBar 265 Price Forbes & Partners 330
Distell Group 299 Ivanhoe Mines 392 Punter Southall Aspire 370
Do Company, The 360
JG Educate 266 RapidAI 225
e-Learning Network, The 269 Rethink Mental Illness 212
Educational App Store 270 King’s High, Warwick 252 Revizto 357
Electricity North West 354
Electrocomponents 362 Learning Nuggets Company Limited, The 275 Sectra 234
Empowerment IP 337 Learning with Experts 268 Seedful 303
404
APPENDICES
SimplyPayMe 343
SmileDirectClub 237
SNOMED CT 228
Soul Clinic International School 262
South Wales Police 164
Sri Emas & Dwi Emas International Schools 254
St Pierre Groupe 294
Studiosity 267
Syneos Health 224
Tangerine 277
TPP 208
TPXimpact 166
Trust Payments 308
Tshwane University of Technology 246
U-Earth 235
UCL EDUCATE 259
Ultimotive 359
University Hospitals Coventry
& Warwickshire NHS Trust 218
University of Bedfordshire Business School 253
UpSkill Digital 278
Veryan Medical 236

Visium Investment Management 312
VotesforSchools 261
VST Enterprises 340
Wellington Management 321
XP 49 336
405
300 YEARS OF
LEADERSHIP
& INNOVATION
VOLUME 2
300 YEARS OF
LEADERSHIP
& INNOVATION
VOLUME 2
© 2021 SJH Group

© 2021 SJH Group Limited
This book is published by Regalpress Limited t/a St James’s

House – an imprint within the SJH Group. Copyright is owned
by the SJH Group. All rights reserved. Neither this publication
nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
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the prior permission of the SJH Group or the appropriately
accredited copyright holder.
Printed in the UK by Kingsbury Press. This paper has been

independently certified according to the standards of the
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC)®.
ISBN: 978-1-906670-89-4
A catalogue record of this publication is available from the

British Library.
This publication includes sponsor content that has been paid

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Any readers wishing to use the products, services or facilities
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all reasonable efforts to trace the copyright owners of the
images reproduced herein, and to provide an appropriate
acknowledgement in the book.
Foreword
S ome people actively seek to be leaders, and achieve it through will power,
self-belief or election. Others have leadership thrust upon them – they are
born into a position of power that they must take up as a duty. When King
Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, it set off an unprecedented series of events
that culminated in 1952 when a 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth became the
sovereign of the United Kingdom and head of a Commonwealth of nearly
a billion people.
She was one of the youngest monarchs since the Restoration to accede to
the throne – only Victoria and George III were younger – so one can imagine
how daunting the role must have been to her. But she has proved to be a
formidable, dutiful and quietly thoughtful leader who has become the
longest-serving British sovereign in history.
No one can doubt that Her Majesty has made a major contribution to her
country, its cultural and business interests, and indeed to the Commonwealth
as a whole. Her leadership is one of quiet authority – inscrutable, magisterial,
tirelessly neutral – and the 14 prime ministers who have served her have
all grown to appreciate her counsel and the lifetime of wisdom she has at
her disposal.
Her son and heir, The Prince of Wales, has practised a different form
of leadership. He has been a more outspoken campaigner than his mother,
frequently addressing issues such as religious tolerance, community cohesion,
environmentalism, climate change and housing. But his quiet campaigning
has never been divisive and endeavours to stay above the political fray – the
prince is a man who tries to build a consensus and unify rather than divide.
This handsome volume pays tribute both to Her Majesty The Queen and
to The Prince of Wales: two global figures who have proved to be worthy
and dutiful leaders.
Robert Jobson
Royal biographer
Contents
Chapter one Putting society on the screen 48 Thinking inside the box 70
OUR SOVEREIGN LEADER British Film Institute CarnaudMetalBox Engineering
Our Head of State 12 Distributing technology 49 Innovating for cleaner energy 71

The Queen and country Exertis UK Cokebusters Ltd
On the world stage 22 High-end head hunting 50 Secure by design 72

Her Majesty’s global status Kynigos Partners Eskan
Out in the open 32 The science of big data 51 Provenance with passion 73
SUSE Profusion Direct Meats
Leading by example 34 An innovative education 52 The best in show business 74

Tina Beattie Integral Studies Academy Ignition
Inventing the future of marketing 36 Club together 53 Safe surveillance 75

Code Worldwide The Joy Club Silent Sentinel
Investing in women 38 The law of leadership 54 Regulatory reporting made easy 76

Voulez Capital Cleveland & Co Kaizen Reporting
The art of advice 40 Payment with heart 55 Chapter three

Ella Thuiner Consulting KogoPAY QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Accountable leadership 41 An asset to the community 56 The Queen’s speech 80

Michelle Owen Longley Asset Management The State Opening of Parliament
The power of change 42 Alternative therapy 57 Crown and government 96

Rebecca Frost Alternative Health Enduring ties that bind
Authentic leadership 43 Chapter two Home advantage 108

Lisa Sewell PATRONAGE AND SUPPORT Home Instead Senior Care
The people person 44 Devoted service 60 Getting your goat 112

Irene Perdomo Championing the best of British Chuckling Goat
Solving problems through tech 45 Informative technology 66 A working solution 116

Sharon Prior Informed Solutions NOCN
Right from the start-up 46 Healthy statistics 68 Live life like a king 118
Unleashed Phastar Archaeological Paths
Financial empowerment for all 47 Treating you right 69 A gold standard in training 120
Global Processing Services Oxford Biodynamics Plc City & Guilds
Contents
Sustainable finance 121 Warranted concerns 136 Chapter five

Redsand Ventures iWarranty A SENSE OF DUTY
Brands of the future 122 Capital to heal the world 137 The philanthropist prince 170
Emerge Alta Semper Capital Service and support
Virtually improved training 123 The tiger that roared 138 Educating the world
Immerse Tiger Law out of poverty 176
Child Action Charity
An evolution in analysis 124 Trailer made 139
Truver Gray & Adams Equal opportunities 178
The Aldridge Foundation
A legacy of tastemaking 125 In the line of hire 140
Colnaghi Cleeve Partnership Bridge to the past 179
Rochester Bridge Trust
Breaking down barriers 126 Rewriting the rules 141
Saphira Group Stephenson Law The Skai’s the limit 180
Alakai Technologies
Investing for impact 127 Chapter four
Impetus THE MAKING OF A PRINCE Learned suppliers 184
Findel Education
Transparent innovation 128 Charles’s crowning moment 144
VoxSmart Prince Charles’s investiture A valuable vision 186
Virgin Money
Streets ahead 129 Man of action 150
Streets Consulting The prince’s military service Growing up in the world
of farming 188
The genes genies 130 A name to trust 158 Vertical Future Ltd
REVIV Chartered Insurance Institute
The home of industrial ideas 190
High-impact headhunting 131 Committed to change 160 Atlas Copco Tools and Industrial
Cobalt Partners Ahava Group Global Assembly Solutions
Intelligent conversation 132 Quality in the stars 162 Future-ready leadership 192
Springbok AI RDB Star Rating WSP
Championing small business 133 Ship shape for the future 164 Gleeds united 194
Farillio The Royal Institution of Naval Architects Gleeds
Picture this 134 Steering students to success 165 Making connections 196
Public Offerings Ltd Give A Grad A Go Advantech Europe
Branded contentment 135 Bridging the gap 166 The spirit of independence 198
OrangeDoor Metrail Construction Limited Best Western GB
Maintaining value
for money 200
NSR Management
Investing in our children 202

8billionideas
Nourish and nurture 204

Orean Personal Care
Life-saving intelligence 205

Safety Shield Global
Opening doors for

sustainability 206
Crystal Doors
Growing our tomorrow 208

APP
Quality and provenance 210

Mercanta
Road wise 212

Trucknet Enterprise
Going electric 213

Ethos Asset Finance
Building a
better tomorrow 214
BAT
The money movers 216

Worldline
Creating a beautiful world 217

Rare Chemistry
State of the kart 218

Blair Project
Talent to BURN 219

BURN
Contents
Chapter six Driving heavy-duty change 250 Farm from the madding crowd 274
THE VOICE OF SUSTAINABILITY Dolphin N2 Elevate Farms
Advocate for a better future 222 Sustainable industrialisation 251 Making healthy food affordable 276
Charles the environmental pioneer Ladol City Farm Systems
Living our purpose 228 The power behind the power 252 Clear and simple solutions 278
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Westinghouse Springfields Staeger Clear Packaging Limited
Going bananas for green tech 230 Wiping the world clean 254 Roll out the barrel 280
LyteGro Pura The Greater Good Fresh Brewing Co
A powerful prospect 232 The only way is ethics 256 Empowering food sustainability 281
Infinity Fuel Cell Technology My Green Pod IntelliDigest
Better data to help nature 233 The bottle to combat Revolutionising the battery 282
NatureMetrics plastic pollution 258 Ultimate Battery Company
Ocean Bottle
Growing a plant-based generation 234 He has the power 283
Meatless Farm Saving the planet, Danecca
saving money 260
Turning waste into fuel 236 SaveMoneyCutCarbon Making palm oil sustainable 284
Ever Resource Sime Darby Plantation
The new age of plastic 262
Powering ahead 238 Enviroo Love sprouts eternal 286
Bitrode Sprout World
The expert exchange 264
Carbon-neutral cartons 240 Witney Futures Group Track and field 288
Elopak Glas Data
Brand renew world 265
Powered by lightning 242 Planet-U Energy Fashionably progressive 290
Lightning eMotors Evrnu
Nuts for data 266
Battery power 243 Ocean Almond Circular motion 292
Battery Solutions Sustana
Searching for electric
The bold builder 244 engine optimisation 268 Clean energy, contained 294
Larkfleet Group YASA Ltd Highview Power
Bringing sustainability to the masses 246 Ground control 270 A super harvest 296
Rio ESG Halo Coffee CH4 Global
Metal recycles forever 248 Harvest for the world 272 Taking charge of our impact 298
Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association Solar Foods Zenergi
Emission possible 300 Lancashire hot spot 340 State of Fluxx 370
GA R&D Booths Fluxx
Cold comfort 302 Japan’s gentle giant of electricity 342 Shaping the status quo 372
Aerofoil Energy Limited Mitsubishi Electric Kantar Public
The fabric of life 303 Sonic boom 344 The cream of the creps 374
Beyond Surface Technologies PHMG Crep Protect
Race to the top 304 Innovative consultation 346 Partnering with care 376
E1 World Electric Powerboat Series Protiviti Dynamis
Dyeing on their feet 306 Fit for purpose 348 The loan arranger 378
Alchemie Technology Total Fitness Sun Finance
Packed with new ideas 308 Every book matters 350 North star 380
Robinson plc Bonnier Books UK KCOM
Re-evaluating food waste 310 A growing concern 352 Mobilising a generation 382
Green Eco Technologies Bridge Farm Group World Wide Generation
Chapter seven The advocates of impact investing 354 Free radicals 384
PRESENT AND FUTURE LEADERSHIP Caygan Capital Cambridge Consultants
Commonwealth champion 314 For the love of coffee 356 Investments with purpose 386
A family of nations united in leadership Nespresso ETF Partners
A king in waiting 320 Net benefits for the world 358 Family fortunes 387
Royal responsibilities BuffaloGrid United Wholesale Grocers

A legacy of leadership 324 An enduring impact 360 Managing risk
Prince William’s growing role Nuveen with responsibility 388
Ario Advisory
Engineered for life 330 Securing tomorrow 362
Bosch Sarasin & Partners APPENDICES
Credit with compassion 334 Meet the sustainable business pioneers 364 Acknowledgements 392
Mastercard One Stone Advisors
About the publisher 393
Ahead of the pack 336 Climate science in action 366
Vodafone UK Cervest Credits 394
The prudent innovators 338 Adapting through forensic innovation 368 Sponsors index 395
Robeco DAC Beachcroft
10
OUR SOVEREIGN LEADER
CHAPTER ONE
OUR
SOVEREIGN
LEADER
11
12
Our Head of State

The Queen has carried out nearly 70 years of
unerring and devotional duty to Britain and
the Commonwealth, reigning as a monarch
like no other. Words by Robert Jobson
O ur Queen, Elizabeth II, has reigned longer than any other

monarch in British history. Next year, on 6 February 2022,
the nation will come together again to celebrate another great
milestone of her reign – her 70 glorious years on the throne.
As head of state of the United Kingdom since her ascension
in 1952, Her Majesty has been a symbol of continuity and a
unifying national figurehead. When she speaks in public she
speaks for the entire nation, without fear, favour or political bias.
Strictly speaking, a monarch is a single ruler of a state with
supreme authority. Over time, however, with the emergence of
representative democracy our monarch’s role in our political
system, and that of the 15 Commonwealth realms she reigns
over, has evolved. Today, in Britain we have a constitutional
monarchy and parliamentary democracy where essentially
the monarch’s role is to “be” not to “do”.
Unlike her predecessors from history, Elizabeth II does not
hold real power. However, as The Queen she still plays an important
part in the life of the nation and has a great influence. She meets
with her incumbent prime minister once a week and carries out
significant ceremonial and diplomatic duties. Whereas the kings
o
Opposite
Portrait by Patrick
Lichfield for The Queen’s
Golden Jubilee in 2002
o
Left
Queen Elizabeth II and
Prince Philip on the
balcony of Buckingham
Palace after her
Coronation in 1953, with
(front) Prince Charles
and Princess Anne
13
the Act of Settlement of 1702, a law designed to secure the

Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the
guarantees for ensuring a parliamentary system of government.
If it so chooses, Parliament can remove her or those who come
after her and pick a successor. Although it is tradition with
a hereditary monarchy like ours that a deceased monarch will
be succeeded by her eldest son or daughter, now the rules on
primogeniture have been changed, it is not the law.
Her Majesty has a less formal role as “Head of Nation”,
which means he or she acts as a focus for national identity, unity
and pride, and thus helps to provide a sense of continuity in the
country. When The Queen made a televised address during the
Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020, watched by 24 million, she was
widely praised for trying to reassure those who were suffering
and for unifying the country. In only the fifth time in her long
reign that she has given such a speech, she thanked people for
following government lockdown rules to stay at home and
praised those “coming together to help others”.
Our Queen, born at 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair on 21 April
1926, is renowned worldwide for her devotion to duty. Since her
ascension at the age of 26 she has been an important figurehead
for Britain and the Commonwealth, the voluntary association of
53 independent countries, almost all formerly under British rule,
o and queens of ancient royal dynasties, such as the Normans, of which she is also head. As a little girl, the then Princess
Above Plantagenets and Tudors, were often powerful, ruthless rulers Elizabeth did not expect that she would one day become
The Coronation ceremony in charge of great armies, that power now rests with the elected monarch and it was only when her uncle, King Edward VIII,
in Westminster Abbey prime minister and his Cabinet ministers. Parliament not abdicated on 10 December 1936 so he could marry the twice-
on 2 June 1953 monarchy represents the supreme authority of the nation. divorced American Wallis Simpson, that reality dawned on her.
For more than 700 years, parliamentarians have gradually Once the outgoing king agreed he and any children he might
and deliberately reduced the powers of absolute monarchs. have were excluded from the succession to the throne, and his
Charles I’s determination to preserve that “divine right of kings” younger brother, Elizabeth’s father Prince Albert, Duke of York
lead to the English civil war, the emergence of Oliver Cromwell was to become King George VI, it meant the princess was the
as Lord Protector and cost the unshakeable Stuart King his direct heir, known as heir presumptive. The primogeniture laws
throne – and his head. When his second son, James II, a devout still existed then, but unless the king and the queen consort had
Roman Catholic, was forced to abandon his throne and flee a male heir then Elizabeth would be the next monarch.
the country in 1688, it led to the “Bill of Rights”, which proved After her father died in his sleep while at Sandringham,
fundamental to the evolution of constitutional monarchy. Norfolk, Princess Elizabeth acceded to the throne, becoming
Although James’s protestant daughter, Queen Mary II, was the Queen Elizabeth II while she was in Kenya with her husband at
head of state, her power and that of the monarchs that followed, the start of a major royal tour. The following year on 2 June 1953
including Elizabeth II, had become eroded. The role they the Coronation took place. The event, televised for the first time,
perform is a more subtle form of leadership and diplomacy. meant millions around the Commonwealth could share the
Elizabeth II reigns not by the “Grace of God” as her full moment too. Her Majesty had to learn the complexities of the
titles say, but by the will of Parliament and in accordance with role of monarch while on the job. In early 1953, the influential
14
o
Left
A young Queen is
conveyed in a state
carriage, accompanied
by Prince Philip, April 1952
15
16
Time magazine anticipated the excitement by naming Queen

Elizabeth as “The personality who best expressed the world’s
new sense of hope for the future”. The editorial went further,
claiming the fascination with the Coronation ceremony as proof
of a general resurgence of public belief in the ancient power of
monarchs “to represent, express and effect the aspirations of the
collective sub-conscious”. The New York Times went on to claim
the act of crowning was a symbol of the civilisation that would
protect the world from the barbarians of “another dark age”.
This is one of the most explicit statements on the meaning of the
Coronation in the post-war period, but it was widely echoed in
newspapers around the world.
That evening the newly crowned Queen made a broadcast,
reflecting on the events of the day, thanking the public for their
support and promising to serve the nation: “Throughout this
memorable day I have been uplifted and sustained by the
knowledge that your thoughts and prayers were with me …
As this day draws to its close, I know that my abiding memory
of it will be, not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony,
but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection. I thank you
all from a full heart. God bless you all.”
In November 1953 The Queen and Prince Philip set off o
on their Commonwealth tour, with a work schedule that was Opposite
relentless. Not only did they have to leave their young children, Her Majesty is welcomed
Charles and Anne, behind, but from that moment on they were during a visit to Fiji
on public display as they visited 13 countries, from the West in 1953
Indies to Australasia, Asia and Africa, travelling a distance of
43,618 miles, including 10,000 miles by plane, 2,000 miles by car, o
2,500 by rail and the rest by sea, most of it on board the Royal Above
Yacht SS Gothic. The final leg was on the newly commissioned The royals at Balmoral
Royal Yacht Britannia. It would have taken its toll on a seasoned Castle in 1960 with a
professional, let alone a new queen and her consort. It had been baby Prince Andrew
17
o o
Below Right
Crowds gather on A Diamond Jubilee street
The Mall to celebrate party in London in 2012
The Queen’s Golden to mark the monarch’s
Jubilee in 2002 60-year reign
the longest ever royal tour, lasting a marathon six months, a tour spend a lot more time with their younger children, Andrew and
that would cement Her Majesty’s position as symbolic leader of Edward, than they had with both Charles and Anne at the outset
much of what was then known as the free world. Welcoming her of her reign. With the large gap in age between her older two
home, the great orator and statesman Sir Winston Churchill – and younger two children it was almost as if they had a new
her first Prime Minister – even outdid himself, saying with pride, young family.
“I assign no limits to the reinforcement which this royal journey The Queen’s long time on the throne has been punctuated
may have brought to the health, the wisdom, the sanity and the by an unprecedented series of milestones. She has now
hopefulness of mankind.” celebrated her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Sapphire Jubilees
On 1 August 1959, a decade after the birth of their daughter, and her birthdays have also provided a cause for national
Princess Anne, Elizabeth and Philip issued a statement that they celebration, helping to reconnect the Sovereign and her people.
were expecting their third child. The birth of the baby, Prince Her state visits to China, Russia, South Africa and a newly
Andrew, would be historic too, as it would be the first born to united Germany have been ground-breaking, but it is perhaps
a reigning monarch since 1857 when Queen Victoria delivered her visit closest to home, to the Republic of Ireland in 2011
her youngest child, Princess Beatrice. When their fourth child, that was one of her greatest legacies – she was the first British
Edward, was born in 1964 Philip became the first royal father in monarch to do so in 100 years. Her 1977 Silver Jubilee
modern history to be present for the birth of his child. Typically, walkabouts and the cheerful street parties are forever etched
he lightened the mood in the delivery room (a bathroom at in people’s memories. The events of 2002 for her Golden Jubilee
Buckingham Palace) saying, “Only a week ago, General de Gaulle were even more significant, marked by a summer of celebrations,
was having a bath in this room.” The Queen was thrilled to be a with the highpoint a long weekend of festivities in early June.
mother again. “What fun it is to have a baby in the house again,” During a lunch at Guildhall, London, on 4 June 2002, The Queen
she is reported to have said. Philip and Elizabeth were able to made a speech in which she thanked the nation for the support
18
“I hope that these celebrations will remind

us of our shared heritage and what it means
to be a united people”
19
“Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones; my

own is no exception. But I thank you all … at home and
overseas, for your touching messages of great kindness”
20
throughout her reign. She said: “I hope that these celebrations “Prince Philip and I are very grateful for the warmth of your
will remind us of our shared heritage and what it means to be welcome on this occasion.” She went on to note the significance
a united people, enjoying the support of families, friends and of the day, saying that surpassing her great-great-grandmother
neighbours around us.” Queen Victoria’s record was not something to which she had
A decade later, her direct heir, The Prince of Wales, paid “ever aspired”. She continued: “Inevitably a long life can pass by
a warm and emotional tribute to his mother at the close of the many milestones; my own is no exception. But I thank you all,
Diamond Jubilee Concert at the Queen Victoria Memorial, to and the many others at home and overseas, for your touching
a standing ovation. Charles told The Queen: “A Diamond Jubilee messages of great kindness.”
is a unique and special event, some of us have had the joy of Despite the death of her consort, Prince Philip, on 9 April
celebrating three jubilees with you, and I have the medals to 2021, after 73 years of marriage, Her Majesty continues to carry
prove it. And we’re now celebrating the life and service of a very out a full programme of engagements as she has over the years,
special person over the last 60 years. So as a nation this is our from visits to charities and schools, to hosting visiting heads
opportunity to thank you and my father for always being there of state, to leading the nation in remembrance or celebratory
for us. For inspiring us with us with your selfless duty and events. At the age of 95 she is supported more in her duties by
service and for making us proud to be British.” the Prince of Wales and younger members of the Royal Family,
On 9 September 2015, The Queen became Britain’s longest- who now take her place creating and maintaining relationships
serving monarch, having reigned without interruption for overseas. It is a monarchy in transition, with the future king, the
68 years and 309 days. On that day, accompanied by Prince Philip, Prince of Wales, leading from the front. His mother, Elizabeth II,
duke of Edinburgh, they travelled by steam train from Edinburgh has led an extraordinary life and her record as the longest
to Tweedbank, where she formally opened the new Scottish reigning and oldest monarch is an achievement that is unlikely
Borders Railway. Referring to the new milestone she said: to ever be surpassed.
o o
Above Right
Her Majesty in The Queen’s words
Tweedbank, Scotland, to the nation during
on the day she became the Covid-19 pandemic,
Britain’s longest-serving displayed at Piccadilly
monarch, 2015 Circus, London
21
On the world stage

From glittering banquets to Commonwealth conferences
and state tours, The Queen has a presence that commands
the attention of the world. Words by Robert Jobson
A s The Queen, wearing a bright patterned dress, waited

patiently to deliver her address to the world holding her
printed speech in her hand, the then United Nations Secretary-
General, Ban Ki-moon, paid her a moving tribute. “Your reign
spans the decades,” he told a hushed General Assembly in
New York on 6 July 2010. “From the challenges of the Cold War
to the threat of global warming. From the Beatles to Beckham.
From television to Twitter…” he went on, “Through the years,
you have travelled the world and met its people. You have
become a living symbol of grace, constancy and dignity.”
Then it was her turn, more than half a century on from the
first time she had addressed the assembly in 1957. Her seven-
minute speech touched on her first visit decades earlier when
she was a young monarch. “In my lifetime, the United Nations
has moved from being a high-minded aspiration to being a
real force for common good. That of itself has been a signal
achievement.” She continued: “When I was first here, there were
just three United Nations operations overseas. Now over 120,000
men and women are deployed in 26 missions across the world.”
Her Majesty spoke, too, of the importance of leadership
and how critical the role of the UN continues to be in upholding
human rights in the 21st century. “You have helped to reduce
conflict, you have offered humanitarian assistance to millions
of people,” she said, adding that the organisation has been
o “deeply committed to tackling the effects of poverty in many
Above parts of the world.” When The Queen spoke, the world listened
The Queen addressing and it marked a significant milestone as a global leader. Her
the UN General Assembly invitation to address the UN showed just how she had earned
in New York, 2010 the admiration and respect across the world.
Ever since she was a teenager the princess knew her public
o utterances, no matter how scripted, were very important. She
Right has honed her skills of delivery over the years. In her first public
Her Majesty and Prince broadcast to the children of the Commonwealth on 13 October
Philip with Barack and 1940 during the Second World War, with many of them living
Michelle Obama at a away from home, she famously said: “I can truthfully say to you
dinner in Winfield House, all that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage.
the official residence of We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers
the US Ambassador to and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the
the UK, in 2011 danger and sadness of war … and when peace comes, remember
22
“Through the years, you have travelled the world

and met its people. You have become a living
symbol of grace, constancy and dignity”
23
o o
Below Opposite
Princesses Elizabeth The Queen and Prince
and Margaret give a radio Philip are cheered on
broadcast to the nation by schoolchildren on
in 1940 a tour of Malta in 1954
it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of then, she has spent decades working to unite the Commonwealth
tomorrow a better and happier place.” which she believes is a force for the good of all humanity.
When victory in Europe was declared on 8 May 1945 – “VE The Queen stressed the importance of the association
Day” – Elizabeth was ready to celebrate with the people. In her by undertaking the 1953–54 Commonwealth Tour when she
ATS (auxiliary territorial service) uniform, she stepped onto stamped her personality on the new Commonwealth with her
the balcony of Buckingham Palace along with her father and bold diplomatic mission. Between November 1953 and May 1954,
mother, the King and Queen, her sister, Princess Margaret, Prince Philip and The Queen visited 13 countries in the West
and Prime Minister Winston Churchill as jubilant crowds Indies, Australasia, Asia and Africa, covering more than 40,000
surged up The Mall. miles by land, air and sea. Many of the countries had never
On her 21st birthday, 21 April 1947, Princess Elizabeth was before seen their ruling monarch.
behind the BBC microphone again, dedicating herself to a life Air travel as well as the new Royal Yacht HMY Britannia
devoted to duty. From Cape Town, while on a tour of South meant for the first time the monarch could visit countries of the
Africa with her parents, she made her speech. “I can make my vast former Empire, for many of which she was still Head of
solemn act of dedication with a whole Empire listening. I should State (she is currently Head of State in 16 countries), and further
like to make that dedication now,” she said. “It is very simple. foster close relations between them and Britain. In the 1950s she
I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long and Philip made state visits to Libya (1954), Norway (1955) and
or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our Sweden (1956), followed by several in 1957, including Portugal,
great imperial family to which we all belong.” France and Denmark, and a hugely successful visit to the US.
This public declaration was the dutiful code by which she She also made 16 Commonwealth visits from 1952–59, including
would live her life. The Commonwealth, and her role as its to Nigeria in 1956. It would be a template for future decades of
future head, was at the forefront of Elizabeth’s thoughts. She important soft power diplomacy.
emphasised it in her first year as monarch. “We belong, you and She made visits to Nepal and the Vatican City in 1961
I, to a far larger family,” she said. “We belong, all of us, to the and ended her visits 12 destinations later in Austria in 1968.
British Commonwealth and Empire, that immense union of Commonwealth visits started with Cyprus in 1961. From there
nations, with their homes in all four corners of the earth.” Since she included Commonwealth countries ranging from Canada
24
“I declare before you all that my whole life whether

it be long or short shall be devoted to your service”
25
o o
Above Opposite
The royal couple near The Queen as Head of
the Berlin Wall on the Church of England
a historic visit to West visits Pope John Paul II
Germany in 1965 at the Vatican
26
to Ghana, undertaking a total of 28 visits. Perhaps the highlight

was when The Queen toured West Berlin in May 1965 at the
height of the Cold War, the first visit to Germany by a British
monarch in more than half a century. Her speech there, in which
she praised the links between Britain and West Berlin, made
headlines around the world.
Her Majesty’s ability to act as “super ambassador” among
post-colonial African leaders is legendary. She made it her
mission to get to know the leaders of the African member
states. Like her, these leaders were generally quite young at
the time, so in a sense politically and personally they grew
up together. The Queen’s relationship with these key African
leaders became close, and over many years she clearly enjoyed
the company of politicians such as Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia,
Dr Hastings Banda of Malawi, Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya and
Dr Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, among others. They saw Her
Majesty as a matriarchal figure and the new Commonwealth
she led as a family. They also saw her as a protector of their
Commonwealth ideals.
Her Majesty’s subtle diplomatic skills were demonstrated in
the role she played in helping Rhodesia become the independent
republic of Zimbabwe. In 1965 the country’s Prime Minister,
Ian Smith, bluntly refused the black population the vote, even
though they made up around 95 per cent of the population.
The Queen wrote a warm letter to Mr Smith, stating that he
could not claim loyalty to the monarchy and the Commonwealth
and at the same time defend white supremacy rule and reject
the voice of the majority black electorate.
The 1970s held the record for sheer mileage, with
Commonwealth visits reaching 54, including the 1976 Summer
Olympics in Canada. A total of 25 state visits took place, from
Turkey in 1971 to Zambia in 1979. The Queen made her first
tour of South East Asia in 1971 and included state visits to
Singapore and Malaysia.
It is perhaps The Queen’s determination to stand up for the
Commonwealth that has kept the association strong. She showed
27
o this in 1979 when she clashed with British Prime Minister people. A recent online Ipsos Poll in Australia found in January
Above Margaret Thatcher about her attendance of the Commonwealth 2021 that only a third of Australians supported removing The
Her Majesty joins Heads of Government Meeting in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. Queen as Head of State, significantly down from 45 per cent
delegates to the At the time, nationalist guerrilla fighters were fighting the when the country voted in a referendum in 1999. When she
Commonwealth Heads white-minority government of what was then Rhodesia for visited the country for the 13th time the following year, she said
of Government Meeting greater voting and political power for black Africans. Some in the first speech of her tour, on 20 March at Sydney Opera
in Lusaka, Zambia in 1979 had based themselves in Zambia, where the Rhodesian House: “It is my duty to seek to remain true to the interests of
government had launched fierce attacks against them. Without Australia and all Australians as we enter the 21st century.”
o consulting The Queen, Mrs Thatcher announced that for In the 1980s The Queen made 23 state visits, including to the
Opposite security reasons The Queen should not attend the meeting. US. The Commonwealth visits totalled 42 ranging from Australia
The Queen and Prince Within 24 hours, The Queen announced that she had “every to Malaysia. In October 1980, the Pope welcomed The Queen,
Philip at the Great Wall intention” of going. Evidently, she felt the Zambian President, who was dressed in a long black gown in line with protocol, to
of China during a state Kenneth Kaunda, needed her support and she played an important Vatican City. This visit to the Vatican was seen as a big step given
visit in 1986 conciliatory role at the summit that resulted in the UK agreeing her role as Head of the Church of England and helped strengthen
to new Rhodesian elections under a new constitution. relations among the Roman Catholics. Two years later, The Queen
The Queen is an outstanding diplomat and the consensus is, returned the compliment, welcoming John Paul II at Buckingham
that is how she gets things done. “The Rhodesia issue threatened Palace, the first Pope to come to Britain for 450 years.
to tear the Commonwealth apart,” the former Commonwealth In another first, between 12 and 18 October 1986, The Queen
Secretary-General Sir Shridath “Sonny” Ramphal said. “At a became the first British monarch to visit China. It was seen as a
crucial time, The Queen demonstrated her stabilising influence. hugely significant and successful diplomatic mission. That same
She was diplomatically brilliant.” year she met Nelson Mandela for the first time, when he was
It is her openness to accept change while being the symbol representing the African National Congress as an observer of the
for continuity that is at least part of the secret to her popularity. Commonwealth Conference in Zambia. In 1991, Mr Mandela,
In Australia, The Queen has always made it clear that while who had recently been freed from prison, appeared at the
it is her duty to serve, she does so at the will of the Australian Commonwealth summit ahead of the traditional banquet for
28
29
o o
Above Opposite
The Queen with South Her Majesty's historic
African President Nelson state visit to Northern
Mandela in 1996 Ireland in 2011
30
“Throughout her long and illustrious life,

Queen Elizabeth II has always led by example”
government heads. The Queen immediately broke precedent The Queen is known to have an almost obsessive interest in
and invited him to join them at the banquet. South Africa’s first the peace process and Irish history. Whenever Prince Charles,
non-racial elections were held on April 1994, resulting in the who has discussed the Irish question many times with her, has
election of Nelson Mandela as President. One of Mr Mandela’s first been asked what he believes her greatest legacy will be, he says
acts as President was to return South Africa to the Commonwealth. unequivocally “Ireland”. In Charles’s opinion his mother’s historic
The Queen also visited Russia for the first time in 1994, the state visit to the Republic of Ireland between 17 and 20 May 2011
first British monarch to have set foot on its soil. She toured set the seal on the full normalisation of Anglo–Irish relations.
Moscow and St Petersburg and, at the Kremlin, exchanged gifts The warm response to her speech, in which she said Britain
with President Boris Yeltsin, who presented her with unseen and Ireland were “more than just neighbours”, at a state banquet
photographs of her Tsarist relatives murdered by the Bolsheviks at Dublin Castle showed that she had pulled off one of the most
in 1917. Her visit was seen as one of the key episodes in relations successful state visits of her reign. Even Gerry Adams, the face
between post-Soviet Russia and the UK, and was aimed at and voice of the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Féin, lauded The
strengthening economic, political and cultural ties between Queen for her “genuine” expression of sympathy for victims
the two countries. of Ireland’s troubled past. The most significant moment came
The Queen and Prince Philip returned to India again in 1997, on the first day of her visit, when Queen Elizabeth bowed her
her first major tour of the country since the 1961 visit. It marked the head in respect to those who died for Irish independence after
50th anniversary of India’s independence, but there was no grand laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.
reconciliation between the country and its former colonial master. The significance of the gesture was not lost on anyone.
The Queen, now 95, remains remarkably physically and Throughout her long and illustrious life, Queen Elizabeth II
mentally fit for a woman of her age. She rides her horses, loves has always led by example. Her respect for others and ability to
walking and reading. But she no longer makes long-haul trips. embrace change while respecting the past and tradition, along
Her last two state visits were to France, when she travelled by with hard work and commitment, have been the benchmark of
Eurostar in 2014 and Germany by a leased private jet in 2015. her reign. Above all, what makes her so special is her vision and
But her greatest legacy in the eyes of many was her state visit courage to do what is right when it matters and her overriding
to the Republic of Ireland in 2011. faith in God and herself.
31
Out in the open

“SUSE is everywhere. If you have a mammogram
or take a flight you are likely using SUSE technology.
It is embedded in air-traffic-control systems, satellites,
ships, planes and CAT scan machines”
Melissa Di Donato, SUSE
32
P ressure makes diamonds. That pithy aphorism was frequently

used by an early mentor of Melissa Di Donato’s to show the
importance of putting yourself in challenging situations. It’s an
outlook that Di Donato has embraced in her rise to become
Chief Executive Officer of SUSE, a global independent leader in
open-source software. “SUSE has gone from strength to strength,
and we have no sign of slowing down,” she says. “For the UK
in particular, we want to continue to play a role in the digital
transformation of the country. We want to be the de facto
standard for companies that need change, to create the enabling
technology that allows companies to transform the world.”
Di Donato (pictured, opposite) was born in the US. She
completed her MBA in international business and Russian, an
early example of her taking herself out of her comfort zone. She
then started work in the technology sector, and her knowledge
and passion for Russian history drove her to work in St Petersburg
in the early ’90s. She knew little about the tech world, but learnt
quickly while developing her core skills. “I have always aimed to
drive impact and positively affect those around me,” she says.
“There is no better place to do this than in the tech industry.”
After working for PwC, IBM, Salesforce and SAP, Di Donato through subscriptions to its enterprise-grade services. “The
was recruited by SUSE, a 28-year-old German software company founders wanted to make operating system software a free service,
that was looking to drive transformational change. She undertook that anyone can download and use,” says Di Donato. “We even
considerable research before taking the job, interviewing current gave away our enterprise-grade services for free during the
and former clients, employees and partners. “I realised that SUSE pandemic for those developing a vaccine or ventilators, because
was everywhere,” she says. “If you have a mammogram or take that is what we believe in as part of the open-source community.”
a flight you are likely using SUSE technology. It is embedded in Di Donato laid the foundation for the company’s rapid growth
air-traffic-control systems, satellites, ships, planes and CAT scan by updating its go-to-market strategy to focus on customer needs,
machines. More than 60 per cent of Fortune 500 companies rely elevating the SUSE brand to reflect its success in the market, and
on SUSE products. I thought that this was a great opportunity to hiring top leaders. She was the first woman to take a multi-billion-
enhance the company’s unique culture while driving deeper euro company public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the 21st
impact and engagement for SUSE’s customers.” century; runs a charity, Inner Wings, that aims to build confidence
SUSE (an acronym for Software und System-Entwicklung, in young girls; and has written three children’s books. “The only
meaning systems development) was created as an open-source way to have a real impact on diversity and inclusion is by giving
company. It offers no proprietary software and does not rely my daughter and her peers the confidence to do what they want,”
on any intellectual property; its software is developed by the she says. “Girls’ confidence starts to erode at six when they start
open-source community and versions are distributed for free. to see jobs in terms of male and female roles. The mission of this
SUSE takes this community-led innovation and makes it ready charity is for girls to unleash their power from within.”
for businesses to use, generating the majority of its revenue www.suse.com
33
34
Leading
by example
“Stand behind your team. If your team is successful
and you’re in front of them, they’ll run you over.
Stand behind them and you can watch them fly”
Tina Beattie, financial services veteran and entrepreneur
“
M y grandfather was an entrepreneur who passionately
believed in the power of women,” says Tina Beattie.
“His two most useful pieces of career advice were: ‘Don’t be
and NGOs to identify their key business drivers and challenges
and implement change.
“I was interested in applying my financial skills to sectors
afraid to employ people who are better than you,’ and ‘Always that don’t usually have that expertise, such as charities and
leave your ego at the door.’ I’ve learned that the secret of success NGOs,” she says. Following from this Beattie has co-founded
is to lead by example, to listen to your staff, and to stay true to GluoNNet & ESG:ONE, which fulfils her lifelong dream to
yourself. You do that standing behind your team, rather than combine her financial services career experience with her
standing in front of them. Because, if your team is successful and passion for leading-edge data technology and diagnostic tools.
you’re in front of them, they’ll run you over. Stand behind them, For Beattie, it’s a way of making sense of the data overload that
give them confidence and you can watch them fly.” surrounds us all today. “The world needs better answers,” she
Tina Beattie grew up in Hobart, Tasmania. She studied says. “But people don’t even know what questions to ask. If we
economics and pure mathematics at university and worked can process all the massive amounts of data around today, then
for a year at the Australian Treasury, before getting married it will help us look at what to ask, and we will be better able to
and having children (she now has five, ranging in age between make a difference.”
nine and 37). After 10 years as a stay-at-home mother (“I’m of For Beattie, the challenge for women leaders is to find their
the generation who were expected to be superwomen”) she voice and use it appropriately. “Never be afraid to challenge
moved with her family to Melbourne. It was there that she assumptions, and be brave when making decisions,” she says.
bumped into an old university friend who had become the “Women are usually very logical and methodical, gifted with
number-one economist in Australia. “He offered me 20 hours the ability to ‘see the wood for the trees’. Historically these
a week at his firm, Macintosh Securities, which is a dream skills were labelled ‘operational’ and never given the kudos
come true when you have children. And that was my break they deserved. I spent much of my career thinking I was not
into investment banking.” intelligent enough as I always had to explain complex issues
There followed a long, varied and illustrious career in in simple terms, so that I could understand and not make a fool
senior investment banking roles, with Beattie going on to of myself. Many years later I was told by a very senior person:
lead the research team of Merrill Lynch Australia, and then ‘I have never met someone who simplifies complex issues as
being relocated to London in 1998, where she became Head well as you do’. The secret is to never let them change you.
of Research Management, EMEA. She moved to ABN Be brave and empower others. Create the environment for
AMRO, where she ran 950 analysts in 30 global locations, the individuals to flourish.”
before moving into the “real world”, assisting companies https: //uk.linkedin.com/in/tina-beattie-4067b65
35
Inventing the
future of marketing
“Code’s work is about replacing legacy models with new
smarter ways of working. And this applies to how we help
our clients and how we run and staff our business”
Carolyn Stebbings, Code Worldwide
“
C ode exists to invent the future of marketing,” says Matt
McNeany, CEO and founder of digital transformation
consultancy Code Worldwide. “We use artificial intelligence
innovation system, adZU, clients can utilise AI and automation
to transform their content capability, creating personalised,
cross-channel customer journeys at huge scale and very low cost.
(AI) and machine learning to understand and predict customer “Today’s customers expect brands to deliver a high level
needs and automation to transform how a brand builds of personalisation and service – whether you are buying a
valuable relationship with its customers.” car, a piece of contemporary art or some wireless ear buds,”
McNeany founded Code to pioneer a revolution in the says McNeany. “Code puts the customer at the centre,
advertising business, replacing inefficient and expensive predicting what they want and making each experience
processes with smarter approaches built on data and technology. personal and relevant.”
Today, that purpose remains at the heart of Code as it works Good service breeds loyalty and advocacy. Clients in a
with clients – including Samsung, Mercedes-Benz and Christie’s range of industries – from automotive to luxury lifestyle, from
– to deliver personalised experiences at scale for its customers. healthcare to consumer goods – have relied on Code for years.
Code supports clients with technology consultants to build Many have built 10-year-plus relationships with the firm.
a marketing transformation vision. Data scientists work to “Code’s work is about replacing legacy models with new,
understand and predict the needs of customers and adapt the smarter ways of working,” says Code’s UK Managing Director,
client’s marketing to those needs. Code’s marketing technology Carolyn Stebbings. “And this applies equally to how we help
teams then support clients in building and delivering relevant our clients and how we run and staff our business.”
and profitable experiences. Finally, using Code’s marketing Code is keenly aware of the importance of diversity, both
to its own organisation and in its work targeting customers.
Unusually for a technology business, there are more women
than men within Code’s leadership. Stebbings is a supporter of
diversity within the industry, chairing the initiative that was
developed by Code’s holding company, Omnicom, to champion
women in the workplace, as well as sitting on the global board
for Women in Technology.
“We have a dire number of women in technology in
the UK,” she says. “Back in the 1960s it was 35 per cent;
unfortunately, it’s gone backwards and has now dropped
to just 15 per cent in 2020. We’re working to improve that.
At Code I’m proud to state that our 2021 figures see us tracking
at 35 per cent across all levels, with 55 per cent of our senior
leadership being women.”
As for the future of marketing and its own growth, Code
identifies two core drivers. “It’s about human and machine,
AI plus empathy,” says McNeany. “Data and technology give
a diverse team ‘superpowers’ to help our clients deliver better
services and experiences to their customers. We’ve already
created so many success stories for our clients and are excited
about what we can make possible next.”
www.codeworldwide.com
36
37
38
Investing in women
“So many initiatives in venture capital come
with the idea of fixing women – as if women
are the problem. I challenge that”
Anya Navidski, Voulez Capital
T he critical moment for Voulez Capital came when founder

Anya Navidski was searching for a breast pump. As an
entrepreneur and single mother, she knew it would be as essential
they can’t run a business. That’s why I do not go to pitching
days. How well someone can pitch a PowerPoint in front of
a room has little correlation with how well a founder can
as a mobile phone or a laptop. But all the products on the market run a business.”
were cumbersome and complicated, as if the design had not The company has developed a rigorous funding process
evolved since the 1950s. “Then I came across the story of an designed to build strong relationships with successful firms.
attempt to modernise breast pumps in the US and the difficulty This matches Navidski’s desire to work closely with a small
the founder had in raising money from venture capitalists,” she number of businesses rather than invest widely in the hope of
says. “They did not understand the market or the problem because finding a “unicorn”. The focus is on “horizon” industries – ones
they were all men. Women drive over 70 per cent of spending that address long-term challenges facing people and the planet
decisions. Yet, because investors are mostly men, they often fail – such as the circular economy and women’s health. This is
to meet women’s needs across a wide range of industries.” complemented by Voulez’s own Fair Venture principles, inspired
Navidski (pictured, left) subsequently formed Voulez Capital by Georges Doriot, the founding father of the venture capital
to support female entrepreneurs. While women make up around industry. “Doriot used to say: if you build great companies,
40 per cent of entrepreneurs, only 1 per cent of venture capital returns will come,” says Navidski. “That is at the core of what
cash in the UK goes to women-led businesses. Ninety per cent we do at Voulez Capital and we have developed an ecosystem
goes to all-male founder teams, partly because 90 per cent of of like-minded stakeholders to help us.”
decision makers in venture capital are men. Female entrepreneurs Early successes include a company that provides eco
don’t bother pitching to venture capitalists because they know -friendly, premium baby clothes for rental. It’s the sort of
they’re not listening. Voulez Capital seeks to change that. initiative that only a diverse team would conceive, fund and
“I want to level the playing field and I want to find the best execute. “I want a diverse management team in each company,”
possible businesses to invest into,” says Navidski. “Twenty years says Navidski. “They will make better, more informed
of data shows that management teams that include women, decisions.” She speaks from experience. “I launched Voulez
outperform men, deliver more value for less investment, and when I was eight months pregnant and sat in our lawyer’s
manage risk better. Yet, so many initiatives in venture capital offices, signing documents with a baby on my lap. It has been
come with the idea of fixing women – as if women are the a single mum’s journey and I think that resonates with women
problem. I challenge that. We need to shift our understanding entrepreneurs who know I will treat them as individuals and will
about what good leadership and what an entrepreneur looks like. work as hard as they do to make sure their business is a success.”
Just because somebody isn’t strong at pitching it doesn’t mean www.voulez.capital
39
The art of advice

“It was my passion for art that led me to
research ways of thinking outside the box
and to search for creative, innovative solutions”
Ella Thuiner, Ella Thuiner Consulting
O ver the last 13 years, Ella Thuiner (pictured, above) has

educated herself and her network about innovation, creativity
and thinking outside the box. She has given more than 100
human but it is also a fact that our brains make mistakes when
dealing with emotions. The bottom line of my research is that
best decisions can be made when we are in balance with our
innovative entrepreneurs and inventors the chance to speak about friends, family, colleagues and with ourselves. This is why we
their innovative solutions in her educational programmes in Zurich need to surround ourselves with people who share the same
and London. values so that the balance is established effortlessly.”
“There are numerous innovative solutions outside the world In 2015 Thuiner wrote a book entitled Banks of the Future,
of finance which need our attention,” she says. “Innovators are published by Springer. She has written several articles for the
like artists, constantly looking to challenge the ordinary world.” Huffington Post and she is a former member of the Committee for
She advises businesses – mainly institutional investors and 100 Women in Finance. She has been active in supporting female
financial institutions – on innovation as well as providing them leadership and diversity and in introducing innovative solutions
with business analysis and project-management services. in technology and finance. But it is painting that has always been
Thuiner has worked for a number well-known banks in Vienna, her great passion. “It was my love of art that led me to research
London, New York and Zurich. The main focus of her professional ways of thinking outside the box and to search for creative,
life has been in IT and banking where her experience includes innovative solutions,” she says. “What’s important to me now
working as a project manager, business analyst, derivatives is to work with companies who have great values – with people
trader and internal auditor. She has a Master’s degree in finance I respect, like Professor Rudolf Füchslin from Zurich University
and banking where her thesis was focused on behavioural finance. of Applied Sciences, Alysa Kodisch from 100 Women in Finance
“Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow provided a good and Martin Reber from soomz.io.”
foundation for my research,” she says. “Emotions make us www.ellathuiner.ch
40
Accountable leadership
“Businesses will need to adapt to attract
and retain the best talent and create
gender-balanced, racially mixed leadership
teams offering a diversity of thinking”
Michelle Owen, Deutsche Bank
E ver since Michelle Owen was studying engineering at university

and found herself one of only four women in a class of more
than a hundred, she has been aware of the “complexities of being
Also underpinning the need for change in leadership styles
is the expectation of a younger generation who anticipate life-long
careers and, as such, have different values and demands for
a woman in a male-dominated environment”. Owen is now in increased flexibility. Owen co-authored a study on millennial
another male-dominated industry – financial services – where she is attitudes and discovered these expectations cut across the
Head of Chief Investment Office and Investment Solutions, EMEA genders. “They want meritocracy, balance and leaders that respect
at Deutsche Bank International Private Bank. She is also a founding and value cognitive diversity,” she says. “In a world where that
member of the Women’s Network Forum, chaired by HRH The kind of leadership is valued, businesses will need to adapt to
Countess of Wessex, where she has studied and promoted diversity attract and retain the best talent and create gender-balanced,
and the changing needs and expectations of leadership in the future. racially mixed leadership teams offering a diversity of thinking.”
“During my career, many people have promoted the notion Owen hopes to encourage this shift towards more sustainable
of fortune favouring the brave,” she says. “However, what I have leadership through her external work as well as internally at
sometimes found in the industry is that fortune has favoured Deutsche Bank. “At Deutsche Bank, we are looking closely at
the reckless. There has been too much short-termism in the future working environments, what they will require from leaders
corporate world. With that comes a lack of accountability, too and what qualities people will need to enable our clients and
much showmanship and aggressive politicking that alienates society to prosper. A lot of this is about value-driven leadership,
more diverse talent.” Owen believes that this will need to role-modelling and flexibility. The industry needs to work hard
fundamentally change as the financial and business sectors to change if it wants the best talent and I already see a number of
start to place greater value on the environmental, social and things shifting to bring the right style of leadership to the fore.”
governance impact of their activities. www.db.com
41
The power of change

“Consumers can use their economic power
to put diverse businesses in the driver’s seat”
Rebecca Frost, Entrepreneur
“
T he most powerful way to champion diversity is driving
consumer spending in the direction of change,” says
Rebecca Frost (pictured, above), the founder of a new company
and is a member of Chatham House in London. “We all need
heroes in our lives,” says Frost. “Shining a light on more diverse
economic heroes has impact. We need to celebrate these leaders
focused on increased access to diversity in the marketplace. and business owners who are making it to the top, and make sure
“You can’t support businesses you can’t see.” Her company will their businesses are supported in order for them to succeed.”
provide a platform to connect consumers with businesses they Frost is launching a new company that gives the consumer
want to support, according to their diverse interests. a tool that provides easy access to a more diverse population of
Throughout her career Frost has guided some of the largest business owners. “It’s to empower consumers so they can more
institutional investors in the US and Europe through two major easily spend with a purpose,” she says. “Consumers should have
financial crises, and numerous market innovations. As a a platform to easily reward diverse business owners, and
Managing Director for Deutsche Bank on the fixed-income support companies that realise diversity in their highest ranks.”
trading floor, Frost was an integral part of building the credit The platform aims to connect consumers with those
and derivatives business in New York, and ran a hedge fund sales businesses and highlight hidden heroes in their industries
team in London. Born and raised in the United States, Frost who are making change. The opportunity for opening up the
earned a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, and economy to new faces is vast. “Consumers can use their
a Master’s degree from Columbia University. economic power to put diverse businesses in the driver’s seat,”
Frost has always been a champion of diversity, co-founding says Frost. “This is a moment in history where every aspect of
and leading initiatives in New York and London focused on hiring, how we live and work is being re-defined around us. It is time
retaining and promoting women, and ensuring equal pay. She sat to use our money to be the change we want to see in the world.”
on the boards of three major non-profit organisations in New York, www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccadesmanf rost/
42
Authentic leadership
“When the going gets really tough, courage
isn’t the lion that roars, it’s the quiet voice
that says: ‘I will try again tomorrow’”
Lisa Sewell, Executive
W hether she is part of the team leading one of the largest

corporate turnarounds in financial services history,
simplifying global organisations or transforming the way legal
they are often the qualities that make them stand out – things
like empathy, emotional intelligence and nurturing,” she says.
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t strong and able to make
services are delivered in the world’s largest law firm, Lisa difficult decisions – women are often more willing and able to
Sewell understands the responsibilities of leadership and do that than men. Together, they make a powerful combination
is an authentic leader with a style that works. of qualities for a leader.”
“Every role I’ve done has been challenging and has tested These leadership qualities are particularly valued by the
me for different reasons,” she says. “I have a quote that helps me younger generation, who are more likely to respond to a boss
when the going gets tough: courage isn’t the lion that roars, it’s who shows their human side by, for example, showing a degree
the quiet voice that says: ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” of vulnerability. “That allows them to make an emotional
Sewell puts her achievements down to “attitude, behaviours connection,” she says. “They will follow you because they
and resilience” that were instilled during her upbringing, when believe in you as an individual. Their loyalty is important as
her father would spend Sunday lunchtimes arguing political they are the ones who are leading the way in holding business
issues with his two daughters, deliberately taking positions to account for delivering more than financial returns, so firms
that would force them to form their own opinions and to fully are starting to focus more on purpose and what they bring
think through their arguments. He did not believe in gender to society as a whole. You no longer have to only meet the
stereotypes, something that served Sewell well when she moved expectations of shareholders but those of society. If you focus
into the male-dominated executive world that still exists today. on both things, you will have a more engaged workforce and
“Women need to make peace with the natural differences deliver greater shareholder value.”
that exist between men and women and embrace them because www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-sewell-820a02b
43
The people person

“If you nurture somebody, you shouldn’t
mind if they become more senior than
you. Don’t hold them back – instead learn
from them”
Irene Perdomo, Gresham Investment Management
I rene Perdomo, currently a Managing Director of American

asset management firm Gresham, has enjoyed a successful
career working in both computing and finance in several
“That is how to develop bonds of respect and loyalty,”
she says. “People respect you when you work hard, they
don’t respect anybody who is lazy.”
countries, including successfully creating her own multi- She tries never to micromanage her team, preferring to allow
million-dollar investment fund, Devet Capital. But she believes them to grow while taking an interest in their lives. She was once
that valuable experience can come from disappointment too. told that even the best employees will create one big problem each
When she was in Mumbai working for Tata, she set up two year so, if managing 250 people, you will have to deal with one
confectionery shops that both lost money. big problem every working day. So you need to be able to delegate
“Sometimes you learn more from bad experiences than you – and, if you delegate to somebody whose talents are superior
do from good ones,” she says. “India provided one of the to yours, don’t worry about it. “If you nurture somebody, you
best schools of my life. To be a good leader it is important shouldn’t mind if they become more senior than you,” she says.
to understand people and the best way to create empathy is “Don’t hold them back. Instead learn from them. You can’t have
to explore lots of different cultures and meet people from an ego. Let them achieve what they are meant to achieve.”
different economic and cultural backgrounds.” Working in a lucrative industry like finance can make it
Perdomo certainly has experience of different cultures. hard to stay connected to reality and maintain empathy, so here
She was born in Uruguay and has since worked or studied in Perdomo suggests working with humanitarian and charitable
Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Singapore, India, the US and the causes regularly. “Last but not least, you also need to have a good
UK and speaks four languages. She helped manage 300 people sense of humour,” she says, with a laugh. “This is important.
while at Tata and believes a chief requirement of good I joke a lot and that creates familiarity and a relaxed environment.”
leadership is to set a good example. www.linkedin.com/in/irene-perdomo-13b0594/
44
Solving problems through tech

“I enjoy working with a company who wants to disrupt their industry. When
there’s a problem to solve I always think about the opportunity it creates.
It’s not about having the right answers, it’s about asking the right questions”
Sharon Prior, Inovivo
O ne of Sharon Prior’s most passionate principles came from

the dinner table as she grew up in inner London, the
middle child of seven. Her father, who had moved to England
to my approach. When there’s a problem to solve I always
think about the opportunity it creates. I don’t worry about
being an expert, in fact I believe being an expert can actually
from Barbados to give his children greater opportunities, would hold you back in innovation. So, I surround myself with
always ask what new thing they had learnt that day. It’s a question people from different backgrounds. It’s not about having the
that Prior (pictured, above) has embraced, leading to a lifelong right answers, it’s about asking the right questions.”
commitment to learning. After starting work at 17, she went on to Prior first demonstrated her capacity for learning and
acquire four degrees covering computer science, law and business growth in her first job at a high-street bank, when she took it
and started a company called Inovivo, dedicated to transforming upon herself to solve a technology problem that had stumped
business through technology. She is currently Division Digital the IT team. Her employers were so impressed by this
Director for IMI Critical Engineering, charged with bringing new proactivity they moved her into IT, placing her at the heart of
life to the business through data-led innovation and technology. a rapidly evolving tech industry. “When I first started in IT,
“I have worked in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and the challenge was around networking computers, but now we
retail so I can bring something different to engineering,” she are into a world of machine learning and artificial intelligence,”
says. “Moving from one industry to another industry allows she says. “That innovation has exploded, and I have gone with
me to challenge, it allows me to disrupt that industry from it. I have an intellectual curiosity and I still set a target of
inside out. As we move away from gas and oil, we are pushing learning one new thing every day and ask the same of my team.
boundaries in hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and food and As a leader I feel it is my duty to ignite the passion in my team
beverage. I enjoy working with a company who wants to to follow their obsessions and to achieve significance.”
disrupt their industry – it really challenges me and lends itself uk.linkedin.com/in/sharonpriorcio
45
Right from the start-up

“Employees are the secret of business
performance, so enabling them to thrive
means that businesses can too”
Anouk Agussol, Unleashed
I t was in her very first job that Anouk Agussol identified what
she believed was every company’s greatest asset: its people.
A few years later – while simultaneously studying for her master’s
It delivers a bespoke, peoplecentric roadmap to develop practices
that are robust enough to withstand rapid scaling. “We use a
house analogy,” says Agussol. “A hut can stand brilliantly and
degree, working in a people-and-culture role and single-handedly serve its purpose, but if you want to turn it into a mansion, you
raising her son – it became clear to her that it wasn’t only the need foundations. And they need to be built early.”
people, but company culture that was key to business success. In four years, Unleashed has worked with more than 100
Later, as a specialist advising tech companies on scaling up, start-ups in the UK and Europe as well as supporting venture
Agussol noticed a common problem. The pressure from investors capitalists with their portfolios. As CEO and founder, Agussol is
to see swift expansion was forcing leaders to adopt inconsistent ambitious not only for the company but also for its philosophy.
practices, leading to cultural upheaval, dips in engagement and “My hope is for Unleashed to play a part in changing social
spikes in attrition. She knew that there was a much better way for systems that impact us all in the workplace,” she says.
businesses to scale and was determined to help with these While the company is expanding rapidly, Agussol continues
challenges, and so Unleashed was born. to follow her own rules when it comes to protecting those
Unleashed is not your average consultancy. “Our mission is two prized assets, people and culture. “We recruit carefully
to support businesses to grow successfully and sustainably, while at Unleashed,” she says. “We’re completely transparent about
ensuring fulfilling work lives for the people within them,” says decision-making and we continually collaborate so that we can
Agussol. “Employees are the secret of business performance, learn from each other and improve. We benefit from that
so enabling them to thrive means the business can too.” community, and our clients benefit from our collective
By working with a start-up at its early stage, Unleashed experience. They have the whole team in their corner.”
becomes closely acquainted with its people, culture and goals. www.unleashed.company
46
Financial empowerment for all

“Millions of people face financial exclusion.
One thing I really recognise is that I have an
opportunity to use my platform to highlight
that solutions are out there. Our mission is
to provide financial empowerment for everyone”
Joanne Dewar, Global Processing Services
L ike many CEOs, Joanne Dewar is on a mission. But hers is

different to many other business leaders, who might value
profit and growth over any other metric. Dewar is CEO of Global
a pathway to returning to work was difficult. Her confidence was
shot, processes had changed, and opportunities were hard to come
by. When she restarted her career at GPS, it was part time and at
Processing Services, a company that delivers technological a lower level, but she seized the chance and subsequently rose to
solutions to the digital banking and fintech sectors. She describes CEO. “The concept of ‘returnship’ is therefore very important to
her approach as “scaling sensibly”, which means reinforcing me,” she says. “There aren’t many role models who have shown
foundations and maintaining reputational integrity among that you can live your life in phases. It’s important for mothers
customers while steadily expanding. Since 2018, she’s opened to recognise they have the ability to return and for businesses
offices in Australia, Singapore and Dubai but is just as proud to see the importance of creating those opportunities.”
of the culture she has introduced during her stewardship. In particular, Dewar believes her management style will be
“I am not the founder, but I have been responsible for the particularly effective in post-Covid workplaces, which require
professionalisation of the company,” she says. “While I am not a new style of leadership – one grounded in coaching and
a risk taker, I am somebody who can take responsibility seriously organisation, more than charisma and gravitas. She is also
and seeks to do things the right way. What I really enjoy about motivated by GPS’s core business offering, which allows
leading the company in this way is putting in place values, millions of people around the world to access the financial
culture and processes, turning this into something that system. “Millions of people face financial exclusion,” she says.
creates clear opportunities for employees and customers.” “One thing I really recognise is that I have an opportunity to
This approach is driven by personal experience. When she use my platform to highlight that solutions are out there. Our
became a mother, Dewar struggled to maintain a work–life mission is to provide financial empowerment for everyone.”
balance and took seven years out to raise a family. Identifying www.globalprocessing.com
47
Putting society on the screen

“The film industry needs to be more accountable in terms
of cultural practices on set, inclusivity, representation, and
how to mediate conflicts”
Jennifer Smith, British Film Institute
“
W hat we do matters because representation is persuasive,”
says Jennifer Smith, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at
the British Film Institute (BFI), which promotes and preserves
of their crew, how they distribute a film and provide access
to it and so on, before they are likely to get public funding,”
explains Smith (who is pictured, above, introducing LucasFilm
film-making and television in the UK. “What you see on screen executives to the Prince of Wales during his visit to the BFI in
influences social attitudes, as well as educating and entertaining.” 2018). “In the light of things like the allegations against Harvey
Established in 1933, the BFI, which employs 580 staff across Weinstein, the film industry needs to be more accountable in
its four sites, has a remit to educate the public and to support terms of cultural practices on set, inclusivity, representation,
independent film-makers. This industry does not have a good and how to mediate conflicts. We’ve got 42 organisations across
track record when it comes to diversity or equality, which is the industry to agree a set of principles and guidance to help
why the BFI is taking the lead to improve matters, with a series prevent bullying, harassment and racism, which is a first.”
of initiatives, including the appointment of a race equality lead. It has also created a deaf and disabled advisory group,
“We need to have a wider focus on equality,” says Smith, “and to help the industry be more accommodating of people with
that means tearing up the rulebook on everything we do, in specific access requirements. Having partnered with the
terms of who we employ, what we programme, what we hold Royal National Institute for Deaf People, all visitor customer
in the archive and what opportunities there are for people service assistants are now taught British Sign Language and
to come in.” it’s committed to using technology to improve subtitling and
A founder member of Time’s Up, the BFI also instigated audio description on films. “We’re not a regulator, we are
The BFI Diversity Standards, which have been adopted across a charity,” says Smith, “But we have a responsibility to help
the industry, including by the Oscars. “People now need to the industry move forward.”
think differently in terms of production, around the make-up www.bf i.org.uk
48
Distributing technology
“We recruit with an eye to identifying
talent for the future and also recognising
that women have a major role to play
now in technology”
Jo Lawrence, Exertis UK
E xertis UK is a company with vision: an exciting brand

with a strong people focus, something reflected in the
relationships it builds with staff and customers alike. Being
“We develop longer term relationships, understanding that
being the point of contact for a group of customers means huge
accountability and ownership,” says Lawrence. “We’re a very
part of DCC plc, a FTSE 100 company with a solid 40-year successful company and careful planning plays a large part in
history, Exertis has experience and reputation to draw from, that. We recruit with an eye to identifying talent for the future
yet it also has the future thinking that comes with its and also recognising that women have a major role to play now
specialist knowledge of technology. in technology. Our customers are retailers and companies
“As a technology distribution company our network is reselling technology products that people use every day in their
vitally important to us,” says Jo Lawrence, HR Director of home or office, or while on the move, and the high calibre of
Exertis UK. “It’s a two-way partnership and we need to know our staff reflects our understanding that our service must be
exactly what our customers might need in the future, as well as second to none.”
what they currently need. We pride ourselves on our specialist This mix of classic, traditional customer service coupled
knowledge and the services we offer on the back of that and we with the most innovative technology has resulted in a reputation
want people to feel they’ve made the right choice with us, that for excellence in technology distribution along with a profound
they are valued and part of something extraordinary.” knowledge and awareness of digital development. “We play
Much of the company’s success comes down to people as a vital role in ensuring that the technology products everyone
much as to services, recruiting staff who can understand the uses are brought to life,” says Lawrence. “We are hugely focused
company vision of constantly making the supply chain easier, on digital in terms of driving efficiency and simplicity for our
adding value, ensuring marketing is targeted and relevant and customers, giving them extraordinary service every time.”
always driving innovation. www.exertis.co.uk
49
High-end head hunting

“Kynigos brings clients exceptional
executives who will make a significant
difference to their business”
Honor Pollok, Kynigos Partners
W hen Honor Pollok launched her own executive search

company in June 2020 she rationalised that, given
the global pandemic, she’d have a few quiet months to get
Despite the significant numbers of people involved in
every search, it remains an intensely personal process for
Pollok. “Clients rely on our judgement, so it is imperative to
established. Instead, Kynigos Partners sprang into life really understand them as people as well as appreciating their
immediately, with more business than she ever anticipated. organisational needs,” she says. “Plus, our clients and candidates,
Pollok set up her company after 16 years working in the by necessity, have to share a wealth of confidential and sensitive
executive search industry, and two decades in the media and commercial or personal data with us, so it is critical that they trust
entertainment sector. “I believed that there was an opportunity us. It is vital to build and maintain solid relationships throughout
in the market to offer a high-touch and diligent executive and beyond every search process – our reputation is everything.”
search service that would deliver outstanding results yet be Pollok is also clear that she has a role to play in advancing
tailored to meet each client’s individual needs,” she says. diversity and equality across her specialist industries. “It’s up
Her mission for the company – named after Kynigos, the Greek to us to cast the net as wide as possible,” she explains. “If we
word for hunter – is to find, assess and place candidates at executive don’t present a diverse shortlist, our clients can’t make a diverse
level across the media, entertainment, gaming and sports sectors. selection. Talent is our expertise and that must include talent
“Kynigos brings clients exceptional executives who will make from every possible source.”
a significant difference to their business,” she says. For every search She plans to build the business while maintaining her
project, Pollok and her team undertake a rigorous process of commitment to a high level of quality service. Pollok is delighted
research, referencing and sourcing, then Pollok utilises her decades that Kynigos’s spectacular start has proved her instincts
of experience and knowledge to assess qualified candidates before correct: staying true to her beliefs appears to have paid off.
bringing the client a select few to meet and ultimately appoint from. www.kynigos.partners
50
The science of big data

“Our lives will soon be governed by data
science, and it is critical we train and recruit
more women and people from different ethnic
and economic backgrounds. Without diverse
minds training the algorithms we create the
potential for disastrous results”
Natalie Cramp, Profusion
B efore becoming CEO of data consultancy firm Profusion,

Natalie Cramp’s varied career has included working for
the Mayor of London and the team delivering the London
organisation has access to certain data. Her ambition is to break
down these silos to improve understanding of key issues and
which interventions or investments would be most effective.
2012 Olympics and Paralympics. But a common thread has run Profusion recently launched its Data Academy to train the
throughout. “I wanted to solve problems,” she explains. “Particularly next generation of talent, with a focus on encouraging people
problems with social impact.” And it is her passion for innovation from diverse backgrounds into the industry and improving data
and problem-solving that makes her so excited about data, literacy. “Most aspects of our lives will soon be governed in some
describing it as a key tool in tackling the challenges of the future. way by data science,” says Cramp. “If we want this to reduce not
Natalie Cramp was appointed CEO of Profusion in 2019, reinforce bias, it is critical we train and recruit more women and
joining from the Careers & Enterprise Company. Profusion people from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. Without
uses data science to help organisations become more effective. diverse minds training the algorithms we create the potential
This could be by building algorithms to predict when customers for disastrous results. Without every member of our organisation
are most likely to buy, or using data models to personalise being data literate, we never truly harness data’s potential.”
communications. She is endlessly enthusiastic about the power The vision is for the academy to become the gold standard
of data and how businesses could put it to better use – and equally of data training. And Natalie’s ambitions for the rest of the
impassioned about Profusion’s commitment to bigger issues, business are just as big, from using data to tackle social issues,
both in the data industry and wider society. Since joining the to helping more companies transform their business. She is just
company, she set up Profusion Cares, a philanthropic foundation getting started but her driving force remains the same as ever –
offering data support to charities. She talks about the problems to solve problems and make people’s lives better.
with “data silos” in the third sector, where only one small www.profusion.com
51
An innovative education
“Our methods are structured to awaken
the godly attributes in people – common
to many historical traditions – so people
fulfil predominantly their beneficial potential”
Irina Childs, Integral Studies Academy
“
I would like to see a society where happiness, fraternity,
compassion and intelligence is the norm, and where godly
wisdom is an attribute awakened in all the leaders from all areas
said they now understand how knowledge fits into their lives.
This new philosophy of education is based on ancient wisdom.
According to the Indian Rigveda texts, knowledge is structured in
of society,” says Irina Childs (pictured, above), CEO of the consciousness. Our methods are structured to awaken the godly
London-based Integral Studies Academy (ISA), which works attributes in people – common to many historical traditions – so
to implement this new paradigm of education. people fulfil their beneficial potential, especially through the
Childs was born in Romania and moved to the UK in 1998. immense help that comes from God when people ask for it.”
She holds degrees in engineering, management and teaching, an She offers mentorship programmes where people receive
MSc and an MBA, teaches yoga, and worked for two decades in methods to become visionary leaders in their own fields. “ISA
consulting. She has published award-winning poetry and is an students are doctors, professors, psychologists, artists, managers
international best-selling author. Her beliefs and visionary ideas and entrepreneurs,” she says. “We show how godly qualities can
stem from ancient esoteric teachings which she has been be awakened, thus providing a direct path to the enlightened
acquiring for three decades. She founded the ISA in 2010, with consciousness, to infinite knowledge and ultimate truth.”
the aim of fundamentally transforming education’s intelligence Childs wants her ethos and methods to revolutionise the
process and the way it is offered, devising her curriculum education system and the way businesses are run. “At the
together with prestigious professors from around the world. academy, we want to hear from people who want to be the true
“We tested our methods at a large college in India, and visionary leaders of tomorrow,” she says, “from people ready to
the results were extraordinary,” she says. “Students showed undertake a complete and beneficial personal transformation
increased creativity and self-confidence, and they learnt about and from those who want to support our activities.”
science and spirituality. Students throughout our programme www.integralstudiesacademy.com
52
Club together
“The Joy Club is a place where members feel
seen. It reflects their energy and humour, and
it is a source of support and community”
Hannah Thomson, The Joy Club
T hroughout her illustrious career in tech start-ups, including

at Elvie, Hannah Thomson (pictured, above) always dreamed
of founding her own. Her lightbulb moment came when her
Women’s empowerment and equality are central to The Joy
Club’s ethos. Not only is it female-founded, it has a female board
chair and mainly female staff, while the majority of members
grandma Jean was diagnosed with dementia in 2015. “I observed – 93 per cent – are also women. “Awareness of financial
that, as she got more ill, more products, services and support inequality is a theme that threads across our company,” says
became available to her,” Thomson recalls. “Though much Thomson. “Just as there is a gender investment gap – only one
appreciated, this had the effect of prolonging the number of years per cent of venture capital funding goes to sole female founders
she lived in ill health. I know my adventurous granny would like me – so our members are facing a huge gender pension gap
much rather have prolongued the years she lived in good health, in the UK. If you happen to be a single woman in later life,
which focused me on extending healthy life expectancy for all.” you’re likely to have been dealt a bad financial hand.”
She began researching how she might do just that. “My key Within four months of launching, the club already had
finding was that budget is a huge barrier to healthy life expectancy, more than 2,000 members, ranging in age from 65 to 93
with a 19-year gap between the rich and the poor in the UK. (average age 73), and offerings include tai chi, Zumba, a choir,
And that gap is growing. My mission became to find a way to and expert talks. An ever-growing list of partners, from
enable people to afford a more active retirement.” The result was historic houses to spas, provide discounted products and
The Joy Club, which Thomson launched in December 2020, after activities. “One woman told me that ageing is a fight against
securing £1.1 million of investment. It works as a membership invisibility,” says Thomson. “The Joy Club is a place where
platform for retirees, offering free, discounted and money- members feel seen. It reflects their energy and humour, and
making activities, so that pension finance will stretch further, it is a source of support and community.”
and members can enjoy a more active and fulfilling retirement. www.thejoyclub.com
53
The law of
leadership
“Through our outsourced in-house counsel
model, we fully integrate with clients to
achieve their business objectives”
Emma Cleveland, Cleveland & Co
H ow do you lead the changes you want to see in an industry?

For Emma Cleveland (pictured, above), the answer was
clear: set up her own law firm. “I’d seen too many firms, large
The lack of diversity in law and financial services inspired
Emma Cleveland to create the firm’s progressive and
intersectional recruitment approach. “We look for people from
and small, paying huge legal fees for very average advice,” she different backgrounds and experience, personifying our values,”
says. “I wanted to make high-quality advice accessible, so that she says. “By leading by example and promoting family-friendly
firms don’t have to cut corners or fall foul of regulation.” policies, we attract some of the best minds in the business and
Born in 2012, Cleveland & Co specialises in the investment have created a global team of specialist leaders. I’m proud to
management sector, with clients ranging from boutique say we have a diverse, multi-lingual team with nationalities
investment firms to leading funds and banks. In under 10 years spanning five continents. Our non-hierarchical approach means
it has amassed approximately 200 global clients with assets all staff contribute to the firm’s corporate objectives, leading to
under management exceeding £8.7 trillion. The firm’s innovative high levels of staff engagement. This not only means that the
business model sets it apart. “Through our outsourced in-house team shape the firm of the future, but it also allows the firm to
counsel model, we fully integrate with clients to achieve their shape the leaders of the future. Additionally, our innovative and
business objectives as an extension of their teams,” says Emma agile infrastructure makes it easy to adapt and grow in changing
Cleveland. “We only offer transparent monthly retainer and conditions without disruption, which is invaluable to clients.”
fixed fees, making us unlike any law firm we know of.” What’s next for Cleveland & Co? “We’re opening
The firm takes a dynamic approach to recruitment alongside intercontinental hubs to cover the main financial jurisdictions
forward-thinking infrastructure and policies. A dynamic, around the clock,” says Emma Cleveland. “Our time zones may
adaptable and collaborative environment has resulted in the change, but we are still working together as one global team.”
firm achieving every milestone in its 10-year business plan. www.cleveland-co.com
54
Payment with heart

“I’d love to see KogoPAY Wallet or QR payments
as popular in Europe as they are in Asia – they are
cheaper to operate and more inclusive”
Dr Narisa Chauvidul-Aw, KogoPAY
D igital wallets and mobile payment methods have transformed

the banking world in recent years. Yet this has often
excluded people on the fringes of the economy – such as people
The company is currently working with several tech
specialists from Silicon Valley to integrate artificial intelligence
into the KogoPAY app. “KogoPAY connects everyone,” says
without bank accounts, or small traders without WiFi. Dr Narisa Dr Chauvidul-Aw (pictured, above). “From the transnational
Chauvidul-Aw, founder of KogoPAY, is looking to change that. executive issuing a funds transfer, confirmed and secured
“I want to combine business and my passion to help people,” through predictive intelligence, to the street merchant with
she says. “It’s why we devised an instant payment system for a QR code, we ensure that digital payments work simply.”
individuals and small businesses to make secure local payments Originally from Thailand, Dr Chauvidul-Aw studied for
and international transfers between Europe and Asia. I’d love to her compliance and information systems PhD at the London
see KogoPAY wallet or QR payments as popular in Europe as they School of Economics, going on to start ThaiSmile, a website
are in Asia – they are cheaper to operate and more inclusive.” and magazine about Thailand, and later gained the Financial
The payment system is being developed so that people can Conduct Authority’s Payment Institution licence and a European
use it to buy homeless people food and drink in advance in Electronic Money License. In 2019 she won a Women in Tech
cafes using the app. It means that homeless people who see award for best start-up, but her ambitions do not stop there.
the KogoPAY logo outside a cafe could come in and ask for “There is less use of cash and coins, which has accelerated other
food or drink which someone else has paid for. “I’m a big fan payment types,” she says. KogoPAY was due to be used at 500,000
of The Big Issue,” says Dr Chauvidul-Aw, “but sometimes people shops in Japan during the 2020 Olympics. Covid-19 might have
can’t buy it because they don’t have cash. Even people without postponed the games but make no doubt: even a pandemic will
bank accounts can use KogoPAY to pay for things using their not hold back KogoPAY.
smartphones, and vendors do not need a card machine.” www.kogopay.com
55
An asset to the community

“We are nimble and flexible, and our clients
can always speak directly to us. We want
to share our knowledge and our passion
with them”
Melissa Longley, Longley Asset Management
I n early 1975, when Melissa Longley, now CEO of Longley

Asset Management, was 11 years old, she wrote a letter to the
Queen to tell her about a piece of rock that she’d picked up in
“Longley provides a traditional service, but we’re forward-
looking, creative and modern thinking,” she says. “Everyone’s
doing it now, but we’ve been offering online meetings to clients
a disused Welsh goldmine during a family caravanning holiday. – some are overseas – for many years. We have always traded
“Right in the middle was a speck of glinting gold,” she recalls. online and specialise in providing investment services for US
“I suggested to the Queen that reopening the mine might solve expats living in the UK, who have complicated tax requirements.”
the economic challenges the country was facing at the time.” She is keen to support other women working in the City
Although Her Majesty didn’t decree the reopening of by mentoring, and is a longstanding member of City Women
the mine, that letter serves as a wonderful predictor of Network. She was vice chair of the women’s health charity,
Melissa’s entrepreneurial spirit, and of her future in portfolio Endometriosis UK, and is a founding trustee of the Investment
management. The reply from Buckingham Palace, and the Managers’ Charitable Trust. “We want to encourage more
rock, remain treasured possessions. After working her way young people to come into the industry and to look at it as
up from secretary for a merchant bank, to stockbroker at a career,” she says.
Lehman Brothers, to Director and Head of Advisory Fund As Longley is small, and without a heavy committee
Management at Kleinwort Benson, she now runs her own structure, it can offer a highly personalised, tailored service.
successful eponymous company, established in 2004. She is “We are nimble and flexible, and our clients can always speak
a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities directly to us,” says Melissa. “We want to share our knowledge
& Investment (CISI), and a founder member of the Guild of and our passion with them. It’s always delightful when we get
Investment Managers. Ballet has always been her passion; a referral, or are passed on to the next generation of a family.”
she still takes regular classes and exams. www.lamasset.com
56
Alternative therapy
“I want to help women who have
escaped or are escaping domestic
violence to learn new skills”
Annie Nicholson, Alternative Health
W hen she broke her thumb in January 2021, Annie

Nicholson was prescribed painkillers – but she found
that her body reacted against them. “I am allergic to a lot of
can access some of the alternative health methods that helped
Nicholson so much, including hypnotherapy, crystal therapy,
yoga, reiki and a technique called SCENAR, which sends
medicines, which has led me to seek alternatives,” she says. electronic impulses through the body and is used to treat pain.
To deal with the searing pain, she turned to a hypnotherapist. Nicholson has also seen the benefits of CBD oil, derived
Incredibly, the techniques Nicholson learned helped her to from the cannabis plant, which does not contain THC, the
completely block out the discomfort of her injury. psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis. “The treatment will
“Ever since I left an abusive relationship some years ago, focus on the whole body, bringing it back into balance,” she says.
I have battled post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and other There is a link between emotions and the physical body, she
ailments,” says Nicholson. But the relief she found from believes, and the retreat will focus on treating both together.
alternative practices, including reiki and yoga, encouraged Eventually, she hopes to own her own piece of land and host
her to bring their methods to others. At the same time, her the retreat there but initially she will rent a spot, choosing the
experience as a businesswoman, successfully leading businesses New Forest site because of its peaceful location set in nature.
from kitchen design to coffee, have given her skills that can While men do also experience domestic abuse, says
be passed on to others. “I want to pay it forward,” she says. Nicholson, the Alternative Health retreat will be just for
“I want to help women who have escaped or are escaping women as many female survivors do not initially feel safe
domestic violence to learn new skills.” around men. “I believe that everything is a learning experience,”
Her vision is a retreat in the New Forest that will serve as she says. “And I hope what I have learned can bring something
a safe space for women to recover from abusive relationships. positive to others.”
The women have accommodation in bell tents on the site and https: //alternativehealth.care
57
58
PATRONAGE AND SUPPORT
CHAPTER TWO
PATRONAGE
AND
SUPPORT
59
Devoted service
With every one of her royal patronages, The Queen instils
organisations and individuals with a sense of national identity,
unity and pride. Words by Robert Jobson
o
Below
A young Queen meets
T hroughout her long life The Queen has set a phenomenal
example when it comes to her patronages and charitable
support, making a huge difference to the lives of millions of
Royal Charter of 1751 with “the encouragement, advancement
and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities
and history of this and other countries”.
Cub Scouts at Windsor people throughout the country and the Commonwealth. It is Many other organisations have enjoyed a long history
Castle, 1953 fair to say Elizabeth II has done more for charity in the past of royal association too, helping some to become established
70 years than any other monarch in history. household names. They include such well-known names as
o Royal Patronage, the practice of the monarch and Cancer Research UK, the British Red Cross and Barnardo’s.
Opposite members of the Royal Family to lend their names and time The Queen is also Patron of the Mothers’ Union, a role that was
A portrait by Henry to organisations, is a custom that has existed since the 18th first held by Queen Victoria in 1898. It is fair to say The Queen’s
Ward, unveiled in 2016, century in Great Britain. The first recorded formal patronage patronage carries the most weight, and Her Majesty receives the
marking six decades of goes back to George II, who reigned from 1727–60, and his most requests for patronages of all the members of the Royal
The Queen’s patronage involvement with the Society of Antiquaries, an organisation Family. The monarch and her close family, as well as inheriting
to the British Red Cross concerned with architectural and art history, conservation and patronages from their predecessors, have taken the practice to
heraldry. Still going strong today, with The Queen’s first cousin, new highs. Today they support the work of organisations from
the Duke of Gloucester, as its royal patron, it is charged by its all walks of life such as faith, health, children, animals, arts and
culture, and business.
Queen Elizabeth inherited a large number of patronages
from her father, King George VI, on her Accession. The Queen
also inherited patronages from the late Queen Elizabeth The
Queen Mother and her late sister, Princess Margaret. At the age
of 95, she has started the process of handing over her roles to
some key patronages to the younger royals, such as her direct
heir Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, to ensure a smooth
transition of the Crown. Even so, Her Majesty is still royal
patron to more than 600 charities across the UK.
Those organisations lucky enough to receive royal patronage
are supported by regular royal visits to meet volunteers, with
events hosted at a royal residence to recognise and reward
achievement. Association with a high-profile member of the
Royal Family also helps to generate much needed income
and prestige.
The Queen is not only Head of State but also has a less
formal role as “Head of Nation” which means she acts as a focal
point for “national identity, unity and pride”. It means she gives
60
61
“Royal patronages generally reflect the interests

of the member of the Royal Family involved”
62
a sense of continuity and recognises success and excellence special Buckingham Palace garden parties in honour of many
while supporting the ideal of voluntary service. She therefore of these charitable organisations.
believes that investing time in her patronages is a vital part Royal patronages generally reflect the interests of the
of her contribution to national life as it encourages the public member of the Royal Family involved. The Duchess of Cornwall,
to contribute freely to society. Royal patronage of selected for example, is President of the National Osteoporosis Society.
organisations also helps to bolster different areas of public life Many of the Prince of Wales’s patronages stem from his passions
in the UK and across the Commonwealth, too. for the environment and the arts, while Prince William’s
o Although members of the Royal Family take on patronages involvement with the Centrepoint charity, a position once held
Opposite from their predecessors, they only very rarely support by his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, reflects his
The Queen greets completely new charities because of the vast commitments long-standing interest in homelessness and the people affected
an ex-serviceman at they already have. The majority of their patronages are of by it. The Duchess of Cambridge is particularly focused on
a garden party for The organisations based in the UK. That said, the long-established the issue of children’s mental health and supports the charity
Not Forgotten charity practice of patronage has proved a financial lifeline to many Place2Be. Royal support is of the utmost value to the chosen
organisations. During her lifetime Her Majesty has helped charity because it often stimulates considerable growth in
o to raise an estimated £1.6 billion for charitable causes – an financial backing from other supporters and increases media
Above incredible achievement. The monarch has tended to lend her interest and publicity.
Prince Charles visits support to charities that deal with community and civic issues; When the country commemorated Her Majesty’s landmark
an east London activity this makes up around 14 per cent of her charitable portfolio, 90th birthday in 2016 she agreed it should be celebrated
centre to meet the with training and educational causes coming a close second. with one of the biggest street parties Britain has ever seen.
homeless in his role as With the monarch leading the way, the extended Royal Family Appropriately her many charities were to be at the heart of that
President of Business supports thousands more charities in Britain alone, a figure celebration. The Patron’s Lunch, organised by The Queen’s
in the Community rising to almost 3,000 organisations globally. Her Majesty holds grandson Peter Phillips to showcase her role as patron of more
63
o than 600 national and Commonwealth organisations, was one of

Above the highlights of a weekend of events (held despite the inclement
The Duchess of weather) in June of that year to pay tribute to Her Majesty’s
Cambridge at a London lifetime achievements.
school as part of her The Queen and senior royals such as the Prince of Wales
patronage of mental also support excellence in business by issuing coveted royal
health charity Place2Be warrants. Many royal warrant holders have very long associations
with the Royal Family. A “Royal Warrant of Appointment”
o is a mark of recognition of those who have supplied goods
Right or services to the households of The Queen or the Prince of
The Queen and Princess Wales for at least five years, and who have an ongoing trading
Anne at an event held by arrangement; the late Duke of Edinburgh had granted royal
the Royal Warrant Holders warrants from 1956. The little crest that states, “By Appointment
Association in 2013. to...” is seen as the ultimate seal of approval. It is definitely
Among other works, it noticed, which makes it good for business, be it a Savile Row
showcased this figure of tailor, painting and decorating services or traditional makers
Zara Phillips on her horse of brooms.
King Henry II granted the earliest recorded English royal
warrant to the Weavers’ Company in 1155. A royal warrant
signifies a satisfactory trade relationship between the grantor
and the grantee, but it does not mean associated goods are
supplied to the royals for free. Currently, there are 850 companies
and individuals holding more than 1,100 royal warrants who are
entitled to display that coveted crest, including Barbour, Hunter
and Jaguar Land Rover. Royal warrants are awarded only to
tradespeople. The professions, employment agencies, the media,
government departments, pubs, restaurants and theatres do not
qualify. But being a member of the Royal Warrant Association,
formally established in 1840, carries with it heavy responsibilities.
Holders must exercise discretion and, like a restaurant that has
earned a Michelin star, must ultimately make it their duty to
maintain high standards.
64
“The Queen and senior royals also support excellence

in business by issuing coveted royal warrants”
65
Informative
technology
“The culture of Informed is to solve serious problems
in society, in business and in the environment in a way
that is supportive of people”
Elizabeth Vega OBE, Informed Solutions
“
W have always believed that technology needs to serve
people rather than people being controlled by technology,”
says Elizabeth Vega. Vega is Group CEO of Informed Solutions,
A second key area of expertise is sustainable land asset
management. In Scotland, its InformedINSIGHT open
standards-based data integration and analytics platform is
a company with 28 years of expertise in delivering large-scale used to deliver an innovative digital land register that provides
technology-enabled business solutions in both the public and a rich, comprehensive, geospatial representation of land.
private sectors. The platform was adapted for use in Australia, delivering the
The company prides itself on helping clients develop greater New South Wales government’s award-winning SEED (Sharing
operational resilience through designing and delivering the and Enabling Environmental Data) platform that provided a
digital transformation they need to thrive in today’s agile, single, trusted source for developers, research institutions and
connected world. Its innovative, adaptive approach drives citizens. Informed shaped the platform for NatureScot to design
digital transformation for globally recognised brands across a service that will enable stakeholders to use a common source
industry sectors including government, healthcare, civil defence, of environmental information, highlighting key sustainability
justice, emergency services, and environmental and sustainable issues for consideration ahead of land-development proposals
land management. “The culture of Informed is to solve serious and how these might impact vulnerable protected areas and
problems in society, in business and in the environment in a way local communities.
that supports and benefits people,” says Vega. The third area is effective community and citizen
This centres on three key areas that are highly relevant in engagement in a digital world. The Boundary Commission
today’s world. The first is an organisation’s ability to respond for England and the Local Government Boundary Commission
quickly and effectively in the face of crises and emergencies. for England use the InformedENGAGE digital-engagement
Informed Solutions has developed proactive emergency-response platform to deliver bold “digital first” approaches to citizen
capabilities through a digital platform that enables greater consultation and engagement at a regional and national scale.
preparedness, improved awareness, and more effective These innovations have been rewarded with numerous
decision-making using data-driven insights. leading awards including a Queen’s Award for Innovation
This approach saw the company contribute data analytics for its digital experience platforms and a prestigious Global
and reporting expertise that supported the NHS national ICT Excellence Award for Emerging Platforms at the World
patient safety team in managing and responding to the impacts IT Congress in India.
on patient safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another Founded in 1992, the company is headquartered in Altrincham
example is its InformedRESPONSE platform, developed in Cheshire, with other UK offices in London and Edinburgh,
specifically for major incident planning, which is used by as well as three offices in Australia, and it is determined to expand
the Home Office’s Incident Recording System for the UK’s fire at a rate that is sustainable for its staff. “We want to keep growing
and rescue services. This platform is also used by the National and to continue to be the best that we can be,” says Vega.
Police Coordination Centre to ensure seamless coordination of “We want to continue to enjoy that journey of growth and to
police mutual aid requests in times of need between nine police be open and optimistic about what the future holds for all of us.”
regions and 46 police forces. www.informed.com
66
67
Healthy statistics
“You have to make sure that these trials are cost effective.
Ultimately there is an ethical benefit when you are potentially
developing a new medicine for society”
Kevin Kane, Phastar
C linical trials have hit the headlines recently in the middle

of the coronavirus pandemic. The need to have an
effective vaccine and treatment for Covid-19 has shown how
it initially looked like the treatment wasn’t effective,” says
Kane. “But, when you really analysed the statistics, some
of the patients going into the trial were having fewer than
vital this work is – but it is not without its challenges. When six migraines a month. The treatment was actually very
a pharmaceutical or biotech company is developing a new effective for those having more frequent migraines.
medicine, it needs to design and plan clinical trials and That could have been missed without looking at the
then analyse the results. That’s when they turn to Phastar. data carefully.”
Phastar will start by calculating how many people are The fast growing company has its headquarters in
needed. “From an ethical point of view, you want to minimise London, with 10 other offices worldwide including in
the number of people, because there is a risk,” explains CEO the US, Australia and Kenya. With expansion into Asia in
Kevin Kane. “But, obviously, that risk has to be balanced with progress, the company is keeping abreast of new trends,
the need to get enough people involved to get a meaningful including increasing amounts of genetic data and data
result. You also have to make sure that these trials are cost from wearable technology, like heart-rate and brainwave
effective – a basic medical trial can cost as much as £500 million. monitors. Most recently, Phastar is researching a way of
Ultimately there is an ethical benefit when you are potentially showing coronavirus hotspots. These visualisations can
developing a new medicine for society.” also be used to identify patients who respond better to one
Once the trial is completed, the data must be collected, treatment than another. “At the heart of our approach is
cleaned and analysed by expert statisticians. Phastar uses a focus on recruiting and retraining top talent,” says Kane.
machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data visualisation “Do that, and the work follows.”
to bring the data to life. “I worked on a migraine study where www.phastar.com
68
Treating you right

“Precision medicine is all about the right patients
getting the right drugs. The bio-markers we identify
are crucial for positive clinical outcome”
Dr Alexandre Akoulitchev, Oxford Biodynamics Plc
I n the face of a global pandemic, one British company has

brought its expertise to the enormous task of discovering why
Covid-19 affects every victim differently, how patients respond
Biodynamics specialises in solutions that are both accurate and
speedy, with the complete process taking around five months.
“It’s infinitely complex,” says Dr Hunter, “but we have a robust
to certain therapies, and what drugs might help ease suffering. framework for identifying bio-markers and our expertise means
These are the latest challenges for Oxford Biodynamics, certain regions in the genome are now familiar to us.”
a pioneer in 3D genomics and technology that identifies each Oxford Biodynamics’ work on Covid-19 has brought a higher
person’s unique genetic makeup. What began as academic study profile, but also the challenge of increasing demand, particularly
has been put to practical use across the world in the diagnosis from the US. “We have already demonstrated what the technology
and treatment of diseases, from cancer to motor neurone disease, can achieve,” explains Dr Akoulitchev. “The commercial challenges
from arthritis to autism. “Precision medicine is all about the are next – product development, application to scale. We have to
right patients getting the right drugs,” says co-founder and Chief build ourselves to be fit for that.”
Scientific Officer Dr Alexandre Akoulitchev. “The bio-markers At the heart of the company is its desire to channel its
we identify are crucial for positive clinical outcomes.” technology to help as many patients as possible. “If we help
The company started in an Oxford lab and now has offices diagnose autism in children, that would be a very important
from the US to Malaysia and employs 35 staff. After early years breakthrough,” says Dr Akoulitchev. “On the other hand,
spent developing the technology for clinical trials, Dr Ewan immunotherapies now offer some cancer patients very dramatic
Hunter’s arrival as Chief Data Officer prompted a focus on recoveries, but unfortunately others don’t respond. Identifying
drug development and project-building. and helping them is very important. These are all conversations
Whether it is healthcare specialists requiring diagnosis tools we have with drug developers, but they rely on our insights.”
or bio-tech companies desiring patient stratification, Oxford www.oxfordbiodynamics.com
69
Thinking inside the box

“Our customers told us they wanted more efficient
machines, machines that were easier to use and machines
that incorporate smart technology”
Daniel Egerton, CarnaudMetalBox Engineering
T he world uses around 6,400 drinks cans per second,

many made by machines designed and manufactured by
Yorkshire-based CarnaudMetalbox Engineering. The company’s
Using these themes as guidance for innovation, engineers
and designers applied their thinking to the spraying-machine.
The results were impressive. “By using a different drive
history goes back to the 1850s, when it made machines for local mechanism we found a way to reduce electricity by 75 per cent
textile mills. Over time, focus shifted and it is now one of the so it only requires a quarter the energy it previously needed,”
world leaders in producing high-end, high-volume machines for says Egerton. “We also made it easier to use. Young operators
making the cans and tins we use each day. “The speeds are quite will be used to touch screens and tablets, so we designed it
phenomenal,” says Daniel Egerton, the firm’s head of technical. so you can interact with the machine via a tablet. And we then
“Our fastest machine can process 3,400 cans per minute. That’s found a way to make the machine use less lacquer, which makes
more than 50 cans per second.” it cheaper to run.”
Improving on such extraordinary speeds is not easy, This is the fourth time that CarnaudMetalbox Engineering
but CarnaudMetalbox Engineering won a Queen’s Award for has won the Queen’s Award, having previously won in 1986, 2010
Innovation in 2020 for a machine that has refined the process and 2014. Egerton highlights the importance of communication
of spraying the can interior with a protective lacquer. “We have when it comes to these successes, with innovation being driven
to differentiate from our competitors and we do this through by conversations with clients. The company has now started to
building strong personal relationships with our customers and receive funding from the government’s Innovate UK programme.
listening to what they want,” explains Egerton. “We listen very “That allows us to work with partners from outside the industry,
carefully and that guides our innovations. They told us they like universities,” says Egerton. It is something that could take
wanted more efficient machines that were easier to use and the company into even more innovative territory.
incorporated smart technology.” www.carnaudmetalboxengineering.co.uk
70
Innovating for cleaner energy

“We have taken a lot of carbon out of the system. We’ll continue using
our experience and revenue to invest in research and development as
we help make the energy industry cleaner and more efficient”
John Phipps MBE, Cokebusters Ltd
W hen John Phipps was searching for a catchy name for his
new company in 2005, he settled on Cokebusters for a very
particular reason. “We wanted a memorable name which might
fibre ‘Intelligent Pig’, which uses ultrasound to verify that the tube
wall is clean, but also gives the client detailed information about
any metallic degradation. It scans over 30,000 measurements per
even become a verb, so clients would ask ‘Can you cokebust our second, so it’s phenomenal technology.” The client can then see the
furnace?’” he explains. The plan worked and Cokebusters quickly condition of all process tubes, which massively reduces wastage
became a world leader in decoking and tube-inspection technology. when it comes to replacing degraded parts and allows them to
In 2018 the company received the Queen’s Award for Export and make informed plans for future maintenance. Crucially Cokebusters
Enterprise, with 95 per cent of its annual turnover coming from provides a fully integrated service. It designs and manufactures the
outside the UK. As well as headquarters in Chester, the company technology and machinery, executes the cleaning operation and
also has an office in Houston, Texas. Both employ approximately collects the coke safely for environmentally responsible disposal
40 people. and recycling by the client, before an inspection team produces
Of course, it took more than a snappy name to get this far. a comprehensive report on tube condition.
Cokebusters’ core business is the removal of the hard coke which In the old days this coke was simply blasted into the sky, but
builds up inside the tubes of furnaces as a by-product of the Cokebusters ensures that is no longer the case. “We have taken
refining process. Scraper “pigs” are driven through these tubes a lot of carbon out of the system,” says Phipps. “We are getting
under water pressure by bespoke pumping units. This process better all the time. We’ll continue using our experience and
cleans coke contamination from the inside of the tubes, allowing oil revenue to invest in research and development as we help make
to be refined more efficiently when the furnace returns to service. the energy industry cleaner and more efficient, develop export
“When we started the company, I designed and patented a new performance and create good quality employment opportunities.”
type of ‘Scraper Pig’,” says Phipps. “We also created the carbon- www.cokebusters.com
71
Secure by design
“Our customers tell us what they require and we work with them
to find bespoke solutions. Client feedback plays an integral part
of our R&D programme and allows us to stay ahead of the curve”
Shaun Anderson, Eskan
A ny company operating in international law enforcement

and security, where failure can have tragic real-world
consequences, needs to maintain the highest possible standards.
retired law enforcement, intelligence services and military
officers,” says Anderson. It takes place at Eskan’s purpose-built
training facilities at its state-of-the-art London headquarters and
And, for 30 years, Eskan’s development engineers have been also at offsite premises. Eskan’s technical engineers are also
working with law enforcement, intelligence services and military available to discuss clients’ protection and security requirements,
organisations worldwide to provide the most advanced and to provide a fully supported training package.
effective products available. That focus has helped drive Eskan The Eskan-Adrana 50 is typical of many of the products
to receive two prestigious Queen’s Awards in the past five years manufactured by Eskan in that it has been designed for a specific
– one in 2016 for International Trade and a second in 2020 for operational requirement. It is a purpose-built product that allows
Innovation. “The innovation award is for our Eskan-Adrana 50, those involved in hostage and crisis negotiation, including the
which is our hostage and crisis recorder system,” says Eskan’s victim communicator and negotiator, to monitor and record
Director Shaun Anderson. “It continues to be successfully securely. All Eskan products are highly reliable, robust and
deployed throughout the world and produces evidential quality practical to use. “Our customers tell us what they require and we
audio recordings of high-threat situations. It is a real asset to work with them to find bespoke solutions,” says Anderson. “Client
operational teams.” feedback plays an integral part of our ongoing R&D programme
Eskan specialises in designing and manufacturing covert and allows us to stay ahead of the curve in the continually evolving
surveillance, counter-surveillance and jamming equipment. It also technology arena.” Indeed, because of a customer request, there are
provides comprehensive training in two formats: product training already plans in place to further develop the Eskan-Adrana 50,
on Eskan equipment and related items, and skills training. “This something that will also benefit existing and future clients.
is structured and in-depth training provided by serving or recently www.eskan.com
72
Provenance with passion

“We have these very strong relationships with
farmers and then we try to find a way to consolidate
their products and sell them abroad”
Martin Black well, Direct Meats
I t takes a special sort of company to export pork to Dubai,

and it’s that sense of endeavour and ambition that has
seen Direct Meats in Colchester win a Queen’s Award for
the world and want access to great products that cannot be
sourced locally. The excellent reputation for British farming
methods helps open doors to new territories that don’t have
Enterprise in International Trade in 2020. The company was such high standards or expectations when it comes to taste,
founded 25 years ago by Martin Blackwell, who has a farming ethical production or sustainability.
background. Direct Meat sources high quality, sustainably- Blackwell encourages farmers to tell the story behind
farmed meat from British farmers, paying above market their products, and then asks chefs and retailers to relate
prices, butchering the animals and then selling the products these messages to the end user to help create a strong,
across the world. “We saw a gap in the market for great- durable brand. “People want to know about provenance,”
tasting products that have a story to them,” says Blackwell. he says. “We have these very strong relationships with
“It’s all about the uniqueness of the product and the integrity farmers and then we try to find a way to consolidate
of the methods as well as how good they taste.” their products and sell them abroad. At the same time,
Direct Meats export to around 20 countries, including we continue to invest in our facilities and training and
the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Hong Kong, Canada reducing our impact on the environment – so we have
and several Caribbean islands. The company only started a biomass burner to power our charcuterie plant. We have
exporting in 2015, but was able to build on 20 years of a very good reputation for food and it’s great to be able to
domestic experience as it moved overseas. Blackwell fly the flag for British produce. The Queen’s Award is
constantly seeks new markets and also leverages existing something that is recognised around the world and gives
relationships with chefs who were originally based in us added credibility.”
London but who now work at hotels on the other side of www.directmeats.co.uk
73
The best in show business

“In the exhibition world there is typically
a horrific amount of waste, which didn’t
sit well with us. We wanted to balance
people, planet and profit”
Sam Rowe, Ignition
“
S ustainability has always been at the heart of what we do,” says
Sam Rowe, CEO of Ignition, a creative agency specialising in
the bespoke design, management and delivery of events all over the
example, and putting together virtual offerings. “We were
reactive and are now being very proactive because we think
the world of exhibitions and events will be changed for a long
world. “In the exhibition world there is typically a horrific amount time,” says Rowe.
of waste, which didn’t sit well with us,” she says. “We founded Whatever its team of designers creates must be strategically
Ignition on the basis of balancing people, planet and profit.” “on brand” for the client, conveying key messages and objectives,
Founded in 2007, Ignition is a women-owned and women- as well as possessing aesthetic and practical value. This attention
led business, with offices in Bristol, UK and Indianapolis, to detail has helped to ensure that many clients have remained
USA. It creates bespoke, modular exhibitions using kits with Ignition since its launch, and it has never lost one. Staff,
that can be reconfigured and recycled in all sorts of different too, are carefully recruited, trained and nurtured.
formats, sizes and locations. These can then dismantled and In 2020, Ignition was one of just 19 UK companies to be
stored in its warehouse when not in use. “Some of our client awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable
kits have been going strong for 10 years,” says Rowe. “Not Development. It now aims to achieve its goal of zero waste
only is this sustainable, but it brings massive cost savings to landfill. It is currently working on a project to design a kit
– sometimes millions of dollars.” made from purely recycled and sustainable materials. Rowe
Ignition has expertise in highly regulated industries, such organises webinars for clients on sustainability. “We offer
as pharmaceuticals, aerospace and engineering, and would have quite a refreshing alternative to typical, traditional exhibition
been working at the 2020 Invictus Games (now delayed until companies,” she says. “We work differently. One of our clients
2021). Like so many businesses, Covid-19 has forced it to adapt, described us as ‘a breath of fresh air’.”
by providing smaller kits for its client to use as backdrops, for www.ignitiondg.com
74
Safe surveillance
“We are really proud of our end-to-end structure as it
means we can quickly respond to customers’ needs in
a way that other companies can’t”
Paul Elsey, Silent Sentinel
S ilent Sentinel is a UK designer and manufacturer of

advanced and highly modular surveillance camera systems,
providing end-to-end production of market-leading camera
but the core of the business is located in Stanstead Abbotts in
Hertfordshire which is where the company’s manufacturing,
engineering, research and development takes place. The
platforms which incorporate technologies such as thermal and company takes a particular pride in the end-to-end production
visible sensors. Founded by Paul Elsey in 2006, Silent Sentinel of its systems which allows them a degree of flexibility and
initially provided pan-and-tilt CCTV equipment for UK public responsiveness not usually afforded to larger companies.
spaces but soon moved into the realm of defence and security and The agility of this British SME has been demonstrated
began supplying high-precision thermal sensors designed with numerous times, notably during the Covid-19 pandemic in which
modularity in mind. Silent Sentinel’s in-house engineers were able to rapidly develop
“One of our USPs is being a true end-to-end manufacturer, and produce a thermal imaging system that is designed to detect
with in-house CAD (computer-assisted design) software, and elevated body temperature in order to help identify individuals
mechanical design capabilities through to our own CNC with this Covid-19 symptom. The system proved especially
(computer numerical control) machine company,” says founder popular for use in airports and offices around the world.
Elsey. “We have opened offices in Dubai and Florida as they are “We are really proud of our end-to-end structure as it means
both big markets for us, but the heart of the manufacturing will we can quickly respond to customers’ needs in a way that other
still remain in the UK.” companies can’t,” says Elsey. “We do all of our engineering and
In 2019 Silent Sentinel took Gold in the “Exporter of the manufacturing in-house which gives us guaranteed quality, a
Year” category at the SME National Business Awards, and in great level of flexibility, and an impressive history of exporting
2020 won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International products to over 50 countries across the globe.”
Trade. The company has recently opened international offices, www.silentsentinel.com
75
Regulatory reporting made easy

“Regulators rely on regulatory reporting to detect insider
dealing, rogue trading and systemic risk. We have developed
a deep testing method that checks all reported data”
Dario Crispini, Kaizen Reporting
T he Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the highest official UK

award for British businesses who excel at international trade,
innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity.
Crispini and Rennie set up the firm to work with the financial
industry, recognising the need for a different approach. “My
previous experience working for the regulator, and then within
Kaizen Reporting was thrilled to be awarded in the innovation industry, was invaluable in developing Kaizen’s unique approach to
category in 2017, in honour of how it has transformed the testing testing,” he says. “Firms were previously testing only samples of
of regulatory reporting since Kaizen took on that challenge in 2013. data in a superficial way which did not give the full picture of their
“Regulatory trade and transaction reporting have become ever reporting quality. Using the latest data-processing methodologies
more vital since the 2008 financial crisis,” says the CEO of Kaizen we have developed a deep testing method that checks all reported
Reporting, Dario Crispini (pictured above, right, with business data, adding value both to clients and regulators.”
partner Ian Rennie, left). “Regulators rely on it to detect insider Financial firms are increasingly aware of the benefits of
dealing, rogue trading and systemic risk.” New regulations are outsourcing to an expert, which include lower costs and improved
constantly being introduced but many financial firms consistently data quality. Kaizen has a team of best-in-class regulatory and data
fail to meet expectations on reporting quality, which has resulted specialists and has recruited a number of young people, from school
in multi-million-pound fines and costly bills to fix the errors. leavers to graduates, providing them with training and an invaluable
Kaizen has solved this problem by developing a new approach to skillset which benefits the company and their professional
testing firms’ regulatory reports through its testing platform development. “We were all delighted and honoured to win the
ReportShield. It represents a major breakthrough for firms and Queen’s Award,” says Crispini. “It made all the hard work and
regulators alike because it can fully assess reporting quality, dedication in developing ReportShield worthwhile and inspires
and where quality falls short, ReportShield identifies those us to ensure reporting will constantly improve.”
shortcomings so firms can address them. www.kaizenreporting.com
76
“I know of no single formula for

success. But over the years I have
observed that some attributes of
leadership are universal and are often
about finding ways of encouraging
people to combine their efforts, their
talents, their insights, their enthusiasm
and their inspiration to work together”
Queen Elizabeth II
77
78
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
CHAPTER THREE
QUEEN
AND
COUNTRY
79
80
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
The Queen’s speech

An annual ceremony that dates back more than
300 years, the State Opening of Parliament sees the
monarch navigate a baffling ceremony of Black Rods,
white wands and MPs being taken hostage
O n the wall of the corridor leading from the Central Lobby

of the Houses of Parliament to the House of Commons
Chamber hangs a painting entitled “The Lords and Commons
presenting the Crown to William and Mary in the Banqueting
House, 1688” by Edward Matthew Ward (1867). The painting not
only depicts the presentation of the Crown to the new king and
queen but also a figure reading aloud to them the Declaration of
Rights, established after the so-called Glorious Revolution of
1688. This declaration codified, among other things, that William
and Mary’s rule was bound by the statutes of parliament. It is
no surprise then that Ward has rendered them both, Mary in
particular, as looking a little crestfallen.
This point in history neither marked the beginning of the
ritual of the State Opening of Parliament nor the arrival of the
annual tradition that occurred once again this year, as Queen
Elizabeth II delivered her speech at the beginning of the 2021
parliamentary session (the interval between elections is what is
technically termed “a parliament”, and these are comprised of
several sessions typically lasting a year). What the painting
underlines is the relationship between monarch and parliament
that survives to this day. We see The Queen open parliament,
and give a speech detailing what her government intends to
deliver. But the speech is composed by the government, which
determines what the speech contains. The government and
parliament act in the name of The Queen, but political power
in the UK resides with them, not her.
As with a great deal of activity, custom and practice in the
Houses of Parliament, there is no definitive date for the first State
Opening of Parliament, but it is believed to have evolved from the
81
attendance of earlier monarchs, particularly Henry VIII, at the preceded by a mass at Westminster Abbey, but concerns about
commencement of a parliament and evolved as the sovereign assassination attempts on King Charles II led to this being
began to take more of a back seat in parliamentary affairs. (This abandoned. Moreover, the sovereign no longer arrives by barge
was not a linear process – King Charles I did not call a parliament procession along the Thames, as they did until the 17th century.
for a decade. But look what happened to him.) An example of a However, it remains the case that an official search of the Palace
State Opening by Elizabeth I in the 16th century is found in the of Westminster’s cellars takes place every year before the State
writings of Sir Simonds D’Ewes: “On Monday, 2 April 1571, the Opening, as a reminder of the Gunpowder Plot of November
Parliament beginning, the Queen’s Highness, our most gracious 1605. In 1682 Sir Christopher Wren was ordered “forthwith to
Sovereign, the Lady Elizabeth, about eleven of the clock, left her cleer and cause to be cleered the Sellars & vaultes under and
palace at Whitehall. And thus she made her ancient, accustomed, neer adjoyning the house of Peers, Painted Chamber & Court
most honourable passage along the road towards Westminster, of Requests of all Timber, firewood, coales & other materialls
First appeared Her Majesty’s guard of state; and then, attended by of what kind soever and that passages be made throughout...
heralds, pursuivants, and trumpeters, the ministers of justice, of & hightes be opened where they may that Gardes may passe
religion and of government followed in solemn order, one after throughout the day or night”.
another ... and the officers of royalty bearing the Great Seal of Another tradition with its roots in the safe passage and
England, the gilt Rod of Royal State, the golden-sheathed security of the sovereign is the taking hostage in Buckingham
Sword and the jewelled Cap of Maintenance, all vested in their Palace of a Member of Parliament, who is released when The
Parliament robes, mantles, circots and hoods.” As we shall see, Queen returns safely. This practice originates in the tumultuous
the ritual of the State Opening of Parliament has not changed relationship between King Charles I and his parliament. The
so very much since that account was written. “hostage” is normally a junior whip – the Vice-Chamberlain
Since the time of Queen Elizabeth I, some traditions of the of the Household, who is ex officio a member of the royal
State Opening have fallen by the wayside. Until 1679, it was household. This MP will be collected by another whip who
“An official search of the Palace of Westminster’s

cellars takes place every year before the State Opening,
a reminder of the Gunpowder Plot of November 1605”
o
Previous pages
The Queen and Prince
Charles at the 2019 State
Opening of Parliament
o
Right
The Yeomen of the Guard
search the vaults under
parliament before the
1952 State Opening
o
Opposite
An illustration of scenes
from the reign of Queen
Victoria, including two
of her at State Openings
of Parliament
82
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
83
o o
Above Opposite
The Queen leaves the King Edward VII passes
palace in the Irish State through the Sovereign’s
Coach on her way to the Entrance at the 1903
State Opening State Opening
84
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
departs with The Queen for the palace after the ceremony. boxmen on the coaches, also acting as ceremonial bodyguards of
One remembers seeing Keith Hill, then the MP for Streatham The Queen and guards of the regalia. The royal procession makes
and a junior whip in the Blair government, waving joyously from its way along The Mall, through Horse Guards Parade, down
a royal carriage, grinning from ear to ear, in full morning dress Whitehall and Parliament Street. All along the route, members
with a top hat slightly too large for him perched on his head. of the Armed Forces present arms as the royal party passes.
The State Opening of Parliament as we now know it has The procession arrives at the Palace of Westminster at
remained relatively unchanged since 1852, when the new Palace 11.15am. The Queen enters through the Sovereign’s Entrance
of Westminster was opened (the previous Palace had been under the Victoria Tower, at the opposite end of the palace to the
destroyed by fire in 1834) and Queen Victoria travelled to Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, where she is met by the
Westminster. The route used by The Queen today is identical. Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain. The Union Flag
Two coaches have been used since Victoria’s day to transport is lowered from the top of the Victoria Tower and the Royal
the monarch to the ceremony: the Gold State Coach was used by Standard raised. At the same time telephone messages enable gun
Victoria from 1852 to 1861. After that date, she switched to the salutes to be fired by the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery
Irish State Coach, due to the death of Prince Albert. Edward VII in Hyde Park and by the Honourable Artillery Company at the
resumed the use of the Gold State Coach, but after the Second Tower of London. The Queen ascends to the Norman Porch, the
World War, the Irish State Coach became the regular coach used staircase being lined by members of the Household Calvary. Her
for State Openings, and remains so today. procession is preceded by the Lord Great Chamberlain, holding
The ceremony for a contemporary State Opening of his white wand. At the top of the staircase The Queen enters the
Parliament begins just before 11am, when members of the Robing Room. Here, she would normally don the Imperial State
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment lead the procession from Crown, but this practice ceased in 2016 as she had begun to find it
Buckingham Palace. The Queen travels in the Irish State Coach too heavy. (She now wears the lighter Diamond Diadem.) She does,
and a coach carrying the royal regalia – the Imperial State Crown, however, put on the traditional ceremonial robes before making
the Cap of Maintenance and Sword of State – accompanies her. her way to the Royal Gallery, preceded by the Sword of State and
The sovereign’s Bargemaster and four Royal Watermen serve as the Cap of Maintenance, symbols of royal power. The Queen is
85
attended by various members of the royal household. These are to this day. This means that the last Lord Chancellor to actually
a colourfully named cast of characters: in 2009 for example, be a member of the Lords was Lord Falconer. Since 2007 the
they included the Knights Pursuivant – Fitzalan Pursuivant position of Lord Chancellor has been held by a member of the
Extraordinary, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant and Bluemantle House of Commons, all of whom have had to master the art of
Pursuivant – the Heralds of Arundel, Wales, Norfolk, Maltravers, stepping backwards down the steps of The Queen’s throne after
Somerset, Windsor, Lancaster, York and Richmond, Kings of they have given her the text of her speech.
Arms, Serjeants at Arms, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord President With her retinue, The Queen travels through the Royal
of the Council, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Speaker and Gallery, a large chamber that serves as a processional path for
of course The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, also known as state openings with seats for over 600 specially invited guests, and
o Black Rod. Many of these roles are unsurprisingly hundreds of enters the House of Lords. The Queen takes her seat in the throne
Above years old. But some are newer, specifically that of Lord Speaker, at the southern end of the Lords Chamber at about 11.30am.
Her Majesty returns to a post that has only existed since 2006. As The Queen enters the Chamber, Members of the House of
Buckingham Palace, via The role of the Lord High Chancellor dates back to at Lords rise, respectively bowing and curtseying as The Queen
The Mall, after the 2014 least 1066, and nominally is the highest of the offices of state, proceeds to the throne. On reaching the throne, The Queen faces
State Opening outranking even the prime minister (although not in practice). the Chamber and bows to the assembly. The members of the
Until 2006, the Lord Chancellor was the presiding officer of Lords again bow and curtsey in response. Her Majesty then says,
o the House of Lords and the head of the Judiciary, but the “My Lords, pray be seated”.
Opposite Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 devolved these duties to the The Queen’s Speech is delivered before members of both
The Queen no longer Lord Speaker, the Lord Chief Justice and the Chancellor of the Houses, ambassadors, envoys and clerks of both Houses. Peers
wears the heavy Imperial High Court. The title of Lord Chancellor was initially going to be and judges are in robes and the Royal Gallery and Strangers’
State Crown, preferring abolished, but was ultimately transferred to a member of Cabinet Galleries are packed with spectators. The atmosphere is initially
the lighter Diamond – originally the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, and one of pomp and pageantry, feeling of an age long passed, and
Diadem of 1820 subsequently to the Secretary of State for Justice where it remains the sight of all the peers in their fur-lined robes (the only day
86
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
87
88
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“A spectator in the Lords public gallery would see the jewels

on the Imperial State Crown atop The Queen’s head, from
which thin beams of light seem to dazzle the entire chamber”
during the year when these are worn) only adds to this sensation. opposite end of the Lords Chamber to The Queen, Black Rod
A spectator in the Lords public gallery would see the jewels on bows, turns about and heads to the Commons preceded by
the Imperial State Crown atop The Queen’s head, from which two police officers and a doorkeeper of the House of Lords.
thin beams of light seem to dazzle and illuminate the entire On arriving at the entrance to the House of Commons a
chamber. These jewels include the ruby worn by Henry V at famous ritual takes place. The door to the Commons Chamber is
Agincourt and the sapphire of Edward the Confessor. It is as if slammed in his face by the Serjeant at Arms – head of security in
pure, concentrated royal history is being beamed into one’s eye. the Commons – to assert the independence of the Commons. The
While this process is taking place in the House of Lords, the door is opened when Black Rod strikes the door three times with
Members of Parliament have assembled in their own House of the ebony staff of office. Or at least, that is the common belief.
Commons. On assembling, they are addressed by the Speaker Aileen Walker, writing for the Hansard Society, discovered this
of the House of Commons and an obscure and symbolic piece of passage in Erskine May, the comprehensive guide to Commons o
business takes place. It happens very quickly, and generally goes procedure: “When Black Rod attends the Commons, on this or Opposite
unnoticed, but a Bill, typically the Outlawries Bill, receives its another occasion, it is customary that the door is shut in his The Queen makes her
first reading. This action symbolises the fact that the Commons face, and he is admitted only after he has knocked three times. speech from the throne
has the right to debate and conduct business without the express Successive Speakers have ruled that this custom is to allow the of the House of Lords, in
say-so of the sovereign. With wonderful parliamentary perversity, Commons to establish Black Rod’s identity rather than being, as front of peers wearing
the Bill is never printed and never makes any further progress. is often supposed, a direct assertion of that House’s right to deny ermine robes
Interestingly, this practice dates back to 1558, before the Civil Black Rod’s entry.” If this is the reason, it would not be the first
War, and the Outlawries Bill has been introduced every year since time that a widely accepted and oft-repeated explanation about o
1727 (with a brief two-year hiatus in 1741 and 1742). business in the Houses of Parliament turned out to be untrue. Above
When The Queen bids the company in the Lords to be seated, After being admitted, Black Rod bows at the Bar of the House Sarah Clarke, the first
the Lord Great Chamberlain raises the white wand to signify to of Commons (represented by a white stripe on the floor) and woman to serve as Black
Black Rod The Queen’s command to the House of Commons. advances to the Table of the House. He announces: “The Queen Rod, walks through the
From their position at the Bar of the House of Lords, at the commands this honourable House to attend Her Majesty Norman Porch in 2019
89
o
Right
Speaker of the House
of Commons Lindsay
Hoyle walks behind
the Mace, 2019
immediately in the House of Peers.” At this point, until 2019,

a well-known unofficial tradition took place as the former MP
for Bolsover, Dennis Skinner, would make a remark from his seat.
In 1992, he infamously shouted: “Tell her to pay her taxes!” (The
Queen did indeed begin paying taxes voluntarily the following
year). Other heckles by Skinner included: “Get your skates on,
first race is half past two” in 2017 (a reference to The Queen’s
attendance at Ascot later that day), “Royal Mail for sale; Queen’s
head privatised” (following the privatisation of the Royal Mail
that year) and “Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?” in 2006
(a reference to the film The Queen, which was released that year).
It is not clear whether another member will take up this tradition
now Skinner is no longer an MP.
The Speaker and the Serjeant at Arms, with mace in hand,
then lead the prime minister and the leader of the opposition to
the House of Lords. Members of the Commons follow on in a
deliberately informal manner, chatting and walking out of step.
The Globe newspaper criticised them in 1901 for taking this too
far and behaving like “a rampant mob”. There is not sufficient
space for all the MPs so a group of representatives stands at the
back behind the Bar of the House of Lords to hear The Queen
deliver the speech. On arrival at the Bar of the House of Lords the
five principal members of the procession, including the prime
minister and the leader of the opposition, bow to the throne.
There is not enough room for all MPs, indeed most will not make
it inside the Chamber at all. Seats are allocated for members who
wish to sit there, in front of the north gallery of the chamber.
The Queen’s Speech is now read. This speech is not written
by The Queen or her staff, but by the government of the day. Its
contents remain secret to those outside government up until this
point. The official copy is brought to the State Opening by the
Lord Chancellor. When the Speaker of the Commons has arrived
at the Bar, the Lord Chancellor ascends the steps to the throne.
He kneels and delivers the speech to The Queen. He retires
backwards down the steps and stands to the left of the throne.
The speech always begins: “My Lords and Members of
the House of Commons”, and may refer to forthcoming
meetings between heads of state and to any royal visits that
are planned. It then outlines the government programme for
the session. The authorship of The Queen’s Speech by the
government of the day is very clear if we compare the language
used. For example, in the speech given at the State Opening of
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
o
Left
Her Majesty reads the
2019 Queen’s Speech,
accompanied by her son
Prince Charles
parliament in 1997, the first year of the government of Tony

Blair, we find: “My government have pledged to mount a
fundamental attack upon youth and long-term unemployment
and will take early steps to implement a welfare-to-work
programme to tackle unemployment, financed by a levy on the
excess profits of the privatised utilities which will be brought
forward in an early Budget.”
In the speech given at the State Opening in 2013, the fourth
year of David Cameron’s administration, we see the same
formality of tone, but a definite shift in import: “My government’s
first priority is to strengthen Britain’s economic competitiveness.
To this end, it will support the growth of the private sector and
the creation of more jobs and opportunities. My ministers will
continue to prioritise measures that reduce the deficit, ensuring
interest rates are kept low for home owners and businesses.
My government is committed to building an economy where
people who work hard are properly rewarded.”
And of course, the Speech will highlight new government
priorities. From the State Opening of 2019 following Boris
Johnson’s re-election as prime minister: “My ministers will work
to implement new regimes for fisheries, agriculture and trade,
seizing the opportunities that arise from leaving the European
Union. An immigration Bill, ending free movement, will lay the
foundation for a fair, modern and global immigration system.”
It is customary that The Queen’s Speech is delivered without
interruption. However, this custom was dramatically breached
in 1998, when her speech announced the government’s intention
to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords. This was
recorded by Emma Crewe in her 2005 book Lords of Parliament.
“Assembled peers and bishops, enrobed and seated, and MPs
standing squashed together at the bar of the House, listened with
customary respect, until she announced the hereditary peers’
eviction,” wrote Crewe. “Labour MPs murmured ‘Hear, hear’.
The Queen appeared shocked; interruption was unprecedented.
Peers growled ‘Shame, shame’ in response. It was a jolt for many
of the hereditaries.” This breach of customary good behaviour
has not been repeated since.
Once Her Majesty has finished her speech, the Lord
Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal move in front of the
throne and bow to The Queen, who then rises from the throne.
93
She bows to the Lords and Commons and the procession returns empowered by The Queen. The Lord Chancellor (Viscount
in the same order as before to the Robing Room. There The Kilmuir in 1959 and Lord Dilhorne in 1963) read The Queen’s
Queen removes the ceremonial robes. She leaves the Sovereign’s Speech on those occasions.
Entrance of the Palace of Westminster, and, with those in The Queen has also attended “dressed-down state openings”
attendance, returns to Buckingham Palace the way she came. – these took place in March 1974, in 2017 and in 2019. In March
Following the State Opening, the government’s programme is 1974, due to the calling of a snap election by Edward Heath, The
debated by both Houses. Under the official motion that the House Queen had to cut short a tour of Australia at short notice to open
send an address to The Queen thanking her for the speech, the parliament – the only time The Queen has ever abandoned an
Commons debate government policy over the subsequent few official foreign trip. The Queen wore a purple dress and hat and
days. There have been some adjustments to modernity. On two arrived in a car, rather than the Irish State Coach. During the
occasions, The Queen did not take part in the State Opening as 2017 dressed-down State Opening, The Queen’s day dress startled
she was pregnant. The first, in 1959, was when she was expecting and intrigued spectators – it was a splendid purple-blue, with a
Prince Andrew, and on the second occasion, in 1963, she was matching hat dotted with yellow flowers. Was it, some speculated,
expecting Prince Edward. Those two sessions were opened by an echo of the EU flag, perhaps indicating The Queen was a secret
Lords Commissioners, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury remainer? We shall never know.
(Geoffrey Fisher in 1959 and Michael Ramsey in 1963), In 2021, a similar dressed-down opening took place due
to restrictions introduced because of Covid-19. The Queen
attended once again in day dress (on this occasion, a lilac day
dress and hat). The Imperial State Crown was carried in front
of The Queen alongside the Sword of State and Cap of
Maintenance. The Queen arrived at Westminster by car and
there was no military escort for this procession. Heralds and
Officers of Arms did not attend. Only 108 people attended the
event and MPs and members of the House of Lords had to wear
masks and have a negative Covid test beforehand. The Prince
of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who accompanied
The Queen, also wore masks throughout. It must have been a
poignant as well as a surreal experience for Her Majesty, as it
was the first Queen’s Speech she had delivered after the passing
of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. He had traditionally
accompanied her to the ceremony, taking the smaller throne o
to her side. Left
It is extraordinary that the State Opening of Parliament, The Queen in 2017,
with its pomp and ceremony wrapping up a serious import that wearing a blue hat with
goes to the heart of UK governance, has continued in a form yellow stars that, for some,
that would be broadly recognisable to someone who attended resembled an EU flag
in the late 16th century. Despite its somewhat eccentric
appearance to some eyes, the State Opening is an impressive o
spectacle that renders in ceremony the relationship between Above
Crown, the judiciary and the legislature in a manner that Her Majesty makes her way
ultimately underlines the primacy of our parliamentary system through the Norman Porch
of government. after her 2015 speech
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“It is extraordinary that the pomp and ceremony of the State

Opening of Parliament has continued in a form that would be
recognisable to someone who attended in the late 16th century”
95
Crown and government

Britain’s unwritten constitution has established a complex relationship
between the Crown, parliament and government, with unique precedents
that include The Queen’s weekly audience with her prime minister
o
Below
The Queen entertains
T he Queen is the head of state of the United Kingdom, but
unlike, say, the President of the United States, she must
remain strictly neutral in political matters. She does not vote
between Tony Blair and Her Majesty in the immediate aftermath
of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. This dynamic clearly
fascinated Morgan, who dug back into recent history in The
Prime Minister Tony Blair or stand for election, but she does have a clear ceremonial Audience to explore the relationship between The Queen and the
at Buckingham Palace, and formal role in the government of the UK. The “Crown in prime ministers of her reign – at the time, Winston Churchill,
May 2002 Parliament” consists of the sovereign, the House of Lords and Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold
the House of Commons. Key aspects of The Queen’s role in Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher,
o the governance of the United Kingdom are highly visible, such John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Opposite as the State Opening of Parliament, or the role of the sovereign “I started thinking more about the sovereign and the PM – and
Her Majesty arrives at in granting Royal Assent to the Bills passed by parliament. the weekly ‘audience’ at the heart of their relationship, and what
the 1998 State Opening However, The Queen also has a special relationship with the a unique opportunity it presented a dramatist,” said Morgan.
of Parliament in the Irish prime minister, retaining the right to appoint them and also “Because the meeting is so shrouded in confidentiality, imagining
State Coach meeting them on a regular basis. what was discussed felt more valid, somehow, than proving it.
On 15 February 2013, the play The Audience by Peter Morgan I resolved, as far back as 2006, to write something.”
premiered at the Gielgud Theatre in London. Morgan had written This “something” became The Audience, and subsequently
the screenplay for the 2006 film The Queen (which won Helen evolved into the enormously popular Netflix TV series, The
Mirren the Oscar for Best Actress), centring on the relationship Crown. Morgan’s fascination with this unique relationship
between the monarch and the head of the government clearly
had resonance with the public, both in the UK and abroad.
As Morgan says, it is ripe territory for a dramatist. The audience
between The Queen and her prime ministers is a much more
clandestine affair than her other constitutional roles. The
audience takes place weekly and has done so throughout her
reign. It is held in a specific room dedicated for the purpose in
her apartments and is entirely private – no minutes are taken,
nor recordings are made. The Queen must remain politically
neutral in all matters, which is crucial to her constitutional role
but she is able to “advise and warn” her ministers and the forum
where this takes place is that weekly audience.
The audience with The Queen is, in historical terms, relatively
new and seems to have evolved shortly before Queen Elizabeth II
ascended to the throne. “I am not wholly clear when they began,”
wrote constitutional expert Vernon Bogdanor in a letter to
Morgan. “I do not think they existed before the war. But, during
the war, the practice arose of the king and Churchill meeting for
regular lunches. That was a consequence of the particularly good
relationship they had built up – after a shaky start. The regular
meetings have now become so much of a convention they could
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
97
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“King Edward I felt that the calling of parliaments was

a means of unifying his subjects and avoiding rebellions”
be regarded as part of the constitution – in a typically British England was of course a long way away from any kind of
unplanned way. Were either the PM or the sovereign to representative democracy at this point, but the pattern of the
discontinue them, this would, I think, be regarded as a breach.” sovereign seeking the consent of parliament for their actions
These weekly meetings are the latest development of the story and employing ministers to deal with the problems facing the
of the crucial relationship the sovereign has with her ministers kingdom had been established. From the 14th century to the
and all those representing the populace, a story that begins with 16th century, a succession of kings and queens had to negotiate
the earliest parliaments of the 1200s. Even as early as the Anglo- the exercise of their power in consultation with parliament,
Saxon period, the notion that the sovereign needed to take heed particularly with regard to the raising of taxes to pay for state
of the views of prominent figures such as senior clergy and projects or to wage war. The principle of parliament being
landowners was established. This crystallised into a parliament responsible for the raising of taxation had been established in
as we might understand it under Simon de Montfort in 1264. Magna Carta and became one of parliament’s central functions,
Although the de Montfort parliament was short lived, and de a role which survives to this day. Those who participated in o
Montfort himself was captured and killed by forces loyal to King these parliaments varied according to the business they had to Opposite
Henry III the following year, the practice of calling a parliament deal with. When taxation matters had to be decided, knights An etching depicting
was established and it is believed that the de Montfort parliament and burgesses were summoned alongside the nobility and the King John authorising
was the template for the Model Parliament of Edward I of 1295. senior clergy. If the sovereign were seeking advice, they often Magna Carta in 1215
Edward felt that the calling of parliaments was a means of only summoned the nobility and the clergy, with knights of the
unifying his subjects and avoiding rebellions. He instigated a shires involved occasionally. It was not until the mid-14th century o
system whereby his subjects could submit petitions to parliament that representatives of the shires and the boroughs took part in Above
setting out their grievances, and this function survives in all sittings of parliament. An artist's impression of
parliament to this day. Accordingly, Edward employed more Many of the aspects of parliament we recognise today King Edward convening
ministers to deal with the challenges of these petitions. solidified during the Tudor period – monarchs began the practice his parliament, c. 1295
99
of opening and closing parliament, the monarch ceased to sit the basis of the (unwritten) English constitution. Monarchs
in either the Commons or the Lords, the role of Speaker of became more dependent upon parliament to raise taxes and
the House of Commons was introduced and, perhaps most pursue their favoured policies, while the House of Commons
importantly, the legislative process of both Houses scrutinising grew to be more dominant than the House of Lords. It is during
and presenting Bills to the sovereign began in earnest. When a the early 18th century where we last see a monarch refusing Royal
Bill became law, it now had the approval of the sovereign, the Assent to a Bill, the Scottish Militia Bill. Queen Anne refused
Lords and the Commons. It was also during this period that assent to this Bill but even on this occasion it was on the advice
parliament became bolder, frequently criticising and challenging of her ministers, who feared the creation of a Scottish militia
the monarch. The tensions between the views and ideas of those given the impending arrival of a French expeditionary force in
in parliament and the will of the sovereign set the scene for the Scotland to support a Jacobite uprising. The new constitutional
English Civil War, amplified by the struggle between Catholics arrangements between queen and parliament paved the way for
o and Protestants for religious dominance of the kingdom. The a system where a single politician led the way in parliament on
Above Civil War by no means secured the ascendancy of parliament – behalf of the monarch. This was to become the role of the prime
A Dutch print showing Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, famously shut the whole thing minister. The title “prime minister” was originally a term of
Oliver Cromwell dissolving down – but the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688, later in the abuse rather than the name of an official role as it implied that
parliament in 1653 century, laid the foundations for the constitutional monarchy of an individual had risen improperly above others within the royal
the United Kingdom whereby the monarch was subject to the circle. When Robert Harley, a favourite of Queen Anne, was
o decisions and the rulings of parliament. impeached in 1715, one of the charges against him was that he
Opposite The power of the sovereign in directing affairs of state did was a “prime minister”. The prevailing view at the time was that
Queen Anne, the last not disappear overnight. In the 18th and 19th centuries there was monarchs should be their own prime ministers.
monarch to refuse a significant personal role for the king or queen, who might have The historian AJP Taylor wrote that Sir Robert Walpole was
Royal Assent to a Bill in had to choose between various factions within a political party. “as much the first modern Prime Minister we should recognise
parliament. Painting by However, the Glorious Revolution underpinned and codified a as Adam was the first man”. Walpole became the dominant figure
William Wissing c. 1683 new relationship between the sovereign and parliament, forming in government from around 1730, and his ability to progress the
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102
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“During the 20th century, the role of the sovereign

in the affairs of government has diminished and
political parties have developed mechanisms to
select their own leaders”
king’s business through parliament ensured the support of The Queen waited until the incumbent had tried and failed to
George I and, from 1727, George II. Their backing enabled form a parliamentary deal to ensure a majority, and then accepted
Walpole to influence official appointments and gave him the recommendation of the outgoing incumbent (in 1974, Ted
access to money, both of which could be traded for support Heath and, in 2010, Gordon Brown) to appoint the leader of the
in parliament. However, the idea of an official office of prime opposition to become the new prime minister.
minister remained taboo. In 1741 when the nature of his The Institute of Government sums up what happens in the
government was under attack, Walpole told the Commons: event of a hung parliament today: “If there is no clear majority,
“I unequivocally deny that I am sole and prime minister.” or if negotiations over government formation have not
Through the years to follow, however, the idea of a single produced a clear answer as to who can command confidence,
minister directing policy became increasingly accepted, and the then it is expected that political parties will establish who is
term “prime minister” became more commonly used by the press. best placed and ensure that The Queen is not dragged into any
Finally, in 1878, Benjamin Disraeli used the title when signing disputes. According to the Cabinet Manual, ‘the sovereign
the Treaty of Berlin, and in 1885 it appeared in Hansard, the should not be drawn into party politics, and if there is doubt it
official report of the House of Commons, for the first time. is the responsibility of those involved in the political process,
During the course of the 20th century, the role of the and in particular the parties represented in parliament, to
sovereign in the affairs of parliament and government has seek to determine and communicate clearly to the sovereign
diminished and political parties have developed mechanisms who is best placed to be able to command the confidence of
to select their own leaders. The Queen did have some personal the House of Commons’.”
involvement when she chose Harold Macmillan over Rab With the composition of her government and the role of her
Butler after Sir Anthony Eden resigned due to ill-health in prime minister being determined by elections both within the
1957. However, since 1965, the major parties have put in place parties themselves and the country at large, only one relationship
procedures to choose their own leaders and both Harold Wilson, between The Queen and her prime minister remains: her weekly o
in 1976, and Margaret Thatcher, in 1990, did not resign as prime audience. It is no wonder that Morgan was so fascinated by Opposite
minister until their successors had been chosen by the Labour these audiences because they represent the only real interaction The Queen and Prime
and Conservative parties respectively. In 2021, The Queen has no between The Queen and the politicians who lead the government Minister Harold Macmillan
role in choosing between different candidates within a political in her name. As they are not recorded or minuted, we only on their way to Trinity
party. In both 1974 and 2010, when general elections returned a receive tantalising glimpses of what goes on and the nature of College Oxford in
hung parliament with no party commanding an overall majority, the relationship that Queen Elizabeth II has enjoyed with her November 1960
103
premiers. It is fairly well documented that she got on extremely to enjoy a much more genial relationship with Her Majesty.
well with Winston Churchill, her first prime minister. The She famously struck up a positive relationship with Harold
Queen’s Private Secretary, Sir “Tommy” Lascelles (who features Wilson when he was elected prime minister in 1964 and was
heavily in the first series of The Crown, played by Pip Torrens) to be PM for eight of the subsequent 12 years. Wilson enjoyed
noted a genial relationship between the two. “I could not hear what he referred to as a “relaxed intimacy” with The Queen.
what they talked about,” said Lascelles, “but it was, more often Following their first meeting, she took the rare step of inviting
than not, punctuated by peals of laughter, and Winston generally him to stay for drinks, and he was reportedly allowed to smoke
came out wiping his eyes.” his pipe during their audiences. Aides also report that meetings
On Churchill’s departure from office in 1955, The Queen scheduled to last 30 minutes would frequently go on for two
wrote to him saying that no prime minister would again: “be hours. It is tempting to speculate what the reasons might be for
o able to hold the place of my first prime minister to whom both Wilson’s slightly different experience of the meetings, and there
Above my husband and I owe so much and for whose wise guidance is no doubt that his would have included a good amount of
The Queen, and a young during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly business-like discussion too, but there was perhaps something
Charles and Anne, with grateful”. It is perhaps unsurprising that The Queen formed in the modest and bright Wilson that appealed to her. She is said
Prime Minister Winston such a strong bond with her first prime minister, given her youth to have enjoyed a similar relationship with John Major. It is
Churchill in 1953 when she ascended to the throne, and she clearly relied upon perhaps, however, The Queen’s challenging relationship with
him initially to guide her in the duties that she was to fulfil for Thatcher that is the best known of all and viewers of The Crown
o the remainder of the century and into the next. may well have been aware of this when they first viewed the
Opposite In her memoirs, Thatcher described her weekly audience scenes of Gillian Anderson portraying the premier meeting
Her Majesty attends with The Queen. “Anyone who imagines that they are a mere Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth.
a farewell dinner at formality, or confined to social niceties, is quite wrong,” wrote According to the documentary The Queen and Her Prime
10 Downing Street for Thatcher. “They are quietly business-like, and Her Majesty brings Ministers, Thatcher would arrive 15 minutes too early for her
Prime Minister Harold to bear a formidable grasp of current issues and breadth of audiences and The Queen would always make her wait. Their
Wilson in March 1976 experience.” However, some of Thatcher’s predecessors seemed interaction was “professional, formal, and famously stiff ”,
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105
o
Left
The Queen and Margaret
Thatcher at a 1979
Commonwealth
meeting in Zambia
o
Opposite
The Queen welcomes
Boris Johnson to the first
face-to-face audience at
the palace after lockdown,
in June 2021
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“Margaret Thatcher would arrive 15 minutes

too early for her audiences and The Queen
would always make her wait”
according to reporting by CNN, which also noted that the on balance likely that some disagreement took place and The
Thatcher viewed the annual visits to the Balmoral royal home Queen’s view of the importance of the Commonwealth is a matter
as “interrupting her work”. “The audiences were rarely very of public record.
productive because Mrs Thatcher was nervous,” Charles Moore As we move closer to the present day perhaps it is no surprise
wrote in his 2015 Thatcher biography. Furthermore, conversations that the relationship between The Queen and her prime ministers
with Thatcher were said to last far longer than those of her has become more opaque. The events of Morgan’s film The Queen
predecessor which may well have taxed The Queen’s patience. imagine the events that occurred behind the scenes between her
One early disagreement came in 1979, when Thatcher is and Prime Minister Tony Blair after the death of Diana, Princess
believed to have undermined The Queen by writing a letter of Wales, and we can certainly say that his narrative does not
critical of the Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda before a contradict the historical record. It is reported that The Queen
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Lusaka. did not get on particularly well with Blair subsequently, but there
The best known and most well documented clash between the was no flashpoint akin to the incident with Thatcher described
two came in 1986 when reporting by the Sunday Times detailed above. In 2021, we did receive a rare, if extremely brief, glimpse of
differences of opinion between Thatcher and The Queen The Queen meeting her prime minister when Boris Johnson met
on the question of whether sanctions should be imposed Her Majesty for their first weekly audience in person in 15 months
on South Africa’s apartheid government. As the head of the as restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic were lifted.
Commonwealth, The Queen was concerned about tensions We saw them briefly discuss the current Health Secretary before
between Thatcher and the other Commonwealth leaders and, the recording was terminated.
according to the Sunday Times, also felt the prime minister’s What is clear as The Queen approaches her 70th year as
domestic policy was “uncaring, confrontational, and divisive.” sovereign is that the relationship between her and her ministers
Officials at the palace denied the story, but the Sunday Times and the parliament of the UK is one in which her formal powers
stood by its reporting, citing royal press secretary Michael Shea are ceremonial and symbolic, but her experience and knowledge
as its source. The Moore biography claimed that The Queen acquired over nearly three quarters of a century is a powerful asset
called the prime minister to apologise after the incident. It seems for any prime minister if they are willing to accept it.
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Home advantage
“We put the client at the heart of every single
thing that we do – that’s why we’re here”
Martin Jones, Home Instead Senior Care
W hen Home Instead Senior Care co-founders Paul and Lori

Hogan were looking for personalised care that would
suit the needs of Paul’s grandmother in Omaha, Nebraska, they
CAREGiver who was training to run the London Marathon.
The CAREGiver would go on a run as part of his training and
his client would ride alongside him. “That typifies exactly
were very clear that her wish was to stay at home rather than go what Home Instead is all about as it provided the wonderful
into a facility. “I suppose the rest is history,” says Martin Jones, companionship the client needed,” says Jones.
the company’s UK CEO. “Like any great business, they started The company’s belief in the benefits of relationship-led
around the kitchen table.” care ensures that its clients see the same familiar faces at every
Twenty-five years on from that experience of having to visit. This means that not only do they build trust and establish
seek out home-based care, Paul and his wife Lori still run the a friendly relationship, but also the CAREGiver is able to
company, which now operates as a franchise across 14 countries, monitor changes that might affect a specific client’s health
including the UK, where it was set up in 2005. As a franchise and can help prevent worsening health conditions.
business, Home Instead has more than 215 locally owned and
operated offices across the UK, employing over 13,000 people
who together delivered in excess of 6 million hours of quality
care last year to more than 21,000 clients. Each Home Instead
franchisee benefits from high-quality training and efficient
processes that enable them to focus on delivering outstanding
care to the client in their own home.
According to Jones, there are two reasons why Home
Instead has been so successful in such a highly competitive
market. “The first is that we put the client at the heart of every
single thing that we do — that’s why we’re here,” he explains.
He points to figures showing that 98 per cent of over-65s said it
was important for them to stay living independently at home.
The second, he explains, is that the company’s franchise
model means that the owner of a Home Instead franchise –
each of which is based in a distinct geographic region – is
buying a business to make a difference. “The roll call of people
who have taken on franchises includes footballers, pop stars,
doctors and retailers, rather than only those with a career in
social care,” says Jones. “Often this is because they have been
inspired by personal experience to make a difference to the
care of the older generation.”
Another thing that makes Home Instead stand out from
the competition is that it matches its clients with its carers –
known as CAREGivers – to ensure they are mutually compatible
and the right fit for happy home care. “It’s this process that
makes us very, very different,” says Jones. In one case, Home
Instead matched a client who used a mobility scooter with a
109
“People’s needs change over time,

which is why a dedicated care
manager continues to monitor
their plan”
More than two thirds of Home Instead’s CAREGivers are over A growing challenge for those helping care for the elderly
the age of 50, which often ensures a greater personal connection is the rising occurrence of dementia and Alzheimer’s. There are
between them and the client. While social care providers have an estimated 940,000 people with dementia in the UK at present
traditionally focused on the tasks that need to be done, such as – a figure that is set to soar to 1.7 million by 2050. All CAREGivers
getting the client dressed or ensuring that they have taken their undergo accredited Alzheimer’s training that has been recognised
medications, Home Instead also understands the value of with both a Princess Royal Training Award and City & Guilds.
conversation and personal connection. This is why its Home Instead also offers family and friends training and advice
CAREGivers visit for at least an hour rather than the sector’s to support people living with dementia that has seen more than
standard 20 minutes. This ensures plenty of time for quality care 40,000 people trained free of charge.
while still leaving time to chat and build a genuine relationship. A common trend among older people is a tendency to not
It also means that CAREGivers can take clients out on trips to, eat healthily and fall into bad food habits and eat comfort foods –
say, shops or the local park or garden centre. which is why Home Instead also has a focus on nutrition. To
“We understand that people’s needs change over time,” this end it has launched a campaign that aims to help families
says Jones, “which is why a dedicated care manager continues that are providing care for their loved ones themselves to be
to monitor and reassess their plan to make sure it is suited to aware of an older person’s risk of becoming malnourished.
their individual requirements.” Sixty two of its offices have received an “outstanding”
rating from the Care Quality Commission, with offices in
Scotland and Wales meeting or exceeding the standards of their
regulators. In 2016, the company received the Queen’s Award for
Innovation – the UK’s highest accolade for business success. “One
of the reasons is that we invest in the social well-being of our
clients,” says Jones. “Our CAREGivers are there not just to
cook and clean; they are there as a friend, to spend time getting
to know the client.” Home Instead was also voted as one of the
most recommended home-care companies in the Top 20 Home
Care Group awards 2019 across England, Scotland and Wales.
Looking ahead, Home Instead and its franchise teams are
eager to embrace innovation in an effort to find ways to enhance
the person-centred care they deliver. While technology will never
replace the human touch, it can enhance peoples’ lives. It can
help to keep clients connected and engaged with their family,
loved ones and the world, as well as ensuring they are safe in
their homes 24 hours a day.
“We describe it as high-tech, high-touch,” says Jones.
“You have got to marry the two elements together to deliver
the best results. Technology can provide a valuable safety net,
but it will never replace the personal touch that we provide.”
www.homeinstead.co.uk
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
111
Getting your goat

“I needed a microbiotic ally and I realised
that was goat milk kefir, because I know
that in the gut it introduces good bacteria
and supresses the pathogens”
T he goats living on a 24-acre farm in south-west Wales

overlooking the Irish Sea may look much like any other
herd, but for Chuckling Goat customers they are on the front
“People come to us after they have been every where and
tried everything,” says Shann. “They’ve been to every expert,
every doctor and they have tried every diet and every steroid
line of what co-founder Shann Jones describes as a fight and every suppressant. You don’t go to the American lady on
against “four horsemen of the gut apocalypse”. She’s referring the goat farm in Wales until you have been every where else
to antibiotics, sugar, stress and environmental toxins, the four already, I accept that. I had one woman show up with her
elements that Shann and her husband Richard believe can three-year-old son who had severe eczema. The doctor was
devastate the human body’s natural ecosystem and which going to give him immuno-suppressants, but that would
Chuckling Goat products such as goat milk kefir are expressly have made him very susceptible to something like flu as his
designed to combat. Chuckling Goat sells a range of products immune system would be weakened. She came to see me
for the gut and skin that are made using organic goat milk because she’d heard we could help and after 18 months we
and which deliver results for people suffering from a variety completely cleared his skin.”
of health issues. It has even started selling a microbiome test, Chuckling Goat’s unique origin tale could be taken from
which allows clients to see precisely what bacteria is present a Hollywood script. It started as a love story between Shann,
in their gut. an American journalist, and Richard, a Welsh sustainable
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
farmer. When they moved in together, Shann became a farmer’s talking about this extraordinary product called kefir, which
wife overnight. “I couldn’t boil an egg,” says Shann. “It was was made with goat milk and kefir grains. Intrigued, Shann
a steep learning curve. But I fell in love with farming.” investigated further. “A kefir grain is not a wheat grain,
The next step in the story took place when their son it is a constellation of a living yeast and bacteria,” explains
Benjamin developed a bronchial infection. It simply wouldn’t Shann. “Kefir grains only come from other kefir grains. They
go away. Antibiotics would clear the infection up for a few are from the black Caucasus mountains. The microbiome is
months, but it always returned. “I asked Rich what to do,” the word for the microbial community that exists in your
recalls Shann. “He said we should get a goat.” gut and kefir will rebuild that community. It contains 36
Rich hadn’t lost his mind. He had deep roots in the different strains of live bacteria.”
culture of Welsh farming, so was aware that, according to Chucking Goat is now the UK’s leading producer of kefir.
tradition, goat milk would cure bronchial infections. And the Shann admits that people don’t drink it for the taste. “It has
goat milk remedy seemed to do the trick. Pretty soon, Shann to be unflavoured because the sugar kills off the good bugs,”
and Richard had more goat milk then they knew what to do she says. “That’s an issue because it is very tart and tangy
with. This time it was fate that lent a hand. Shann was – it kind of tastes like fizzy feta so it’s quite something to
listening to the radio, when she heard a Russian doctor get used to.” It’s worth persevering though, because kefir
113
“It’s safe, there’s no risks,

no side effects – it’s good
for your tummy, your skin
and your immune system”
contains a mixture of live active cultures as well as B12, I needed to bring it into balance. I needed a microbiotic ally
phosphorous, calcium and Vitamin A, contributing to and I realised that was the kefir, because I know that in the
the maintenance of skin, vision, bone, muscles, immune gut it introduces good bacteria and supresses the pathogens.”
system and digestive enzymes. After treating the infection with medicinal honey,
But the Holly wood story hadn’t ended there. After Shann began to wash Rich’s body with kefir and essential
love, tradition and fate came a brush with death. Rich fell oils three times a day. He smelled like a goat, but within
seriously ill with MRSA. “He was getting worse every day,” two weeks was back on his tractor. This showed that kefir’s
says Shann. “The hospital wouldn’t admit him because he unique properties meant it could be used for a huge range
had this ‘superbug’ that could infect others, but I wasn’t of treatments, many of which had never been attempted
going to let him die on the sofa. I knew that you can’t kill before such as external application. “We know that your
that infection, no antibiotic will help, so I wondered how gut health will effect nearly everything about you,” she
do we bring this infection into harmony with his body? says. “Your brain, your cognitive function, your mood,
your weight, your protection against diabetes – all these
things are determined by your microbiome. It’s constantly
coming under attack from the four horsemen. Replenishing
what is in your gut is the most effective way of boosting
your immune system.”
Following these revelations, Chuckling Goat produces
other products, among them a prebiotic powder that consists
of the essential food needed to feed the bacteria in our
digestive system. The six-week gut cleanse package combines
probiotic kefir and prebiotic powder with the microbiome test
that will analyse your gut health. There are also probiotic
kefir skin lotions, cleansing bars and skin balms. All of this
is done from the kitchen table. Products can be purchased
as one-off payments or in subscription packages.
“It’s safe, there’s no risks, no side effects – it’s good for
your tummy, your skin and your immune system, there no
downside except the taste,” she says. “It’s a passion, not just
a business. There are so many people who are suffering.
Ten years from now, treatment of the microbiome will be
considered part of the health system, but people need our
help today.”
www.chucklinggoat.co.uk
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
115
A working
solution
“If we don’t do something to help these people,
there’s a high risk of increased unemployment”
Graham Hasting-Evans, NOCN
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
“
T here are a lot of people who did badly at school who
now have senior management jobs,” says Graham
Hasting-Evans, Managing Director at NOCN. “If you can just
the country’s leading independent End Point Assessment
Organisations (the bodies that determine whether an apprentice
can do the job they have been training for). It has the most
get them over the first hurdle, they will start to learn and learn, government approvals to deliver apprentice assessments in key
and it becomes a virtuous circle.” sectors, including financial services, science, engineering and
Launched in 1987 as the National Open College Network, construction. But with 9 million out of a total workforce of 33
NOCN has since played a major role in providing the essential million who do not have adequate maths, English or employability
English and maths skills that those who are unemployed and skills, NOCN and its partners have their work cut out.
lack traditional qualifications needed to get into work. Over the From its origins in Sheffield with 40 employees, NOCN
past 30 years it has expanded its remit to offer learners, training now has 176 staff with operations in many Commonwealth
providers, employers and further-education colleges an integrated countries including India, as well as the Middle East. Recently
range of learning and skills development products and services. it has increased focused on consultancy and support, both in
As an awarding organisation (or AO), NOCN serves thousands the UK and abroad, to help employers, professional bodies
of centres with high-quality, regulated vocational and technical and governments convey the message of the importance of
qualifications and apprenticeships. Qualifications range from acquiring workplace skills. Hasting-Evans says that the UK
entry to Level 7 (master’s) across many sectors, from construction government and workforce face a further challenge over the
to business management. In 2017 it awarded 200,000 qualifications next five years because digitisation and the introduction of
and over 250,000 units and developed and approved 27 new artificial intelligence means that the number of jobs for people
qualifications across a range of sectors and centres. NOCN that do not have basic maths and English is going to halve.
also endorses and quality-accredits a range of bespoke training “If we don’t do something to help these people, there’s a
programmes for organisations and employers, to ensure their high risk of increased unemployment,” he says. “We must make
learners and employees receive high-quality, robust training. a sustainable investment in skills, to upskill people who are
Having established itself as an education charity focused on already in the workforce, to match the needs of the economy,
general skills-development programmes, NOCN has diversified make people more productive over the next five years and
to build strength in specific sectors. In 2017, it acquired Cskills improve the skills of young people coming out of the education
Awards from the Construction Industry Training Board to create system, so that they are work ready. We also need to create
the UK’s second-largest construction AO. It now offers the widest greater equality of access for people to improve their skills,
range of construction qualifications in the UK. NOCN has played whatever their educational background.”
a key role in the resurgence of apprenticeships and is now one of www.nocn.org.uk
117
Live life
like a king
“Our approach is very different. We have changed
the way the travel industry functions by providing
unforgettable, unparalleled, unique experiences”
Adriana Samluk, Archaeological Paths
A round the world, the tales of ancient Egypt still inspire and
intrigue people. Many of us dream of cruising down the
Nile, visiting the ancient tombs of the pharaohs, exploring the
pyramids and leave with lots of unanswered questions,” says
Dr El-Awady. “But, on an Archaeological Paths tour, you will
get the answers to your questions about Egypt.”
pyramids of Giza and marvelling at the Great Sphinx. But the Adriana agrees. “For us, it’s about providing that deeper
problem with realising a much-longed-for dream is that the insight,” she says. “Our guests don’t just have VIP access, they
experience must match – even exceed – expectations. are treated like VIPs from start to finish.” Indeed, former Private
That’s no mean feat. It goes beyond providing a five-star Tour guests include Hollywood actors and a former President
tourism experience. For Adriana Samluk, Quality Assurance of Poland. “I have travelled the world but never have my travels
Manager at the exclusive tour operator Archaeological Paths, been so exciting and comfortable as this one,” says Lech Walesa.
it’s about embracing a sense of magic – and adding an extra Focusing on cultural heritage as well as history and
sprinkle of pixie dust. “We do that by giving our tour guests archaeology, the company also nurtures relationships with
access to places that are not otherwise open to the public,” she significant national figures – including the former First Lady of
says. “We give them experiences others can only dream about.” Egypt, Jehan Sadat. “I would love to invite you to a Royal Tour
For example, people traveling to Egypt with Archaeological with Archaelogical Paths,” she says. “They really are the best
Paths don’t simply visit globally renowned destinations and people with whom to visit my country.” As part of the Royal
world heritage sites – they get up, close and personal. “Our Tour, Sadat welcomes guests into the home she shared with the
guests can stand between the paws of the Great Sphinx, which late President Anwar Sadat to tell stories of their life together.
is usually off-limits,” says Adriana. “They can stare up at its smile, “Such opportunities make our itineraries the most privileged
or enter the Khufu’s Pyramid when there are no other tourists and luxurious you can find,” says Adriana. “We invite our guests
present. Imagine the Luxor Temple or the entire Giza plateau to meet people who shape history. It’s not just about heritage
being opened just for you! Or visiting an active archaeological and knowledge, it’s a way of thinking. This is not a tour, it’s
site of tombs of pyramid builders with the explorer that an experience.”
uncovered it, hearing first-hand about the significance of their The company now runs luxury tours in Egypt, India,
discoveries. We deliver these experiences with the world’s best Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. “Our approach is very different,”
guides and guests.” says Adriana. “We create and influence. We are leaders.” Further,
One such guest is Dr Zahi Hawass, one of the world’s Adriana believes that Archaeological Paths has shifted the dial on
most famous archaeologists. The top Egyptologist and former cultural tourism. “We have changed the way the travel industry
Minister of Antiquities echoes Adriana’s promise. “I will bring functions by providing unforgettable, unparalleled, unique
you the magic of ancient Egypt,” he says. Dr Hawass’s deputy experiences,” she notes. Tourism is no longer about simply seeing
field archaeologist, Dr Tarek El-Awady, describes Archaeological and doing. It’s about embracing a spirit of magic and wonder.
Paths’ experiences as “unique”. “Many people visit the ancient www.archaeologicalpaths.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
119
A gold standard in training

“We are now facing a serious skills and jobs shortage
and our purpose is more important than ever to equip
people with the skills they need to get back into work”
Kirstie Donnelly MBE, City & Guilds
C ity & Guilds was founded in 1878 to address national

shortages in training and accreditation, and over
the past 143 years it has continued to operate on this
says Donnelly. “We have blue-chip companies all over the
country, as well as smaller enterprises and charities that
we have recognised for their commitment to developing
basis, building up huge reservoirs of trust and respect their people.”
in the process. “We have always been known as an City & Guilds delivers a huge selection of qualifications
organisation that offers a high standard of quality and and accreditation in a wide range of trades and industries
authority, so that when somebody says they have their that cover diverse skills. Its qualifications are trusted
City & Guilds qualification it carries tremendous currency and valued by employers in countless industries in the
and credibility,” says CEO Kirstie Donnelly, who notes UK as well as internationally. There is also the City &
that Imperial College in South Kensington can trace its Guilds Foundation that removes barriers to getting a job,
origins directly to City & Guilds. “We are now facing celebrates best practice on the job, and advocates for jobs
a serious skills and jobs shortage and our purpose is of the future.
more important than ever to equip people with the skills “The golden thread that holds everything together is our
they need to get back into work.” purpose – helping industry and individuals to develop the
The organisation received a Royal Charter in 1900 skills to enable growth and prosperity,” says Donnelly.
and the current President is the Princess Royal, who “The future is about focusing on where the most demand
took over from the Duke of Edinburgh in 2011. “The is and addressing the new challenges of automation and
Princess Royal Training Awards were established in artificial intelligence. We are here to help people learn
2016 and these have become the gold standard for new skills or retrain existing skills in new ways.”
employers seeking to achieve training excellence,” www.cityandguildsgroup.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Sustainable finance
“Investors have always valued our ability to
design and launch our own ventures, so it
made sense for us to expand and source
external investments in the exciting area
of sustainable finance”
Nicole Anderson, Redsand Ventures
N icole Anderson was inspired to move from tech into finance

following the 2008 financial crash, something that she
believed exposed the “self-serving” flaws in contemporary financial
has now developed its own investment structure. “We have an
alternative track record of success,” says Anderson. “Investors
have always valued our ability to design and launch our own
services. Her motivation with Redsand Ventures has been to ventures, so it only made sense for us to expand and source external
change the mindset that led to the crash by working with banks investments in the exciting area of sustainable finance and fintech.”
and financial institutions to create new tech-driven solutions The fintech (financial technology) sector is now worth
that are both ethical and sustainable. more than $120 billion, initiated in the aftermath of 2008 as an
“Basically I have spent the last decade helping participants alternative to the traditional financial sector. Fintech remains
in finance re-imagine a better future both for themselves and hugely relevant and again exposed the inadequacy of the financial
their customers,” she says. “We look at how they remain relevant system during the economic crisis caused by the 2020 Covid-19
and how they can better serve industries and people.” epidemic. “I am now sitting at a place where I feel people are
Redsand Ventures operates as a venture studio. Here Anderson listening and waking up,” says Anderson. “The potential economic
and her team help to create start-ups for a variety of customers impact of what we are facing is the perfect storm for what I do
in the financial sector. Clients vary but the new entity must be as traditional financial services are failing individuals, businesses
socially responsible and committed to inclusion. “We develop the and the environment. That matters, as money is the lifeblood of
technology, recruit the talent, explore the commercial viability, every business and every national economy. I feel I am now in
do tons of research and test the market,” she explains. The aim a position where I am designing and investing in ventures that
is to create a viable venture that is investible and relevant. are environmentally sustainable, disruptive and profitable,
With a success rate of around one in three – far better than enabling a greener financial future for many.”
the usual venture-capitalist ratio of one in ten – Redsand Ventures www.redsandventures.io
121
Brands of the future

“I thought we ought to be brave about
embracing the fragmentation of the
media landscape, and the way our
industries were evolving”
Emily M Austen, Emerge
W hen Emily Austen began interning at public relations

firms in 2012, she saw the climate around her was
changing. Social media had transformed the way that brands
practice mindfulness to enhance their sexual health. “But we
also work with a male health platform that deals with some very
complex topics around men’s physical and mental health,” she
interacted with consumers, while new start-ups were beginning says. “Challenging conversations are important to have, and we
to change almost every aspect of daily life. As somebody who felt need to create more accessible ways to have them if we are going
she didn’t fit in at conventional PR firms, Austen (pictured, to give a voice to those who have often felt, or been, silenced.”
above) decided to go it alone with Emerge, a company that Austen’s work with Emerge led her to become Strategic
understands the new media and consumer landscape. Advisor for UN Women UK, which includes discussing
“I thought PR could be better,” she says. “I thought there was everything from female genital mutilation to pay equality. This
space to brand-build if agencies were involved a bit earlier in doesn’t stop her from expanding Emerge. After examining the
the process. I thought we ought to be brave about embracing the needs of start-ups in their early stages, Austen launched Emerch,
fragmentation of the media landscape, and the way our industries a merchandising arm to help new companies improve their brand
were evolving. I wanted to work with brands, building the plane as equity. She also started E-Cap, a seed round funding brokerage,
it flies, predicting emerging markets through data and analysis.” and wants to create her own venture capital fund in 2022. Most
As well as small start-ups – many of which have gone on to recently, she launched Flex, a pay-as-you-go PR proposition for
become multi-million-pound household names – Emerge works brands who can’t afford agency retainer fees. Over her career, she
with high-street brands to reach customers in imaginative ways. has been involved in a marketing capacity to raise more than £100
As a female CEO of an all-female team, Austen works with many million for start-ups across the wellness, fitness, technology and
female entrepreneurs and femtech brands, such as an app feminine-care sectors. Austen says she is “just getting started”.
helping women who have suffered abuse, encouraging them to www.emergelimited.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Virtually improved training

“We create the software that goes on the
headset so staff can train their staff using
VR, putting them in all sorts of places
and positions”
Tom Symonds, Immerse
W hen Immerse began developing its virtual-reality (VR)

software to help companies create immersive training
and assessment programmes for staff, the company was so far
places and positions,” explains Symonds. “The first businesses
were in high-cost-of-failure areas, where they were prepared
to work with us to create a scenario where they couldn’t afford
ahead of the game that the hardware had not yet been created their staff to make mistakes. But you can also use it for board
to make these projects viable. “It’s like we arrived at the party meetings – you can have ten people in ten different countries
and nobody was there,” says CEO Tom Symonds. “It often feels all sitting round a virtual board meeting at the same virtual
that way when you’re an entrepreneur. But we instinctively table in real time. This will drastically cut down the need
thought that there were so many solutions out there for for travel and make the world of work more exciting
learning that could use this technology.” for everybody.”
Now the hardware exists in the form of affordable VR Immerse’s unique quality is that its software not only
headsets that do not require a PC to be operational. Using allows a situation to play out in real time, it also allows these
these, Immerse can recreate virtual working environments interactions to be saved, recorded and reviewed at a later date.
that allow companies to undertake staff training and assessment For Symonds, this facility is what make Immerse different
in situations that might otherwise be too risky, expensive or and he foresees other software providers using the Immerse
impractical. These can be as straightforward as recreating the Platform. “We don’t really want to be doing just content, we
induction process for office staff who are working from home, want to create a platform that enables other people’s content
or it can be about solving complex engineering problems in to work with us,” he explains. “The recording, the saving and
power stations, mines, oil rigs or submarines. the rewatching is what gives us a very unique offering and
“We create the software that goes on the headset so staff that’s what other people will like.”
can train their staff using VR, putting them in all sorts of www.immerse.io
123
An evolution in analysis
“Truver is all about efficiency, transparency
and making markets more effective”
Craig Pask, Truver
F or 15 years, the Market Report Company (MRC) has

analysed the global polymer market, bringing subscribers
the latest and most accurate information regarding the price
a set of automated tools that seamlessly integrates into operational
workflows. Having launched in 2020, Truver is working with
numerous market participants and regulators to roll out projects
of commodities in the petrochemical supply chain. Its new involving automation and data analysis to radically improve the
software and technology offshoot, Truver, takes this analysis quality of prices, market data and analysis in global commodity
one step further by creating what CEO Craig Pask describes markets. It amalgamates supply-and-demand data, pricing, news
as “the next evolution of market automation and analysis”. and forecasts with smart automation and a dynamic toolset for
“All markets and market participants desire perfect visibility, analytics, trading and risk management.
perfect balance where each side is satisfied with the price they “Truver is all about efficiency, transparency and making
paid or received in any transaction,” says Pask. “The reality of markets more effective,” says Pask. “It’s about finding those
competitive markets is that this balance is almost impossible to inefficiencies and challenges that limit adoption and liquidity
achieve. Each side wants to protect their own data, their own in global markets and removing them through clever application
advantage, which prevents a perfectly efficient market from of automation, data science and purpose built applications.”
existing. Truver solves this fundamental problem.” At a challenging and volatile time for international markets,
Global commodity markets evolve in fits and starts, adopting Truver emerges just as companies are looking for opportunities,
technology tentatively and sporadically. Truver aims to radically information and actionable insight. “Truver is a fascinating and
change that norm by offering global market participants a suite unique product that we believe a lot of people have tried to
of tools to automate, illuminate and strengthen markets. The develop but nobody has cracked until now,” says Pask. “Truver is
new offering has been described as “a clear box solution in a radically transforming how markets operate today.”
black box market” giving global markets and their participants www.truver.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
A legacy of tastemaking
“Colnaghi has an incredible tradition of
connoisseurship. My goal is to build upon
this legacy and on the gallery’s history of
engaging with the art of its time”
Victoria Golembiovskaya, Colnaghi
C olnaghi has long been recognised as one of the world’s most

important art dealerships in the Old Masters and antiquities
markets. Distinguished by its cross-category connoisseurship,
gallery in 2019 as its co-CEO alongside Jorge Coll. To complement
Colnaghi’s existing Ancient and Old Masters departments, she
established the Modern and Contemporary Art Department
the globally recognised gallery played a foundational role in the to focus on works from the late 19th century to the present.
development of some of the most significant institutional It reflects a renewed commitment to highlighting the art
collections, including The Frick Collection, the Princes Gate historical threads connecting artworks and objects through
Collection at the Courtauld Institute Galleries and the National time in the gallery’s exhibitions and scholarship.
Gallery in Washington, DC, among others. Golembiovskaya is also stewarding the gallery through other
What is perhaps less known about Colnaghi – which was major developments, including expanding its suite of client
established in 1760 and today operates galleries in London, services to include financing and insurance, and overseeing the
New York and Madrid – is its history of supporting artists of its digitisation of Colnaghi’s archives, which will be made accessible
time. In its early years, it exhibited works by the likes of JMW to institutions and the public through the Colnaghi Foundation.
Turner, advised Delacroix and Constable as they developed “Our rich tradition of presenting and dealing in objects
their practices and was a pioneer in the photography market. from throughout art history enables us to identify the common
“Colnaghi has an incredible tradition of connoisseurship,” threads that unite works across time,” she says. “It has been
says CEO Victoria Golembiovskaya. “My goal is to build upon gratifying to include more modern and contemporary art.
this legacy and on the gallery’s history of engaging with the art In this way, we are able to connect institutions and private
of its time, and reignite Colnaghi’s role as a leader in the collectors with masterworks from every moment of art history
contemporary art world.” An art dealer and curator, born in the and to enhance and deepen the significance of their collections.”
Soviet Union and based in London, Golembiovskaya joined the www.colnaghi.com
125
Breaking down barriers

“I am breaking down cultural and business
barriers between the West and the Middle
East. This is where women’s negotiating
skills are underappreciated”
Katie Partridge, Saphira Group
I t was while she was working for a major bank that Katie Partridge
(pictured, above) realised she had a gift for communicating with
clients in the Middle East. “I discovered I was able to understand
members to share best practices through its “four pillars” of
education, philanthropy, wealth creation and wellbeing. The plan
is to roll out the initiative across the Middle East and to create
the way that they communicate and could develop a strong a foundation that is supported by every government in the Gulf.
rapport,” she explains. “I then decided to be more entrepreneurial Away from Saphira, Partridge was the co-founder of
and leave the bank to work with wealthy family groups directly. The Childhood Trust, a charity focused on helping children living in
Clients seemed to trust me with their private wealth so I set up poverty in London. “Living and raising my own children in London
Saphira, a name that denotes ‘female ambassador’ in Arabic. I feel a great sense of responsibility to be actively involved in helping
My intention is to be a proactive contributor to the change that to create a better future for the less fortunate,” she says. “The charity
is taking place in the Middle East.” supports over 150 local grassroots organisations with millions
Saphira manages the private wealth and investment activities for of pounds every year. To be a leader in business, you need to
a select group of ultra-high-net-worth families, with private equity, understand your communities and have a desire to improve them.”
real estate and technology investment divisions. Surrounding herself Partridge works with very wealthy individuals, many of whom
with a strong team over the past decade, Partridge particularly are first-generation wealth. She is able to listen to and understand
enjoys supporting affluent women in the Middle East, helping to their struggles getting to where they are, and help them use their
give them a forum for personal and professional expression. “I am wealth to create a legacy. “Besides excellent communication skills,
breaking down cultural and business barriers between the West and you must have a moral compass, empathy and a consciousness,”
the Middle East,” she says. “This is where women’s negotiating skills she says. “Having a spiritual centre is also very important.”
are underappreciated.” In this capacity, she set up Al Johara, Saudi www.saphiragroup.com
Arabia’s first international women’s network, which allowed its www.aljohara.org
126
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Investing for impact

“We witness, time and time again, how
young people from low-income families
can overcome adversity and have the
same life chances as their better-off peers”
Chiku Bernardi, Impetus
I mpetus has a very specific focus to help great charities

become even better, so that young people who have been
marginalised can succeed in school, in work and in life. Young
go beyond anecdotes and quantify the results. Does the money
and time we’ve invested generate the outcomes we seek?”
This is where Impetus comes into its own. It works
people from low-income families have done worse at school and shoulder to shoulder with charity leaders. “The cheque only
work for decades. The stark reality is that these young people are gets you so far,” says Bernardi. “We offer in-depth support
only half as likely to get passes in English and maths, and 50 per for charity CEOs – as much as one day per week – to help
cent more likely to be unemployed even if they do. them grow and deepen their impact. No other funder in the
But this doesn’t have to be the case. “We witness, time UK does that.”
and time again, how young people from low-income families To add to its arsenal, Impetus has partnerships with
can overcome adversity and have the same life chances as blue-chip companies who donate their time pro bono.
their better-off peers,” says Chiku Bernardi (pictured, above), “People share their job skills with charities,” Bernardi
a Senior Investment Director with Impetus. Impetus combines explains. “We have lawyers helping with contracts, branding
investment principles with evidence on what really works for gurus helping with fundraising, accounting firms helping
maximum impact. “It’s about focusing our resources on where with finances.” This kind of support is much needed in
we can make a meaningful difference, such as a student going the charitable sector, but most charities can’t afford it.
from borderline grades to a pass, or an unemployed young “We know the future looks challenging for young people
person getting their foot on the ladder to a quality job.” right now,” says Bernardi. “But I’m lucky to be playing a
For Bernardi, compelling stories persuade people to give part in the solutions, doing a job I love for those I care about.
to charities. “Hearing about an actual person and their journey Not many people can say that.”
makes it come to life,” she says. “However, charities need to www.impetus.org.uk
127
Transparent innovation
“Businesses want more transparency.
We are educating financial services and
other sectors on how to treat their
communication data. We’re solving
transparency challenges that have
plagued regulated industries for years”
Adrienne Muir, VoxSmart
W hen Adrienne Muir joined VoxSmart, a company that makes

business-to-business surveillance technology for regulated
organisations, she was determined to build a company that utilised
The regulatory world has changed. Businesses want more
transparency. We are educating financial services and other
sectors on how to treat their communication data. If an employee
her knowledge and experience but shared her values. “I see this as contacts their client with a text message, we capture it in our
a privileged role, having been in financial services for 20 years,” communications surveillance system.” The company continues to
she says. “When I joined the company I knew the culture I wanted innovate, creating software that can transcribe phone conversations
to foster. As a chief operating officer, I have been very strong on digitally and acquiring a company that does trade reconstruction,
diversity, resilience and mental health for my team. I want to be at piecing together the history of a financial transaction at the touch
the forefront of new technology, but I also think hard about our of a button. This technology, Muir believes, has the potential to
values and the sort of people we want to work at VoxSmart.” transform other industries such as pharma, utilities or law.
It’s this combination of people, culture and innovation that Muir was born in New Zealand to parents who were a nurse
has driven VoxSmart’s success. The company uses innovative and police officer. She feels this values-grounded background has
technology to record mobile-phone conversations, SMS and been essential to her success but she also wants to inspire young
voicemail between clients and employees. It can also record women. “I tell all young people that there are career paths and
conversations on encrypted applications such as WhatsApp, opportunities and you should take every opportunity, however
ensuring all work-related conversations are recorded to the scary,” she says. “I want young women in particular to know you
satisfaction of internal compliance teams and regulatory bodies. can be a strong, sensitive, authentic women leader, from any
“We’re solving transparency challenges that have plagued background, and be successful. Just tap into your natural aptitude,
regulated industries for years,” says Muir (pictured, above). “We work hard, be curious and – importantly – be kind along the way.”
trace all the communication involved in a financial negotiation. www.voxsmart.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Streets ahead
“If you have a diverse mix at your board level,
you’re going to get a better performance,
fresh ideas and create better products
and services”
Julia Streets, Streets Consulting
W hen she was 35, Julia Streets – CEO of business

development, marketing and communications consultancy,
Streets Consulting – had a lightbulb moment. “I’d spent 10 years
explains. “What we do is help those organisations to communicate
better and to grow. We offer an integrated communications and
marketing strategy.”
on a fast-track career in communications, working my way up to Streets Consulting is, and always has been, a completely virtual
global head of comms for the technology business of NYSE organisation, with all staff working remotely. Not only did this keep
Euronext,” she recalls. “At corporate presentations, people had the company agile during the Covid pandemic, but it allows it to
often said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about doing stand-up?’ work with smaller, more innovative businesses and clients in
I knew it was something I had to try, or I’d always regret it.” different time zones. “It also means that we can tap into talent
There followed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, and then pools that most organisations struggle to meet,” she says, “such
a sell-out one-woman show at various literary festivals. And when as working parents or those looking after elderly parents.”
she came back to corporate life, Streets brought with her the Three years ago, Streets started the DiverCity podcast about
knowledge of how to hold a crowd as well as her business insight. diversity and inclusion in financial services, interviewing world
It’s just one of the reasons why she’s never had to market her business leaders. “As a gay woman, I spent 20 years of my career
company or look for a client. avoiding the question ‘What did you do at the weekend?’,” she says.
She founded Streets Consulting 13 years ago to help financial “I was convinced it was going to impact my career. I’m pleased to say
services and technology companies build their brands, from the it hasn’t. Inclusion has a commercial impact because consumers are
smallest startups to some of the world’s largest financial diverse. If you have a diverse mix at your board level, you’re going
institutions. “The financial services industry is currently facing to get a better performance, fresh ideas and create better products
a lot of challenges, with demand for greater transparency and and services. Technology is built on the concept of diversity.”
accountability, new regulations and a need to innovate,” she www.streetsconsulting.com
129
The genes genies

“Our typical clients are people who
realise that the traditional medical system
doesn’t help them, and they want to take
more control of their own healths”
Sarah Lomas, REVIV
F rom the moment of birth, the future of our health is

written out in our DNA. While this can’t predict absolutely
everything that will happen to somebody, it does contain the
one in Austria. We are advancing in our research and can even
do sports analysis – looking at muscle structure to tell what a
typical recovery period from an injury might be.”
essence of a person’s future health concerns and nutritional The firm now operates in more than 40 countries, offering
requirements. This is what REVIV offers clients, taking a DNA a doctor-led service recommending personalised nutritional
swab and using the results to help them live healthy, balanced solutions for preventative health. Genetic analysis has huge
and enriched lifestyles. This includes giving a guideline on potential to revolutionise the health and wellness industries.
foods that could be beneficial to them while also offering other Lomas is an advocate of supporting the use of genetic analysis
services, including testing for vitamin deficiencies, intravenous to improve people’s overall health, at an individual level, but
(IV) therapies and vitamin injections. The company’s also within a working environment. It could be a powerful tool
proprietary IV therapies have been developed by a team of for employers to create a happy and healthy workforce.
clinical professionals to deliver supplementary key nutrients Lomas’s dream is to make the service available to a wider
like vitamins, electrolytes, minerals and antioxidants. range of people. “My passion is to improve health and genome
“Our typical clients are people who realise that the education globally, using AI (artificial intelligence) to drive
traditional medical system doesn’t help them and they want to down the cost and make this treatment more accessible,” she
take more control of their own health,” explains President and says. “This genome testing was previously available only to the
CEO Sarah Lomas (pictured, above). “Our first clinic focusing very rich but this could be done for anybody from birth, so that
on intravenous vitamin therapies and vitamin injections important issues regarding health are introduced to a person
opened in Miami in 2012. I then travelled the world looking for early on in life.”
the most advanced genetic laboratory to work with and I found gb.revivme.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
High-impact headhunting
“We are well-known for hitting the bullseye
and not wasting anybody’s time. This remains
a bit of an obsession for us”
Sabine Gardener, Cobalt Partners
W hen asked what differentiates headhunting firm Cobalt

Partners from the competition, co-founder Sabine Gardener
doesn’t hesitate before she answers. “No timewasting,” she says.
expands geographically across the globe. “We are retained by
15 private equity firms on an annual basis and we work with many
others on a project-by-project basis,” says Gardener. “We are very
“We are well-known for hitting the bullseye and not wasting careful to ensure that we only work with long-term value creators,
anybody’s time. This remains a bit of an obsession for us. We be they investors or incoming CEOs and chairmen. The former
are an all-woman team and have no time for politics. We just are ‘best of breed’ in their market segment and the latter are
put our heads down and get on with things.” blue-chip entrepreneurs who will have created value within larger
Cobalt was founded in 2000 by Sabine Gardener and her first corporates, or who will have built up their own businesses. It is
partner was Sheilagh Prentice. The company is now ten strong, all about putting proven operators together with smart money.”
soon to be 12, and works across Europe, Asia and the United The success of Cobalt can be seen in its continued expansion
States with plans to expand into India, Japan, South America and and the high regard with which it is viewed. As it has no offices
Canada. Cobalt focuses on finding CEOs, chairmen, chairwomen to maintain and operates within highly resistant, downturn-
and non-executive directors for private equity firms in resistant sectors, the company has proved to be extremely
various social-impact sectors, including agribusiness, education, “Covid-resilient”. Separately, Gardener has set up a charity
environmental services, health and social care. “We work incredibly called Machtalu to provide equitherapy to disadvantaged
hard because our client base also works extremely hard and we children, funded through 10 per cent of the company profits.
therefore need to be agile, creative, unconventional and all the These should continue to grow as the company stays true to
other things private equity tends to be,” says Gardener. the principles of transparency, deliverability, agility and social
To maintain that ability to move quickly, Cobalt has never had responsibility on which it was founded.
a central office, preferring instead to create virtual networks as it www.cobaltpartners.com
131
Intelligent conversation
“Our mission is to democratise access to
knowledge and create meaningful customer
interactions by unlocking the power of AI”
Victoria C Albrecht, Springbok AI
W hile artificial intelligence (AI) has long been applied to

countless aspects of our lives, the past months have
unsurprisingly seen a surge in demand for e-commerce and
and academic research to real-world challenges. “Our mission is to
democratise access to knowledge and create meaningful customer
interactions by unlocking the power of AI,” says Albrecht. “Our
tech products – and, with call centres hanging up their phones, solutions help people and companies work smarter instead of
unprecedented numbers of online customers have required harder, enabling them to focus on work that matters.”
assistance and support. This means it has never been busier As well as its expertise in creating chatbots, Springbok advises
for Springbok AI, a boutique AI consultancy business that clients on how to capitalise on written, voice or video-based data.
specialises in delivering high-end customer experience through “For lots of companies, AI is still seen as something of a ‘black
conversational AI, or “chatbots”. “Our clients have been under box’,” says Albrecht. “Beyond our chatbot-specific engagements,
pressure to find a tech-based approach that still provides a great our strength lies in working with people who aren’t technology
customer experience,” says company founder and Managing experts, and those who come to us for no-nonsense strategic
Director Victoria C Albrecht (pictured, above). “Springbok is able guidance on how to best make AI work for them.”
to combine cutting-edge technology with our understanding of As Springbok AI was set up to be a remote-first company, it was
users’ needs to make chatbots feel genuinely human.” able to capitalise on trends accelerated by the pandemic. Businesses
Since the company’s inception in 2017, Springbok AI has grown demanded effective and flexible solutions to add value in a changing
from one office in Soho, London, to a 60-strong multinational team climate, which has allowed Springbok to grow rapidly. Albrecht is
working in Europe, the US and Australia, creating AI solutions for convinced the future is bright, both for AI and the companies
pioneering companies that span from the DAX 30 index to the investing in it: “We’re excited to partner with organisations to
FTSE 350. With the potential of AI to transform every single help push AI towards becoming a force for positive impact.”
commercial industry, the company applies engineering expertise www.springbok.ai
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Championing small businesses

“I’m not looking to level the playing field, I want
Farillio to be a springboard that gives small
businesses rocket fuel”
Merlie Calvert, Farillio
M erlie Calvert knows exactly what it is like to own a small

business. After all, she runs one. Farillio, the company
Calvert founded in 2017, is predicated on a mission to help small
Napster could disrupt an entire industry. Farillio draws on these
diverse experiences, fired by the passion Calvert developed for
small business while working in insurance. “I saw that insurance
businesses like her own to solve problems and achieve potential. was prepared to support small businesses with real help when
It is an online platform providing legal and business support others weren’t and developed a platform offering legal support
and strategic advice for SMEs, start-ups and freelancers that for the 500,000 small businesses that had an insurance policy
can build roadmaps, help with employees, offer advice for with my firm,” she says. “That was a great environment to test
fundraising, create essential business and legal documents and my ideas.”
find trusted advisers – all tailor-made to suit individual needs. Calvert then developed an even better proposition as an
“Farillio comes from the Gaelic word for ‘brave’,” says independent business. Businesses pay a monthly subscription
Calvert. “I wanted a name that reminded everybody that we or receive the service as part of existing policies with banks,
exist to smash the barriers faced by small businesses, because insurers and trade associations. “This is a huge digital interactive
entrepreneurialism takes extraordinary grit and courage. cookbook for small business,” explains Calvert. “We can join
I’m not looking to level the playing field, I want Farillio to all the dots – just tell us your desired outcomes and we will
be a springboard that gives small businesses rocket fuel.” deliver a digital solution. And it won’t be a single isolated item:
The company brings together everything that Calvert has we will give you all the things you need to achieve your goal
learnt in her career working in the worlds of music, drinks, successfully. We are obsessed about empowering small businesses
diamonds, insurance and law. During this career she learnt to run with confidence, achieve their ambitions, and become
about marketing, she witnessed the struggles of small ever more successful.”
businesses and she saw first-hand how an outsider like www.farill.io
133
Picture this
“Photography is a great way to enter the art world, develop your
personal taste and find early investment opportunities. No other
medium is so essentially intertwined with today’s culture”
Ellen Stone, Public Of ferings Ltd
“
W henever I discover a great new artistic talent in the
world of photography, it’s a real ‘Eureka’ moment,”
says Ellen Stone, the founder of photographic art agency Public
on its personal approach. “We’re really focused on the nurturing
aspect of it,” explains Stone. “While it has to have to have
commercial sense, it’s just as much about finding and supporting
Offerings Ltd. “It’s when you find someone who doesn’t just artistic expression. There are lots of people with talent who need
have aesthetic skills, but someone who is really trying to tell help with art projects, finding partners, keeping their vision
you something, either about themselves or the world they live alive. Sometimes they just need to be told to keep going.”
in. That’s very powerful.” For the emerging collector, Stone is keen to offer just as
After working across the art world for many years, Stone has personal a service. “Photography is a great way to enter the art
enjoyed many such moments since founding Public Offerings Ltd world, develop your personal taste and find early investment
in 2019. The agency’s double mission is to help artists showcase opportunities. We aim to be collaborative, to put artists and fans
brilliant new photography, and collaborate and support emerging together, and to help build collections that really speak to them.
art collectors. “We wanted to elevate photography to its rightful We see that photography is not only one of the most accessible
place as a key part of art collecting,” she says. “Contemporary art forms out there, but also no other medium is so essentially
photography remains relatively unexplored with many collectors, intertwined with today’s culture. It is a key part of any art
particularly works by emerging voices from diverse backgrounds. collection, and we are here to help collectors explore the medium.”
We structured the agency to champion the uncelebrated side of Public Offerings Ltd is challenging conventional approach to
photography, broaden the scope of artists’ representation and exhibition, artist liaison and the collectors served by the art world.
include fresh talents.” “We’ve proved there is new talent out there and also interest,” says
While Public Offerings Ltd provides all its artists with Stone. “That’s exciting to see.”
traditional artistic agency services, the company prides itself www.public-offerings.com
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Branded contentment
“Events are all about connecting humans,
building relationships and creating emotional
ties. We have never lost sight of the crucial
role events play”
Elizabeth Heron, OrangeDoor
W hen starting her own marketing agency OrangeDoor

21 years ago, Elizabeth Heron was delighted to quickly
win her first client – and is even more delighted that they
a strong voice internationally in the worlds of arts, culture and
science. Heron’s current focus is on how to scale and export
the essence of OrangeDoor to a truly international audience,
remain her client today. “The company is Dell,” she says helping brands deliver extraordinary experiential events
proudly. “Right from the beginning, I had a very clear ambition: across the globe, as well as working even more closely with
that OrangeDoor’s reputation would always rest on its ability networking associations like WEConnect International and as
to remain true to its founding principles: those of integrity, lead entrepreneur for the UK chapter of DWEN (Dell Women
professionalism, passion and – especially – creativity.” Entrepreneur Network). “Supporting women in business has been
Heron says these principles have enabled OrangeDoor to build a central tenet of OrangeDoor since day one,” says Heron. “I was
a solid reputation as a “global experiential agency” that always a young mother when I started OrangeDoor, so I understand
delivers powerful, memorable and original events and integrated very well the multiple pressures working mothers are under.”
campaigns. “To be able to look back over 20 years and be Going forward, Heron’s focus is firmly on helping to create
consistently proud of all we have done is incredibly satisfying,” an even more dynamic, creative industry. “I want to give back to
she says. “It’s what you strive for as a CEO. Events, in whatever the next generation of passionate industry advocates,” she says.
capacity, are all about connecting humans, building relationships “I am working hard to diversify the cognitive and ethnic
and creating emotional ties. We have never lost sight of the crucial representation in this great industry. There are many incredible
role events play in bringing brands closer to their customers.” and ambitious young people this industry is missing out on
OrangeDoor continues to thrive thanks to the team around because they either don’t know about it or have too few role
Heron and the emphasis it places on the importance of creativity models in it. Changing this is my five-year goal.”
and innovation – concepts that have given the UK more generally www.weareorangedoor.com
135
Warranted concerns
“I realised that better warranty
management has the potential to be
transformational for consumers, as well
as for the planet”
Dr Ruby Pillai, iWarranty
T he opportunity for a technological revolution struck Dr Ruby

Pillai one day in 2018 when her digital headset stopped
working properly. “By the time I found my receipt and contacted
head-on. Consumers, accessing the app for free, can simply upload
their appliance purchase details, which are stored securely, along
with warranty information and user manuals. If the item breaks
the retailer, they told me they could repair it but it would cost me within its warranty period, the app enables the consumer to make
£90, more than I’d paid for the device,” she says. “Reluctantly, a claim for repair directly through the app, without having to
I threw it away and bought a new one. It was very frustrating.” find that elusive receipt or spend hours talking to a call centre.
Every year in the UK, consumers spend £423 million replacing The app promises to reduce the cost of warranty management
broken appliances, from washing machines to hairdryers, without for manufacturers and retailers. It will provide a direct
even checking if they are still covered by warranty. Electronic relationship with customers and their products, and actionable
waste is a big problem and, for Dr Pillai (pictured, above), this information about product performance. It can also help these
became a call to arms. “I realised that better warranty management companies identify faults before subsequent manufacture,
has the potential to be transformational for consumers, as well and satisfy increasingly stringent sustainability requirements.
as for the planet,” she says. “We shouldn’t be relying on time- iWarranty’s prototype has been tested with consumers and
consuming manual solutions in this digital age, which lead manufacturers uploading details of thousands of appliances.
consumers to throw away and replace products by default.” Now, Dr Pillai has high hopes for revenue through partnerships
Dr Pillai recruited a team and, in April 2021, launched with manufacturers, retailers, repairers, insurers and, crucially,
iWarranty, a platform for consumers to consolidate all their consumers. “We want to help every household access their
product warranties, make claims and access repair networks warranties, extend the lifespan of their products, and be part
affordably and quickly. It helps consumers, retailers and of the vital movement to regenerate our planet.”
manufacturers – as well as tackling the environmental crisis iwarranty.io
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Capital to heal the world

“We focus on bringing strategic and flexible
capital to growth markets, with a strong
emphasis on revolutionising the way in which
healthcare is accessed and delivered”
Afsane Jetha, Alta Semper Capital
“
T he child of two doctors, Afsane Jetha has a 20-year track record
as an investor. She founded Alta Semper Capital in 2015,
alongside Ronald Lauder (Chairman of Clinique) and Richard
unfortunate lack of human capital in the medical sectors in many
of our target markets,” says Jetha. “In addition to bolstering the
infrastructure around healthcare, we must think about investing
Parsons (former CEO of Time Warner and current Chairman of the in training enough nurses and supporting young people through
Rockefeller Foundation), creating one of the world’s leading impact medical school. We need to think about broader medical technical
investment funds. Alta Semper focuses primarily on healthcare and training, as well as counteracting the brain-drain, while keeping a
disruptive medical technologies, with the aim of creating focus on gender equality. This will change the way in which future
meaningful financial and social returns. The firm is at the forefront generations live and work and will make the healthcare sector
of bringing such investment to emerging and frontier economies sustainable in the long term.”
such as Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco, and is backed by several The CEO is extremely optimistic of the growth potential that new
impact-minded families, institutions and governments. technologies can bring. “We think cutting-edge medical technologies
“We focus on bringing strategic and flexible capital to growth will change the way healthcare is delivered globally,” she says. “I’m
markets, revolutionising the way in which healthcare is accessed and talking about such things as genomics-based and other precision
delivered,” says Jetha. “The key is to support best-in-class indigenous medicine-based therapies, artificial intelligence-based diagnostics,
companies, which also foster local and regional economic growth.” telemedicine and even drug deliveries via drones. We believe developing
Providing affordable access to high-quality healthcare is not an markets can now truly begin to exceed the potential of developed
easy task in any market. But it is particularly challenging in a region markets. In many cases they are starting with a clean slate, with very
where investment into health systems has been extremely low and little by way of legacy systems, rigid mindsets about how healthcare
where there has been a systematic underinvestment, not only into should be delivered or obsolete technology. The future is truly bright.”
goods and services, but also into human capital. “There is an www.altasemper.com
137
The tiger that roared

“I want the best people and I don’t put
bars in front of them. We have happy lawyers
who better serve our clients”
Vanessa Challess, Tiger Law
A fter experiencing several “draining” experiences in private

practice – including one period when, as a young mother,
she walked away from law entirely – Vanessa Challess decided
the next generation of human beings. I want the best people
and I don’t put bars in front of them. I am not blocking people
from applying by making them come into an office or working
she “didn’t want to work for anybody else ever again”. The law certain hours, which means I get a broader range of people
firm she founded in 2017, Tiger Law, was named after the way than traditional firms, and we have happy lawyers who better
a mother tiger protects her cubs: an image that captured how serve our clients because they are not being micromanaged.”
she felt about staff and clients. Originally focused on keeping By offering flexible working arrangements and a non-
commercial clients away from litigation, the company expanded traditional recruitment process, Tiger Law has built a truly
in 2020, trebling in size to 18. “We cover most law except diverse and cohesive team in terms of sex, race, gender and
personal injury and criminal,” says Challess. “We attract a lot of neurodiversity. The firm has two offices, but Challess has
owner-managers who understand that we are owner-managers, trained and recruited solicitors remotely, operating in this
so the advice we give is not academic. I live and breathe manner long before it became a prerequisite in 2020. To
entrepreneurship, which connects us to clients.” ensure she sets a good example, Challess takes time out
Challess believes in treating clients like grown-ups, offering every day to go to the gym and ensures her work and personal
clear advice with a transparent invoice process. Similarly, she phones are kept separate. “That has given me headspace,”
recruits staff who want to balance their home and work lives she says. “Being the founder and then journeying through
without feeling undervalued, allowing her to attract able and a pandemic has been very challenging, but you have to
ambitious staff who may have been overlooked elsewhere. be disciplined. I am no good to my family, team or clients
“My founding ethos was giving an opportunity to women so if I am exhausted.”
they don’t have to choose between their careers and producing www.tiger-law.com
138
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Trailer made
“We take the time to get to know our customers, we listen
to them, give great after-sales care and, most importantly,
we always produce a quality, bespoke article”
James Gray, Gray & Adams
A bove the door in the office of James and Peter Gray, the Joint
Managing Directors of commercial vehicle body builder,
Gray & Adams, there’s a flagpole displaying a Union Flag. That
stores, and pharmaceutical companies requiring temperature-
controlled trailers for medicine. Innovation, problem-solving
and sustainability are the company’s stock-in-trade.
same flag is also emblazoned – five metres across – on the “We produce the majority of vehicles used by Martin Brower
demonstration trailers shown to prospective customers. It’s a sign for McDonald’s, and they are unique,” says Gray. “On the outside
of just how proudly British this long-established family business the trailers appear normal, but inside they are split into three
is. Founded in 1957 by their father, Jim Gray, and his late partner, separate temperature-regulated compartments for frozen,
Jim Adams, Gray & Adams employs teams of skilled designers chilled and fresh foods. At the rear is another compartment
and engineers to deliver bespoke vehicle solutions for the retail for packaging, as well as storage boxes underneath for the oil,
and pharmaceutical sectors. The company builds everything from which they re-circulate and use to run the trucks.”
double-decker semi-trailers to home delivery vans in single- In 2020, Gray & Adams won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise
temperature, multi-temperature and dry freight designs. in Innovation for its flagship double-deck trailer, which can carry
Based in Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, it also has two trailers’ worth of products in one, and which is now used by
manufacturing facilities in Dunfermline, Doncaster and Belfast, and companies including Marks & Spencer. Prince Charles visited the
boasts a 700-strong workforce, retaining around 40 apprentices every headquarters for the company’s 60th anniversary celebrations
year. “Our family values and camaraderie mean that a lot of people in 2017. “What sets us apart is our customer focus,” says Gray.
have worked for us for 50 years,” says James Gray. “And we’ve even “We take the time to get to know our customers, we listen to them,
had generations of families: grandfathers, fathers, sons and uncles.” provide after-sales care and, most importantly, we always produce
Customers range from major supermarkets, such as Tesco, a high-quality, bespoke product with its own unique features.”
Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose, to smaller convenience www.gray-adams.com
139
In the line of hire

“There will be no wrong hires.
But if I get it wrong, I will replace
the person free of charge”
Natasha Cleeve, Cleeve Partnership
“
C ovid made me resolve to change the recruitment industry,”
says Natasha Cleeve (pictured, above), founder of the
newly launched Cleeve Partnership “During the pandemic,
of taking a job, which has a huge impact on an organisation.
One wrong hire could end it.”
Natasha and her team came up with a sophisticated
recruitment stopped. I spoke to senior executives in their 50s interviewing training course, which all her recruiters will
who were out of work for the first time and unable to get jobs need to complete. She has also bought access to advanced
they were perfect for because recruitment doesn’t work. It is psychology software that offers insights into someone’s cultural
based on a computer algorithm, and the average age of fit. “We’ll do a range of assessments with candidates:
consultants making decisions is 23.” everything from aptitude testing to situational judgment tests,
When a friend told Cleeve that suicides on his train through behavioural and personality tests to predicting job
network were up by 37 per cent, she was shocked. “I realised performance. Our robust processes, expertise and professional
that some of them were the sort of people I’d been talking to,” competence are at a level above other recruiters.”
she says. “The ones being repeatedly rejected, ignored and Cleeve, who has 32 years’ experience in executive recruitment,
ghosted. I knew I needed to do something that no other believes that SMEs are the future and will succeed if they employ
company does.” the right people. “Those people [who are] out there but just not
Cleeve decided to close her old company, Cleeve Executive, being found at the moment. If we can’t get all those brilliant,
and set up Cleeve Partnership, a brand new model of experienced people back into work, UK plc won’t thrive.”
recruitment designed specifically for the high-growth SME Cleeve has such faith in her business model she’s offering
market. “We’re going to be helping companies scale by a guarantee. “There will be no wrong hires,” she says. “But if
recruiting exactly the right people for them,” she says. I get it wrong, I will replace the person free of charge.”
“Normally, up to 47 per cent of new hires fail within 18 months cleevepartnership.com
140
QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Rewriting the rules

“Our clients like us because we’re different;
we’re more like a business than a law firm”
Alice Stephenson, Stephenson Law
S tephenson Law was founded in 2017 with the aim to do things

differently. For its owner and CEO, Alice Stephenson, it
marked a fresh approach to a profession rooted in tradition with
yet has the experience to know what established teams need.
The company’s lawyers quickly integrate with new clients, and
its subscription services and transparent pricing mean any
centuries of ingrained routines and old-fashioned language often services needed can be accessed without worrying about the cost.
making it seem impenetrable to others. Among the specialist areas on offer are commercial contracts,
In her mission to build a forward-thinking, innovative law firm data protection, technology expertise, corporate deals, intellectual
which puts people at the heart of everything, Stephenson tackles property, funding and investment, employment and incentives.
every stereotype head on. The company is focused on next As a small, close-knit company, Stephenson Law can dedicate
generation legal services, challenging the legal industry by offering itself to its customers and work effectively within its own teams,
unparalleled service and expertise without the typical corporate which facilitates an understanding of their clients’ business
stuffiness. “Our clients like us because we’re different; we’re more ethos while spotting opportunities themselves for growth.
like a business than a law firm,” says Stephenson, who in 2021 was The focus on clients has led to legal jargon and unnecessarily
one of three women in law among the 40 winners of Innovate UK’s complex explanations being dropped. It is all part of the passion
Women in Innovation awards. “The companies we work with don’t for being responsive and straightforward.
want to deal with lawyers in suits, and we don’t want to wear suits.” Law firms have always based their reputations on years of
The company works with fast-growth, entrepreneurial convention and the comfort of old ways, but Stephenson Law has
businesses to provide strategic advice and support on day-to-day recognised the need to help clients navigate this fast-moving modern
matters, covering start-ups, in-house legal work, procurement and world with ease. The result is a new and exciting concept that thrives
privacy. Stephenson Law understands the challenges that young, on being high-quality, perceptive, flexible, innovative and creative.
ambitious businesses face because it has been in the same position www.stephenson.law
141
142
THE MAKING OF A PRINCE
CHAPTER FOUR
THE
MAKING OF
A PRINCE
143
o o
Above Opposite
Princess Anne Students at Aberystwyth
accompanies Charles welcoming Charles, who
to his investiture in went there to study
Caernarfon on 1 July 1969 Welsh, 1969
144
Charles’s crowning moment

Since his triumphant investiture at Caernarfon Castle in 1969,
the Prince of Wales has championed and cherished the Welsh
culture, language and heritage. Words by Robert Jobson
O n 26 July 1958 the headmaster of Prince Charles’s

preparatory school at Cheam in Berkshire, Peter Beck,
asked a small number of pupils to join him in his sitting room.
The Prince was among them. The Commonwealth Games
in Cardiff were being broadcast on the BBC and the boys were
allowed to watch the closing ceremony on his television. It was
announced that, although Her Majesty The Queen was not in
attendance, she would address the stadium and the television
audience in a recorded message. Her Majesty then appeared
on the screen and read out a message that would have huge
implications for the young Prince.
“The British Empire and Commonwealth Games in the
capital… have made this a memorable year for the principality,”
announced the Queen. “I have therefore decided to mark it
further by an act that will, I hope, give much pleasure to all
Welshmen as it does to me. I intend to create my son Charles
Prince of Wales today… When he is grown up, I will present
him to you at Caernarfon.”
Charles’s friends turned around and congratulated him
on his elevation in status, which made the Prince a touch
uncomfortable as he hated being the centre of attention. Years
later, at a dinner in Caerphilly Castle in July 2008 to celebrate
his half-century as the Prince of Wales, Charles spoke of the great-uncle David in 1911. On the eve of the initiation the Prince
moment. “I remember with horror and embarrassment how joined The Queen and Prince Philip aboard the royal train and
I was summoned with all the other boys at my school to the headed for North Wales. All three of them believed that it was
headmaster’s sitting room, where we all had to sit on the floor essential this royal pageant had to go to plan and were eager for
and watch television,” he said. “To my total embarrassment a positive reaction from the public, especially in Wales.
I heard my mama’s voice – she wasn’t very well at the time and After completing four terms at Trinity College, Cambridge,
could not go. My father went instead and a recording of the the Prince was sent to the University College of Wales at
message was played in the stadium saying that I was to be Aberystwyth in order to learn Welsh before his formal investiture
made the Prince of Wales. All the other boys turned around as the Prince of Wales. This was a political decision rather than a
and looked at me and I remember thinking, ‘What on earth have cultural one, amid a revival of nationalism in Scotland and Wales.
I been let in for?’ That is my overriding memory.” Prior to his departure to the Welsh college, Charles recorded his
The Prince said later it was one of the greatest privileges first radio interview and, not surprisingly, he was asked about
possible to be the 21st Prince of Wales. “I have tried my best,” his attitude towards the hostility in the principality. “It would be
he said. “It may not be very adequate to live up to the motto of unnatural, I think, if one didn’t feel any apprehension about it,”
my predecessors, ‘Ich Dien – I Serve’.” he said. “One always wonders what’s going to happen… As long
Eleven years after The Queen’s announcement – on 1 July as I don’t get covered in too much egg and tomato I’ll be all right.
1969 – he was sworn in as the Prince of Wales in an investiture But I don’t blame people demonstrating like that. They’ve never
at Caernarfon Castle, in a ceremony based on the one for his seen me before. They don’t know what I’m like. I’ve hardly been
145
o o
Below Right
Children with mugs The Queen and
commemorating Prince her son during the
Charles’s investiture investiture procession
“The language and the culture … is unique and

special to Wales, and if something is unique
and special, I see it as well worth preserving”
to Wales, and you can’t really expect people to be overzealous Despite this preparation in fealty to Charles’s status within
about the fact of having a so-called English prince to come the principality, more radical factions within the Welsh nationalist
amongst them.” movement had started a disturbing campaign of terrorism.
To cancel the university term in Wales would have been Fanatics had formed what they called the Free Wales Army and
a public-relations disaster for the government and indeed for had finally won the attention of the police and security services
Charles himself. It was decided it would be a weakness to bow after an RAF warrant officer was seriously injured in an incident.
to extremist threats. So they went ahead regardless. Upon his Then the gang planted a bomb that destroyed the Temple of
arrival at Pantycelyn Hall, where he would share accommodation Peace in Cardiff. Another bomb was found in the lost-luggage
with 250 other students, Charles was met by a 500-strong department of the railway station.
cheering crowd. The welcome raised his spirits. In the end On the eve of the investiture, on 30 June, two members of a
the Prince enjoyed his time there and was treated kindly in paramilitary organisation called Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC
Aberystwyth, his period of study passing without incident. – Movement for the Defence of Wales) were killed while placing
He wrote to a friend: “If I have learned anything during the a bomb outside government offices in the North Wales coastal
last eight weeks, it’s been about Wales… they feel so strongly town of Abergele. On the day of the investiture, two other bombs
about Wales as a nation, and it means something to them, and were planted in Caernarfon, one in the local police constable’s
they are depressed by what might happen to it if they don’t try garden, which exploded as the 21-gun salute was fired; another
and preserve the language and the culture, which is unique and in an iron forge near the castle but it failed to go off. A final bomb
special to Wales, and if something is unique and special, I see was placed on Llandudno Pier and was designed to stop the
it as well worth preserving.” Royal Yacht Britannia from docking – this also failed to explode.
Many years later, the Prince recalled with pleasure the period Anonymously, too, it was announced that the Prince of Wales
of his life spent studying in Wales, saying that it was among was on their target list. This threat left Charles understandably
his fondest memories and that he had “memorable times spent concerned. The Royal Family was powerless in this regard and
exploring mid-Wales during my term at Aberystwyth University had to trust in the competency of the security services and the
… learning something about the principality and its ancient measures the police had already put in place to ensure the safety
language, folklore, myths and history.” of both Charles and Her Majesty.
146
147
o o
Above Opposite
The newly appointed Prince Charles meets
Prince of Wales is cheered young members of
on by the gathered crowd the community in
as he leaves the castle Swansea, 2019
148
“As long as I do not take myself too

seriously I should not be too badly off”
Thankfully, the streets of Caernarfon were peaceful during in Carmarthenshire, through his Duchy of Cornwall trust; called
Charles’s instalment as the Prince of Wales on 1 July 1969. Llwynywermod (also known as Llwynywormwood), the estate sits
Charles was driven through the town in an open carriage on just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park. Adapted from a
his way to the castle past cheering crowds. As the guests and former model farm in Carmarthenshire, it bears witness to his
choir sang “God Bless the Prince of Wales”, he was conducted philosophy of sustainable building with a structure traditionally
to the dais and knelt before The Queen. He would later write made from existing and locally sourced materials, an ecologically
that he found it profoundly moving when he placed his hands sound heating system and elegant interiors that harmonise
between his mother’s and spoke the oath of allegiance. perfectly with the architecture.
Her Majesty then presented the Prince to the crowd at He uses it for meetings, receptions and concerts, and as the
Eagle Gate and at the lower ward to the sound of magnificent base for his visits to Wales several times a year, which includes
fanfares. After that he was again paraded through the streets the annual week of summer engagements known in his schedule
before retiring aboard the Royal Yacht at Holyhead for a well- as “Wales Week”. Charles says he wants it to be “a showcase for
deserved dinner, an emotionally exhausted but very happy prince. traditional Welsh craftsmanship, textiles and woodwork, so as
Buoyed by the experience, he noted: “As long as I do not take to draw attention to the high-quality small enterprises, woollen
myself too seriously I should not be too badly off.” mills, quilt-makers, joiners, stonemasons and metalworkers
The next day the Prince embarked on a week of solo situated in rural parts of Wales”. It enables him, he says, to feel
engagements around the principality. He recalled being “utterly part of the local community. To him, he says, preserving this
amazed” by the positive reaction he received. As the tour sense of community “is timeless”.
progressed south, the crowds grew even bigger. At the end of it During a January 2015 interview with the Welsh
Charles arrived tired but elated at Windsor Castle. He retired to government’s tourism organisation, Visit Wales, Charles was
write up his diary, noting the silence after the day’s cheers and asked how important it was for him to have a retreat in Wales.
applause and reflecting that he had much to live up to and hoped “Very important!” he replied. “Having been Prince of Wales for
that he could do something constructive for Wales. 55 years [at the time of the interview], it enables me, on various
Since then, perhaps like no other bearer of the title, the Prince occasions, to be part of the local community around Llandovery
has cultivated close contacts within the principality. He purchased and to have a base for entertaining and meeting people from
a 192-acre estate near the village of Myddfai, south of Llandovery throughout the principality.”
149
Man of action
As a young man, Prince Charles served in the
Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy; experiences
that proved challenging but ultimately rewarding.
Words by Robert Jobson
P rince Philip had to pass up a most promising naval career

when he married the heir to the throne, Princess Elizabeth.
It is possibly why Philip was so keen to see his eldest son
follow in his footsteps and embark upon a career in the Royal
Navy. Officially Charles would sign up for three years, but it
was expected he would stay for at least five so that he could
gain command of his own ship.
Charles was to enter the Royal Navy College, Dartmouth
in the autumn of 1971 but before that it was decided that he
should undertake an intensive four-month attachment to the
Royal Air Force at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, to gain his wings
as a jet pilot. It was to be the start of the “action man” image
that the media were determined to create about him. He flew
to the college at RAF Cranwell in March 1971 at the controls
of a twin-engine aircraft from The Queen’s Flight.
Two aircraft were assigned to the Prince for his use only.
They were separated from the others, maintained only by a
special team and guarded by RAF police. While Charles was
allowed to undertake the course, anything that involved any
high-risk elements was ruled out.
o The Prince loved his time at Cranwell and penned letters
Right to his adored great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, in which he
Prince Charles in the enthused about the lectures on jet engines. “To my amazement
cockpit of a Royal Navy I find I am beginning to understand some of it and I am
Wessex helicopter while convinced that the secret is continuity all day every day,”
stationed at Yeovilton, he wrote. “They certainly keep you busy here and I am up
Somerset, in 1974 early and in bed fairly early as well.”
150
151
152
o
Opposite
A portrait of Prince
Charles in uniform at
Buckingham Palace
o
Right
Prince Philip with his
son at RAF Cranwell
after Charles received
his wings, 1971
After just two weeks of ground training he was allowed HMS Norfolk in Gibraltar. On his second day aboard, Charles
to take the controls of a Jet Provost and, while he found recorded that he was greatly looking forward to “my first day
navigation tricky, he was soon permitted to make his first at sea in one of Her Majesty’s finest warships”.
solo flight on 31 March 1971, just three weeks after arriving On the Norfolk, he was expected to gain a Bridge
at Cranwell. “I did one circuit and managed to bring off a very Watchkeeping Certificate in nine months, when a year would
passable landing,” he wrote. “The feeling of power, smooth be more usual, and he felt the pressure. “I believe in being well
unworried power, is incredible.” Later he was allowed to fly occupied and busy but I expect more is learned and accumulated
solo aerobatics at 25,000 feet, which he found “breathtaking”. by midshipmen who have longer to explore and investigate,”
His next adventure was to fly in the rear seat of a Phantom wrote the Prince. “However, I did obtain my wings reasonably
Jet belonging to 43 Squadron. They flew twice over Balmoral fairly ... and I passed the exams at Dartmouth, but I lacked that
at 400 feet, which he noted was an “unforgettable experience”. touch of professionalism which only comes after longer periods.”
After five months, the Prince was awarded his wings and Despite his obvious talent and leadership qualities, he
left the RAF. On his last evening, he was called upon to make suffered periods of self-doubt. In one private letter to Lord
a speech at a guest evening in the officers’ mess. When he Mountbatten he wrote: “I’ve been made to work extremely hard
finished his fellow officers rose as one in a genuine heartfelt since I set foot in this mighty vessel. I stumble around the ship,
standing ovation. In September, he headed to the Royal Naval falling down hatches and striking my head against bulkheads in
College at Dartmouth to start his Royal Navy training proper. an effort to find my way about … I have been ‘thrown in at the
Charles found learning seamanship and naval technology deep end’ in the most obvious manner ... I’m afraid that I tend
intense, especially as he had once again been put on a fast- to suffer from bouts of hopeless depression because I feel that
stream six-week course – half the usual allocated time. After I’m never going to cope.” But he did not let his insecurities
passing his exams at Dartmouth, he joined the destroyer show and proved popular with his peers.
153
“I had more fun flying than I ever had before …

There were no interruptions from any other source
and as a result I ended up ‘Hog of the Month’”
In the autumn of 1971, Charles was based ashore at the unique standards of the Queen’s Flight. Once the Marines
Portsmouth for several weeks. He stayed, at the invitation of his discovered this, Prince Charles became their favourite pilot,
great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten, at Broadlands, the stately which was hardly a great endorsement of their confidence in
home of the Mountbattens in nearby Hampshire. By this time the rest of the fleet’s maintenance. Charles was a naturally
Mountbatten, now in his 70s, was quite prepared to spend as gifted pilot. Towards the end of his time on HMS Hermes he
much time as was required helping his great-nephew develop wrote: “I had more fun flying than I ever had before. The flying
into a man fit for kingship. At this time Charles took to referring was extremely concentrated, but there was masses of variety
to Mountbatten as “honorary grandfather” and Mountbatten and interest; troop drills, rocket firing, cross-country
responded by calling Charles “honorary grandson”. manoeuvres (day and night), low-level transits, simulated
Following an eight-month posting to the Caribbean in fighter-evasion sorties, parachute-dropping flights and
1973 on the frigate HMS Minerva, Charles’s duties with the commando exercises with the Marines. There were no
Royal Navy became ever more varied and challenging, and by interruptions from any other source and as a result I ended
the autumn of 1974 he had joined the Fleet Air Arm. After a up ‘Hog of the Month’ with about 53 hours in May!”
helicopter conversion course in Yeovilton, Somerset, he was Charles thought his next posting in the Royal Navy would
assigned to 845 Naval Air Squadron as a pilot on board the be catastrophic but Mountbatten assured him it wouldn’t be.
commando carrier HMS Hermes. There he was to spend the On 9 February 1976 he took command of his first ship – the
o happiest four months of his naval career. He loved flying and, coastal minehunter HMS Bonnington at Rosyth in Scotland.
Opposite thanks mainly to Mountbatten, he had great affection for “The great and terrifying day had arrived at last,” he recorded.
Prince Charles on the and loyalty to the Royal Navy. “The whole prospect weighed heavily upon me as I drove
Royal Navy minesweeper He was duly assigned two helicopters that had bright- across the Forth Bridge. There seemed so many things to
HMS Bronington, which red nose and tail markings to denote that they were for his worry about, particularly as I am not the sort of person who
he commanded exclusive use, and they were subsequently maintained to is endowed with supreme self-confidence.”
154
155
o o
Above Opposite
Charles during his The prince in his
time with 845 Naval cabin on board
Air Squadron HMS Bronington
156
“Charles showed a deep understanding for his sailors,

their families and their problems and as a result the
morale of his ship has been of an extremely high order”
For the next nine months the Prince sailed his command Officer. He has a natural flair and ability for ship handling and
on the tedious duties that concerned a minesweeper’s modest consequently his manoeuvres have been a pleasure to witness.
role in the Royal Navy. He remained most mindful that any Charles showed a deep understanding for his sailors, their
slip-up would be seized upon by the press and cause not only families and their problems and as a result the morale of his
personal humiliation but also shame upon the Royal Family. ship has been of an extremely high order.”
As a result of any such events remaining under wraps, and Perhaps he wasn’t the sharpest of officers in his generation.
with no other disasters to report, the press ploughed on with There were certainly better navigators and finer sailors, and
the “action man” image and, after he had spent five years in Charles’s two most senior and experienced lieutenants – Clare
the Royal Navy, the public’s perception of the Prince had been and Rapp – were naturally more suited to the sea; but, as a
completely transformed from that of a painfully shy young captain, Charles Windsor was a natural and the annals of
man to that of a naval hero. Headlines in the press spoke to British history have recorded him as such.
the nation of: “FEARLESS, FULL OF FUN CHARLIE”, “THE On the day that Prince Charles left the Royal Navy, the
GET-UP-AND-GO PRINCE CHARLES” and “CHARLES, officers and crew of his ship threw a lavatory seat around
SCOURGE OF THE SEAS”. This pleased the Palace, the Royal his neck and pushed him ashore in a wheelchair. As they
Navy, Mountbatten and, therefore, the Prince. It may also have proceeded down the quay at Rosyth, crews from every ship
pleased Prince Phillip, but if it did, it does not appear to have joined in the cheering as the Prince waved farewell to a gang,
been recorded. a club and an institution that had embraced him, protected
In December 1976, the Royal Navy’s final report on Charles him and loved him. But Charles had earned it all and deserved
was written by Commander Elliott. “In spite of enormous every bit of deep respect and affection that was shown to him.
outside pressure,” it states, “Prince Charles has attained an He had come a very long way from the bullied and bleak
excellent level of professional competence as a Commanding existence as a young boy at Gordonstoun.
157
A name to trust
“You can’t wipe away the tears,
but you can help put people’s lives
back together in a financial sense”
Sian Fisher, Chartered Insurance Institute
158
“
W e all talk about insurance as if it’s as natural as the air
we breathe,” says Sian Fisher, CEO of the Chartered
Insurance Institute (CII). “But you only have to go back to before
the 19th century to see what life was like when there was no
established insurance market.” Nowadays, of course, insurance
is essential, both for individuals in the form of life assurance and
motor, home, household and travel cover and for the complex
risk-management needs of businesses.
There are some 400,000 people working in the insurance
and personal finance profession, of whom around nearly
130,000 are members of the CII. Since it was established by Royal
Charter in 1912, the CII has been the body dedicated to building
public trust in the insurance and financial-planning professions.
It oversees training and qualifications, as well as those regulated
areas where practitioners must have a license or certificate.
These insurance professionals are entrusted with significant
responsibilities, such as the financial well-being of those in
retirement, providing peace of mind in the face of life’s unforeseen
events or supporting companies. As Fisher observes: “A world
without insurance would be a scary place for individuals, families
and businesses.”
For the millions who buy standard insurance products every
year, the CII provides a charter mark for its members as an
endorsement of their professionalism, much in the same way that
the Law Society, for instance, underpins trust in the legal profession
and the British Medical Association does the same for doctors.
There are three key elements to the CII’s mission to ensure and individuals. “You can’t wipe away the tears,” she says,
this level of trust in the industry. The first is the provision of “but you can help put people’s lives back together in a financial
training so that its members can keep their knowledge and skills sense, which means they can cope.”
up to date. To this end, the CII has experts in more than 400 The CII is coming to the end of a five-year transformation
subject areas who support its learning services. In addition, every programme that has seen it embrace digital operations – the
year it organises some 650 networking events and its members sit success of which was key during the COVID-19 crisis – and move
around 75,000 exams. The second is the overseeing of the fiduciary its head office to new premises next door to one of London’s
role that insurance professionals play for their customers. And most historically notable financial addresses – the site of the
the third is a code of ethics, which states that every member will first Lloyd’s coffee house.
act for the good of their customers. Looking ahead, the CII aims to build on its current tally
The importance of the CII’s role of maintaining trust and of 37 affiliated institutes around the world. Indeed, it has been
stability was highlighted last year with the onset of COVID-19. approached by several countries, especially in the Middle East and
For the insurance industry such a pandemic is the fourth “pillar” Asia, who want its help in establishing their own trusted insurance
of catastrophic events, alongside terrorist attacks, flooding and industry. As Fisher concludes: “We’ll continue to do that wherever
cyber-attacks. In these cases, Fisher explains, the profession can it’s to the benefit of the consumers in those markets.”
work with government to help feed money back to businesses www.cii.co.uk
159
160
Committed
to change
“Ahava Group Global is determined that the world sees
black culture in a more dynamic way than has typically
been portrayed in US mainstream media”
Dr Janét Aizenstros, Ahava Group Global
A s the founder of a women-led media company serving

corporations in 15 locations around the world, Dr Janét
Aizenstros has had many companies reach out to her firm to
entrepreneurs become writers, delivering books that empower
readers to transform the wellbeing of their businesses and
lifestyles. Luxe House publishes a series of books titled the Lotus
learn more about the needs of female consumers. In the 10 years Collection, which feature heroic stories of women leaders.
since its foundation, Aizenstros has grown Ahava Group Global The fifth subsidiary is Ahava Entertainment, which was set
into a parent company for media, entertainment, publishing and up in 2015 as a production unit for videos and films. It is now
technology initiatives that has become one of Canada’s biggest home to Ahava Film Studios and music label Ahava Sound,
business success stories. The original business in the group was founded in 2011. Taken as a whole, Ahava Group Global is
Ahava Digital Group, which aims to shift the perspective of determined that the world sees black culture in a more
companies towards using data and technology to grow devoted, dynamic way than has typically been portrayed in US
long-term relationships with female consumers. Last year, mainstream media. The group’s commitment to improving
Canadian Business magazine ranked Ahava Digital Group 12th gender diversity within corporations is exemplified by its
in its annual list of Canada’s fastest-growing companies, in membership of 30% Club Canada, whose mission is to achieve
recognition of achieving an astonishing five-year revenue growth at least 30 per cent representation of women on all executive
of 8,283 per cent. boards and C-suites globally. The company also strives for
As a serial-entrepreneur of Afro-Canadian descent with a sustainable and responsible conduct within the business
PhD in metaphysical sciences, Aizenstros has also responded sector, and towards its people and the environment; “ahava”
to clients’ desire to focus more on black women living in Africa is the Hebrew word for love.
and those within the African diaspora. Ahava Digital Group Ahava Group supports social initiatives through the Janét
focuses on gathering consumer data on Americans that can be Aizenstros Foundation, which was set up in 2016 to support
leveraged by undeveloped economies across the world seeking pioneering programmes in the arts, education, literacy,
to target American consumers while stimulating job growth technology and entrepreneurship. Last year Aizenstros herself
within their own nations. Approximately 85 per cent of ADG’s made a gift to enable the Gordon S Lang School of Business
clientele are US organisations, and Aizenstros says she is and Economics at Canada’s University of Guelph, Ontario, to
particularly interested in creating opportunities for all women, launch an annual scholarship to support students who have
with a particular focus on black and indigenous women, and demonstrated social entrepreneurship and innovation through
women of colour. academic and community experience. She has also established
The other four member companies include Twenty One a 100-year legacy initiative called Ahava Holdings & Ventures
Consulting, which helps women founders grow and scale their that focuses on building great technology and media
companies, while Twelve Twenty One Illustration is a companies. It is the first impact fund in Canada led by a black
multidisciplinary illustration agency serving award-winning woman that focuses on women entrepreneurs creating social
creatives and brands globally. Love Lifestyle Publishing Group impact through technology.
is a women-led self-publishing company that helps emerging www.ahavagroup.co
161
162
Quality in the stars

“We update our model every year to take account of
changes in best practice and the latest research”
Sue Brand, RDB Star Rating
“
C are homes are proud of what they want to do,” says Sue
Brand, Managing Director of RDB Star Rating. “Those
providers who are committed to delivering high-quality
The fourth element, residential care, analyses the home’s
ability to deliver best practice through efficient and
responsible management. Finally, it looks at commitment
compassionate care with dignity and respect want to be to continuous improvement which includes the role of
distanced from providers who deliver poor or inadequate care.” the management and their commitment to delivering high-
That is why Brand, who had run care homes all her life up quality care.
until that point, decided in 1997 to set up the company specifically Following the RDB assessment, a report is produced and
to assess the level of care and services delivered by public, private sent to the care home. “It is structured so that if somebody
and voluntary care establishments and provide care homes with does get five stars, they have a holistic home.”
a nationally recognised and reliable symbol of quality. RDB was the first of its kind to be accredited by the United
RDB Star Rating produces detailed annual reports on Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) that is recognised
homes that enable vulnerable people and their families, when by the British government for assessing the competence of
making decisions at a difficult and often stressful time, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection,
to differentiate quality homes from competitors. It awards and calibration services.
a rating of between two and five stars, ranging from an average The company has won a string of awards. So far in 2020 it
standard of care through to excellent, while crowns are has been named as the Best Social Care Standards Authority
awarded for their property and additional facilities. Each by the Global 100 Awards that celebrate the best of small
inspection takes between two and five days depending on to medium businesses across the UK, and as Best Practice
the size and the categories of the client group. Operator Of The Year (Residential Care) by the ACQ5
Its model uses 200 care standards covering the spectrum Country Awards. Last year its honours included Best Social
of everything that has to be in place and collects 10 to 16 items Care Standards Authority from the SME Enterprise Awards,
of evidence for each standard. The ratings are based on five key and Acquisition International’s Global Excellence Award for
elements. The first is individual care that reviews how people’s Best Care Sector Inspection & Assessment Agency.
personal care needs are assessed and responded to prior to At a time when the social care sector is in crisis and in the
admission, on admission, day to day, over time and at the end process of undergoing radical transformation, RDB Star Rating
of their life or stay. The second assesses the additional needs is working constantly to ensure that it stays at the forefront of
care – the home’s specialist care provision such as nursing or the industry. “We update our model every year to take account
dementia care – while the third, lifestyle care, focuses on the of changes in best practice and the latest research,” says Brand.
facilities and services that impact on the quality of life for “It’s such a moveable feast.”
the home’s residents. www.rdbstar-rating.com
163
Ship shape for the future

“Areas such as sustainability, leadership
and innovation are hugely important to us,
just as they are to Prince Charles”
Chris Boyd, The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
W ith Britain’s role as one of the world’s leading maritime

nations comes both opportunity and responsibility.
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) has embraced
has worked all over the world for the private and public
sector, covering all types of boats, vessels and offshore
structures in areas as diverse as oil and gas, yachts,
both of these since its foundation in 1860 as a body to support transportation and renewable energy. “That background
research, development and education in marine structures has given me a very good idea of the overall arena of what
and vessels. we’re involved in,” he says.
The organisation, which has had royal patronage since For Boyd, a key part of RINA’s role is to engage a
1910, provides professional accreditation and international younger generation in naval architecture and maritime
leadership, seeking to influence policy on a range of issues science. RINA works closely with universities and further
including sustainability and artificial intelligence. “In essence education colleges to develop training and seed innovation,
we are a membership body that looks after 10,000 members particularly in areas such as sustainability and safety.
from all over the world,” says Chief Executive Chris Boyd. It does so with an awareness of its own legacy and history.
“We offer professional accreditation that is internationally “Royal patronage is very important to us even as we look
recognised, and deliver a network of intelligence with an ability to the future,” says Boyd. “Areas such as sustainability,
to communicate with industry and other bodies, such as the leadership and innovation are hugely important to us, just
International Maritime Organization.” as they are to Prince Charles. There’s a reason we are
Boyd’s own background offers some insight into the broad focused on these issues – they are the key challenges facing
range of RINA’s interests. He began his career in the Royal the planet, and we want to embrace that Royal patronage
Navy but decided he would “rather design ships than live on as it is part of how Britain is perceived around the globe.”
them”, and completed his studies in Glasgow. Since then he www.rina.org.uk
164
Steering students to success

“We speak to candidates individually with
a really personal approach, which is reflected
in how companies have responded to us”
Cary Curtis, Give A Grad A Go
C ary Curtis, CEO and founder of Give A Grad A Go, is

well aware how challenging the job market is, yet he is
convinced that many graduates still have the qualifications
While Give A Grad A Go was based around securing
career opportunities for graduates, Curtis was also keen to
ensure that the companies it supported could be assured
and ambition needed to start a successful career. “I started Give of a similarly high-quality service. “We streamline their
A Grad A Go in 2009, just as the financial crash of 2008/9 was recruitment processes,” he says. “That can mean building
starting to hit,” he says. “I saw the impact that the financial a website, writing a job spec, planning ongoing hiring, then
downturn was having on the jobs market, particularly on introducing candidates to them and managing the interview
graduates, and wanted to try and create a way of helping them.” process. It’s so satisfying seeing individuals go off and be
Watching the students protesting, Curtis saw how lost and really successful, while also seeing companies becoming
panicked many of them felt, and started to look at the support more successful as a result of the people we source for them.
and advice available to help them find jobs, especially outside Graduates we’ve placed have frequently come back years later
the large corporates. “Despite the downturn there were a large as clients, now looking to grow their own teams.”
number of technology businesses and SMEs doing exceptionally Curtis agrees that the job market can appear challenging,
well, yet they were struggling to find, or didn’t have the but just as he made a major success starting a business at a
resources to find, the right talent,” he says. “The graduate difficult time, he has every confidence that the graduates they
market was also being largely neglected by recruitment agencies place are equally determined. “There’s no doubt that the jobs
and job boards, so I started Give A Grad A Go with a laptop market has been tough recently,” he says, “but, similar to
in my kitchen. The business evolved from a platform into a 2009, there are lots of businesses growing at a rapid rate
recruitment business which has now placed over 5,000 graduates and creating lots of opportunities for graduates.”
into nearly 1,000 businesses.” www.giveagradago.com
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Bridging the gap

“If we can deliver our projects to the highest standard while
minimising the environmental impact, we believe this gives the
most positive impact on the lives of the community around us”
Martyn Lamond Sherwood, Metrail Construction Limited
A s one of the UK’s leading specialist infrastructure

contractors working on some of the nation’s major
engineering and construction projects, Metrail Construction
the company’s strong focus on teamwork and innovation
allow for its cost-effective, sustainable and robust solutions.
Established in 2007 as an agile alternative to the big players on
Limited places great value on the importance of collaboration the market, Metrail has grown in the intervening years and now has a
and innovation, putting these at the heart of its business. And, Scottish and Northern office to complement its Sussex base. Recently
according to founder and Managing Director Martyn Lamond it partnered with a German company to transform methods of slab
Sherwood, these alliances go further than just the engineering stabilisation on concrete roads. By utilising these new methods, the
and construction companies it works alongside on developments time that roads are out of use has been dramatically reduced. “It’s a
for the likes of London Underground, Network Rail and game-changer,” says Sherwood proudly, “and proof that we’re always
Highways England. looking at ways of working better.” Accordingly, Metrail has completed
“As well as delivering a high standard of work for our an increasing number of high-profile jobs, including London Bridge,
contractors, we also look at the public’s perception of a project – HS1, Rochester Bridge and the M62 Lofthouse Interchange.
particularly as they are the end user,” says Sherwood. “During The company also places great stock in sustainability – not only
our work on London Bridge, we considered whether to close offsetting its carbon footprint via projects in Kenya and Uganda, but
it in its entirety or in lane closures. What works best for all by improving the external environment in which it works. “There is
parties, including the end users – the drivers and pedestrians?” obviously a commercial aspect,” Sherwood explains, “but if we can
Singularly skilled in maintaining the life of bridges and deliver our projects to the highest standard while minimising the
preventing damage, Metrail supplies and installs bridge deck environmental impact, we believe this gives the most positive
waterproofing membranes, bridge expansion joints, concrete impact on the lives of the community around us.”
repairs and structural protection. Sherwood believes that www.metrail.co.uk
166
“We’re busily wrecking the chances for

future generations at a rapid rate of
knots by not recognising the damage
we’re doing to the natural environment,
bearing in mind that this is the only
planet that we know has any life on it”
The Prince of Wales
167
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A SENSE OF DUTY
CHAPTER FIVE
A SENSE
OF DUTY
169
The philanthropist prince

Driven by a sense of public duty and personal passion,
Prince Charles has dedicated a lifetime’s work to charitable
causes. Words by Robert Jobson
o
Below
Prince Charles and
T he reign of King Charles III will inevitably appear short in
length compared to that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
But Charles’s contribution through a lifetime of public service,
in the southwest of England, was shown in annual accounts
to be worth around £1 billion and Charles’s net worth is said
to be £306 million, according to a report by Time magazine. He is
Prince William on the especially as the Prince of Wales, has been outstanding. He will just a steward for this estate. The trust will pass to the Duke of
Duchy Home Farm be remembered as a visionary man, a pioneer and somebody Cambridge when he becomes Duke of Cornwall and beneficiary
with the courage of his convictions – even if he has had to face of the Duchy on Charles’s ascension to the throne.
o ridicule for flying in the face of convention. With the multimillions his Duchy of Cornwall estate
Opposite Apart from the necessary security bill and travel expenses generates for his personal use every year (several years ago it
Charles and Camilla when on official state business at home and abroad, it should be was £21.7 million, up five per cent on the previous year, and the
at the Fowey Festival noted that the taxpayer doesn’t fund any of his lifestyle. He is tax paid voluntarily increased to £4.85 million), he might well
during a visit to Devon effectively funded by the annual surplus from his landed estate, live a cosseted existence. Why shouldn’t he? The money is,
and Cornwall, 2018 the Duchy of Cornwall, of which he is the steward. The estate, after all, his, just as the money generated by, say, the Duke of
which stretches over 135,000 acres and across 23 counties, mainly Westminster’s extensive property portfolio is his, or just as
money generated by any other landed estate belongs to its owner.
Unless there were to be some kind of communist-style land grab,
that is the way it is.
Charles, therefore, could have happily lived the life of a
playboy prince, a waster selfishly squandering his wealth on a
debauched and lavish lifestyle. But he does not and, even though
it is his “private income”, the Prince has long chosen to be as
open and transparent as possible.
From March 2017 through to March 2018, Charles and
Camilla together undertook 620 official engagements in 45
counties across the UK and in 15 foreign and Commonwealth
countries around the world. The year before the Covid-19
pandemic hit, travels included a tour of the Caribbean and a trip
to New Zealand. In his travels, sustainability and climate change
– constant themes of his work for decades – have been at the
core of his message as he bids to raise awareness of the ways in
which changes to our natural environment are having a negative
impact on the world around us, particularly the case on
low-lying islands, including across the Caribbean.
He attended, too, the Our Ocean Conference in Malta in
October 2018, where his keynote address warned once again of the
damage that is being caused by the dual threats of climate change
and plastics pollution as humanity stretches nature to the limit.
He had also worked tirelessly to draw out the issue of religious
tolerance and greater cultural cohesion, which he had addressed
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A SENSE OF DUTY
171
“As I approach something of a milestone in my own life, I have

had a chance to reflect on how best to ensure my charities
continue to help those they were set up to serve”
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A SENSE OF DUTY
through his Easter message that was broadcast on Good Friday argue that point. After all, Charles has a personal staff of more o
2018, reaching a global audience of more than 10 million. In it he than 120. There are valets who prepare his clothes and polish his Opposite
gave an emotional message of support for persecuted religious shoes, chefs to indulge his every organic culinary whim, and a Prince Charles, President
minorities, describing his compassion for “Christians who small army of estate workers. Gardening is one of his greatest of his charity The Prince’s
are suffering for their faith in many places around the world”. passions, one that was sparked in childhood, playing with Trust, pictured with some
He started the speech by saying, “I want to assure them that Princess Anne outdoors and spending a lot of time with his of its young ambassadors
they are not forgotten and that they are in our prayers.” grandmother, The Queen Mother, at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The Prince’s detractors insist he is a drain on the public Charles has devoted his entire life to public duty, supporting o
purse. The reality is in the relationship between private and The Queen in her role as Head of State as well as being a global Above
public money; the taxpayer meets less than 10 per cent of the philanthropist. With his Prince’s Trust, which he started in In Dominica, the
total costs for Charles and Camilla (excluding security costs) and 1976, having completed his duty in the Royal Navy, he had a bold Caribbean, after Hurricane
those costs are usually for travel expenses when they are sent idea that he believed would improve the lives of disadvantaged Maria devastated several
on official business and in a mode of transport selected by the young people across the UK. The Prince’s Trust delivers on that islands, 2017
government, not by the Prince. commitment and has been widely praised, having created more
The scope and diversity of the Prince’s work is wide-ranging than 125,000 entrepreneurs since it started.
– from state occasions through to work to support the military, In March 2018, four of Prince Charles’s charities were
not to mention communities of every faith and of every ethnic consolidated to create a new charity – the Prince’s Foundation.
origin, helping to bind all people together as a single United The new charity has its headquarters in Dumfries House in
Kingdom. According to an independent study in 2017, the Prince East Ayrshire. It incorporates the Great Steward of Scotland’s
contributed £1.4 billion of value to society in the past decade Dumfries House Trust, the Prince’s Foundation for Building
alone. His charities raised £170 million in a year, a figure they Community, the Prince’s Regeneration Trust and the Prince’s
have repeatedly hit. On the environment, he practises what he School of Traditional Arts. The Prince’s Foundation now focuses
preaches, too, with his household recording that 85 per cent on improving the built environment, saving heritage, promoting
of its energy now comes from renewable sources, including all culture and running community education projects UK-wide.
of its electricity. The Prince of Wales said of the move: “As I approach
Despite this almost obsessive devotion to duty, some still something of a milestone in my own life, I have had a chance to
argue Charles is a pampered prince who has his elevated wealth reflect on how best to ensure my charities continue to help those
and status only through the good fortune of his birth. If one people and causes they were initially set up to serve, both now
chooses to ignore the facts about the man, it is easy enough to and for many years to come.”
173
Charles believes in preserving what is good about the past pool, which has in turn stimulated the construction of new,
and uses his clout and money to help rejuvenate areas of the affordable housing.
country that would otherwise deteriorate. A case in point is When the time comes to assess his legacy, it is for his
the brilliant and visionary work he and his team have carried work as a pioneer and game-changer for which he will be best
out in Scotland, where he is known as the Duke of Rothesay. remembered. Even when he becomes king, I am confident
In Ayrshire he was the driving force behind the rescue of he will do his best to find a way not to be suffocated by the
Dumfries House a decade ago. In 2007, the stately home, limitations of the role and continue to strive to give a voice
nestled in the Ayrshire countryside, was about to be sold off and platform to what he believes in.
– and with it much of the old furniture and antiques inside. He is behind a global sustainability revolution to make
So the Prince decided to use his various charities to buy it world leaders – indeed all of us – think more deeply about how
and save the house for the nation. we are treating nature and our planet, and to realise for the
What he did at Dumfries House also helped save a sake of future generations our lifestyles must change. He, more
community depressed by years of neglect after the closure of than anyone, has led the charge in changing how people think
the coal mines, which had caused may job losses, depressed the and to realise, as he would say, “Right action cannot happen
local economy, and seemed to start a slow demise of the entire without right thinking”.
community. Prince Charles opened the grounds of the stately Now in his 70s, for his entire life the prince has striven to
home to the people free of charge. He employed local people make a difference and to enlighten others. He has championed
to carry out the work to renovate the house and transform the organic farming and spoken up for sustainable urbanism,
grounds. He also built holiday cottages for rent and hired out the emphasising the need for local character to be preserved.
estate for weddings. He went further and built kitchens to train He has encouraged a more balanced approach to business and
local people, established training courses for the unemployed in healthcare and a more benign holistic approach to science
front-of-house hospitality, and now has school children visiting and technology. In doing so he has placed himself in the firing
the estate for lessons in growing food. He also built a sports hall line and faced widespread criticism for daring to challenge the
for locals to hire, creating accommodation for scouts and guides current orthodoxy and the conventional way of thinking.
and companies wanting space for team building. It is clear that in Charles we are blessed to have a future
His intervention has had a positive impact on the nearby king of intelligence and drive; somebody who cares deeply about
villages, Cumnock and New Cumnock, as the profits from the world and environment we live in today and in the future.
Dumfries House have paid for the renovation of the local Charles, Prince of Wales, is fundamentally a decent man of
town hall and to rebuild the town’s heated open-air swimming integrity and honour who puts duty before himself.
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A SENSE OF DUTY
o o
Opposite Above
Prince Charles meets The prince with youths
chefs participating in a at Surrey County Cricket
cooking programme at Club as part of The
Dumfries House, Ayrshire Prince’s Trust activities
175
Educating
the world out
of poverty
“In the third sector I have met the most
amazing people who devote their lives to
facilitating education. It’s the area in which
we can make the most sustainable impact
on communities”
Seema Sharma, Child Action Charity
W hen Seema Sharma sold the successful dental practice she

had established in East London’s Docklands in her early
twenties, she decided it was the perfect time to extend her
challenges faced by children living in absolute poverty. They
wanted to help their less fortunate peers and this sparked our
interest in ‘action for children by children’. Together with the
entrepreneurial flair to helping some of the world’s most deprived British Asian Trust, we launched Enterprise4Change, an online
children. Her innate drive and determination led to the creation of programme to foster a sense of social entrepreneurship in
her family charity, Child Action, as well as a partnership with the schoolchildren, both as a way of fundraising to level the playing
British Asian Trust – a charity founded by the Prince of Wales. field but also to widen awareness of the problems children face
“In the third sector I have met the most amazing people who elsewhere in the world.”
devote their lives to facilitating education,” says Sharma who Child Action has issued more than £700,000 in donations and
credits her own education for making her the respected business grants for education and personal development projects since
woman she is today. “I believe it is the most critical path to social 2010. Sharma and her husband Professor Sanjay Sharma have
mobility and the area in which we can make the most sustainable personally contributed a substantial proportion of this and the
impact on individuals and communities. I was invited to speak rest comes from trusts, foundations, schools and well-wishers.
at school assemblies across London and discovered that many This predominantly goes to a trio of grassroots NGOs that Sharma
children had no idea about the physical, mental and financial was drawn to when she visited Mumbai to film an episode of
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire. Toybank distributes toys International Development before joining the World Bank. That
and games to children to facilitate early learning through play; upbringing exposed her and her brother to practical solutions for
at Doorstep School she made a lifetime commitment to fund communities living in poverty. “The best thing you can give a
a bus converted into a “School on Wheels” for marginalised child is an education and the opportunity to stand on his or her
children; and at Apnalya she champions the empowerment of own two feet,” she says. “That is the work ethic and philosophy
young women living on a Mumbai rubbish dump, enabling them my parents continue to instil in their five grandchildren who are
to challenge gender biases and become self-reliant. youth ambassadors for Child Action.”
Sharma is a dentist and runs the charity in her spare time with Looking to the future Sharma is seeking donors who wish
her co-trustees Sue Freeman and Ritu Bahal, juggling it with to make a sustainable impact. “I would be delighted to hear
family and other commitments. She is a founder of the College of from anyone who would like to donate to a fund which we
General Dentistry, an executive committee member of the Women can invest to secure a dependable funding stream for the
Dentist’s Network, and a founding member of Roedean Rocks, an longer term,” she says. “I’d also love to hear from schools
informal network for her alumnae. She is of Indian origin but her or individuals who want to fundraise for us.”
parents were born in Kenya and she was raised in Zambia, where www.seemasharma.co.uk
her father worked for the British government’s Department for www.child-action.org
177
Equal opportunities
“We are helping young people from
disadvantaged communities to develop
enterprise attributes so they will have
a more equal chance of following the
career paths they choose”
Sir Rod Aldridge, The Aldridge Foundation
W hen Sir Rod Aldridge OBE left Capita, the company

he founded in 1984, he decided to put all his energy,
experience and enthusiasm into education. A former trustee of
career paths they choose. These attributes help young people to
shine in interviews and make them highly attractive to potential
employers. We encourage those who do not wish to join
the Prince’s Trust, Aldridge founded the Aldridge Foundation, established businesses to start a business or learn a trade which
a charity that supports young people across a family of academy can be the catalyst for a future business.”
schools and colleges within communities facing significant Aldridge chose education as his avenue for philanthropy
social deprivation – among which is his former secondary because he wanted to do more than simply give. He wanted to get
school. Set up in 2006, the Aldridge Foundation has supported involved, create scalability and assets that would be at the heart of
thousands of children in these communities, with 95 per cent community regeneration long-term: one school has a construction
remaining in school after GCSEs and a significant number going academy, with guaranteed local apprenticeships, and a cricket
on to university. academy (where sport is also used to develop enterprise traits)
Rather than focus entirely on academic outcomes, the with an indoor cricket centre that is widely used by the local
Aldridge Foundation aims to inspire, skill and mobilise the community. Some of the other schools are used for adult learning
young people it supports through initiatives that help to develop or have business hubs housing local start-ups. “What I am keen to
an entrepreneurial mindset and six enterprise attributes: demonstrate is that it’s not just about academic learning; it’s a
problem-solving, creativity, determination, passion, teamwork broader agenda where every pound that is invested in educational
and risk-taking. “I believe every child deserves a good education establishments and skills development generates massive social
and equal opportunities,” says Aldridge. “We are helping young return,” he says. “We think of the school as a community asset.
people from disadvantaged communities to develop enterprise One that needs to be nurtured to make it work for everybody.”
attributes so they will have a more equal chance of following the www.aldridgefoundation.com
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Bridge to the past

“We never sit back and think, we fixed that bridge,
so we can stop. We’re constantly looking for the next
challenge and improvement”
Sue Threader, Rochester Bridge Trust
“
W e do our financial planning on a 500-year timescale,”
says Sue Threader, Bridge Clerk and CEO of the
Rochester Bridge Trust, which owns and maintains the historic
all over England. It also provides civil engineering education
services and makes grants for engineering education, research,
restoration of historic buildings and river projects. It awards
bridge across the River Medway in Kent. This makes the scholarships for the study of engineering and agriculture.
622-year-old organisation unusual, to say the least. Run by a small team of dedicated staff, the Trust has just
That it’s able to do this is thanks to its medieval founders, completed a £12 million refurbishment of all three bridges.
who established a trust to take care of the bridge in perpetuity. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment, which will keep the
“They persuaded people to donate land and money as an bridges going for at least 50 years,” says Threader. “Our next
endowment to the charity, which would then look after the focus is on improving our carbon footprint. We’re offsetting
bridge,” says Threader. “We still survive on this capital today. the impact of the refurbishment by tree planting, and hoping
We get no government funding and all our services are free eventually to get into a carbon-negative position, so we’re not
of charge to the public.” only covering our own energy requirement but also generating
A bridge has been a vitally important crossing over the renewable energy.”
River Medway at Rochester since Roman times. It’s where Threader is often asked what the secret is to the Trust’s
Henry VIII crossed on the way to his fateful meeting with Anne success. “We try to embrace the vision of our founders, and
of Cleves, and it is mentioned in Dickens’s David Copperfield. follow their example,” she says. “Our trustees invest in
The original structure lasted for 1,300 years before being excellence. We never sit back and think, we fixed that bridge,
destroyed by floods and being replaced by a stone bridge in the so we can stop. We’re constantly looking for the next challenge
1380s. Today the Rochester Bridge Trust owns and maintains and improvement.”
two road bridges, plus a service bridge at Rochester, and estates www.rbt.org.uk
179
The Skai’s
the limit
“What we are aiming for is the democratisation of flight.
We want people to ‘Skai to the airport’ or ‘Skai downtown’.
It does not require an airport or helipad, and it will be
affordable, accessible to all, and have zero emissions”
Brian Morrison, Alakai Technologies
I magine a future where instead of taking a bus, car or train to an

airport or neighbouring city, you hop into a Skai – an air taxi
operated by six rotors with vertical take-off and landing, fault-
eight times the range and flight time of eVTOLs (electric vertical
take-off and landing vehicles) that use lithium-ion batteries.
An additional benefit is that green hydrogen is carbon neutral
tolerant systems, and enough capacity to hold a pilot and up to and emits only heat and water, so there’s no carbon dioxide
four passengers. This vehicle will be able to cruise at speeds of emissions or other air pollutants.
100mph (160km/h) with a range of around 400 miles (645km) There are, of course, considerable challenges when it
depending on the payload. Best of all, it will be completely green comes to introducing an entirely new class of vehicle into the
– powered by green hydrogen fuel cells, with no emissions except troposphere. New regulations needed to be created. But this
water vapor. That is the dream of co-founder and director Brian essential work has already been undertaken and the team at
Morrison and investor and co-founder Vu Quang Hoi, and the Alakai – the name comes from Hawaii, meaning guide or leader
team they have assembled at Alakai Technologies over the past – are proceeding through the project with their eyes open, fully
several years, who believe Skai could eventually transform not aware of the various legislative and infrastructure obstacles
just transport but wider society in general. that need to be cleared. One way they feel they can quicken
“The core of what we are aiming for is the democratisation the process while demonstrating Skai’s safety and allowing
of flight,” says Morrison, who has a background in electrical the public to become accustomed to the general concept of the
engineering and computer architecture working in the defence vehicle – is to first deploy Skai with the National Guards of
electronics and aerospace industry. “What I mean by that is individual US states and related emergency and disaster relief
vehicles that can be broadly deployed and affordable enough operators, in advance of commercial operations. These early
so that nobody thinks twice of hailing a Skai. Skai provides deployments could happen as soon as the completion of initial
point-to-any-point transportation, accessible to the traffic- flight testing in late 2021.
jammed poor as well as the urban business traveller. We want “States like North Carolina and Florida get hammered by
people to ‘Skai to the airport’ or ‘Skai downtown’ or ‘Skai to hurricanes nearly every year,” says Morrison. “Flooding can
the soccer match’. It does not require an airport or helipad, mean that roads are shut down for weeks at time, which means
and it will be affordable and clean. Widespread use won’t you can’t transport jet fuel for traditional helicopters. But you
happen overnight but when it does it will be a huge can create hydrogen from water on site pretty easily, so Skai
improvement on reducing urban traffic jams.” could distribute food and bottled water and transport people
A key part of Skai’s innovation is the use of hydrogen for emergency medical attention. By late 2021, we expect to
fuel cells. Most other vertical take-off vehicles currently in be able to turn out vehicles to be used in controlled conditions
development use lithium-ion batteries. These are heavier than under the guidance of the US National Guard to start getting
hydrogen fuel cells so reduce the potential flight-time and range people used to the premise of multi-rotor vehicles in
of a vehicle. Morrison says Skai will have between four and day-to-day operations.”
180
A SENSE OF DUTY
181
182
A SENSE OF DUTY
“The Alakai team

believe that the
democratisation of
flight will bring huge
rewards for society”
As well as the US National Guard, Skai could be used by “Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations explained the roots of
other fire brigade and medical emergency services in the US and productivity were tied to connecting demand with supply and
across the world. The use of Skai in such situations will prepare production with consumption,” he says. “When you leave cities
the public for non-emergency use. “It takes time to convince behind, they are cut off from the economic mainstream. What
people, and this application will introduce the vehicle to the Skai will do is reconnect them safely, affordably and reliably.
public in a positive way, allow good safety practice and training, So aside from the green sustainability and reduced congestion
and the creation of appropriate infrastructure to make it viable,” there’s this productivity dimension. We think that when we
says James Ladd, Alakai’s Chief Investment Officer. “Helicopters connect these communities, democratising access to air
are expensive, hard to fly, bad for the environment and they have mobility, we could see an uptick in international productivity.
a limited payload. We can produce four of our vehicles for one That is a premise we want to test and which we see within the
helicopter and we can help speed up acceptance and certification art of possible with this innovation.”
by showing their safety in disaster relief.” Morrison takes up the theme, expanding on different ways
The Alakai team anticipate that once full safety certification is that Skai could improve communities. Gas-guzzling cars could
approved, Skai will next be used for air taxis and freight transport. be removed from the streets, making the roads cleaner and safer
Finally, there will be take-up among individuals, who will start to for pedestrians and cyclists. There is the long-term global gain
come on board once the safety and principle has been established of using green hydrogen as a fuel source, and there’s also the
and after the wider infrastructure such as fuelling stations speed and range of Skai, which will make long-distance
have been introduced. The Alakai team believe that the commuting fast, cheap, easy – and kind of fun. This could be
“democratisation” of flight that will follow will bring huge rewards revolutionary. “People move to cities for work but that can
for society. As airlines have rationalised their services in recent impact upon their quality of life,” he says. “One thing this does
decades, many smaller cities and towns have lost the regular and is create the possibility of people moving back to suburban or
inexpensive flight routes that once kept them connected to the rural environments, where they might have a higher quality of
rest of the country. Those without good road or rail connections life but also easily travel to their workspace to interact with
are completely isolated. Alakai hopes Skai will reconnect such other people. Consumer use is still a few years away, but air taxi
places – not just in America, but eventually across the globe. application will open the door to inter-city, suburb-to-city and
Such improvements in physical connectivity will have considerable even city-to-city transport. Once people get used to these
social and economic benefits, says Alakai’s Chief Technology different applications, the sky will be the limit.”
Officer Dr Bruce Holmes, who previously worked for NASA. www.alakai.com
183
Learned suppliers
“Our mantra is to make education easier and cheaper
for schools, quietly supporting their needs in the
background, with a real focus on the environment”
Chris Mahady, Findel Education
A decent education requires more than just great teachers.

Equipment and supplies are every bit as essential, from
furniture to learning materials to resources for arts and crafts,
(a 200-year-old firm which specialises in science products),
Davies Sports (which does the same for sport) and LDA (which
focuses on Special Educational Needs). “We work with a lot of
specialist sports and sciences. In countless schools, nurseries heritage brands in the education sphere and we pride ourselves
and colleges, this equipment is supplied by Findel Education. on our customer proposition built on four key customer
“We are one of the largest educational resources suppliers into proposition blocks: digital, value, product and service,” says
schools and nurseries in the UK and around the world,” says Mahady. “We are leading the market from a digital perspective
CEO Chris Mahady. “We are on a journey to be the ultimate with online ordering and a bespoke procurement system that
business that understands education and delivers inspiration for ties into the school financial management systems.”
children. Our mantra is to make education easier and cheaper In creating new material, Findel Education is customer-
for schools, quietly supporting their administrative needs in the focused, talking directly to teachers and school business managers
background, with a real focus on the environment.” to understand their needs and anticipate future requirements.
Findel Education consists of a number of brands, many of The equipment needs to be affordable but must also be reliable,
which have carved out a specialist niche over the years. They durable and deliver teaching outcomes. While the bulk of the
include Hope Education (which sells curriculum and early-years company’s business is done in the UK, there is a significant global
teaching materials as well as stationery and arts and crafts to market. Findel Education supplies international schools in more
schools and nurseries around the UK), GLS (which supplies than 120 countries worldwide, schools that were originally aimed
nearly every school in London and the South East), Philip Harris at expatriates but which now offer a British curriculum and
education system to students all over the world. As well as state
schools, Findel also deals with schools in the independent sector,
private nurseries and large academy trusts. “We have a lot of
business in the Middle East, Europe, China and Southeast Asia
using the same digital procurement solutions that allow them to
manage their supplies,” says Mahady. “It can be anything from a
box of pencils to a £100,000 fit-out, managed and supplied from
the UK with excellent service levels.”
Findel Education’s drive towards delivering an online service
was accelerated during the pandemic, when the company also
worked on developing solutions for home schooling. Even during
lockdown, the company was able to maintain full operation: the
distribution centre remained open throughout and continued to
hit its target of 70 per cent of orders delivered the following day.
Findel has also developed a more dynamic operational set-up
and adapted its packaging to produce boxes that perfectly fit the
contents, massively reducing waste. “We work hard on energy
and sustainability,” says Mahady. “That’s a key fundamental of
the business and is critical when we deal with schools. We are
very people-focused and are modernising all the time.”
www.findel-international.com
www.hope-education.co.uk
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A SENSE OF DUTY
185
A valuable vision
“I wanted to deliver a different culture.
Our role was to support the customer
first, and then apply the banking”
David Duff y, Virgin Money
W hen CYBG acquired Virgin Money in 2018, CEO David

Duffy and team saw it as a unique opportunity to create
a purpose-driven bank that has real-world impact on customers
he saw the negative impact that banking failure could have
on people, including friends and family he had grown up with.
“It was a raw and head-wrecking experience, and it reinforced
and community. “We saw we could take the Virgin Money my desire to work in a purpose-driven organisation,” says
brand and build our vision into it,” Duffy says. “By doing this, it Duffy. “I wanted to deliver a different culture, which was
would allow us to set ourselves apart from other banks. We could about seeing the bank and banking as the least relevant thing
then deploy all the elements of Virgin around the world, creating we did. Our role was to support the customer first, and then
fun value offers for customers, but still interacting with the apply the banking.”
community in a meaningful way.” Virgin is a brand that has always been associated with
Duffy arrived at Virgin Money following a long and innovation, but with Virgin Money, Duffy wanted to increase
successful career in emerging markets, seeing first-hand accessibility, make people happier about money and disrupt the
the difference a functioning banking system can have on status quo. Staff are also encouraged to think of meaningful
individuals and communities. He was then coaxed out of ways to improve the customers’ lives and experiences. For
retirement following the 2008 financial crisis, which had a instance, Virgin Money is working with Macmillan to train
particularly egregious effect in his native Ireland. This time, employees on how best to interact with customers affected by
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cancer. “When people have cancer their second biggest concern Our campaign is already generating interest from Government
is money,” says Duffy. “We stepped into that in a very and other CEOs.”
meaningful way.” This is an example of Virgin Money’s ability The bank has an exciting future ahead and is building
to conceive ideas, and then deliver them, driving change with products and services that focus on rewarding customers while
creativity and energy. helping them to manage their money. Virgin Money also
At the centre of Virgin Money’s approach is a desire to continues to give back to local communities through its
eliminate the poverty premium – the extra charge that around foundation and its not-for-profit charitable donation platform.
14 million people on lower incomes pay for the same essential “We are at a point where if we stick with this robustly, we’ll
services (such as energy, access to credit and insurance) as have a fast-growing retail bank that will be known as being
those on higher incomes. “Our initial focus has been to tackle connected to the community in a real and genuine way,” says
the energy premium, by identifying customers who are losing Duffy. “It’s the first time I have seen purpose at scale in a
money because of how they pay bills or because they’re not continuum deployed for value. If we can do that, we are doing
switching. We’ve created functionality where customers something good. We have our brand, we have the ideas, we have
can switch their utility provider for free in our banking the language and we have a purpose-driven organisation.”
app and we’re helping customers find cheaper ways to pay. www.uk.virginmoney.com
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Growing up in the
world of farming
“You can park one of our farms in the middle of the desert,
independently powered, and imitate the climate of a country
on the other side of the planet. The possibilities are massive”
Jamie Burrows, Vertical Future Ltd
F ood security is one of the most pressing problems facing

the future of the planet. British start-up Vertical Future is
tackling this issue head on by using innovative technology to
“Vertical farming” is the term given to controlled-
environment agriculture (CEA) that takes place indoors on
multiple levels, optimising space and maximising control over
create efficient, responsive and scalable vertical farms that will the light, water, and nutrients that the crops receive. With
allow countries all over the world to start producing the food Vertical Future, Burrows identified that vertical farming was
their population needs to thrive in future decades. among the best means to solve the world’s food problems
The company was started in 2016 by Jamie Burrows and but also recognised that most current vertical farms were not
his wife, Marie-Alexandrine. Jamie had worked in life sciences, capable of supporting the growing demands of food supply.
consulting, and at the Department of Health, as well as studying He recruited a team of scientists and engineers to create
for a PhD in Health Economics. Marie had worked across a new CEA system, which uses proprietary smart technologies
healthcare, data, and services management, before taking to optimise space and energy to revolutionise the future of
a career break to take care of the couple’s young children. In four healthy food. The company also applies its technology to
years, the company has already made rapid strides, exhibiting support pharmaceutical product development, establishing
vision and ambition to extend what has already been achieved by methods to grow roots for extraction for a medicines that could
the rapidly expanding vertical-farming industry. “We set up our replace over-the-counter cold and respiratory medicines.
first production site in a warehouse in Deptford and built a base “Places like the United Arab Emirates are importing more
of about 110 restaurant clients,” says Burrows. “We then raised than 90 per cent of their produce because they have minimal
£4 million in venture capital to create and commercialise what arable land,” he says. “As climate change increases, we will
we believe is one of the leading vertical farming systems in the have to confront this issue. We have developed an affordable
world in terms of both delivery and efficiency gains.” solution so you can park one of our farms in the middle of the
desert, independently powered, and it can imitate the climate
of a country on the other side of the planet.”
The food grown in Vertical Future facilities is free from
pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, and uses less water than
conventional farming. The company uses an in-house software
platform, “DIANA”, to monitor, control and optimise the
growing environment, combining established data sets and
further data insights that are generated across the Vertical
Future network. “We have a software system capable of
smartly and efficiently optimising plant growth,” says Burrows.
“It’s a holistic approach to the market and systems design.
Nobody has developed a system as carefully as this. They
haven’t thought about the engineering challenges and
what is required to build a system that is futureproof.”
Driven by an experienced board and strong internal team,
Vertical Future is already making international inroads.
“We want to promote the best of British engineering from our
HQ in London and food is one of the biggest things we need
to think about with regards to the future,” says Burrows.
“We are creating a better, healthier product and planet.”
www.verticalfuture.co.uk
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A SENSE OF DUTY
189
The home of “
A tlas Copco has evolved into a very successful and important
business to many industry sectors worldwide but our
long-term ambitions for growth have sustainability built in,” says
industrial ideas James McAllister, General Manager of Atlas Copco Tools and
Industrial Assembly Solutions. The company has had a UK
presence for just over 100 years, though its origins date back to
1873 when it was founded in Stockholm, Sweden. More than 2,000
“The primary contribution we can make employees are based in the UK, which was Atlas Copco’s first
overseas expansion, but the group now has significant operations
is minimising the energy necessary for
across the world.
the manufacture and use of our products, There are four business areas to Atlas Copco. Compressor
which positively impacts carbon reduction technique deals with the manufacture of air compressors used in
on a global scale” a wide breadth of industries. Vacuum technique focuses on the
need to extract air from different production processes. Power
James McAllister, Atlas Copco Tools technique is responsible for delivering mobile power-generating
and Industrial Assembly Solutions units. And industrial technique innovates specialist joining
techniques for a diverse range of applications, from electric
vehicles and batteries to wind turbines and medical equipment.
As a company with a strong ethics base, Atlas Copco prides
itself on a best practice culture that’s committed to
environmental improvements across all areas, from recruitment,
staff wellbeing, design and manufacture, to health and safety and
financial sustainability. “The primary contribution we can make
is minimising the energy necessary for the manufacture and use
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A SENSE OF DUTY
of our products, which positively impacts carbon reduction on and is also investing heavily in developing products with a lower
a global scale,” says McAllister. “This is a major driver for our energy consumption, as part of the global shift to electromobility.
business that’s underpinned by huge innovation investment.” Across all business areas, there is a company directive to reduce
The impetus towards a carbon-neutral future is the carbon footprint in every project, whether for a completely
demonstrated clearly by the increasing momentum in new product or upgrading an existing line.
electromobility. With all automotive manufacturers focusing By harnessing artificial intelligence and machine learning
their research and development resources into electric vehicles in its quest for zero defect manufacturing, Atlas Copco is at the
and battery technology, Atlas Copco is well placed to forefront of enabling companies to use production data from
collaborate with all stakeholders on the road to achieving zero smart tooling to drive real-time efficiencies, as well as reducing
emissions transport. In a collective mission to reduce weight energy and materials. “We’re now in the position where we can
and improve sustainability across the whole vehicle lifecycle, predict potential issues before they actually happen, which is
manufacturers are utilising mixed materials such as ultra-high- incredibly valuable to manufacturers from both a sustainability
strength steel, aluminium, plastics and carbon fibre. They are and financial perspective,” says McAllister.
also exploring the use of other organic-based materials, all of Atlas Copco believes that the progress being made to
which require groundbreaking joining techniques. reduce global warming will inspire future generations of
As a strategic partner in the assembly process, the company employees. “People want to work for innovative and pioneering
works with its customers to identify and overcome the challenges companies which are making a material difference to
they face in terms of manufacturing efficiency, productivity and sustainability,” says McAllister. “It’s an important factor
sustainability. Atlas Copco has made a number of significant in attracting the right people.”
business acquisitions to strengthen its expertise in key disciplines, www.atlascopco.com
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Future-ready leadership
“We have evolved and grown quickly. WSP has always
had an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and our
carbon commitment is an example of that”
Mark Naysmith, WSP
A s the world is changing, the priorities of global professional

services company WSP are changing too. “WSP has always
focused primarily on how it can help its clients,” says Mark
Naysmith, CEO for WSP in the UK, Middle East, India and Africa.
“With climate change the most significant threat to society, and
one of the biggest challenges for our industry, we are evolving
to ensure that we, our clients and societies are future ready.”
“We were the first in our sector in the UK to announce – last
year – that we are helping our clients to become net zero, rather
than just ourselves, which is unique,” says Naysmith. “We know
we all have a part to play in this, wherever we sit in the business.”
Recent projects have included putting the tallest City
of London tower on the road to net zero and leading the
development of Hertfordshire County Council’s ambitious
strategy for achieving net zero, aligned to the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals. And to further develop the
offering to clients, WSP recently acquired Golder – an earth
and environmental business, focusing on research and the
natural environment.
WSP, which lists on the Canadian stock exchange but
operates globally, provides management and consultancy
services to companies operating within the built and natural
environment. It has clients in the transport, property,
environmental and energy sectors. But, while the emphasis
on sustainability might seem like a new approach, it has been WSP’s Future Ready programme is helping to get innovation
part of the company’s ethos for decades. embedded into project thinking with a series of Future Ready
“We’ve evolved and grown quickly, sometimes doubling Innovation Labs. In highly interactive webinars, colleagues are
overnight,” says Naysmith. “The journey that we’ve been on encouraged to apply innovative thinking to respond to future
as an organisation has been incredible. WSP has always had trends – such as a future of low-carbon energy, of changing
an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and our carbon security challenges, or the issues surrounding greater loneliness.
commitment is an example of that.” Some Innovation Labs review a live project, with colleagues from
A devolved approach to leadership, and an ethos centred across technical disciplines discussing how they could make it
on accountability and innovation, allows WSP to respond in an future proof, contributing hundreds of ideas interactively using
agile manner to what is happening on the ground. It also makes their smartphones.
the organisation less bureaucratic, more resilient and, in the This forward-thinking approach has also been opened up to
long term, more sustainable despite its size – with 7,000 people clients, who see the Innovation Labs as a great way to experience
in the UK and more than 54,000 globally. first-hand how WSP is shaping their thinking. “It also encourages
The Covid-19 pandemic forced many companies to adapt them to develop their own understanding about future trends,
quickly to a new reality, and WSP was no exception. “As the resilience, flexibility and value in an uncertain future,” says
company moves beyond the pandemic, the emphasis is now on Naysmith, “something that goes to the very heart of how we
continuing to deliver great projects, inspiring our people and operate and build sustainable communities with our partners
looking at news ways of innovating in digitisation and the and clients.”
environment,” says Naysmith. www.wsp.com
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A SENSE OF DUTY
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Gleeds united
“We all have a vital role to play in safeguarding our planet,
and the construction industry has a significant responsibility
to develop cleaner ways of working”
Richard Steer, Gleeds
T he cost management and project management business

has gone through many changes since Gleeds set up as an
independent company 135 years ago, but Gleeds has survived
of embedded energy in materials like steel and concrete that
is coming to the fore. We all have a vital role to play in
safeguarding our planet, and the construction industry has
and thrived through it all. The company was founded in 1885 a significant responsibility to develop cleaner ways of working.”
by Richard Gleed, who spotted a gap in the market to provide Gleeds has of course had to adapt to the changes wrought by the
tailored construction services for a diverse group of private global Covid-19 pandemic, and has been guiding clients through
and corporate clients. This global property and construction this challenging period, from supporting demand for increased
consultancy now has more than 1,900 staff in 73 offices and logistics space, to delivering vital healthcare facilities, advising
20 countries across six continents, and has presided over them to navigate contractual complications as a result of the
many award-winning buildings and infrastructure projects. pandemic and keeping construction sites moving.
Whether Gleeds is saving clients cost and time through modular Steer is optimistic about the coming years and together with
construction, or mitigating construction risks via digital Gleeds’ Executive Management Board, led by CEO Graham
mapping tools, innovation drives every project. Harle, Gleeds is on an exciting growth journey, particularly in
The company is also committed to creating a built thriving infrastructure and energy sectors and global markets
environment that anticipates the needs of local communities such as the US, Australia, Germany and the Middle East.
and drives the creation of an environmentally sustainable future. www.gleeds.com
“We all have a vital role to play in safeguarding our planet,” says
Richard Steer, Chairman of Gleeds, “and the construction
industry has a significant responsibility to develop cleaner ways
of working.” Gleeds’ team in Peru is currently a strategic delivery
partner on a major, government-led reconstruction project,
which comprises the construction and enhancement of
infrastructure damaged by the El Nino Costero storms in 2017.
Spanning 19 river basins and incorporating the new build and
renovation of 74 schools and 15 new health centres, Gleeds’ cost
and commercial management expertise is set to leave a lasting
legacy for future development in Peru.
“People sit at the heart of Gleeds,” says Steer, “and creating
great relationships that stand the test of time is very important.”
That approach has clearly paid off: Gleeds achieved Gold
Standard employer status from the UK’s Investors in People
scheme. Steer has just finished a virtual tour around each of
Gleeds’ offices, during which colleagues shared their ideas and
discussed the company’s exciting growth plans. Working as a
unified, global operation, the company also prides itself on the
strength of its local market presence and knowledge. “What I
enjoy about my job is the variety,” says Steer. “One minute you
could be actively managing construction on a live site, the
next you could be talking to the chief finance officer of
a pharmaceutical company.”
Steer’s vision for the company also reflects the construction
industry’s renewed focus on sustainability and environmental
issues to help tackle the climate emergency. “It is not just about
the energy efficiency of buildings,” he says. “It is also the issue
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Making
connections
“We have all these sector specialisations
that collectively give us scale and scope
and allow us to accelerate innovation”
Jash Bansidhar, Advantech Europe
A s a global leader in developing intelligent systems and

embedded software platforms, Advantech is ideally placed to
produce transformative technological solutions on a grand scale,
The company has developed a vast portfolio of hardware and
software products that allow business partners and clients to
connect their industrial chains. These are located across a
which will fulfil the company mission to enable an intelligent diverse range of sectors and industries, covering everything from
planet. This is the bold ambition of a company founded in 1983 in enabling the 5G trials of autonomous driving on British
Taiwan by three computer engineers, two of whom remain an motorways to developing some of the software used during the
active presence in the organisation, developing the vision while Covid pandemic to track and trace infections without infringing
driving an entrepreneurial culture. “The Earth has a lot of European data protection regulations. “We have access to so
challenges to solve, like climate change and pollution, and the much knowledge and so much technology, and we have all these
only way to do that is to ‘intelligise’ the physical environment and sector specialisations that collectively give us scale and scope
measure, control and steer it in the right direction,” says Jash and allow us to accelerate innovation,” says Bansidhar. “This
Bansidhar, Managing Director of Advantech Europe. “This also gives us agility, because if one sector is down then we have
mission fits with our history. We started in industrial computing other sectors that can balance that within the business.”
and then built a data-sensing model. We are now able to Bansidhar believes that part of Advantech’s success comes
transform physical information into a digital environment.” down to its corporate culture, which is rooted in the Taiwanese
196
parent company’s approach to altruism. “Our mission statement of products, while allowing small companies to bring
is to enable an intelligent planet, but we also need to be a solutions to the market that increase the progress towards
sustainable company, so we invest in eco-friendly manufacturing an intelligent planet.
and products, and we contribute to our society,” he says. “This The success of the Advantech model can be seen in its
part of our culture makes us unique. It is in our DNA, and it range of innovative products, its number of partners and its
means we want all our stakeholders to be enriched by our huge influence on sectors such as Industry 4.0, smart cities,
knowledge and offering.” the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence.
Advantech has also launched a co-creation strategy, This is reflected in its rising share price. “If we are able to
in which the company has used their deep understanding of show the business community our culture and the engagement
the market to help partners take niche, innovative solutions we have with a sustainable planet, then the younger generation
developed for individual problems and market them as will chose to work for the company,” says Bansidhar. “That
a standardised product. This involved the launch of an means passionate people will help create an empathic and
investment fund to help start-ups that needed the finance compassionate company that will enable an intelligent and
to scale up, accelerating the innovation process for all sustainable planet.”
stakeholders. This further enriched Advantech’s portfolio www.advantech.eu
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A SENSE OF DUTY
The spirit of
independence
“It’s in Best Western’s DNA to be different to other
hotel groups. Passionate, professional and proactive
hoteliers fill our membership and support each other”
Tim Rumney, Best Western GB
B est Western Hotel Group is unique. It is the largest group

of independent hotels in Great Britain providing individual
experiences to both leisure and business guests. Started 75 years
the Dalai Lama, who came for afternoon tea. What attracts
them is the sense of individuality, of meeting real people and
relaxing in a place that has purpose in the community and of
ago, it is stronger now than it has ever been thanks to the course, a love of hospitality.
renewed focus on supporting local, independent and community “I am proud to represent independent hotel operators in our
businesses. Best Western is at the heart of that movement and unique and distinctive brand,” says Rumney. “As an independent
always has been. hotel owner myself, I understand the passion, excitement and
“That spirit of independence was never more prevalent or commitment required to run a successful hotel business. At Best
high profile than during the pandemic,” says Tim Rumney, CEO Western we put the customer at the centre of our business, and
of Best Western GB. “We became the only hotel group in the we are all here to support each other.”
country to offer support to the NHS. It’s in Best Western’s DNA Standards and guest experience are always being improved to
to be different to other hotel groups. Passionate, professional and respond to the needs of the modern traveller. Not long ago, Best
proactive hoteliers fill our membership and support each other. Western had just three different brands; today the modern Best
If they can help the country too, they will, and they did.” Western Hotel Group has 18 different brands. There is a hotel
You can see that in the collection of diverse properties that brand to suit every guest and every budget, from economy through
make up the 300 hotels across Great Britain. The strength of to world-class luxury. Today, the Best Western family of brands
difference in the collective is what makes Best Western stand has every price point and guest preference covered. No wonder
out. You can stay in castles, manor houses and country retreats. the hotel group’s marketing message is “Hotels with More”.
“You can stay on the beachfront or enjoy city-centre convenience,” Over the next few years Best Western will be attracting more
says Rumney. “Even the original celebrity chef, Marco Pierre independent hotels that want to join likeminded owners and
White, has his exclusive Rudloe Arms hotel in the brand. Why? operators but retain operational control of their businesses
Because independence is everything to Marco.” under a brand that understands them. “Hospitality has always
The hotels in the brand have hosted multiple kings and been about people, experiences and the pleasures discovered
queens, along with the Beatles, Winston Churchill and Charles during every stay,” says Rumney. “Get those touchpoints right
Dickens. “England’s World Cup winning football squad stayed and guests will be proudly sharing them, creating ambassadors,
with us in 1966,” says Rumney. “They came again in the 1970s and advocates and new fans for all of our brands. So don’t be
famously again in 1996 when football almost came home.” The list surprised if you are hearing a lot more about Best Western over
of famous people who have visited and stayed at Best Western the next few years. Just remember, you heard it here first.”
reads like a who’s who of Great Britons – and that’s not to mention www.bestwestern.co.uk
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Maintaining value
for money
“We have a wide range of clients throughout the industry.
Basically, it can be anyone who has got a large property
portfolio they need to maintain”
David Fairbrother, NSR Management (NSRM)
“
W here there are buildings, there is a need to maintain them,”
says David Fairbrother, Managing Director of NSR
Management (NSRM). “And that brings up the issue of procuring
property in the schedules. Since then it has developed all the
schedules and produced innovative software to make it much
easier for clients to access rates and manage contracts.
a contractor and obtaining value for money.” “We have developed MTC QS, our project-management
NSRM is the market leader for its provision of the national software, which houses our schedule of rates data,” says
schedule of rates for a whole host of repair and maintenance Fairbrother. “This takes the effort out of finding prices,
activities, from buildings through to electrical work and managing contracts, and producing estimates and invoices.”
highways maintenance. The schedules are pre-priced lists of The software can attach unlimited files in any format such
typical tasks that can be used together to calculate the value as drawings, specifications, certificates and photographs to
of repairs and maintenance works. keep all the relevant information in one place. A crucial
At the tender stage, the companies that bid are all given the advantage is that it is cloud-based so clients can access it
same base rates, which they can then adjust to take account of using a login and a password without the need to download
their profit rate, overheads and other variable costs. This makes all the material – important for local authorities worried
it much easier for the clients to analyse the tenders, as all the about IT storage space.
tenderers are working to the same specification and service The schedules are updated annually, with new versions
levels as each other so the only difference between them is the being released every August. During the update NSRM
adjustment itself. reviews each element of every rate for labour, materials and
NSRM publishes seven schedules of rates in printed and digital plant, using its unique compiling software to develop new
formats for building works, mechanical services, electrical services, rates and update existing ones. NSRM also offers bespoke
housing maintenance, access and adaptations, highways, and schedules for a range of clients, and backs this up with
painting and decorating. While many of its 1,200 clients are local specialist consultancy services.
authorities, NSRM is also used by supermarkets, banks, insurance Looking ahead, Fairbrother says NSRM is well placed
companies, the NHS, schools, universities, the police and Network to contribute as the government pushes ahead with a “green
Rail. “We have a wide range of clients throughout the industry,” recovery plan” that was announced in the Chancellor Rishi
says Fairbrother. “Basically, it can be anyone who has got a large Sunak’s summer economic update and which included £3 billion
property portfolio they need to maintain.” of grants to improve the energy efficiency of homes and public
The company has been in operation since 1984, when the sector buildings. “That is a massive market,” he says, “and we
government established the need for a pre-determined means are ideally placed to provide the schedule data and software
of pricing for building works. The schedules were produced on tools, which will enable property owners to plan the delivery
behalf of the Society of Construction and Quantity Surveyors of the retrofitting and more importantly ensure they receive
and Construction Confederation but, when the latter went value for money.”
into liquidation in 2009, NSRM purchased the intellectual www.nsrm.co.uk
201
Investing in A s a company that focuses on teaching innovation and

entrepreneurship to students, 8billionideas is used to
thinking quickly and with imagination. When Covid made
our children it difficult to work with students directly in schools, the

company began delivering online experiences. After lots of
learning and great feedback, it has now created an education
service platform that will allow students to become the
entrepreneurs of the future and lead passion-driven careers.
“Our mission is to give every student
“The pandemic did not just disrupt education, but forced
on the planet the skills and belief to it to innovate in a very short space of time,” says CEO David
change the world” Harkin, who co-founded 8billionideas with Jenny Pool.
“Parents are now looking at how they can complement school
David Harkin, 8billionideas teaching with exciting experiences that can expand and
enhance their child’s development.”
The founders saw people around them who were constantly
coming up with great ideas but never acting on them. Realising
that it must be happening across the world – and choosing a
name referring to the world population – they decided to create
a social media platform that would allow people to share and
act on these ideas. In 2012 it became the fastest crowdfunding
pitch in the world, raising £30,000 in two hours.
The next step was spreading the message in schools to
inspire students of all ages, from 4 to 18. The team established
itself as an organisation working across all sectors of
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A SENSE OF DUTY
education, from state to independent, primary to secondary, Times Educational Supplement in 2018 for its strategic work in
international schools to young offender institutions. “We created entrepreneurship in education.
an assembly asking children to come up with an idea that Harkin and the team now offer articles, podcasts and videos
would change the world,” says Harkin. “After seeing so for students to consume at their leisure, self-paced courses that
much enthusiasm we realised that our schools are producing allow students to work on projects in greater detail, and live
enormous numbers of entrepreneurs. In most economies, experiences so students can use their new skills in real-world
between 12 and 15 per cent of the population are self-employed, scenarios. Students even have the opportunity to chat with
but schools didn’t know how to teach the skills to help those 8billionideas mentors at the click of a button. “Children learn
children succeed.” best when they can share their ideas and get instant feedback,”
8billionideas developed courses that would encourage says Harkin. “The live interactivity makes us more than
students to be passionate about their ideas, and then put them content providers: it makes us a service for inspiration.”
into action as businesses. “We ask students to create a business While Harkin soon hopes to deliver these experiences
plan or to think about their idea from the perspective of an directly to schools, he is excited about the possibilities of
investor,” says Harkin. “We see ourselves as educating through a digital classroom. “Children are desperate for fun, exciting
entertainment. Everything needs to be fun because business and passion-led learning,” he says. “Our world is full of
should be fun.” Over the last five academic years, 8billionideas imaginative minds that need to be unleashed and inspired.
has worked with 100,000 students in 500 schools around the We’ve never met a child who doesn’t have an amazing
world. It has become an award-winning organisation, imagination. More than ever, our mission is to give every
recognised by COBIS (Council of British International Schools) student on the planet the skills and belief to change the world.”
as its Supporting Member of the Year 2020 and also by the www.8billionideas.com
203
Nourish and nurture

“We offer clients a complete package, from product
development to distribution, and we enjoy working with
start-ups and growing with them. It’s a fun journey”
Dan Williams, Orean Personal Care
W hen Managing Director Dan Williams joined Orean

Personal Care, the UK-based private-label cosmetic
manufacturing company had 25 staff and a turnover of
says Williams. “It sounds challenging when a company is
growing as fast as ours, but because everyone bought into
that identity it was easier to maintain, especially because we
£3.5 million. Fast forward eight and a half years and it has made openness, accountability and ownership a big part of it.
more than 200 members of staff and a turnover of £26 million, There are 10 of us in the senior management team and we
with expansion into the US and ambition to grow at the same were driving this approach by owning up to our own mistakes,
rate. None of this happened by chance. “We specialise in because you can never fix anything if you don’t admit there’s
producing high-end skin and haircare products and have a problem.”
an excellent reputation for quality, service and speed,” says This focus on compassion and empathy has resulted in
Williams. “When I joined the company, I felt that there was values that everyone at Orean holds dear – agility, flexibility
too much focus on acquiring new accounts and not enough on and integrity – which are also reflected in the client response.
nurturing current clients, so we were treading water. My aim “All new clients now come from referrals and we’re very
was to really pride ourselves on our customer service and work selective, which is also true of them in coming to us,” says
hard to build long-term relationships, so our clients don’t want Williams. “We provide an amazing service and product and are
to go anywhere else.” a most desirable contract manufacturer, as well as making the
To achieve this, the company created a clear identity, company a really nice place to work. We offer clients a
which every member of staff was aware of and followed – complete package, from product development to distribution,
an optimistic and positive approach that also encouraged and we enjoy working with start-ups and growing with them.
self-development. “I wanted to keep that family feeling, It’s been a fun journey and it’s still happening.”
which had been such a major influence from the beginning,” www.orean.co.uk
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Life-saving intelligence
“Safety Shield AI collision-avoidance system is life saving.
It’s a technological first that is delivering real industry safety
benefits and improving behaviour on construction sites”
Jonathan Guest, Safety Shield Global
T he introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) collision-avoidance

technology into the construction industry by the UK’s Safety
Shield Global has not only improved the behaviour of site operatives
companies with a statistical breakdown of safety-critical data
and video recording of immediately before, during and after any
alerts. “Companies can then recognise where there may be a lot
– it has significantly reduced dangerous interactions between people of incidents around a particular piece of machinery, or in a
and plant. For CEO Jonathan Guest, the success of the company, specific area of the site,” says Guest. “At the same time, people on
launched in 2018, has been the culmination of 10 years perfecting the ground know that everything is recorded, and stay away from
the product. “We ran largely as an R&D company for almost a the danger area around the plant. So it’s a very powerful tool.”
decade, proofing concepts alongside major construction companies As well as working with construction companies such as
before bringing new technology to market,” he says. “But it was Balfour Beatty and EKFB, and on projects as high profile as
worth taking that time because this is life-saving technology. It has HS2, Safety Shield’s advanced AI recognition systems have a
put us so far ahead of any other tech out there in this industry.” range of other applications. These include census counting of
Key to Safety Shield’s success has been training the AI to pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles plus pollution monitoring for
recognise humans and other specific objects in a wide range of several London boroughs, and as a bespoke safety system in the
changing environments. “It’s easy for AI to recognise things in a agriculture, automotive, and haulage and distribution sectors.
controlled environment, but much more difficult in the middle of But it’s in construction that Safety Shield Global is breaking
a construction site,” says Guest. The AI cameras installed on plant new ground. “Safety Shield AI collision-avoidance system is life
and moving machinery are linked to the Safety Shield Vue online saving,” says Guest. “It’s a technological first that’s delivering
portal. As the photo (above) shows, they can alert operators to the real industry safety benefits and it’s improving behaviour on
presence of people near machines (here boxed in red), or they can construction sites.”
highlight driver fatigue. The system also provides construction www.safetyshieldglobal.com
205
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Opening doors
for sustainability
“I became an expert by accident. I quickly came to realise that, when
you apply environmental standards as a first principle, you don’t only
improve the planet, but you make significant long-term savings”
Richard Hagan, Crystal Doors
Rather than become frustrated by environmental regulations,

Hagan decided to embrace them. He installed solar panels,
biomass heating and cutting-edge energy-efficient equipment,
and acquired electric vehicles for company use. He pledged to
only hire workers who lived close enough to cycle to work, and
changed the manufacturing process so the company recycles
99 per cent of waste. There is a commitment to become carbon
neutral by 2022, and also to adhere to the United Nations’ 17
Sustainable Development Goals, which are proudly displayed
on the factory floor.
Hagan has even brought these principles into his private life.
He is now a vegetarian, and vegan where possible, and no longer
flies. “When customers buy from Crystal Doors, they are
supporting the transition to a better, more sustainable world,”
he says. “So far we’ve invested £1.5 million in becoming carbon
neutral and we’re already winning national awards as one of the
greenest manufacturers in the UK. But ultimately this isn’t about
making profit. It isn’t a marketing campaign. We need to be in
business for the next generation, and the next generation after
that, so that they can be better off.”
R ochdale is, historically, part of the county of Lancashire,

the first part of England to be transformed by the Industrial
Revolution in the early 1800s. That was a process that reshaped
While this requires upfront investment in assets, training
and equipment, savings will eventually be made. Crystal Doors
produces three times more energy on site than it imports,
Europe and the world in many positive ways, but which also opened and electricity consumption is 75 per cent lower than it would
the door to climate change. So it seems appropriate that Rochdale- have been had no improvements been made. Hagan’s message
based Richard Hagan, founder of the Crystal Doors company, is that the journey towards sustainability can be exciting and
is seeking to undo some of the damage that has been done to the rewarding if you embrace it. He firmly believes it is essential
environment over recent decades. Crystal Doors specialises in the that individuals, as well as small-and-medium-sized businesses,
manufacture of bespoke vinyl-wrapped doors and accessories for make the changes that are required for the UK to hit its
kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. These high-quality items only sustainability commitments.
tell half the story of this remarkable company, which has become “If a lot of people make small changes then you can
a figurehead for sustainability in the region. collectively make mass change,” he says. “The general public
“It started when I had to get new equipment for the factory, can’t relate to multinational billion-dollar companies talking
and because of our location on the Rochdale Canal we had to about investing to go carbon neutral – it’s more effective when
do a lot of risk assessments,” says Hagan. “It took three years to that message comes from small-and-medium-sized businesses
get planning permission and that is where my environmental like us, with 35 staff. It’s required a change of culture but we
journey started as I became an expert by accident. I quickly came have done it. And we have done it to leave a better legacy for our
to realise that, when you apply environmental standards as descendants and the local community, correcting the imbalances
a first principle, you don’t only improve the planet, but you that were introduced during the Industrial Revolution.”
make significant long-term savings.” www.crystaldoors.co.uk
207
Growing our tomorrow

“Zero deforestation is not just as simple as leaving the forest alone.
It requires active interventions and management to ensure that
biodiversity, wildlife and people can share the same landscape”
Dr Liz Wilks, APP
D eforestation remains a big issue in much of the developing

world, but one country that has shown progress in
reducing this is Indonesia, according to a 2020 progress report
sustainability. These include satellite surveillance technology,
which delivers near-real-time updates on the state of forest
cover across conservation zones in its suppliers’ concession
from the New York Declaration on Forests. One organisation areas. The Forest Alert service combines data from satellites
assisting this process is Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which ensures with smart algorithms to detect changes in the forest canopy,
that its supply chain is free from deforestation. to identify areas where trees have been damaged or cut down.
Over recent years, APP has pioneered initiatives that The technology is sensitive enough to detect very subtle
contribute significantly to zero deforestation and the welfare changes in areas as small as 0.5 hectares, allowing responders
of villages around its plantations. The impact can be seen on to quickly identify changes across APP’s protected
individuals such as an Indonesian female farmer who goes by conservation areas.
the mononym Soleha. Through training and assistance received “There is also innovation in the products and in the
through APP’s Sustainable Livelihoods programme, Soleha now community, as we create sustainable livelihoods in and around
produces fudge from guava, employing 20 others to meet local our concession areas,” says Wilks. “People care about
demand for the delicacy. For Liz Wilks, APP’s European sustainability and we place a value on what we are creating which
Director of Sustainability and Stakeholder Outreach, it shows is reflected in our certified, well-managed concessions. We need
how a determined mindset can create change. “We are leading to be positive and look at the future, and see that we all need each
the way on many roads that are as yet unpaved,” she says of other and can work together to make change happen.”
APP. “We want to bring more people with us, as we believe that www.asiapulppaper.com
multi-stakeholder collaboration is critical to the success of
protecting the natural forest and achieving zero deforestation.”
For Wilks, the UK government has been an ally in this
campaign. It has worked with Indonesia’s Ministry of
Environment and Forestry to prevent illegal logging, helping
Indonesia to become the first nation to obtain a FLEGT (Forest,
Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) agreement with the
UK and Europe. “The bilateral agreement with the UK is very
important,” says Wilks, “and we embraced that as a company
right at the beginning.”
APP is the trade name for the Indonesian pulp and paper
manufacturing companies that deliver quality products to meet
a growing global demand. It has an annual pulp, paper and
packaging capacity of more than 20 million tons per annum
and markets its products in more than 150 countries. APP
introduced a zero-deforestation commitment in 2013 and
continues to reduce deforestation risk by actively involving
communities in conservation and protection activities, using
the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a guideline.
“Achieving zero deforestation is not just as simple as leaving
the forest alone,” explains Wilks. “It requires active
interventions and management to ensure that biodiversity,
wildlife and people can share the same landscape and live
in harmony.”
The impact of APP’s operations can be measured closely
with technological innovations that aid the road to
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A SENSE OF DUTY
209
Quality and
provenance
“We always pay a sustainable price in exchange for superior quality coffees.
It’s a virtuous circle. The producer receives a premium price and the
consumer gets a differentiated quality product of exacting provenance”
Stephen Hurst, Mercanta
W hen Stephen Hurst founded his business importing

speciality coffee beans in the mid-1990s, his customer base
was tiny. Many questioned why they should pay £5-£8 a kilo for raw
coffee beans from Mercanta when they could get them elsewhere
for £3-£4 per kilo – an attitude Hurst likens to thinking all red wine
should be the same price. There were, however, a small group of
similar pioneers out there, in the form of speciality coffee roasters.
They wanted to roast the best coffee beans for customers who
were beginning to appreciate fine coffees, and Mercanta was able
to bring them the best beans in the world.
“When we started, the attitude towards coffee was that it
was all the same,” he says. “There were, though, artisan and
craft coffee roasters that were looking for better quality beans
in smallish quantities.’’ Twenty five years later, that market
has been established. Mercanta imports speciality coffee beans
from about 20 coffee-producing countries and sells into over
40 countries. Our international clientele of speciality coffee
roasters in turn supply premium retailers, independent coffee
shops, premium out of home sector, and direct to consumer.
Hurst had first noticed a growing interest in best of harvest
coffees when he was working as a commodity trader for a large
investment bank in the 1980s. Enquiries began originating in
particular regions in the USA – “the sort we now think of as craft
specialists, but were then seen as outliers”. Mercanta facilitates
such enterprises finding the premium, traceable beans they how they should use it,” he says. “It became a consulting process.
want in manageable quantities, while also ensuring that growers So we do tastings and run courses on things like coffee roasting
received genuinely sustainable prices reflecting the higher and latte art. LSC offers events, training and online courses
quality of their produce. Mercanta has always placed ethical attracting buyers, baristas, chefs, café owners and enthusiasts.”
and environmental concerns high on its list of requirements, While the coffee market has transformed in the 25 years
alongside provenance, value and, of course, taste. “We provide since Mercanta was founded, Hurst still feels more work needs
a critical market access role linking quality minded growers to be done in educating consumers about the nuances of the
and artisan roasters,” says Hurst. “In our value chain, coffee can trade. “Ethics is very important to what we do, and we always
go from central Africa to the Scottish Highlands, from remote buy at a price that will enable the producer to continue to do
parts of Colombia to a town in the Arctic Circle. It is very well for himself,” he says. “But we don’t want to buy at a higher
satisfying, seeing premium coffee beans being distributed all price for charitable reasons – producers need to have some
over the world.” regard for what they are growing, otherwise it can lead to
Mercanta has a lab in south-west London where it roasts and over-production. We always pay a sustainable price in exchange
tastes new coffee before taking it to market. Hurst also founded the for superior quality coffees. It’s a virtuous circle. The producer
London School of Coffee (LSC), now based in Fulham, providing receives a premium price and the consumer gets a differentiated
courses in several areas related to the coffee business. “So many quality product of exacting provenance.”
people called us wanting coffee beans but they also wanted an www.coffeehunter.com
education in what they were buying, why they were buying it and www.londonschoolofcoffee.com
210
XX
211
Road wise
“We offer a stepping stone on the way to net-zero greenhouse
gas emissions in the ‘hard to abate’ transport sector”
Hanan Friedman, Trucknet Enterprise
A round 27 per cent of trucks that cross Europe daily run empty,
contributing to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.
“Those trucks could be filled with freight or taken off the roads,
matchmaking truck and freight,” says Friedman. “It’s win-win all
round.” Trucknet’s success is about sustainability as much as profit.
Originally, Friedman saw the process as helping companies save
increasing company profit,” says Hanan Friedman (pictured, above), money and become more efficient. “After participating in the
who was inspired to seek a solution. “I saw the lack of efficiency Paris conference, I realised the importance of sustainability for
in the logistics industry and I wanted to change behaviours.” achieving our objective of reducing emissions and congestion,”
Friedman’s mission was inspired at the 2015 Climate Change he says. At the 2019 Climate Change Conference in Madrid he
Conference in Paris, where he took part in an event organised presented his innovative technology, announcing that Trucknet
by the Israeli delegation. In 2016 he founded Trucknet Enterprise was developing an online system for CO2 emissions calculations
in Israel with an automatic artificial-intelligence platform for heavy vehicle fleets. Today, it is ready to be launched.
providing optimisation for transport and logistics companies. The Paris Agreement requires all countries to take part in
“I realised that a sharing economy model was necessary,” he global efforts for achieving a low-carbon world. Friedman
says, “with visibility and connectivity.” believes robust government policy will encourage private sector
Trucknet provides software that is compatible with existing ambition; a link necessary for a successful outcome. Trucknet has
GPS systems used by transport companies. Any client with an branched out with offices in Romania, France and Spain. Five
empty truck, perhaps on a return trip from a delivery, can log on thousand companies use the platform, bringing potential value to
to its platform to search more cargo to fill the vehicle, making the half a million trucks, and Friedman plans to branch out further.
drive profitable in both directions. The entire process is automatic “We offer a stepping stone on the way to net-zero greenhouse gas
and, once the necessary checks are made, the companies close a deal emissions in the ‘hard to abate’ transport sector,” he says.
and set their own prices, based on a bidding system. “I’m basically www.trucknet.io
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Going electric
“We’re offering people a chance to try new things.
We’re helping businesses, including the agricultural
industry, transition to electric power”
Chris Brown, Ethos Asset Finance
I n September 2017, Chris Brown (pictured above, left) was

invited to the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. From the
moment he arrived, he realised his career was about to take a
concerns about future values, whether that be battery life or
vehicle range,” says Brown. “We’ve had to educate ourselves and,
in the process, we’ve become experts in this field.”
whole new path. “It was eye-opening to meet Elon Musk’s This expertise enables both companies to provide more
disciples,” he says. “They were the best in their field from all over than finance to customers. The Electric Broker supports Ethos
the world, and you couldn’t help but be inspired by their vision.” Asset Finance by bringing together local businesses to work
That vision – of electric energy supplanting the world’s together in the sustainable space. “We’re offering people a
limited resources in providing fuel for our daily needs – propelled chance to try new things,” says Brown. “We’re helping
Brown, a finance broker of more than 25 years, to shift the focus businesses, including the agricultural industry, transition
of his business. As Managing Director and owner of Ethos Asset to electric power. I say to everyone, come on board.”
Finance, he has been a long-time provider of funding for diverse While the company’s transportation business suffered an
business assets across the UK, including everything from cars, vans inevitable dip during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brown has seen a
and chauffeur finance to computing and telephone equipment. shift in consumer behaviour in the months since. “Businesses
But that trip to Nevada changed everything, especially after are keen to restock their fleets, tax breaks are creating incentives
Brown was shown Musk’s dazzling new prototype, the Tesla to go electric and more people are wanting to play their part in
Model 3. Back home at his office in Harrogate, Brown set up The protecting the planet. There are lots of new markets. It’s a
Electric Broker, a division of his company dedicated to funding growing ecosystem and I’m very satisfied that we can help.
a growing list of electrically powered assets, from cars and vans It’s exciting to know there are so many more opportunities
to road sweepers and car chargers, even wind turbines. “It’s a out there. I look around and I think, what’s next?”
brand-new business and many of our existing partners had www.ethosf inance.co.uk • www.electricbroker.co.uk
213
Building a better tomorrow

“We have a very clear purpose: to reduce the health impact
of our business. We are uniquely positioned in that regard”
Jack Bowles, BAT
I n the current environment, many companies have enhanced

their focus on environmental, social and corporate governance
(ESG) metrics. At BAT (formerly British American Tobacco),
At the heart of BAT’s purpose is a strategy to transition
revenue streams away from combustible tobacco and into
non-combustible products such as e-cigarettes, tobacco-
there is an over-arching goal. “We have a very clear purpose: heating products and modern oral products like nicotine
To reduce the health impact of our business and build ‘A Better pouches. “While these products can be addictive and are
Tomorrow’ for all our stakeholders,” says Chief Executive Jack not risk free, the weight of evidence is that they represent a
Bowles. “We are uniquely positioned in that regard.” reduced risk if we assume a complete switch from cigarette
BAT was formed in 1902. It was a founding constituent of smoking,” says Bowles. BAT aims to increase the number of
the FTSE100 and now has more than 55,000 employees and consumers of its non-combustible products from more than
dozens of manufacturing sites around the world. “As the 16 million today (for the first half of 2021) to 50 million by
largest, and only truly global company in our industry, we take 2030. BAT is also moving “Beyond Nicotine” into products
seriously our role to transform ourselves,” says Bowles. “We like CBD (cannabidiol) as part of its multi-category strategy.
know combustible products pose serious health risks. The only “We are moving our revenue streams – becoming a business
way to avoid those risks is to not start – or to quit – smoking. that defines itself, not by the product it sells, but by the
That’s why we are changing. We are providing an increasing consumer needs that it meets,” says Bowles.
number of adult consumers with products, backed by science, Tied to BAT’s focus on harm reduction is a broader
that provide satisfaction and can reduce the overall health risk commitment to diversity, sustainability and positive
compared with our combustible products. Our ambition is to environmental management. “We initially set a goal of
build the brands of the future and create ‘A Better Tomorrow’.” achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 across Scope 1 and
Scope 2,” says Bowles, “which are, essentially, the emissions
we directly control. In 2021, we extended that target to
include Scope 3 by 2050, covering emissions that arise from
our value chain. We are asking our markets across the world
to meet these targets and they are approaching the challenge
with enthusiasm and innovative ideas.”
Such innovation can only be achieved by a highly motivated,
diverse and focused staff. BAT regularly tops best employer
leagues; and its management places a major emphasis on
employee satisfaction, carrying out biennial global engagement
surveys and offering enhanced benefits and excellent
development opportunities to staff around the world. This
extends to the supply chain, where farmers are given assistance
to get the best out of different types of crops and guaranteed
tobacco purchases at the start of the year.
“We educate our contracted farmers in crop diversification
and improving yields to enhance food security and preserve
soil health,” says Bowles. “As with everything we do, it’s about
leadership. I am proud that we have a strategy with sustainability
at its heart. And I firmly believe it will lead to ‘A Better
Tomorrow’ for all our stakeholders – now and in the future.”
www.bat.com
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A SENSE OF DUTY
215
The money movers

“Worldline is doing good things, not
just for its balance sheet, but for wider
society as well”
James Bain, Worldline
“
M oving money around has happened since humans first
started working with each other,” says James Bain, Chief
Executive for the UK and Ireland of digital payment operator
our goal remains to have net-zero emissions by 2040 – but,
going forward, we want to address societal concerns, creating
products and services that aid social mobility.”
Worldline. “It’s one of the oldest mechanisms in the world. For the company’s unprecedented productivity even during
It’s what you do with that system that makes the difference.” lockdown, Bain credits its way of “treating people as actual
Sure enough, Worldline has made huge strides since people” in its approach to both clients and employees.
starting out as a technology company more than four decades “Worldline is doing good things, not just for its balance sheet,
ago. From its headquarters in Paris, it now employs more than but for wider society.” One example is in the UK rail industry,
20,000 people worldwide, processing more than €400 billion where Worldline has introduced technology for tickets to be
worth of payments annually. More than a million “merchants” bought with tokens provided by a job service, meaning
– clients ranging from sole traders to international companies disadvantaged travellers can easily get to job interviews.
– use the company’s platforms in more than 60 countries. Additionally, every customer has the option of rounding up
While Worldline’s central business is enabling cashless the value of a train ticket purchased through Redspottedhanky,
payments in every continent, its digital expertise serves a multitude a third-party retailer owned by Worldline, to donate to a
of sectors, from banking to civic systems. However, according to different charity each month. Using similar technology on its
Bain, who has been with the company for 11 years, what really sets payments acceptance platforms, Worldline offers merchants the
Worldline apart is its ever-expanding corporate social mission. same round-up functionality to donate to charity. “This gives
“We are one of the top ten technology companies in the me great satisfaction,” says Bain. “We want to make it easy for
world when it comes to corporate social responsibility ratings,” people to help others.”
he says. “Previously we’ve worked on our carbon footprint and www.worldline.com
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A SENSE OF DUTY
Creating a beautiful world

“Projects that are oriented towards
empowering women are very close
to my heart”
Dr Neeta Kapadia, Rare Chemistry
S kincare has the power to create a positive change, not only

for our health and well-being but as a business model itself.
Rare Chemistry, co-founded by Dr Neeta Kapadia (a practising
“Using skincare as self-care is often overlooked, as the time
we give ourselves is ever eroded,” says Rhea. “However, the
concept of dedicating a regular window of time to care for our
eye surgeon from India) and her daughter Rhea Kapadia (a skin is beginning to gain traction. A skincare ritual represents
designer), is a company that aims to create indulgent and a way to calm our frenetic minds, allowing us to reconnect with
sustainable skincare products which cater to women of all ages ourselves on a metaphysical level. Rare Chemistry’s products
and skin types. These products are made from carefully are specifically designed to be easy; uncomplicated enough to
selected ingredients with deep roots in Indian heritage and fit into a busy schedule. Skincare has the potential to develop
other cultures, and that heal from within. the confidence to bring out your own authentic, exquisite, and
“Rare Chemistry strives to intertwine science and nature charming persona. It is synergistic to how you would meditate
through innovation,” says Dr Kapadia, “by blending these for a sound mind and workout for a sound body.”
carefully selected ingredients in the right proportions, Rare Chemistry is backed by Tyler Hill Ventures Limited,
determined by applying the modern-day tools of the science a UK-based company whose primary initiatives are in the areas
of dermatology.” Dr Rupali Pavaskar, an experienced cosmetic of sustainability and decarbonisation. “Projects that are
dermatologist, is leading a team of skin experts, combining oriented towards empowering women are very close to my
their scientific knowledge with natural and sustainable heart,” says Dr Kapadia. “Our company is aiming to recruit an
botanical resources from around the world. The resulting 80 per cent female workforce, based in India, and donate a
products restore and maintain the balance of the skin’s delicate portion of our profits towards charities that provide workplace
microbiome and come in the form of creams and lotions that training for women and education for children.”
are easy to self-apply. www.rare-chemistry.com
217
State of the kart

“Our role at the Manchester Innovation
Activities Hub will be to fill the skills gaps within
Greater Manchester’s innovation ecosystem”
Nile Henry, Blair Project
W hen Nile Henry began to comprehend the range of

obstacles that blocked his older brother, Blair, from
following his dream and entering the world of motor racing, he
spaces and wrap-around support to enable industry collaborations.
Our ambition is to support Manchester in becoming the UK’s
leader in the design, development and manufacturing of power
decided he was going to do something about it. The trailblazing electronics, machines and drives which are all essential in
Blair Project was subsequently launched seven years ago. It is a reducing emissions.”
social enterprise that inspires young people in Manchester to The Blair Project offers a unique opportunity for young
participate in the green tech revolution by building and racing people to explore the world of motorsport while contributing
electric-powered go-karts. With the aid of sponsors and funders, to the green revolution. Students aged 15-18 convert go-karts
students learn about computer-aided design, 3D printing, battery into full electric karts to test, race and assess which is the most
technologies and electronic controls while nourishing their own energy efficient. In addition, the company promotes greater
confidence and ambitions. Since starting the Blair Project, social equality and inclusion in motorsports by supporting
Henry has gone on to help set up the new Manchester talented young drivers, engineers and mechanics to experience
Innovation Activities Hub. career success through racing and education. “It allows kids to
“The low-carbon economy presents so many opportunities have fun and gain access to motorsport,” says board member
for businesses and those looking for work across the region,” Lisa Maynard-Atem, “which is a sport that has huge barriers to
says Henry. “Our role at the Manchester Innovation Activities entry. There is also a science, education and environmental angle
Hub will be to fill the skills gaps within Greater Manchester’s as we develop very exciting STEM-education challenges. It gives
innovation ecosystem, giving businesses what they need to inner city kids access to a world of opportunity, places and
succeed and developing a highly skilled talent pool. The centre knowledge they would never normally have access to.”
will provide access to industrial-grade equipment, workshop www.theblairproject.org
218
A SENSE OF DUTY
Talent to BURN
“We are focused on three key pillars:
senior leadership, procurement and
international trade”
Lisa Maynard-Atem, BURN
T he Black United Representation Network CIC (BURN) was

founded by a coalition of nine black businesses in February
2020 and focuses on the economic and social empowerment
Advisory Board (in partnership with Be the Business) focuses on
building black organisations by giving them the opportunity to
tap into their very own board of advisors, free of charge, for a year.
of the black community in the north. It was born out of As Maynard-Atem points out, meaningful change is only
the realisation that Greater Manchester’s 9 per cent black possible if it comes from the top and filters down, which is why
population had little representation in the city. the first initiative will address the leadership component of
“We are focused on three key pillars,” says Managing BURN’s three-pillar approach. She feels it is essential to break
Director Lisa Maynard-Atem (pictured, above). “One is senior the glass ceiling that stops black talent from progressing. It was
leadership. Another is capacity-building black organisations this barrier that obliged her to move from Manchester to
(many of which have been negatively impacted by Covid) to London to further her career in marketing and communication,
ensure that they are contract-ready. The third is international spending more than seven years heading up Harrods’ social
trade: BURN is establishing itself as the gateway for the city media team before returning to Manchester at a higher level.
region when it comes to trading with Africa and the Caribbean.” While BURN is dedicated to the economic empowerment of
The latter will be the focus of a physical event in early the black community in the north, anybody who believes in the
2022, while the first pillar is being targeted with a brace of core message is welcome to join and help make a difference. BURN
initiatives. One is Board Apprentice, which sees senior black has already generated interest outside the city, being nominated for
professionals with suitable experience placed on company boards a UK Social Enterprise Award. “We have ambitions to go further
for a year, giving them invaluable experience. It also gives them afield,” says Maynard-Atem, “but we are still establishing strong
the opportunity to secure board-level positions once they have foundations as we want to do it properly and in the right way.”
completed their educational journey. The second programme, www.burncic.org
219
220
THE VOICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
CHAPTER SIX
THE
VOICE OF
SUSTAINABILITY
221
222
Advocate for
a better future
Now recognised as a pioneer, for decades Prince Charles
has used his public profile to stand up for ethical causes
and the environment. By Robert Jobson
o
T he Prince of Wales was in fine form as he walked up to the
podium on 7 September 2016 on being named “Londoner
of the Decade” at the London Evening Standard’s Progress 1000
education or work or their own enterprises – thereby saving
the public purse £1.4 billion in the process.”
He also highlighted his Foundation for Building Community.
Opposite
Prince Charles delivers
party held at the Science Museum to honour the UK capital’s “I believe it pays enormous social and environmental dividends a speech at the World
innovators. He had thought long and hard about what he was if you go to the trouble of involving local people, with the right Economic Forum in
going to say to a high-powered audience. What followed professional facilitators, in the design of the places where they Davos, 2020
was one of the most significant, revealing and honest speeches live,” he said. “The most successful communities mix the private
of his career in public life. with affordable housing; enclose green spaces within squares o
“I have spent most of my life trying to propose and initiate and communal gardens; provide good-quality housing integrated Below
things that very few people could see the point of, or thought with walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods, good public transport Celebrating the 21st
were plain bonkers at the time,” said the Prince. “Perhaps some and an identity that fosters pride and a sense of belonging.” anniversary of Duchy
of them are now beginning to recognise a spot of pioneering The Prince is not some tree-hugging fanatic. He is a Originals organic
in all this apparent madness.” pragmatist, a visionary and, as he proudly states, a pioneer. He is products, whose profits
His remark drew laughter from the audience but, as ever, a deep-thinking man who works long hours to try to maximise his go to charitable causes
the Prince was deadly serious with his core message. “All forms influence for the greater good of nature and humanity.
of pioneering have moments that make you hold your breath
and cross your fingers,” he continued. “There is a good chance
it could all go horribly wrong and there’s a fine line between
the success of a good, original idea and a complete disaster.
“If it fails, it fails, but at least you had a go – and I could
always say one of my plants told me to do it! Starting my Duchy
Originals food company 25 years ago was a case in point.
When we launched the first organic oat biscuit there were
tabloid headlines saying, ‘A Shop-soiled Royal’. People now
tend to understand the point of, and enjoy, the organic food
they once thought of as bonkers 25 years ago – and through
Duchy Originals I have so far given away more than £14 million
to charitable causes.”
He went on to highlight how he established The Prince’s
Trust in 1976 amid social unrest and high levels of youth
unemployment and how in 1983 he launched a business
start-up plan. “Again, people thought I’d gone mad – more mad!
– to try and give grants to ex-offenders and other disadvantaged
young people,” he said. “But, since then, the Prince’s Trust has
supported over 825,000 of those vulnerable and disadvantaged
young people to overcome their challenges, move into
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“On an increasingly crowded planet,

humanity faces many threats, but none
is greater than climate change”
He has made many speeches and won plaudits and awards There is much to admire about the way the Prince has
for being a champion of the environment. His core philosophy highlighted the horrors of factory farming and his belief that
is spelled out in his 2010 book Harmony: A New Way of Looking people, rather than town planners, are often the best judges of
at Our World, which he proudly describes as “a call to revolution”. what sort of environment suits them. His work against single-use
Throwing moderation to the wind, he comes out in favour of plastics was both ahead of its times and crucial for the future of
happiness, sustainable development and cities fit to live in, while our planet that many in the popular media have now woken up to.
opposing greed, ugliness and environmental catastrophe. In January 2018 the Prince of Wales attended a meeting to
Throughout Harmony, Charles describes the need to abandon discuss plastic waste at the British Academy in London at which
a soulless modernity for a traditional spirituality. Essentially, it he said the nightmare of plastic in oceans will only get worse. He
is a distillation of his beliefs – about nature, life, beauty and spoke of his “deep frustration” at the world ignoring the problem,
spirituality. It is also, as he says in his opening lines, “a call calling on companies to make changes to cut their plastic waste.
to revolution” and is therefore well worth a read. “The nightmare result of eight million tonnes of plastic
Throughout the book, various dire and apocalyptic warnings entering the ocean every year is set to get worse rather than
follow about the state of the world, along with some predictable better,” he said. “We cannot, indeed must not, allow this situation
pops at modernism and factory farming – significantly, he to continue… I do fervently pray that you will all do your utmost
brackets the two together. Essentially, this philosopher prince to work together in the coming year to make real, substantial
thinks that we have become progressively divorced from nature progress. It could not be more critical that you succeed.”
and, in doing so, have lost something fundamental in ourselves. Each year more than 300 million tonnes of plastic are
As a result, we now live in “an age of disconnection”, cut off produced globally, and of the huge amount that Prince Charles
from the rhythms and the bounty of the world. The advantages refers to that ends up in the sea, it is estimated that there is now
this has brought us in material terms are, he believes, dwarfed a 1:2 ratio of plastic to plankton; left unchecked, plastic will
by the homogeneity, spiritual impoverishment and blinkered outweigh fish by 2050. The plastic floating on the water looks
thinking that have come with it. unsightly and is swallowed by marine animals that cannot digest
While this may be bold, it is also an intensely conservative it. Chemicals also leach into the water and it is reported that
philosophy – one that holds that mankind has gone increasingly humans can ingest more than 11,000 pieces of micro-plastic each
awry since the Age of Reason, let alone mechanisation. The year from seafood.
trouble, according to Charles, dates from when we started to see Charles, long known for his interest in environmental causes,
nature as something outside of ourselves; something unruly that said he had taken some encouragement from the fact that the
needed to be tamed. The Prince’s brand of neo-puritanism could legacy of plastic in the environment is now very much on the
only have been incubated in a pretty rarefied environment. global agenda and in the public consciousness. This later is in no
However, there is no doubt that Charles would deny that his small way due to his tireless work to educate and inform people
instincts face backwards rather than forwards. as he goes about his daily business at home and abroad.
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o
Above
The Prince shows his
mother The Queen
around his “healing
garden” design for
the 2002 Chelsea
Flower Show
225
Charles has had a huge impact on the world stage, spreading you must surely start the emergency procedures without
his messages while risking the wrath of those who say he should further procrastination.”
not be political or partisan. He speaks out courageously on the The Prince is adamant that governments must act now to
issue of climate change, believing global warming is the greatest save our planet from disaster. He says he knows they have the
threat that humanity faces. In November 2015 he joined world technology and money to tackle the problem but so far have
leaders for the COP21 (Conference of the Parties) meeting in lacked the conviction and the framework to use them wisely
Paris – the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference. and at scale. “Since the Industrial Revolution, human beings
On the podium the Prince opened the conference along have been upsetting that balance [of nature], persistently
with the UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and the French choosing short-term options and to hell with the long-term
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Charles did not hold back. repercussions,” he said. Indeed, he faced an avalanche of
“On an increasingly crowded planet, humanity faces many threats, criticism in the 1970s for even daring to raise these heartfelt
but none is greater than climate change,” he told delegates from concerns. But raise them he did. He wrote in Harmony: “Most
195 countries. “It magnifies every hazard and tension of our critics imagined that I somehow wanted to turn the clock back
existence. It threatens our ability to feed ourselves, to remain to some mythical golden age when all was a perfect rural idyll.
healthy and safe from extreme weather, to manage the natural But nothing could be further from the truth.”
resources that support our economies, and to avert the What is exciting about Charles is that he is a trailblazer.
humanitarian disaster of mass migration and increasing conflict.” He is not a figurehead who jumps on bandwagons when they
o Urging negotiators to end fossil-fuel subsidies and spend become trendy. He has been delivering speeches for decades
Above the money on sustainable energy instead, he said: “We must act on his core subjects such as climate change and the pollution
Prince Charles now. Already we are being overtaken by other events and crises of the planet. Back in 1989, he was addressing delegates at the
is joined by John Kerry that can be seen as greater and more immediate threats. But, in Saving the Ozone Layer World Conference, where he spelled
to announce his “Terra reality, many are already, and will increasingly be, related to the out the doomsday scenario we faced then, when few wanted to
Carta” sustainable growing effects of climate change.” listen. His work continues: at the One Planet Summit in Paris
markets initiative, 2021 The Prince, who had also spoken at the landmark UN in January 2021, Prince Charles launched his “Terra Carta”
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, then told charter, appealing to the private sector to cooperate now to
o officials that the climate-change crisis had become much move towards a more sustainable future by 2030.
Opposite more urgent in the intervening six years. “The whole of nature The charter also marks 50 years of Prince Charles’s
At the 2020 London cries out at our mistreatment of her,” he said. “If the planet campaigning for the environment. He is still using his influence
summit for WaterAid, were a patient, we would have treated her long ago. You, ladies to urge mankind to take effective action to save our planet before
of which he is president and gentlemen, have the power to put her on life support, and it is too late. He should be applauded for it.
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“Most critics imagined that I somehow wanted to turn the

clock back to some mythical golden age when all was a perfect
rural idyll. But nothing could be further from the truth”
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Living our purpose

“The philosophy of the company from the beginning
has been about doing good for the community”
Dr Anish Shah, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
T he Mahindra Group started life as a steel-trading venture to

meet the growing industrial demands of pre-independence
India in 1945. It initially focused on the automotive industry,
GT. The company is one of the founding teams in the Formula
E World Championships.
The decision to focus on electric vehicles also aligns with
with finance and information technology soon following. This the Mahindra Group’s long-term focus on environmental, social
multinational company now spans a number of other industries and governance strategy. “Both what we do and how we do it
– including farm equipment, real estate, logistics and hospitality are important,” says Sinha. “We do business in a transparent
– with revenues of $15.6 billion. and respectful way, balancing what we do for customers,
“The philosophy of the company from the beginning has shareholders, communities and employees.”
been about doing good for the community,” says Dr Anish “The company is a gold standard in governance,” says
Shah, MD and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra. “That has Dr Shah. “We are committed to carbon neutrality by 2040, to
evolved over time and now there are three key areas we are produce customer-focused products and services, and invest
focusing on: living our purpose, accelerating growth and in future-facing green businesses such as clean energy and
rewarding our investors.” e-mobility. We also aim to run on 50 per cent renewable
“We have always had a focus on the question, ‘What does energies by 2025. We want a 60 per cent improvement in energy
the country need?’” says Anirban Ghosh, Mahindra Group’s productivity by 2026; we aim to have all our locations zero waste
Chief Sustainability Officer. “From manufacturing farm to landfill certified by 2030 and be water positive by 2022.”
equipment to feed the population, to making India’s first Balancing the needs of people, planet and profit requires
utility vehicle, this outlook is still there today.” helping communities at a grass roots level, too. The company
The Mahindra Group has invested in a diverse, yet related, has planted 19 million trees so far as part of the Hariyali
set of green businesses such as solar energy, automobile project; it is committed to planting a million every year but has
recycling and electric vehicles. The Indian government is plans to scale that up to 5 million. Hariyali also provides jobs
taking ambitious steps to promote electric mobility, and the and livelihoods and enhances local biodiversity ecosystems.
Mahindra Group is stepping in to facilitate the transformation. Mahindra Group runs a variety of community projects,
Sustainability in the Mahindra Group is viewed as a business including Nanhi Kali, one of India’s largest educational
opportunity rather than a business cost. “I think we saw the programmes enabling underprivileged girls to complete
change in the transportation sector before anybody else did,” 10 years of schooling (pictured, above), and Mahindra Pride
says Amit Sinha, President of Group Strategy. “We acquired an School, which provides vocational skill-building and training.
electric vehicle company in 2010, though much has changed It does all this while taking micro-initiatives to improve
since then.” Mahindra makes a range of electric vehicles, from diversity in the company itself. “Living our purpose is what
last-mile three-wheelers to the Pininfarina Battista (pictured, makes us a great place to work,” says Dr Shah.
opposite), the world’s first luxury electric hyper-performance www.mahindra.com
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Going bananas for green tech

“The UK alone throws away 85,000 tons of bananas every year.
That’s a huge untapped resource that we can create value from”
Dr Andrew Lee, Ly teGro
I t was a wet weekend in Northern Ireland in 2018 on a trip to

Bushmills Distillery that brought Dr Andrew Lee his moment
of inspiration. On a tour of the ancient whiskey distillery, Lee
fermentation efficiency; increasing product yield by more
than 20 per cent from the same resources.
With sustainability becoming ever more important,
realised he’d found the perfect application for LyteGro’s LyteGro has already demonstrated that its products can help
technology. “I did some quick calculations while I was there improve green processes and can reduce end-user’s water and
and everything added up,” he remembers. energy usage by getting more product from the same resource.
Five years earlier, Dr Lee’s colleague Professor Mark Lyte LyteGro has operated in a lean manner since its launch.
had discovered “BacLyte” – an extract of waste bananas with “What would normally take £1 million we’ve done with
massive growth-promoting effects on bacteria and yeast. £150,000,” says Dr Lee. “We have been granted European
Combining Lyte’s discovery with Dr Lee’s own background and US patents for our core BacLyte technology and we filed
in commercialising scientific innovation, they spotted the another patent in 2020 detailing BacLyte’s use in distilling
potential for BacLyte’s use in multiple applications ranging and other fermentations.”
from silage production for farmers to accelerating hospital Like other businesses, LyteGro struggled to get sizeable
diagnostics. Thus, in 2015, LyteGro Ltd was born to try and investment during lockdown, but received a grant from
commercialise this amazing extract. Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund which enabled
Dr Lee’s Bushmills trip suggested that BacLyte could be the testing of their Propagreater product at full commercial
used in the spirits industry to reduce production times and scale for distilling. “We have worked with some fantastic
boost output. Working with the Chase Distillery in Hereford UK distillers such as Chase, Adnam’s, The Oxford Artisan
and the renowned International Institute of Brewing and Distillery and Two Drifters to trial Propagreater in the
Distilling at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, LyteGro production of whiskey, rum and vodka,” says Dr Lee. “And the
succeeded in demonstrating that BacLyte could improve results have been great.”
Following successful customer trials LyteGro is now
finalising production scale up for BacLyte and Propagreater with
plans to launch into the distilling market by 2022. Sustainability
is key to LyteGro, valourising a currently unused waste stream of
bananas which are unsuitable for sale (supplied by Fyffes, the
UK’s largest banana importer) to produce its amazing extract.
“The UK alone throws away 85,000 tons of bananas every year,”
says Dr Lee. “That’s a huge untapped resource that we can
create value from.”
By generating more product from the same resource
LyteGro’s products could have particular impact in water-
scarce regions where, coincidentally, a lot of the world’s
favourite spirits are produced. The company is hoping that, as
LyteGro expands, it can set up localised production facilities in
banana-growing countries. “LyteGro could offer an additional
revenue stream to often poor farmers that have to throw away
between 30 and 40 per cent of their crop because it is unfit for
sale,” says Dr Lee. “We could set up local plants to use their
waste to produce BacLyte and Propagreater for use by their
local distilleries.” LyteGro is at the start of a promising journey
– hopefully one that the distilling industry will go bananas for.
www.lytegro.co.uk
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A powerful prospect
“We want to be on the winning side. We want
to be on the side that has the technology that
moves us forward”
Emerson Gallagher, Infinity Fuel Cell Technology
E merson Gallagher, CEO of Infinity Fuel Cell Technology, has

over 23 years’ experience developing and commercialising
new PEM (proton-exchange membrane) fuel-cell technologies,
and we’ve got an amazing partner company. We’re going to
be working with them to develop fuel cells to power thousands
of vehicles; and then, as the technology scales up, they’ll be
for applications in the automotive, heavy-duty and marine looking at millions.”
industries. Now, he’s putting all this knowledge and experience Merging innovative technology with decades of experience,
into his new company. “As a worldwide species, we have to move complete with a major manufacturing partner, puts Infinity in a
away from carbon-based fuels, and Infinity will play a part in position to expand during a time when fuel-cell technology has
helping us reach that goal,” Emerson says. “We wanted a small, caught up with the ambitions of the industry. “We’re at a point
agile engineering company that wasn’t encumbered by huge where the technology is ready,” Gallagher says. “Electric-drive
overheads, or one that has to build and maintain manufacturing technology is here, so all the other elements we need to work
facilities. By stripping it down to the lightest, fastest possible way with are ready to go and commercialised. Fuel-cell technology
we can really push the technology.” has advanced light years.”
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Infinity is looking to Aside from the technological leaps and bounds, there’s an issue
manoeuvre into areas within the industry that many others around sustainable power – and Infinity is positioning itself to be
cannot. “We are working with Guangdong Nation-Synergy on the right side of history. “Throwing money at subsidising fossil
Hydrogen Power Technology, a worldwide production leader fuels is a bad investment,” Emerson says. “It gives you a short-term
in commercial PEM fuel cells based in China,” says Emerson. return but in the long term it’s guaranteed to lose to renewables.
“Technology is great but if you can’t produce it, and if you can’t We want to be on the winning side. We want to be on the side
really roll it out to the public, then it has no impact. You need that has the technology that moves us forward into the future.”
to find the right partners who can really move things along – www.inf inityfuelcell.ca
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Better data to help nature

“We are providing a biological data layer for Earth that
has never been available before. We know that we’re facing
a mass extinction crisis, but we need to know more”
Katie Critchlow, NatureMetrics
B iodiversity loss is now being treated with the same urgency

as climate change, but it is impossible to effectively address
that environmental catastrophe without hard data. NatureMetrics
data freely available for research and conservation. Samples come
from river basins, coral reefs and waterholes – wherever there is
water – using a collection and filtration process so simple that
was founded by Dr Kat Bruce to solve that problem. Taking the even primary school children can do it. A study in the Peruvian
technology she used while studying for her PhD, Dr Bruce created Amazon mapped the distribution of 650 different vertebrate
a company that analyses the DNA present in aquatic environments species, creating a hitherto unimaginable insight into the broad
all over the world, thus building a biodiversity map to inform health of the biodiversity of the environment and the way the
conservation and responsible environmental management. biome is constructed. And water is just the start. The team are
“We can do biodiversity studies at a previously unimaginable now able to analyse soils and sediments too with huge potential
scale,” she explains. “Our core technology allows us to take a to transform sustainable agriculture.
sample of the environment and analyse the DNA to generate a “We are providing a biological data layer for Earth that has
list of diversity. It’s transformational in allowing us to understand never been available before,” says CEO Katie Critchlow. “We
what is going on.” know that we’re facing a mass extinction crisis, but we need to
Bruce and her all-female executive team gather data from all know more: about what species there are, what impact we have
over the globe, working with conservation organisations and on them and what impact they have on us. Our understanding of
heavy-impact industries that are undertaking environmental the natural world needs to go up a steep learning curve. We are
surveys. As well as doing commercial work, NatureMetrics has collecting the information to form a database of life that we
partnered with the International Union for Conservation believe will say something bigger about the Earth and biodiversity
of Nature on a project called eBioAtlas to map the world’s and then help find the solutions to reverse that decline.”
freshwater biodiversity, analysing samples at cost and making the www.naturemetrics.co.uk
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Growing a plant-based
generation
“The scale of global meat production and consumption
is unsustainable. But, if we want people to eat less meat,
we have to create products that aren’t just tasty, healthy
and kinder to the planet – they need to feel familiar”
Morten Toft Bech, Meatless Farm
T here is a widespread assumption that plant-based meat

products are made for vegans and the result of detailed
experiments by white-coated scientists in labs. But at Meatless
create products that aren’t just tasty, healthy and kinder to the
planet – they need to feel familiar. Many people making small
changes will have a much greater impact than a few making
Farm – the UK’s fastest growing plant-based meat company – radical ones.”
the food is made by a team of experienced chefs, nutritionists Meatless Farm is based in Leeds and creates products using
and food scientists with the simple goal of recreating the taste, a range of ingredients such as pea protein, chicory root fibre and
texture and nutritional profile of meat using plant proteins. caramelised carrot concentrate. These are used to make a range of
Effectively skipping the animal and creating a more efficient plant-based meat alternative products. Bech’s goal is for these to
protein source for humans. sit alongside meat-based foods in supermarket aisles dedicated to
“The world won’t be changed by bad food,” explains Morten “protein”, with the plant-based alternative being treated just the
Toft Bech, founder of Meatless Farm. “It’s about getting the taste same as that which comes from cows, pigs or chickens.
and texture right so we can convince a greater number of people Bech describes himself as a flexitarian – somebody happy to
that eat meat regularly to make the swap to plant-based, even if it eat high-quality sustainable meat, but only on special occasions
is just a few days a week. We are often asked why we use plant – and he believes this is something more people will be open
protein to make products that look and taste like meat. The to embracing than all-out veganism. He is motivated partly
answer is simple: vegans won’t save the world, meat eaters will. by a desire to eat only the best and healthiest food, without
The scale of global meat production and consumption is compromising on taste, but also by environmental needs. “The
unsustainable. But, if we want people to eat less meat, we have to total pollution that is coming from a CO2 perspective in the
intensive meat farming industry is about the same as we get
from total transportation,” he says. “That is a fact that needs to
get hammered home. If people were to change just one more
meat meal a week to a plant-based meal, this could reduce the
UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 8.4 per cent. That is just one
meal and it would be the equivalent of bringing 16 million cars
off the road.”
Meatless Farm has established good relationships with
supermarkets as it pushes home its message through strong
branding and a powerful social media platform. The company is
the fastest-growing in its sector in the UK and is also performing
well in the rest of Europe. It is also available in the US through
Whole Foods, and is expanding across the Asia Pacific region.
With products like these, Bech hopes to persuade a nation to
move away from its long-established obsession with meat. “We
believe that it’s essential to have price parity with meat. Access
to sustainable living is something that needs to be a focus, not
in the future but now. Eating more sustainably shouldn’t be a
privileged choice.”
www.meatlessfarm.com
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Turning waste into fuel

“Industry today is very linear, we make items and then burn
or bury them. But nature is circular. We need new ways of
recycling, and new technology will play a key role”
Athan Fox, Ever Resource
i Q Power was founded in the 1990s and its partner company

Ever Resource in 2020, but this story really begins in the 1850s
with the invention of the lead-acid battery – the one still used
convert it to a circular model with new technology and improved
manufacturing, recycling and business models. Our vision is to
establish a web of many different industries, where one person’s
today to power billions of cars. When the lead-acid battery waste is another one’s fuel, just as we have in nature.”
arrived the car itself had yet to be invented. Nobody had managed Fox believes that British universities and businesses will be
to mechanically generate electricity and there was no concept of central to this drive towards the waste-free circular economy.
sustainability or climate change. Yet despite that, the lead-acid “New technology will play a key role in all of this and this is what
battery has proved to be one of the most recyclable items in the Britain has been best at over the centuries,” he says. “We are
world, with rates of 99 per cent in the US and 97 per cent in innovators and there have been 300 years of innovation that have
Europe. This recycling process, however, is among the most helped to shape societies all over the world. This was the first
polluting industries – which is where Ever Resource comes in. country in the world to industrialise and even if it is not the first
“Our technology recycles the end-of-life battery material, a sort to decarbonise it will accelerate the process through innovation,
of paste or muck inside the battery,” says CEO Athan Fox (pictured, technology and enterprise from an outward-looking Britain.”
opposite). “We recycle this with a low-cost, low-energy, low-impact www.iqpower.com
process instead of burning it in the furnace. We can reduce the www.ever-resource.com
industry’s carbon footprint by more than 80 per cent and the waste
output by more than 90 per cent and substantially improve the
amount of energy stored in the battery. So we replace an old,
high-impact process with something that is cleaner and greener,
saves money and results in a product that outperforms the original.
Combine this with iQ’s electrolyte-mixing and battery-
manufacturing technologies – which enhance cycle life, reduce
production time from three days to less than one day and reduce
costs by at least 10 per cent, water consumption by 90 per cent and
electricity by 25 per cent – and the whole thing becomes complete.”
The technology was originally developed at the University
of Cambridge but then stalled. Fox, a chemistry graduate, first
saw the process while working in the university’s licensing arm.
The patent was resurrected and licensed to a start-up which Fox
helped establish to take the technology forward. He partnered
with Kevin T Loman, CEO of iQ Power, to commercialise the
technology. “Combining the recycling technology with iQ’s
intellectual property yields an opportunity to rethink the battery
supply chain completely and remove inefficiencies, all to the
benefit of the environment,” says Loman (pictured, right). Fox and
Loman hope to create similar technologies for other products that
are harder to recycle, such as tyres, lithium batteries and plastics.
“The 18th-century chemist Antoine Lavoisier once wrote:
‘nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed’,”
says Fox. “This is our philosophy of the circular economy:
nothing should be wasted. Industry today is linear, we make
items and then burn or bury them. But nature is not linear, nature
is circular and our core objective is to take what is linear and
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Powering ahead
“Battery power is creating new industries, reinventing
the way we live, and it is exciting to make that possible”
Cyril Narishkin, Bitrode
B atteries enable the world’s most environmentally sustainable

power sources. Over the past 60 years, Bitrode has built test
and charging equipment for the manufacturers developing this
world-changing technology. The company’s legacy dates back to
Harvey Gershenson’s invention for battery charging and testing.
He took over Acme Battery from his father and created the
Meteor battery testing product line, and later Emil Kovacik,
a key employee, purchased that product line to start Bitrode
in 1957. Since then, Bitrode has steadily developed into one of
the largest global battery testing and charging equipment
manufacturers, with a staff of over 100, mostly engineers and
technicians, at numerous support hubs around the world.
Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, the company originally
focused on lead acid batteries and has always derived most of
its business from the automotive industry.
Today, Bitrode supplies machines, software and services
to global battery formation companies and laboratories. New
technologies involving batteries are becoming increasingly
important, according to Cyril Narishkin, who was appointed
CEO of the company in January 2019. “Serving the laboratories
that are inventing the batteries of the future is a priority to us,
because they are needed to power the electric vehicles that are
gradually replacing traditional modes of transportation,” he says.
“We are in transition from the lead acid battery, used in the
internal combustion engine, to fully electrified transportation.” battery chemistries. The company also works with renewable
Everything from privately owned cars and delivery vehicles to energy storage providers to create innovative energy storage.
public transport and aircraft will eventually be powered by For example, Bitrode helps clients develop battery packs for
electricity – and so require batteries. Narishkin predicts that grocery stores that are powered with solar panels. According
even motor racing will undergo a transformation as electric to Narishkin, these systems provide mini power plants that can
vehicles become the norm. “Our grandchildren will be watching enable buildings or whole neighbourhoods to come off-the-
electric cars racing around the track,” he says. grid. Such technologies are also creating whole new industries
Bitrode is involved in this new technology every step of the and jobs. The proportion of Bitrode staff working all over the
way. “We touch it at multiple points,” says Jeff Lockwood, Vice world has grown since the Covid-19 pandemic and the
President of Business Development. “Our equipment is enabling realisation that employees can work from anywhere.
scientists and chemists to develop the next generation of batteries The impact of all these changes will be so significant that
from research and design, through every stage of production.” Narishkin sees renewable energies making old forms of energy,
The possibilities are endless. Bitrode works with automotive such as coal and nuclear power plants, obsolete. “Instead of
companies developing electric vehicles and aerospace companies investing in traditional power plants away from cities, I foresee
researching ways to power aircraft using electricity instead of governments investing in point-of-use power generation,” he
jet fuel. The organisation’s customers are in a tight race that says. “Battery power is creating new industries, reinventing
intensifies when new goals are set, such as Norway’s the way we live, and it is exciting to make that possible.
announcement that all its short-haul aircraft will be electric by Everywhere we sell across the world, countries are investing
2045. To make this possible, Bitrode machines are being used in this space. It truly is a global effort.”
as battery simulators and testers for researchers testing new www.bitrode.com
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Carbon-neutral I n the world of liquid food packaging, Elopak has been one of
the market leaders for decades. The company was founded in
Norway over 60 years ago and now employs around 3,000 people,
cartons selling 15 billion cartons a year in more than 80 countries. But

as well as being one of the largest companies operating in its
sector, Elopak is a pioneer when it comes to sustainability.
“We have been carbon neutral since 2016 and we are proud
that we made that possible,” says CEO Thomas Körmendi. “We
“When it comes to packaging and
are continuously pushing the environmental agenda. In 2019 we
sustainability, we try to put our money were one of the first companies in the world to formally pledge
where our mouth is – it’s the right thing to do to cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the criteria set by
morally and from a business point of view” the Science Based Targets initiative, which aims to keep global
average temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Thomas Körmendi, Elopak For Körmendi, this is a commercial decision as well as an
ethical one. The concepts of sustainability and environmentalism
have become of increasing importance to the packaging industry
over the past few years, and the general public now has a much
broader concept of what sustainability entails and why it
matters. When talking to customers, retailers and consumers,
sustainability is often a main topic of conversation. “Almost all
of our customers now talk about the sustainability element to
some degree, and for a growing number it’s the most important
part of the discussion,” says Körmendi. “All of us in the
packaging industry have a lot of improvements to make in terms
of material technology and, although we are not perfect, Elopak
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supplies the products that in terms of renewability, recyclability As Körmendi explains, packaging in itself is essential in
and carbon footprint are the best available right now.” minimising food waste. More carbon goes into the production
Elopak achieved a 20 per cent reduction in the carbon of food that is then thrown away than is used in manufacturing
footprint of its cartons with closures between 2014 and 2019, the actual packaging, but Elopak can help here too. The latest
in part thanks to its use of 100 per cent renewable raw materials. packaging is cleverly designed to ensure the consumer can
The company continues to seek further reductions and a large empty the pack to a much greater extent than previously
amount of work goes into material innovation, with Elopak possible: this simple measure reduces food waste by 5 per cent
experts constantly exploring ways to use less material in general per pack – a small number that quickly adds up. “That in itself
and plastic in particular. Thanks to the sheer volume of cartons will have a very significant impact on the overall sustainability
that the company produces, small changes can go a very long as the role of packaging is to protect and contain and to ensure
way. Elopak now produces a trademarked product called the you can get everything out,” he says. “When it comes to
Pure-Pak Imagine, a carton made of a material it calls “natural packaging and sustainability, we try to put our money where
brown board”. It doesn’t use a screwcap, which reduces the use of our mouth is, as we strongly believe it’s the right thing to do
plastic by almost half. “Compared to something like a standard morally but it’s also the right thing to do from a business point
PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle, we use one tenth of the of view.”
amount of plastic,” says Körmendi. www.elopak.com
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Powered by lightning
“It’s not just about being sustainable: we want to provide fleets
with products that are better than the petrol and diesel trucks
and buses they have today, and vehicles that drivers will love”
Tim Reeser, Lightning eMotors
A s mainstream acceptance of sustainability and the need for

environmental responsibility increases, it’s unsurprising to see
vehicle electrification also on the rise. However, while the domestic
often makes sense to charge at a depot, but it may also be necessary
to use a public charging station, too, so we support both.”
With a background in mechanical engineering and software
passenger vehicle market is burgeoning, what about those vehicles development, Reeser had a long-standing interest in alternative
that are slightly more complex? This is where Lightning eMotors fuels, which gave him the impetus to found Lightning in 2008.
comes in. “Our speciality is speciality,” says company CEO and “At Lightning, our goal is to make a better product that is more
co-founder Tim Reeser. “Electrifying buses or refrigerated lorries efficient, but also more elegant,” he says. “It’s not just about being
is hard, which is why you don’t see many of them on the road.” sustainable: we want to provide fleets with products that are better
As Reeser explains, it’s one thing to make a lorry, ambulance or than the petrol and diesel trucks and buses they have today, vehicles
bus electric, but it’s accompanied by the need to maintain the things that drivers – and the wider community – will love.”
that support that vehicle’s mission – refrigeration, air conditioning These aims are now coming to fruition. DHL began buying
and, in the case of ambulances, high-voltage systems to power the electric vehicles from Lightning in 2020, initially operating in
medical equipment. Lightning eMotors has become the leader in Manhattan, and is now looking into using them in California.
medium- and heavy-duty electric fleet vehicles, including delivery There are also opportunities for Lightning to expand into Mexico,
lorries, shuttle buses, passenger vans, chassis-cab models and buses. South America, the UK, mainland Europe and the Middle East. “We
“Other companies specialise in high-volume, low-customisation see tremendous opportunities in the UK and globally,” says Reeser.
vehicles,” says Reeser. “But we operate in a highly customised space. “There’s an opportunity for 700,000 commercial vehicles in the UK in
Our holistic approach towards fleet management means we provide the near term, so there’s a lot of momentum. We also have ambulances
the entire infrastructure, from the vehicles to charging equipment, going into the Middle East ahead of the World Cup in 2022.”
ensuring the energy is responsibly sourced. With an electric fleet, it www.lightningemotors.com
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Battery power
“It’s pretty astonishing that an old
battery would go back into the food
supply chain”
Thomas Bjarnemark, Battery Solutions
A lthough many of us take our batteries to a recycling point

these days, we’ve little clue what happens next. Yet some
recycling specialists are deploying solutions in impressively
material being recycled is one pound of battery material you
don’t have to dig out of the ground,” says Bjarnemark, simply.
While working with organisations to create programmes that
sustainable ways. American company Battery Solutions has fit its sustainability efforts, Battery Solutions also aims to help
developed an application that extracts a zinc manganese increase overall battery-recycling rates. “For this, education is
concentrate from an alkaline battery. key,” says Bjarnemark. Battery Solutions has joined forces with
The concentrate is then used in fertiliser to help grow corn employers, private initiatives and community-based teams to
and soya beans. “Zinc deficiency, while a global health issue, educate the public. Connected devices and equipment have
is not often discussed,” says the company’s President and CEO become a part of the everyday, and batteries help power these
Thomas Bjarnemark, “and batteries can help.” possibilities. Education provides the opportunity to show that
The circular reuse of materials is commonplace within battery recycling is accessible and possible for everyday items.
similar sectors, but to see it across two ecosystems is rare. “The mindset has shifted and continues to shift in a very
As Bjarnemark says, “It’s pretty astonishing that an old battery positive and environmentally friendly way,” says Bjarnemark. “As
would go back into the food supply chain.” people learn that old batteries can create new batteries, contribute
Since it launched in 1991, Battery Solutions has collected to the steel market and even go into fertiliser, recycling becomes
batteries for recycling from a wide range of industries including tangible for them. And, as battery technology evolves at a rapid
telecommunications, retail, healthcare and the automotive pace, so do our company’s solutions. We are constantly working
industry. It handles batteries of every kind, from the fiddly – on developing new offerings, because at our core we are here to
think electronics and mobile phones – to the more substantial support the circular economy and provide solutions.”
ones found in cars and submarines. “Every pound of battery www.batterysolutions.com
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The bold builder

“I play a different game, finding opportunities
and moving quickly to take advantage”
Karl Hick, Larkfleet Group
A s a talented runner who used to represent Great Britain and

train with Olympic gold medallist Steve Ovett, Karl Hick
understands the importance of competition and determination
He admires the far-sighted development at Poundbury as well
as the work being done by the Prince’s Trust with young people.
These are in keeping with Hick’s own principles, which help
in sport, as well as business. Now the Chairman and, along with make Larkfleet unique.
his wife Helen, co-owner of housebuilder Larkfleet Group – and “For instance, I know that in the future people will want
still an international runner in the masters category – Hick more cycle lanes,” he says. “My wife, Helen, and I are 100 per cent
(pictured, below right) believes he brings the mindset he shareholders and, as a family business, we have the flexibility to
established on the track into the office. move fast and push forward with delivery of features like this.
“I didn’t take prisoners on the track, I was very focused,” I am not afraid to make 20 big decisions a day. I know I won’t
he says. “I believe if you are good at something and have worked get them all right, so I just hope that the ones I get right will help
hard at it, you can apply it to something else. As a housebuilder, me more than the ones I get wrong. If I go head-to-head with
I embrace challenges and problems. I am very determined, I have a big developer, I can’t compete financially, so I develop talent
a go, so when things come through that other developers moan internally and am fair and transparent. I play a different game,
about, I see it as an opportunity to do something better than finding opportunities and moving quickly to take advantage.”
anybody else.” www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
He applies this to areas such as sustainability and affordable
homes, which reflects his concern about climate change and
determination to make a difference where possible. Larkfleet
builds around 500 houses a year with an annual turnover of
around £100 million. The award-winning company operates
in Lincolnshire and in the south-west with its Taunton office,
and has recently opened an office in Norwich.
Hick, who studied science and is a qualified chartered
accountant, invests heavily in research and development, leading
to innovations such as new flood-proof housing that will allow
Larkfleet to build in flood zones. Larkfleet has apprentice and
graduate-trainee programmes, so the company can bring in fresh
talent to compete with larger rivals, and Hick was heavily involved
in the creation of the Greater Peterborough University Technical
College, which specialises in engineering, sustainability and
construction. “I am interested in R&D but have a good grounding
in numbers, and my entrepreneurialism allows me to take
advantage of both aspects,” he says. “I am always involved in
new things, whether it’s products or sustainability. I want to
trial things like solar-energy storage and new build methods
so I can anticipate what people will need from their homes.”
Affordable housing is a speciality. “Where my competitors see
it as a burden I embrace it, and think how to make it more viable
by being very good at it,” says Hick. “That helps me establish
relationships with housing associations because if you show
you are passionate, people recognise that.” Hick believes it is
important to understand future housing needs – such as electrical
vehicle charging points, home offices and super-fast broadband.
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Bringing sustainability
to the masses
“What we have created is the capacity to digitise
the knowledge and experience of sustainability experts,
which is often complex and multi-faceted”
Daniel Botterill, Rio ESG
A s somebody with a background in environmental technology

and environmental law, Daniel Botterill is used to identifying
inefficient and wasteful practices. So, after a period working as a
in the same way. “What we have created is the capacity to
digitise the knowledge and experience of sustainability experts
which is often complex and multi-faceted,” says Botterill.
sustainability consultant, he started to think there might be “That knowledge can be used to automatically interpret data
a better, simpler, more affordable way of providing the same and guide the user through consultations about sustainability.
services. “I began to wonder if there was a more enterprising It’s like having a team of sustainability experts at your
way of looking at sustainability that would make it more fingertips providing a full audit trail to explain how and why
accessible to more people,” says Botterill. He went on to form they can save money or be more sustainable. You get a lot of
Rio ESG, a company whose flagship software is Rio, an artificial- answers without having to spend hundreds of pounds an hour
intelligence-led Environmental Social Governance (ESG) platform and you embed the skills and knowledge at the same time.”
that was developed to drive performance improvement and deliver The company is constantly looking for sustainability experts
sustainability for individuals and businesses in any sector. across the environmental and social spectrum whose expertise
Rio is named after the Rio Earth Summit, held in 1992 to can be tapped, explored and shared by Rio users. The software
address issues of sustainable development. Back then, people can assist in three different ways. There is an educational and
weren’t using the word “sustainable” very often but it has now engagement side that is highly interactive featuring hours of
become part of our everyday vocabulary and Botterill often free content; there is a governance and compliance side to
finds himself invited to attend board and exec meetings with ensure a company is complying with the relevant law and policy;
multinational businesses across a range of sectors. That puts and there is data and analysis, which will read and visualise
software like Rio – which makes intelligent recommendations uploaded data and offer recommendations for improvement.
to help save money, while improving environmental and social “We talk to the company, understand their material issues
impact – in great demand. Users include universities, and then the platform offers the advice you would usually
FTSE 100 companies and the NHS, but Rio’s international get from a consultant,” explains Botterill. “We aren’t trying
client base is now taking it global, with offices in North to destroy consultancy, we just want to democratise that
America and Europe planned. knowledge. Usually a consultant will write a report and then
The latest iteration of Rio offers free access for individuals leave it with you to action. We will actively work with you to
who are looking to make a personal difference regarding the make a difference, whether you are producing a lot of waste
planet’s resources. The “Teams” model is aimed at smaller or have concerns about modern slavery in your supply chain.
business where there may only be three or four people working This is a software platform that allows people to access
on the sustainability agenda, while “Enterprise” is for larger impactful sustainability knowledge. It enables us all to be
organisations that have complex needs, some of which may more environmentally and socially responsible.”
require some customisation and more intense support. All work www.rio.ai
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Metal recycles
forever
“Metal is the perfect example of a circular economy material.
It is not only endlessly recyclable but it’s also easy to recycle”
Robert Fell, Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA)
M etal is a uniquely versatile and recyclable material. It is

estimated that 80 per cent of all the metal that has ever
been produced is still in circulation today. Take a can of drink,
programmes, industry awards and communications channels.
“I believe it is the role of the MPMA to create and support an
environment in which our members can thrive,” says Fell, “and to
for instance. It can be used, recycled, reprocessed, refilled and back ensure that the sector and its products are regulated appropriately
in the hands of a customer within 60 days. “Metal is the perfect and that the significant sustainability benefits of metal packaging
example of a circular economy material,” says Robert Fell, Director are understood by the widest possible number of stakeholders.”
and Chief Executive of the Metal Packaging Manufacturers To the casual observer, the tin can may appear to have
Association (MPMA). “It is not only endlessly recyclable but it’s changed little since it was invented in 1810. However appearances
also easy to recycle. Steel can be extracted from the waste stream can be deceptive. For example, the average food can is now 60 per
by magnets and aluminium using eddy currents. The UK also cent lighter than it was even just 20 years ago, while at the same
has sophisticated household and business waste separation and time the energy used to make the packaging metal has also been
collection systems which require all of us to dispose of our used drastically reduced.
cans in the right bin. By doing this, a 100 per cent recycling rate The environmental benefits offered by metal packaging go
is very achievable.” well beyond its impressive recyclability. For instance, canned
Founded in 1898 during the reign of Queen Victoria, the food has a far longer shelf life than most other packaging formats,
MPMA supports and represents members’ interests on industry thus helping to drastically reduce food waste, one of the most
matters related to operational, regulatory and environmental pressing concerns facing the planet today and a major producer
issues, as well as promoting the considerable performance and of methane, a significant contributor to global warming.
sustainability benefits of metal packaging through education Canned food is actually cooked in the sealed can and so
retains its nutritional value without the need for preservatives.
Cans don’t require refrigeration and, when heated, require
less energy as the contents are cooked from ambient rather
than from chilled or frozen. “The indirect savings from using
metal packaging should not be underestimated,” says Fell.
“The innovation has never stopped. Over the years packs have
been made lighter and lighter with ever higher performance
to keep the products safe.”
Additionally, unlike many other packaging formats, the product
being packed does not adversely affect the recyclability of metal
packaging. For instance, not only is metal a perfect material in
which to pack paint, but using it also ensures that the container
is fully recyclable afterwards.
The industry’s recycling infrastructure, developed over many
decades, had by 2019 achieved a UK recycling rate for steel and
aluminium packaging of well over 70 per cent. “Metal can be
recycled again and again with no loss of quality,” says Fell. “Its
infinite recyclability is key to reducing the pressure on the world’s
natural resources. It is why recycling metal is so important. Our
vision for a 100 per cent metal packaging recycling rate is a very
real prospect.”
www.mpma.org.uk
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Driving heavy-duty change

“The freight industry is growing to account
for around 25 per cent of global oil demand,
so we can make a huge difference”
Simon Brewster, Dolphin N2
W ith consumers enjoying the luxury of internationally

sourced goods, which require more tankers and trucks
to carry them on the roads, how do you keep as much of the
solutions without any operational downside or need for
investment in infrastructure by the end customer. Rapid takeup
means we can offer massive reductions in global warming
world’s oil in the ground as possible and do your bit to protect emissions before that watershed for legislation and the planet.”
the planet? For Dolphin N2, the answer lies in providing an Dolphin N2’s path from prototype to market has been
alternative clean technology for heavy-duty power and delivering opened up with the company’s acquisition by industrial vehicle
it for use in as many of those vehicles as possible. manufacturer CNH Industrial in 2019, and Brewster credits his
From its head office in Shoreham and several sites across the team for adapting to this new working environment. “We were
UK, the company has, for more than a decade, been developing a company of seven bought by a company of 70,000,” he says.
an innovative way of recycling waste heat back into the air “It’s been an interesting cultural shift, maintaining innovation
system. This has reduced fuel consumption and lowered carbon and curiosity within such a huge organisation. Fortunately,
emissions, initially between 20 and 30 per cent, and accelerated they’ve given us the freedom to continue what we’re doing.”
the adoption of zero-carbon fuels, including hydrogen. Going forward, the development plan includes five stages
Since 2017, Dolphin N2 has focused on the freight industry. of demonstration and production, culminating in putting a
“This sector is growing to account for around 25 per cent of fleet of trucks on the road in 2025. From there, Dolphin N2
global oil demand, so we can make a huge difference,” explains could expand into power generation, agriculture, construction,
CEO Simon Brewster. “Plus, the EU has introduced legislation marine and rail technology. “I don’t see an end in sight,” says
requiring trucks to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent by Brewster. “With unlimited channels to market, we can change
2030, with aim of zero-emission by 2040. There is a mandate to the world – at least a part of it.”
deliver to industry, and we can do it. It is essential we deliver dolphin-n2.com
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Sustainable industrialisation
“Entrepreneurship and the growth of
sustainable industry in Africa yields
positive results for everyone”
Dr Amy Jadesimi, Ladol
T he future of African industrialisation has been built on

reclaimed swampland in Nigeria. Ladol – built in West
Africa’s busiest harbour, Apapa in Lagos – was founded in 2001
to Nigeria to help grow Ladol, and she was soon hooked on
“the vision of providing a secure and stable location that offered
reliable regulation and consistent services”. For Dr Jadesimi,
and became a special economic zone in 2006. The first phase of this free zone presents a unique opportunity to work with local
its development created infrastructure to meet the needs of the entrepreneurs to create a net-zero, circular economy, which
deep-water offshore oil and gas industry. The second phase, directly benefits the region and those that live there.
started in 2019, is exclusively targeting non-petroleum sector Phase two of Ladol will see the introduction of companies in
companies and turning the zone into a circular economy, with sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and green tech who will
the aim for the zone to be net zero by 2035. work together to drive down costs and create sustainability in
Ladol was created to bring prosperity, sustainability, and numerous ways, such as using waste from agriculture to provide
reliability to industries in West Africa. “Our unique value power. “Ladol can create a stable environment so these
proposition is that we work in line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable companies can supply finished goods across Africa and into
Development Goals,” says CEO Dr Amy Jadesimi, a leading Europe and the US,” says Dr Jadesimi. “Entrepreneurship and
advocate for private sector development in Africa. “We have the growth of sustainable industry in Africa yields positive results
identified particular industrial sectors and companies that can for everyone. Some still treat business and development as a
work together to create a truly circular economy.” zero-sum game but the world is an ecosystem. If you take your
Dr Jadesimi was born in Nigeria and completed a medical time and plan ahead, everyone can be wealthy and can contribute
degree at Oxford University before moving into banking for to the global economy. Developing sustainable industries across
Goldman Sachs and then receiving her MBA at Stanford Africa offers many opportunities for the global community.”
Graduate School of Business. Her father persuaded her to return www.ladol.com
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The power behind

the power
“There is a long history of nuclear fuel manufacturing at
Springfields and the fuel we make generates between
15 and 20 per cent of the UK’s energy”
Brian Nixon, Westinghouse Springfields
A s the UK moves ever closer to its 2050 deadline for achieving

net-zero carbon emissions, nuclear energy will play an
increasingly important role in the country’s energy supply. Five
and we offer apprentice training. We work very hard to maintain
a supportive local community, with regular meetings.”
Over the 75 years since it started supporting the UK nuclear
miles west of Preston, a British company is playing a huge part in industry, Springfields has played an essential role in supplying
helping the energy industry achieve that target. Springfields Fuels the fuel for the UK’s energy needs. The site has recently
Ltd has been producing nuclear fuel for the UK’s nuclear industry rebranded as the Springfields Clean Energy Technology Park
since the very start. It was founded in 1946 and produced the fuel and Nixon is aware that the plant’s own production methods
that helped give the UK its first atomic weapon. A few years later, need to be as green as possible. “We are constantly reviewing
it was the first plant in the world to produce fuel for a commercial and improving our processes and looking at ways to reduce
nuclear power station and it has since gone on to produce several our overall environmental impact,” says Nixon. “The fuel we
million fuel elements for all of the UK’s nuclear power stations as produce is environmentally friendly but we are constantly
well as customers in several other countries. Springfields is now improving and refining our operations on site.”
owned by Westinghouse Electric Company – a global leader in As the UK continues to adapt its energy strategy, nuclear
the nuclear industry. power will play an essential role in ensuring the UK’s
“We manufacture oxide fuels for advanced gas-cooled and environmental targets are met while meeting increasing demand
light water reactors,” says Managing Director Brian Nixon. from consumers. In this process, Westinghouse Springfields will
“We made the fuel for stations like Calder Hall, the first continue to work alongside nuclear reactors, energy suppliers
commercial nuclear reactor in the world, and for the whole and the UK government to help meet changing requirements
Magnox fleet. For the last 45 years we have made advanced gas and demands. “When the current generation of reactors come
reactor fuel for EDF Energy’s reactors. There is a long history to the end of their life, we want to still be the supplier of choice
of nuclear fuel manufacturing at Springfields and the fuel we to the new reactors,” says Nixon. “What nuclear power is very
make generates between 15 and 20 per cent of the UK’s energy good at providing is a base load that can be topped up by
and is responsible for 32 per cent of the UK’s low-carbon wind, solar and hydro. We have shown that we are capable
electricity. We are part of the UK’s critical infrastructure.” of supporting the British nuclear industry for many decades
Nixon began working at Springfields almost 30 years ago as and we intend to be here for many more. We want to secure
an apprentice. He met his wife at the plant, and they both still a bright future for Springfields and for the country, and
work there. “We have about 800 people on our 200-acre site and continue to manufacture the fuel to help deliver the UK’s
some are from families that have been here for three or even four net-zero ambitions.”
generations,” he says. “We have a highly skilled, flexible workforce www.westinghousenuclear.com/springfields/
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254
Wiping the
world clean
“This is not our world. It’s our children’s.
Yet we’re damaging it with the very essentials
we’re using to look after them”
Guy Fennell, Pura
T hey call them fatbergs. Huge, congealed masses of fat, oil

and other waste that block sewers – and can sometimes
measure up to 250 metres and weigh more than 100 tonnes.
best-quality and most accessible eco-friendly babycare
products in the market. The company’s products always strive
to put the planet and babies first. Pura’s wipes are 100 per cent
A prime ingredient of these monsters are the wet wipes that are plastic-free, compostable and biodegradable, while the nappies
unthinkingly flushed down lavatories. It’s been estimated that use renewable materials where possible and are manufactured
more than 90 per cent of the average fatberg is made up of wet to the highest environmental standards. Both products are free
wipes, almost all of which contain plastic. And that’s not all. from harmful chemicals, anti-allergy and suitable for sensitive
Every day, 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the and eczema-prone skin. The company is the only nappy
UK – each one ending in landfill, where they take up to 500 years manufacturer to partner with NappiCycle, a Welsh-based
to biodegrade. For one couple in Cheshire who were thinking of nappy recycling service. This sees nappies recycled in
starting their own family, this was a cycle that needed to stop. imaginative ways, using a unique process whereby they are
Pura was founded by Guy and Abi Fennell to provide the cleansed and then plastics and cellulose fibres are separated
affordable, eco-friendly baby products that the planet demands. for reuse. The cellulose can be used in the manufacturing of
“This is not our world,” says Guy. “It’s our children’s. Yet packaging, school and office notice boards, panelling, and
we’re damaging it with the very essentials we’re using to look under-laminate flooring and other insulation.
after them.” Pura’s philosophy is to empower consumers and At the moment, NappiCycle only operates in Wales – but
drive positive environmental change by providing the purest, the Fennells hope their partnership will see it extended to the
rest of the UK. “Rob Poyer and his team at NappiCycle have
done some truly amazing work in Wales,” says Guy. “For
starters, we are working together to convince a local authority
in England to do a trial with NappiCycle, with a goal to roll this
out in the whole of the UK. We believe our goal is achievable.”
Pura is also lobbying to make plastic wipes illegal in the
UK. The company has started a petition asking for the
government to ban plastic wipes by April 2022, something that
Guy likens to the long but successful campaign to ban plastic
cotton buds and drinking straws. Currently, 90 per cent of baby
wipes sold in the UK contain plastic. Pura’s own wipes are
plastic-free and also come in a flushable version that has been
officially accredited by Water UK as “fine to flush” as they
disintegrate like normal toilet paper when flushed down a
toilet, ending any dangers of fatbergs.
They are also affordable. “Whenever you hear about eco
products on the marketplace, they are usually anything
between 25 and 60 per cent more expensive than mainstream
brands,” says Guy. “It was really important for us that we
priced our brand in line with the mainstream brands, making it
more accessible in the sense that you can order from your sofa
and have those products delivered to you by next-day delivery.”
www.mypura.com
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The only way

is ethics
“We are a global ethical marketplace – a sustainable
alternative to Amazon. We find products that are
better for you and kinder to the planet”
Jarvis Smith, My Green Pod
J arvis Smith had an unusual introduction to sustainability.

In 2006, he took part in a TV reality show called Dumped
that involved him living on a landfill site, learning to reuse
is natural products, animal cruelty or fairtrade. Ethical
products these days offer excellent quality and value, and we
want to democratise the natural-product sector. Independent
other people’s rubbish and, as a result, discovering how much companies can’t afford to do the bulk deals for supermarkets
people throw away on a daily basis. It changed his life. He went but going direct to customers means they can offer great
on to found a leading ethical lifestyle magazine, published by deals, and collectively that will help bring the price down
National Geographic and The Guardian, and then co-founded for everybody.”
My Green Pod with Katie Hill. Smith and Hill single out 100 per cent renewable energy
“We are a global ethical marketplace – a sustainable companies as something everybody can do that will save
alternative to Amazon,” he explains. “We find products that money and help the planet. They recommend Soil Association-
are better for you and kinder to the planet. We are ambitious accreditation as a sign that a company’s values are embedded
because we have children and we want to create a better into their operation. “We are quite selective with who we have
world for them and for everybody’s children.” on board,” says Smith. “We find the best quality and that makes
Research suggests that 90 per cent of people want to change it a lot easier for people as they can trust our brand and be
their consumer habits because of a commitment to sustainability reassured that when we recommend something we have done
but only 10 per cent actually make that change. My Green Pod the due diligence. We are purpose- and value-driven and always
aims to make change easier for the consumers by presenting have been. That’s why we have survived so long.”
people with high-quality ethical products in six categories – The founders of My Green Pod believe passionately that
products people put in their bodies, products they put on their people are starting to reconnect with nature, and that demand
bodies, products for cleaning the home, energy, travel and is forcing bigger institutions to change their approach. My
holidays. Companies are carefully sourced and audited by Green Pod was chosen as the flagship business by one major
Katie Hill, a former deputy editor at Which? “We examine the high-street bank when it was signalling its own pivot towards
product,” says Smith. “We see where it is sourced, how it’s made, sustainability, and Smith singles this out as an example of the
the packaging and we also get to know the people who make the change that can happen. “We are empowering people,” he says.
products because we want to understand whether they are in it “Consumers can change the world if we redirect where we
for the right reasons.” spend our money and we see that with everything from organic
“One thing to understand is that that there isn’t one single milk to pension funds. Institutions can be persuaded to change
product that covers all ethical issues,” says Hill, “so it’s about if it’s what enough people want.”
finding products that suit your beliefs and values, whether it www.mygreenpod.com
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The bottle to combat

plastic pollution
“Last year, we contributed almost 20 per cent of our revenue
to combating plastic pollution. We collect 25 times more
plastic than the next best impact product in this space”
Nick Doman, Ocean Bottle
258
T he Ocean Bottle story started, appropriately enough, in the

middle of the sea. Company co-founder Will Pearson was
working on a boat in the Indian Ocean which arrived in the
Maldives, and was horrified to see the plastic waste. Researching
the problem he discovered that 22 million kilos of plastic was
being dumped in the ocean every day, often in areas where plastic
recycling was most limited. Returning to London, he met Nick
Doman at the London Business School and discovered a kindred
spirit – somebody who wanted to place purpose over profit and
embed ethical ideals into the roots of a business. Together they
founded Ocean Bottle, a groundbreaking reusable water bottle
that funds plastic recycling across the world.
“Last year, we contributed almost 20 per cent of our revenue
to combating plastic pollution,” says Nick Doman. “We collect
25 times more plastic than the next best impact product in this
space. Each bottle funds the collection of 11.4kg of plastic – that
is 1,000 plastic bottles in weight. Through sales alone we have
funded the collection of 800kg of plastic or 70 million bottles.”
“We partner with Plastic Bank and set up collection points in
Haiti, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil,” explains Pearson.
“Locals can exchange plastic for money or digital tokens, which
can be swapped for medical insurance, tech goods, access to
tuition or microfinance. All of this is made possible with the help
of partners Plastic Bank which uses IBM Blockchain technology
to make sure the process is regulated. The plastic gets recycled co-working space and scan it to fund more plastic collection
and used to make goods, and a portion is used in our product.” every time you refill it,” says Pearson. “That way our community
Before they started, Pearson and Doman did extensive can continue to make an impact beyond purchase.”
consumer research to find out if the market needed another water The bottle was designed in Norway – Pearson is half-
bottle. They discovered there was considerable dissatisfaction with Norwegian and says Scandinavian minimalism is a big influence
what was already available so they set about creating a premium on design – and is manufactured in a solar-powered factory
product that would solve existing problems regarding lifespan, in China from recycled material. The co-founders have set
recyclability and cleanability. The result was a stylish multi-award- themselves the target of funding the collection of 7 billion
winning 500ml bottle that comes in six colours and is the plastic bottles by 2025 and increasing their own contribution
only stainless steel reusable bottle that can be cleaned in the to 25 per cent of their annual revenue. They are also looking at
dishwasher. It can be used for hot and cold drinks, and is fully other products they can bring to market, but are wary of simply
recyclable at end-of-use. The company will also replace any broken creating more items that people don’t really need. “We hope
parts free of cost in a bid to extend its lifespan even further. that our conviction comes across in everything we do,” says
“We have also put an NFC [near-field communication] chip Doman. “We want to create the most sustainable products that
in every bottle and are building a platform so that you can bring we can and make a real difference.”
the bottle to a partner location such as a café, restaurant or www.oceanbottle.co
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Saving the planet, M ark Sait admits that, for most of his life, he paid little
attention to environmental issues. He started out as an
engineering officer in the Royal Navy and only recognised the
saving money importance of sustainability after attending a conference in 2010

about the next big thing facing society – the future implications
of carbon emissions, plastic waste and water shortages. Sait
(pictured above, left) then had the lightbulb moment that led to
the creation of SaveMoneyCutCarbon with his business partner
“Everybody wants and needs to reduce
Charlie Farr (pictured above, right). The company makes it easy
energy and water usage, but they don’t know for everybody to reduce energy and water use while saving
how or where to start. To save the planet, it’s money and reducing their carbon footprint.
as much about marketing and behaviour “We realised that everybody wants and needs to reduce
energy and water usage, whether they are horrified by their utility
changes as it is about clever tech”
bills or concerned by the state of the planet,” he says. “People
watch David Attenborough and want to do something but they
Mark Sait, SaveMoneyCutCarbon don’t know how or where to start. To save the planet, it’s as much
about marketing and behaviour changes as it is about clever tech
like heat pumps and electric cars. So many industries now have
digital aggregators – travel, insurance, takeaway delivery – and
SaveMoneyCutCarbon wants to be the go-to brand when it
comes to sustainability and carbon reduction.”
Businesses are increasingly driven to act by legislation
changes, but Sait recognised that consumers would be concerned
that going green would cost them more, so Home Club was born.
260
Home Club members benefit from exclusive pricing on carefully product we sell has an impact statement – people can see the
selected eco products; each one is an easy swap to help any difference that their purchasing decisions are making and track
household do their bit for the planet – from eco loo roll and their journey. My plan is to now raise the necessary investment
cleaning products, to e-scooters and e-bikes. Every product helps to go big, to be the Amazon of sustainability. Our success will be
households reduce carbon, plastic and waste, while some also measured on whether we have built a recognised brand, because
reduce energy and water bills. Combine the savings that Home if that happens then we know we are doing good for the planet,
Club members make on the products they buy and add on the for individuals and for businesses.”
savings on bills, and many Home Club members are saving His approach is working. Last year SaveMoneyCutCarbon
hundreds of pounds each year and all for a small monthly saved a collective 727 million litres of water and 27 million
membership, equivalent to buying a single speciality coffee. kilowatts of energy for its customers and, as result of this work,
Sait’s engineering background has led to him viewing a carbon reduction equivalent to travelling 23,240,000 miles in
climate challenges as a big broken machine that needs fixing and an average petrol car. Sait believes this is just the start. “It is
now, as a successful entrepreneur, as the ultimate marketing about guts, maths and market,” he says. “It’s leadership, mixed
challenge. “Rather than environmental campaigners talking to with the huge resolve and energy – literally – that is needed to
those who are already converted, we need to speak to everyone; build something new like SaveMoneyCutCarbon.”
to make it simple to understand and undertake,” he says. “Every www.savemoneycutcarbon.com
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The new age

of plastic
“While I am a huge advocate of reducing single-use
plastics, what we really need to do is concentrate on
improving our relationship with plastic”
Ahmed Detta, Enviroo
Cheshire, the first in a series of plants it will build across the

UK. It will ensure that unrecyclable plastic at the final stage of
the process does not end up in landfill, nor in the ocean. “We will
focus on PET plastic but we will share an area with companies that
recycle other kinds of plastic,” explains Detta. “That means if we
get sent plastic we cannot recycle, we will pass it to an industrial
neighbour located on the same site just over 100 feet away.”
Detta hopes to staff the factory with former prisoners,
helping with their rehabilitation. This sort of social enterprise
is a strong motivation behind the entire Enviroo concept and
company DNA, and also features in the innovative strategy for
the planned future collection of used plastics. The concept is
smart but simple: when customers recycle a product with a bar
code, it will register on an app or loyalty card. The customer can
then choose to collect a cash reward or they can agree to donate
the money to a local charity. These refunds will be paid through
advertising on the side of the recycling bin. The technology will
then allow those who use the scheme to receive tangible,
transparent feedback about the direct impact of their actions.
“We will know when, what and where somebody has
N o matter how much people may wish otherwise, single-use

plastics are going to be around for a very long time. Ahmed
Detta, CEO and founder of Enviroo, likens PET plastics – that is
recycled,” says Detta. “Then at the end of the year, the customer
will learn how many bottles they have recycled and how much
they have personally donated to charity. They will learn how
the sort of plastics used in food and drink containers – to the much carbon has been offset and they will learn precisely what
rubber that has been used to make car tyres for decades. their donation went towards – how many meals it bought for a
“Every single aspect of the car has changed,” says Detta homeless person, for instance.” Homeless people will also be
(pictured, opposite). “The dashboard looks like something from encouraged to join the scheme so they can collect discarded
a spacecraft, but the tyre is still made of rubber. Every model of bottles, take them to a recycling bin and receive a reward that
car – from the smallest to the most expensive – uses that same can be redeemed for food or shelter.
rubber. PET plastic for food packaging is generally the same. The government is looking to introduce a national rewards-
So while I am a huge advocate of reducing single-use plastics, based recycling scheme in the next five years, but Detta is
the reality is it will not happen and what we really focus on is hoping to get ahead of the curve. He wants to launch trials in
improving our relationship with plastic.” the north-west in 2022 to demonstrate that the system he has
Enviroo intends to do this by innovating within the recycling devised can be expanded across the country. “I do not think any
industry. At one end of the process, it is developing a new concept other companies have looked at this in this level of detail,” he
that will incentivise consumers to recycle their plastic bottles says. “That is because the circular economy is part of our DNA
in greater numbers than ever before. At the other end, it is and ultimately we believe that sustainability is about enabling
constructing a new modular, sustainable recycling plant that will deep-rooted long-term change.”
form part of Protos, a plastic recycling hub in Ellesmere Port in www.enviroo.co.uk
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The expert exchange

“We want to contribute to the growing
environmental focus and generate a
meaningful impact in any way we can”
Simon Witney, Witney Futures Group
S imon Witney’s concept for a dynamic new way of running

a business came with his realisation that there were many
environmental professionals out there who were similar to him.
a fortnight to years from inception to completion. “Our
strength is that we’ve been able to consolidate this capability
in one place,” says Witney. “When the question asked is,
“People with huge amounts of experience and knowledge who ‘Can you do this?’ our answer is almost always, ‘Yes’.”
all wanted to break away from larger consultancies and work Witney’s own expertise lies in environmental impact
on diverse projects,” says Witney (pictured, above). “It made me assessment, and he and his associates share a keen advocacy
want to gather them together and deploy their expertise under for sustainable forms of development in their respective
one roof.” The result was Witney Futures Group: on paper, a fields. “The company looks to future-proof our work, whether
one-man band run by Managing Director Witney from his we’re that’s on leisure complexes, distilleries or rail, on which
office at home in Gloucestershire. In reality, since he set up in we’re currently working,” he says. “We want to contribute to
the summer of 2019, Witney’s team of associates has grown the growing environmental focus and generate a meaningful
from five to 14, with a further reach of up to 100 diverse impact in any way we can.”
specialists on whom he can call. The company’s other hope is that the success of this
This way of working – with Witney operating as team simple but dynamic business model will inspire other
leader or agent, depending on the task – offers clients in the organisations to explore innovative ways of working that
UK and overseas a wealth of collective expertise in a variety look beyond more traditional structures. In Witney’s case,
of fields ranging from renewable energy to ecology, transport it’s about versatility and flexibility. “I recognise that I’m a
to planning, sustainability to investments. The deliberately jack of all trades but a master of none myself,” he says.
flexible model offers contracts with individuals or the wider “But I can always find a ‘master’ for most situations.”
team, who then work on projects that can take anything from www.witneyfuturesgroup.com
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Brand renew world

“We want to be the go-to renewables business
in the UK – and we’re well on the way to that”
Grant Nicholson, Planet-U Energy
“ I t’s very simple,” says Grant Nicholson, CEO of Planet-U

Energy, the UK’s fastest-growing renewable energy provider.
“Renewable energy is the future. The world needs it. Business
can make an informed decision. The audit is free and carries
no obligations. It’s that simple.”
Not only are Planet-U proving to be a leading force in
wants it. And at Planet-U, we’re here to deliver it.” Since renewable energy, but they are also changing the way things
forming as a one-man operation in 2018, Planet-U has rocketed work on the inside, too. “I’ve pretty much put a hard stop to
to become one of the most reputable and forward-thinking hiring from within the industry,” says Grant. “I’d rather have
energy companies in the UK, having worked with clients 20 smart graduates and train them. We’ve been successful with
such as British Airways, Apex Hotels, Leeds Rhinos and that because the people that we have here genuinely care about
Rosemont Pharmaceuticals. the environment and want to improve the world.”
The company can offer bespoke services to clients, providing This means that all staff, from top to bottom, are as
energy procurement and energy saving technology. “We’ll find knowledgeable about the industry they work in as they are
what best suits your business and then tailor that exactly,” impassioned about the cause. “Our expansion is based around
says Grant. So, whether your business needs a hassle-free hiring really, really clever people,” says Grant. And this
way to switch gas and electricity providers to a renewable approach is clearly working because the company’s expansion
source, or wants to investigate solar panels, voltage has been staggering. Within its first eight months, Planet-U
optimisation, EV charging or LED lighting, Planet-U energy went from one man in a room to having 20 staff and turning
can provide it all. “We don’t believe in hype,” says Grant. over £3.5 million. Now the staff count is at over 70. “We want
“Our engineers will visit your site to assess your needs, and to be the go-to renewables business in the UK,” says Grant.
work within your energy strategy. They’ll then present you with “And we’re well on the way to that.”
a choice of solutions and tell you the pros and the cons, so you www.planetuenergy.com
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266
Nuts for data

“When you start a business, ask yourself – do things have
to be done like this? Can they be done another way?
Without this curiosity you won’t ask those questions and
that means you won’t find the answers”
Marc Rahola-Matutes, Ocean Almond
T he almond is a surprisingly sensitive nut. Its trees require

a lot of water, a lot of sun and mild winters, a trio of core
necessities that limits 90 per cent of almond production to
of the data-rich techniques that were commonplace in his
other business to farming. This agronomic model requires the
use of data and digital monitoring during every stage of the
three places – 78 per cent of almonds come from California, process. A desire for sustainability was a further contributory
with Spain and Australia supplying a further 6 per cent apiece. factor, with Rahola-Matutes wanting to reduce the amount of
A considerable portion of the Spanish harvest is produced by water wastage that traditionally goes into almond production.
Ocean Almond, a company founded as recently as 2012 by He developed sophisticated targeted irrigation techniques and
Marc Rahola-Matutes. He uses groundbreaking technology a system of orchard layout and tree pruning that guaranteed
to achieve maximum productivity while maintaining strict sustainable crop production. Cutting-edge technology analyses
targets around sustainability. the orchards to monitor their nutritional intake in real time,
“We are the third biggest producer of almonds in the whole ensuring maximum results and minimum waste.
of Europe and we have plans to triple production in the next ten Ocean Almond’s 10,000 hectares of orchard are planted
years,” he says. “We can do this because of our technological in Lleida, a region between Zaragoza and Barcelona. This was
processes. The traditional method of growing almond gives you chosen for its weather, soil conditions and access to water.
70 or 80 kilos per hectares. We achieve 2,600 kilos per hectare Rahola-Matutes wants all his businesses to contribute to the
because of how we are able to take care of the trees and look local economy and support a wider community. His first business
at all the data so we know everything that needs to be done venture was a hotel on his native Ibiza, and he then moved into
every day.” real estate and private equity working in Spain, France, the US
For Rahola-Matutes, the most important requirement for and the UK. Outside of almonds, he is currently developing
anybody wishing to make significant change in their industry a disused police garage in Camden, which he will turn into
is curiosity. “The key is to be curious,” he says. “There are a lot mixed-use retail and housing, including social housing.
of things you need to be successful, but having curiosity is very Here he is applying some of the principles he brings to all
important. When you start a business, ask yourself – do things his businesses, including Ocean Almond.
have to be done like this? Can they be done another way? “The little villages that were around our orchards are
Without this curiosity you won’t ask those questions and that now having economic activity because we have a successful
means you won’t find the answers. If you have curiosity, you business,” he says. “We want to do the same with our real-
can also be passionate, positive and always look for solutions.” estate business such as our new developments in Madrid and
Rahola-Matutes’ original business interests are in real London. We want to give things value again and engage with
estate and hospitality. When he moved into agriculture by the local community.”
a “happy accident”, he decided to apply curiosity and some www.oceanalmond.com
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268
Searching for electric

engine optimisation
“We are green, we are next-generation and we have a clear path
for long-term growth to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders”
Chris Harris, YASA Ltd
T here are few modern British business success stories

quite as satisfying as that of YASA. The company produces
lightweight, efficient and high-performance electric engines
As well as working with electric and hybrid car manufacturers,
YASA hopes to start supplying the nascent electric/hybrid
aerospace market. Harris believes that the aerospace industry
from its factory in Oxfordshire, having been founded at Oxford is where the automotive industry was when YASA started out
University by Dr Tim Woolmer in 2009. Dr Woolmer’s DPhil a decade ago, and thinks that YASA’s small, light, powerful and
research formed the groundwork for YASA, an acronym for efficient engines, allied with the company’s history of innovation,
Yokeless And Segmented Armature. By 2016, YASA had signed offers significant opportunities. But he’s also excited about YASA
its first contract with a major automobile manufacturer, as a story of British innovation and manufacturing. “It’s an
something that required investing in its own factory and exciting time,” he says. “We are a growing company that is
moving from research to manufacturing. The ambition now creating high-quality long-term jobs that require a wide range
is to drive YASA’s growth so it can become a billion-pound of skills across engineering and manufacturing. That means we
company by 2030 but also serve as a beacon for British ideas are helping to provide the jobs required to sustain and grow the
and technology. fabric of the communities where we are based. It is what the UK
“We are very innovative and R&D is at our core,” says CEO needs, not just to survive but to thrive.”
Chris Harris. “That’s how the company came to be. We are one www.yasa.com
example of how you take a company from an idea conceived at
university into the real world. In the UK we have access to
venture-backed funding, we have the legal and financial system
in place to grow these companies and we get excellent support
from the government.”
YASA’s USP is that Dr Woolmer was able to develop an
electric engine that is considerably smaller (half the size) and
lighter (a third of the weight) of its competitors. This means the
vehicle is able to travel further and faster, making the engine
hugely attractive to automobile manufacturers who are constantly
on the hunt for innovations that will improve the performance
and range of their electric and hybrid vehicles. The potential
of the YASA engine caught the eye of Ferrari and other luxury
sports car manufacturers, and those contracts meant the
company was able to invest in a production facility in Oxford.
“About two years ago we started talking with one of
the big three German automotive manufacturers about the
development of a custom motor based on YASA’s proprietary
Axial Flux technology,” says Harris. “If successful this will
require us to build a new high-volume production facility to
meet the needs of this customer, which will be an order of
magnitude greater than our existing production line in Oxford.
That marks a major step in our goal of becoming one of the
world’s leading suppliers of electrified powertrain solutions
incorporating motors and powered electronics. We are green,
we are next-generation and we have a clear path for long-term
growth to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders.
We want to keep growing.”
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Ground control
“We want to put fantastic coffee into this
convenient format but in a way that makes
people feel good about what they are using”
David Foster, Halo Cof fee
E very single second of every day, 2,251 people around the

world have to make a decision about what to do with their
used coffee pod. Should they simply chuck it in the rubbish,
Halo makes paper-based capsules that are compatible with
Nespresso Home Original machines. These are made from waste
sugar-cane fibre and every aspect of the production process is
or should they attempt to recycle it – a process that can involve controlled for sustainability. The packaging is printed using non-
storing used pods in a bag before locating and driving to the toxic vegetable ink rather than oil-based polymers. Boxes and
nearest collection site? Given the choice, it’s no surprise that an inserts are home compostable, recyclable and reusable and even
estimated 95 per cent of the 71 billion capsules that are produced the stickers that seal the boxes can be composted. The outer
every year end up in landfill. After crunching these numbers, laminate casing looks like a plastic but is a bio-laminate derived
David Foster and his two co-founders created Halo Coffee, from renewable food sources so it is fully home compostable
a company that produces home-compostable paper-based coffee while ensuring that the capsules are preserved for freshness.
pods and fills them with exceptional coffee. This provides a stark contrast to the majority of coffee pod
“Our strapline is ‘the world’s best coffees, in a way that’s best producers, who use plastic or, at best, aluminium, which is not
for the world’,” says Foster. “We want to put fantastic coffee into easy to recycle and creates four tonnes of waste in the form of
this convenient format but in a way that makes people feel good mercury, vanadium, chromium, lead, titanium and arsenic for
about what they are using. There are dozens of companies doing every one tonne of aluminium.
plastic or aluminium, and it’s all going into waste. Ours can be The other element that distinguishes Halo Coffee from its
composted at home so it returns to the soil in as little as 28 days.” competitors is the high standard of the coffee it uses. Inside
each Halo capsule you will find a carefully selected range of
exceptional single origin and bespoke blend coffees from the
world’s best coffee-producing regions. These decisions around
produce and packaging mean that Halo Coffee is a premium
product but that is something that Foster believes works to
their advantage.
“When people pay a little more they actually appreciate it
a little bit more,” he says. “That is counterintuitive to what
a lot of other businesses are trying to do, which is reduce cost
by reducing quality. We are happy to buck the trend because we
know that people are prepared to pay for good coffee and we
offer very good coffee in a way that doesn’t harm the planet.”
Halo has experienced excellent growth across northern
European countries and continues to make traction elsewhere
as consumers all over the globe begin to think more carefully
about their environmental decisions while continuing to demand
gourmet produce. “We have proved the model works and we
want to expand the business because that will reduce people’s
use of plastic,” says Foster. “The bigger we get, the more of
a difference we can make. We can then move into other products
so we can supply more of the best products in the way that works
better for the world.”
www.halo.coffee
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Harvest for
the world
“Our mission is to empower the individual. We believe people
will make the right choices if they are given the opportunity”
Dr Pasi Vainikka, Solar Foods
A s the rest of the world contemplates a future of food

scarcity and the continued environmental impact of the
vast agriculture sector, a small Finnish food-tech startup is
we were asking: what are the most valuable and impactful
areas where you can use renewable electricity? Are there
forms of life that you can grow using electricity rather than
hoping to change the way we eat by creating a new food out of sunlight, which would allow you to disconnect food
thin air. Solar Foods was founded in 2017 as a spin-off from the production from agriculture? We did this, and are now
Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and Lappeenranta offering a new way of growing food for humankind.”
University of Technology (LUT). This partnership has led to the Often compared to soy or algae, Solein is neutral in taste
creation of Solein, a unique single-cell protein born from an and appearance but has rich nutritional value, consisting of
equally extraordinary bioprocess of electricity and air, and a 65 per cent protein and then a mix of fat, carbohydrate and
natural fermentation process similar to that used in the vitamins. Solar Foods has already developed 20 different kinds
production of yeast. of food products that use Solein – including bread, pastries,
“We are a classic example of how new things will appear cereal and confectionery, as well as plant-based meat and dairy
from the intersection of different scientific disciplines,” substitutes. It can also be used to feed animals and pets.
says Dr Pasi Vainikka, Solar Foods’ CEO. “My background Solein is incredibly sustainable. It is 100 times more
is energy. I understand electricity and renewable power. climate-friendly than meat and 10 times better than plants.
Together with my colleague and co-founder Dr Juha-Pekka Unlike conventional protein production, it takes just a fraction
Pitkänen, who has a background in bioprocess engineering, of water to produce 1kg of Solein. “When it comes to climate
change, one of the major problems is land use change,” explains
Dr Vainikka. “The food industry is cutting down forest for
agriculture and more than 50 per cent of the available arable
land is already being used by agriculture. But we at Solar Foods
don’t need arable land, we can grow in deserts. If you were to
use the food we produce to replace existing animal and plant
protein, then the land we free up would make the planet carbon
negative if you let it go back to forest.”
Having established proof of concept, Solar Foods
constructed a pilot plant that was capable of growing Solein
in sufficient quantities to be tested. A further round of funding
followed, which raised the capital to build a facility that is
100 times bigger and will take Solein to market in early 2023,
following regulatory approval. Ultimately, the company hopes
to construct another £100 million factory.
Ultimately, Solein will radically disrupt not only how food
is produced but also where it is produced, to the benefit of
everybody. “We feel that our mission is to empower the
individual,” says Dr Vainikka. “You need to be able to offer them
good, healthy and environmental choices as we trust people will
make the right choices if they are given the opportunity.”
www.solarfoods.fi
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273
Farm from the

madding crowd
“If we have one focus it is large volume.
We can feed the masses”
Amin Jidavji, Elevate Farms
T he firmly embedded image of a food-producing farm –

muddy fields and glass greenhouses – is in the process
of transforming to reflect an ever-changing world. Farming is
Elevate’s knowledge in the field now spans decades.
“We have 26 years of advanced photobiology research
behind us,” says Jadavji. “This allows us to understand how
evolving in line with many other progressions across science living things react to light. We change the colour of the lights
and technology; and one Toronto-based company intends and the plants react to that and create properties that give
to place itself at the forefront of this evolution. people essential nutrients in food. We can enhance iron,
Elevate Farms has designed a new system of vertical calcium, potassium and vitamin K all naturally via light
farming with the potential to revolutionise the global food algorithms. These are not genetically modified organisms,
supply. “If we have one focus, it is large volume,” says CEO there are no chemicals, no pesticides.”
Amin Jadavji. “Mass producing at the lowest possible cost. All of this can be done in an indoor environment that is
We can feed the masses.” entirely transferable and scalable anywhere in the world.
The technology behind it is groundbreaking. Elevate is “Our solution just goes into a standard industrial building,”
able to grow local, sustainable, zero-pesticides greens that says Jadavji. “We don’t need any unique infrastructure.
are blockchain-tracked from seed to sale using state-of-the-art We don’t need a glass roof or anything. We literally build
vertical farming facilities. Despite being a young company, a box inside a box.”
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The team at Elevate has begun by mastering the production the world eats. “This is mass-scale farming putting out
of leafy greens like lettuce, rocket and basil; but work is already millions of pounds of produce at competitive prices,” says
under way to expand into other food groups. And the volume of Jadavji. “Even more importantly, it’s fresh, chemical-free and
greens the company is producing is huge. “We grow a million has higher nutrients.”
pounds a year out of 460 square metres,” says Jadavji. Despite this field seeing huge growth, Elevate has been
However, the waste, energy and manpower that would ahead of the curve in terms of ideas, innovation and scale, to
normally go into such production is substantially lower, requiring become the world’s most advanced indoor farming system.
80 per cent less labour than a traditional farm yet with 73 per cent “In the last five years this industry has come out of nowhere,”
higher yield. “Based on our romaine lettuce production alone, we Jadavji says. “There’s been exponential growth but almost
save about 15 million litres of water a year,” says Jadavji. “Our everyone else is still very boutique, so no one’s actually solving
water consumption is so low because we have a closed-climate food security issues. We’re one of the few that are actually able
loop system where plants absorb the nutrients out of the water to grow food at a cost-competitive point. This has really global
and then expel it; and we extract that moisture out of the air.” implications on what we can do. We’re creating local food
Years of research, along with unique algorithms created security on a global scale.”
for the lights to respond to the plants, could change the way www.elevate.farm
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Making healthy
food affordable
“In an ideal situation, a computer-operated
CloudGro farm would sit above a
supermarket, allowing it to sell fresh salads
and other produce as needed, within
minutes of harvest”
Jonathan Lodge, City Farm Systems
T here are few lightbulb moments quite as evocative as the one

that struck Jonathan Lodge while stuck behind a supermarket
lorry in traffic travelling home from work. Here was a truck within
other produce as needed, within minutes of harvest,” he says.
The AI-enabled system would match supply and demand for each
individual location ensuring the right produce was available at the
sight of its destination delivering produce that had probably been right time delivering the ultimate in locally grown, sustainable
picked three days before and several hundred miles away. Much of food. Lodge has patented the technology and registered the brand
it would end up being thrown away unused, like a third of the CloudGro. Sister brand CloudGrown is used to identify produce
UK’s food. “The truck was stuck in traffic with salad crops losing grown to order at the point of need as the freshest and most
shelf life while the store’s empty shelves lost sales,” he says. environmentally sustainable produce money can buy.
Lodge was determined to find ways to improve a flawed system. “Any heavily occupied building pays to dump CO2 at roof
His ingenious solution is now trademarked as CloudGro, level,” explains Lodge (pictured above, left). “Ultimately that
a modular automated greenhouse that can be installed on the means we can create a carbon-consuming supply chain. It will
roofs of buildings and consume the carbon dioxide being pumped increase sustainability, reduce waste and offer a major step
out from the building below. “In an ideal situation, a computer- towards net zero carbon, from field to fork.”
operated CloudGro farm would sit above each supermarket, hotel He believes the potential is vast. CloudGro would reduce the
or other large building, allowing them to have fresh salads and amount of traffic on our roads. At present a vast amount of any
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city’s fresh food is imported, often travelling thousands of miles to developments. They could provide employment for locals while
reach the shelf. The high-cost logistics mean that every truck helping them improve diets and deliver produce to local cafes
needs to be full, regardless of final demand, while products are and restaurants.
given sell-by dates that have more to do with stock turnover “We are talking to developers and are looking not just at
than eating quality. Lodge’s system extends the ability of retailers or schools but entire communities,” he says. “Our simple
hydroponic methods and is able to grow a wider range of crops recording of data points and images suggests that will show
with a small number of cameras and sensors detecting pest and ways to improve the growing of food. The data will include
nutrition issues long before being visible to the human eye. whole plant history, including who planted the seeds. Another
“We can grow what the supermarket needs every day,” says part of this is our EduGro.Club initiative, enabling a student to
Lodge. “But, until supermarkets are ready to address the bigger grow an education with STEM (science, technology, engineering
environmental issues, we are working with sectors such as and maths). These solutions are suitable for any part of the
hotels and education.” world that seeks to address the UN’s Sustainable Development
Lodge conceives a future where CloudGro systems are Goals while helping to feed its people.”
installed above housing blocks and car parks to feed local www.cityfarmsystems.com
communities, or included as part of future housing and business www.EduGro.club
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Clear and
simple solutions
“Plastic is not a dirty word – it is plastic waste that is the
problem and that’s what we need to invest in better.
Plastic is safe, it’s flexible and it’s inexpensive”
Ian Jamie, Staeger Clear Packaging Limited
F or more than two decades, Ian Jamie has placed sustainability

at the core of his transparent packaging business while
pursuing what he describes as a policy of “incremental
Staeger’s next challenge is to find ways to help the NHS
dispose of plastic, as most of it is currently burned. After 20 years
looking for sustainable solutions regarding plastic packaging,
innovation”. When he founded the company that is now Staeger Jamie is now well placed to help the challenges of recycling, reuse
Clear Packaging Limited in 1999, it used PVC but it has since and disposal, which he believes requires the support of central
used a range of plastics and, by 2020, was making visors for the government. “Plastic is not a dirty word – it is plastic waste that
NHS using recycled ocean plastic. “It is a story of incremental is the problem and that’s what we need to invest in better,” he
innovation,” he says. “We have followed a sustainable agenda for says. “Plastic is safe, it’s flexible and it’s inexpensive. We should
20 years and adapted to meet what we felt were the needs of our accept that and learn to dispose of it properly through mechanical
customers. That is what put us in a position to help out in 2020.” and chemical recycling. I quite like the idea of adding new mini
Jamie had already set up several businesses using cardboard pyrolysis plants to our materials recovery facilities to process
packaging – winning a Queen’s Award along the way – before difficult-to-recycle multi-layer or contaminated plastic. This
branching into transparent packaging, aka plastic, which was would be a reasonable investment for the UK government.
still a niche sector. He soon recognised the need for a programme As we can no longer rely on China to deal with our waste plastics
of environmental progress and began working closely with M&S, problem, we will have to be more self-sufficient! We now need
moving away from PVC and into the more environmentally a 25-year plan to develop our waste infrastructure.”
friendly PET. “M&S were ahead of their time,” he says. “They www.staegerclear.co.uk
were the only ones interested in sustainability at that time.
We moved to PET, which meant investing in new technology
and equipment. We then moved to recycled and post-consumer
PET, which meant adapting our factories again, and then we
started using British post-consumer plastic to save on transport,
to support our native industry and attract more custom.”
This desire to support British industry partly came after the
company experienced some difficulties when China joined the
WTO, which took industry away from the UK. As a result, Jamie
feels strongly in the importance of supporting the workforce of
the future through education. “You have to be prepared to educate
people properly,” he says. “We need a much more entrepreneurial
system where failure and success are taken in your stride. The
sustainability of people’s jobs is as important as the environment,
and businesses can help with technical education.”
The use of British plastic placed Staeger in an excellent
position to create personal protective equipment (PPE) for
the NHS when Covid struck in 2020. This PPE is made from
Prevented Ocean Plastic, a type of recycled plastic collected from
coastal areas in Southeast Asia most at risk from ocean plastic
pollution and extruded by Flight Plastics in Hampshire. It means
that Staeger are protecting NHS workers while also supporting
British industry. Staeger, thanks to its contacts at the Coventry
Chamber of Commerce, enjoyed its most profitable year.
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Roll out the barrel

“There’s no alcohol at the point of sale so you don’t
have to sign for your parcel, and there’s no duty, so we
can put more money back into the company”
Ralph Broadbent, The Greater Good Fresh Brewing Co
F or many devoted beer-lovers kept from the pub during

lockdown, the “Pinter” was one of 2020’s great godsends.
Devised by The Greater Good Fresh Brewing Co, it is a foolproof
Broadbent, of his unique device. “There’s no alcohol at the
point of sale so you don’t have to sign for your parcel, and
there’s no duty, so we can put more money back into the
mail-order product that provides 10 pints of award-winning company. We’ve created packaging to save on transport
fresh cider, lager or ale at a total cost of around £12.50. It enables costs and reduce our carbon footprint. It’s important to me
customers to brew beer using what it describes as “Fresh to do things right in every way, from looking after our team
Presses” – packages of blended ingredients that fit through to doing our bit for sustainability.”
a letterbox – in a barrel that sits in your fridge. No wonder the Equally important to Broadbent is what comes out of the
company behind it has already passed £1 million in revenue device. His team, working from an office and warehouse in
since launching in September 2020, sold over 15,000 Pinters Walthamstow, includes a master brewer, Evangelos Tsionos,
across the UK, and been included in Time magazine’s list of who presided over months of testing and 100 consumer trials,
the year’s greatest inventions. before releasing the company’s beers to the market. The
For Ralph Broadbent, co-founder and Director of company then entered six homegrown products in the Global
The Greater Good, this success follows years of determination Beer Masters awards, and went home with five victories.
to create what he has trademarked as “Fresh Beer”. Back After his staggeringly successful lockdown launch,
in 2006, he started selling homebrew kits to students as an Broadbent now looks forward to a future where pubs and
offshoot of his festivals company. A decade later, he sold the Pinters co-exist. “The world is big enough for both,” he says.
latter to concentrate on making beer. Financial risks were “If you’re out with mates, head to the pub. If you’re at home
taken and painful lessons learned. Along the way, the Pinter with friends, then you say, ‘Here’s my Pinter. Try this!’”
was born. “We wanted something really progressive,” says www.thegreatergood.co.uk
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Empowering food sustainability

“Without any odour challenge, our nature-
inspired robot iDigest can conveniently
process inedible food waste as it is produced
to enable recovery of sustainable chemicals for
producing alternative protein and growing
nutrient dense fruits and vegetables”
Dr Ifeyinwa Kanu, IntelliDigest
D r Ifeyinwa Kanu’s vision is a post-2030 world where food

waste is eliminated and zero hunger is achieved. She began
her academic career studying structural engineering, with a
conveniently process inedible food waste as it is produced
to enable recovery of sustainable chemicals (nutrients) for
producing alternative protein and growing nutrient dense
focus on concrete and steel structures, and very quickly became fruits and vegetables,” says Dr Kanu.
fascinated with environmental issues. The sustainable chemicals are made available to the end users
“I got my first job in a company which did a lot of on the company’s blockchain-driven trading platform IntelliTrade,
environmental impact assessments, which helped me understand providing traceability and accountability on the source of the
environmental issues particularly around the issue of waste,” she sustainable chemical to the end user. “We are exploring further
says. “Issues like global warming and sustainability became very application of the sustainable chemicals for various industries
important to me and I wanted to be part of that change. This led including circular packaging and recyclable solar cells,” says
to my PhD in environmental engineering, with research interest Dr Kanu. “To address edible food waste, we have developed
in the use of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence IntelliSavers – an automated dispenser that extends the shelf life
and ‘omics’ to address the global challenge of waste.” of agri food products. The IntelliSaver platform will allow for a
Led by her passion, academic success and entrepreneurial more efficient distribution of food to ensure that it is not wasted.”
training during her PhD, Dr Kanu founded IntelliDigest. She is IntelliDigest has recently launched the Food Industry
successfully leading her team on a mission to deliver global Sustainability Programme, engaging with national and
food sustainability with a clear focus: to combine innovative international organisations to deliver capacity building and
biotechnology with advanced engineering to make food systems measurable steps to achieving global food sustainability.
more resilient at each step of the value chain. “Without any “Together we can eliminate food waste and hunger,” says Dr Kanu.
odour challenge, our nature-inspired robot iDigest can www.intellidigest.com
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Revolutionising the battery

“We have completely restructured the way batteries are
manufactured. They will be very green, recyclable, double the
energy density, faster to recharge, and they last longer”
Maurizio Cunningham-Brown, Ultimate Battery Company
W hen “serial entrepreneur” Maurizio Cunningham-Brown

was looking for a new venture in 2015, he quickly realised
the energy storage market was worth investigation. Batteries
contain any battery technology, for any usage. UBC will
launch its smaller, lighter, cheaper and greener new
technology to replace traditional car batteries and will
were neither as efficient nor as green as they could be, with then move into other battery technologies, with a view to
technologies such as lithium-ion being particularly bad for driving the electric vehicle market by providing a more
the environment. He created Ultimate Battery Company (UBC) efficient and environmentally friendly power storage
to find a solution, which it did, in the shape of the bipolar system than is currently available. It is already in advanced
battery – one that is lighter, smaller, more energy efficient discussions with major manufacturers in the automobile
and cheaper than current batteries. “It will revolutionise the and aerospace sectors.
world,” he says. “We have been able to completely restructure The company also envisages the technology being used
the way batteries are manufactured. They will be very green, in the developing world to bring energy to isolated and rural
recyclable to 95 per cent, double the energy density, faster to villages. “Our storage is very portable and will be cheaper,
recharge, and they last longer.” with lower maintenance and higher storage than other
The bipolar technology has been around for more than energy storage systems, so we can use it for any application at
100 years, but the team at Ultimate Battery Company, all,” says Earp. “It doesn’t need to be stuck in a car, it can be
working from a laboratory at the University of Sheffield, used for anything that currently requires stored energy in the
were able to improve its limitations, making it viable for form of a battery. We want to be part of a new world order,
mass production for the first time. It is what Chief helping to spread energy and education as part of the
Operating Officer Malcolm Earp describes as a “meta- democratisation of the developed world.”
technology”, a battery architecture which can be used to www.theultimatebatteryco.com
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He has the power

“Our focus is creating sustainable energy
systems. We can be nimble without
undermining our vision and mission”
Danson Michael Joseph, Danecca
D anson Michael Joseph, founder of specialist battery

engineering company Danecca, is absolutely committed to
inspiring a change to sustainable energy systems. “As a student
Danecca offers a full and reinforcing range of services,
acting as a one-stop shop for battery development. This means
it designs, tests and builds the batteries at its manufacturing
in South Africa, I spent my precious youth – and my ever-more facility in Silverstone, Northamptonshire, with the same
precious savings – converting a Mini so it would run on electric engineering and manufacturing diligence that you’d expect at
batteries,” he says. “Later in the UK, I did the same with my high-volume original equipment manufacturers. This ensures
Audi.” After working at the National Grid, Joseph joined the robust designs and repeatable product manufacturing. Danecca
team at Jaguar Land Rover, developing the company’s first also provides “battery intelligence”: this essentially means
electric vehicle – the Jaguar I-Pace – and introducing one of helping customers understand the ever-changing regulations,
the most efficient and successful electric vehicle batteries cell chemistry selection options and industry best practices.
developed to date. As a result, clients are able to embrace this new technology
He then poured all that knowledge and vision into Danecca, and introduce it to the market.
a company committed to sustainable energy. Joseph works with For Joseph, this is only the start of a mission that started with
the automotive, aerospace, commercial vehicle and marine that converted Mini in Johannesburg. “At the moment we make
sectors to produce advanced electric batteries. “Danecca serves batteries, but our focus is creating sustainable energy systems,”
some of the smaller and mid-range companies whose production he says. “We can be nimble without undermining our vision and
can be numbered in the thousands, rather than the hundreds mission. That vision is to have a world in which energy security
of thousands,” he says. “In the process, we are breaking down will not compromise the environment – and we can do that by
some of the barriers to entry which prevent many manufacturers inspiring people to change to sustainable energy projects.”
from embracing electrification.” www.danecca.com
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Making palm F ew industries have faced as many challenges and scrutiny

when it comes to climate change and sustainability as the
palm oil industry. Sime Darby Plantation is the world’s largest
oil sustainable producer of certified sustainable palm oil. The Malaysian

company is helping to change the conversation around the
industry, showing the world that palm oil production can be
a positive force for biodiversity and sustainability. The company
wants to be seen as a standard bearer for change.
“We are working with multiple stakeholders
“We know that we have an important role to play in adopting
in the industry to encourage others to adopt and developing best practices, but also in influencing others in
similar practices around the responsible our journey in responsible agriculture,” says Rashyid Redza,
production of palm oil” Sime Darby Plantation’s Head of Group Sustainability. “There is
now more and more awareness in the area around the issue of
Rashyid Redza, Sime Darby Plantation conservation and we are working with multiple stakeholders in
the industry to encourage others to adopt similar practices
around the responsible production of palm oil.”
Sir Jonathon Porritt, the leading British environmentalist
and adviser to Prince Charles, has spent years working on
practical steps to ensure the production of sustainable palm oil.
That has borne success in the form of certification bodies such
as the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) and MSPO
(Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council). As a result of these
initiatives, the palm oil industry is no longer a major cause of
deforestation but has in fact reversed deforestation in Malaysia.
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“To go on vilifying and demonising such a critically important this breakthrough innovation was a higher yielding oil palm
industry, which continues to move forward on challenges like seed, the trademarked GenomeSelect, which has demonstrated
deforestation and better working conditions, makes no sense a 20 per cent increase in yield compared to Sime Darby
whatsoever,” says Sir Jonathon. Plantation’s previously best planting materials. This represents
A principal cause of this change comes from Sime more than double the company’s average yield today. Last year,
Darby Plantation. The company saw the growing risk of the company published its genome data to help fast-track the
deforestation and pledged that any increase in production work of other researchers in improving oil palm yield so that
would not come from simply increasing the amount of land it more oil can be produced without clearing more land.
farms. Instead, it would happen by increasing production on “Our overall sustainability strategy involves various
existing planted areas of what is already a very efficient crop initiatives on the ground to achieve three main targets:
in terms of yield. This will allow for palm oil’s increasing to contributing to a better society, to increase sustainable
global demand to be met without expanding into new areas development, and to minimise environmental impact,” explains
and causing further deforestation. Redza. “But, in order to transform the practices of our supply
“In 2009, our research-and-development team set out to take chain, we can’t simply operate on our own. We need to work
genome mapping of oil palm to the next level by using genomic in partnership with other companies and stakeholders in the
technology to help our crops to crossbreed more effectively and palm oil industry.”
improve their efficiency even further,” says Redza. The result of www.simedarbyplantation.com
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Love sprouts S ustainability can begin with the smallest things. For Danish
company Sprout World, that small thing is a pencil that
contains a capsule where the eraser would usually go. The capsule
eternal contains seeds – basil, thyme, cherry tomatoes or perhaps

a sunflower or some forget-me-nots – and, once the pencil has
been worn down to the stub, the user can plant the capsule in
a pot where it will grow into a flower, vegetable or herb. It’s
“We are taking everyday plastic or non- a small and simple concept that seems a little like magic.
“It’s a small, simple and magical concept,” says Sprout’s
sustainable products and turning them into founder Michael Stausholm. “It transforms a writing implement
something biodegradable or sustainable” into a plant. It is the perfect way to illustrate in an easy-to-
understand manner what sustainability is all about. You use
Michael Stausholm, Sprout World it to write, and then, instead of throwing it away, you use it for
something entirely different and give it a new life by planting.”
Stausholm hopes the Sprout pencil will start to replace
the ubiquitous plastic Biro – an astonishing 135 million
of these ballpoint pens are made every day, which is a huge
waste of resources. The simple but effective alternative of
the Sprout pencil appeals to individual consumers hoping
to make a difference or teach children about nature but it’s
also attractive to companies who want to express a commitment
to sustainability: Sprout World receives anything up to
50 enquiries every day. “We print their messages on the
packaging and they can distribute our pencils to promote their
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own sustainability agenda,” says Stausholm. “It is the perfect Sprout World produces a plantable eyeliner pencil and the
ice-breaker for a conversation about sustainability.” Sprout Spoon, a combined tea bag and biodegradable spoon
The Sprout pencil was created by three students at MIT in to be used in cafes, on planes and trains, or as a branded version
Boston, who placed their invention on a crowdfunding website. for companies.
Stausholm got in touch and eventually purchased the intellectual “We have integrated the tea into the spoon so you don’t
property rights and patent outright. Although he loved the need a plastic stirrer or napkin, because it is made in a way
product, he quickly realised the importance of building a strong that the liquid doesn’t leak,” says Stausholm. “We are taking
brand behind it. “People don’t relate to a patent or a product, everyday plastic or non-sustainable products and turning them
but to a story,” he says. “When you start a company you usually into something biodegradable or sustainable. We are looking at
focus on sales but I started out by talking to the media to raise these sorts of products because it is easier for people if we try
awareness and the story spread from Denmark to Germany and to make their everyday life more sustainable. If we show there
the rest of Europe. Companies immediately started coming to are these simple solutions and alternatives, it can make a big
us, and they still do, from all over the world.” difference. Our mission is to inspire people and companies to
Sprout World is also contacted on a regular basis by inventors take more eco-friendly actions, taking small steps. If you can
who have created a new sustainable or biodegradable product plant a pencil, what else can you do to leave a positive impact
and are looking for a partner who can make their creation a on the planet?”
viable commercial proposition. As well as the writing pencil, www.sproutworld.com
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Track and field

“Farmers have been told to be productive
and use data better but what they’ve ended
up with is all these separate bits of data”
Colin Phillipson, Glas Data
“
T he fundamental ethos of the company is to make it as
simple as possible to bring all of the data about a farm
together,” says Rob Sanders, Co-Director of agricultural data
example, the system’s measurement of emissions from cattle can
allow farmers to tweak the kind of mixture they are feeding the
herd and subsequently reduce its toll on the environment.
company Glas Data. His organisation is uniting the farming The whole process means farmers can let data do the work
sector and food supply chain via a universal data dashboard. for them. “The next level is to interpret that data intelligently to
The aim of Glas Data and GlasCore – its easy-to-use, give farmers actionable insights into what they should be doing,”
cloud-based agricultural management and decision support says Phillipson. “This can be everything from managing their
system – is to enhance farm supervision through simple data carbon footprint to maintaining buttermilk content.”
management. This saves farmers a great deal of time and By being user-friendly, time-saving and fully customisable,
money while also improving efficiency and yields. “There’s a lot Glas Data is helping farmers increase productivity, profits and
of information swirling around but it’s not being used very yields. At a time when agri-tech is flooding the market and
efficiently or accurately,” says Sanders. “The biggest barrier juggling separate data sources is difficult, Glas Data is uniting
is the fragmentation of it all. It’s all siloed and it doesn’t the agricultural sector to make this transitional era in farming
communicate with each other.” better for everyone.
Having spoken to many farmers, fellow company Director www.glas-data.co.uk
Colin Phillipson has seen this first-hand. “There is essentially
a frustration,” he says. “Farmers have been told to be productive
and use data better but what they’ve ended up with is all these
separate bits of data that they have to log into via many
different apps and systems.”
Glas Data aims to centralise and simplify access to, and
engagement with, all of this information. “We’ve tried to make it
as accessible as possible for the farmers,” says Phillipson. “So to
do that we started focusing on automation, which means bringing
the data in automatically. A farmer’s working week is seven days
and long hours, so you want to be able to help them by letting
them be farmers and automatically collect that data for them.”
Not only is this a crucial time- and energy-saving measure
but it also brings real financial rewards and a quick return on
investment. Glas Data also offers over 50 different sensors it
can install for farms to make the most of real-time management
and alerts. Placing a temperature sensor on a milk tank, for
example, will notify farmers of any issues. “Obviously that milk
has got to be kept between around two and four degrees,” says
Sanders. “If it goes above that you might lose thousand of
pounds’ worth of milk, so the system sends a text message to
alert you. We had one client who had a £30,000 water leak on a
site so to avoid something like that we can attach a water sensor
to detect abnormal peaks, which will send a text message alert.”
All this can be accessed and controlled easily from the
comfort of the farmhouse or out in the fields via mobile and
tablet. The data being collected is not just for statistical purposes;
it is valuable and can feed into future business decisions. For
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Fashionably progressive
“Textile is one of the most damaging
industries on the planet and we want
to be a solution provider”
Stacy Flynn and Christopher Stanev, Evrnu
T he Damascene moment came for Stacy Flynn on a trip to

China in 2010. She already had considerable experience in the
textile industry, but was still surprised by the level of pollution she
pronounced “ever new” – which would specialise in creating
new recyclable fibre technologies out of textile waste.
This new material, NuCycl, converts pre- and post-consumer
witnessed during a visit to Chinese subcontractors, while working as well as post-industrial textile materials into new fibre diverted
for a company that made clothes out of recycled plastic waste. from landfills. Clothes can be disassembled at the molecular
“I saw for the first time how we achieve such low prices for level and regenerated multiple times, helping brands combat
textiles and what the effect is on the people living in these the impact related to the creation and disposal of garments.
areas,” she says. “I began to add up the millions of yards of fabric The material was launched by Stella McCartney and Adidas in
that I had helped create, and decided to do something about it.” 2019 and is also being used by brands such as Levi’s and Target,
Back in the US, Flynn went to graduate school to study the following a company strategy to attract one key business in
issue of waste and recycling in textiles. She learned that it takes four crucial sectors – denim, sportswear, mass production and
more than 700 gallons of water to produce a simple cotton luxury – to demonstrate the efficacy of the new, recyclable fabric.
T-shirt, and that we throw away about 50 million tonnes of “Sustainable materials often require the consumer to
textiles a year, often as landfill, where they take centuries to compromise on look, feel and performance – but we took that
decompose. Determined to create change, Flynn went into |off the table,” says Stanev. “We developed products that meet
partnership with her then mentor Christopher Stanev, a textile or exceed standards. You can always bring price down but you
innovations engineer, to start a company called Evrnu – can never bring perception up. So we deliberately went for the
highest possible perception, and by letting Stella McCartney
and Adidas show the industry what is possible, then we can
start mass production to bring the price down for everybody.”
Evrnu faced considerable challenges from the outset.
The textile industry had developed a cheap-and-disposable
economic model – clothes are cheap to make, worn for a while
and then thrown away. Flynn and Stanev had to change this
attitude. There was also the technical challenge of recycling
clothes, which are often made from a number of different textiles
and chemicals, making them difficult to unscramble. Finally,
there was a reluctance to finance innovation.
“The technology is challenging, getting brands and retailers
to take a chance is difficult and there is a lack of funding for these
kinds of innovations,” says Flynn. “We now have the technology
to break down every fibre on the planet but we are waiting for
funding and that won’t arrive until we can show this is a viable
business. So it’s a slow process but we are moving fast. Typically it
takes a new fibre 20 years to get to the market, but we did it in
five. Textile is one of the most damaging industries on the planet
and we want to be a solution provider. We are now talking to a lot
of forward-thinking CEOs who can see the problem and want to
change. That shows that we are heading in the right direction.”
www.evrnu.com
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Circular motion
“The speed of change is remarkable. Shifting from a linear
economy to the circular economy is challenging and we are
working with our partners to make it a reality”
Renée Yardley, Sustana
A t a time when sustainability and recycling are of major

concern, Sustana sets the gold standard for other companies
to emulate, promoting and applying sustainable manufacturing
says. “The other area that sets us apart is our transparency,
with our published life cycle assessments. Perception has
changed, as there was a time when some thought that recycled
and business practices to deliver premium 100 per cent recycled paper was of lower quality, but now you really can’t tell the
fibre for a broad range of paper, tissue and food packaging difference. The circular economy is the way forward for
products. Sustana’s Rolland Papers Division manufactures business. We’re continually innovating with a focus on our
premium sustainable recycled paper while maintaining the sustainability plan and looking at next steps – you can’t rest
smallest possible environmental footprint, and is a key partner on your laurels in the sustainability journey. Our particular
in the sustainability supply chain. area of focus is moving our partners away from plastics to
“It’s crucial to us that the papers we produce, and the 100 per cent recycled paper products.”
materials from which we source, are sustainable,” says Renée Renée is sure that it can be done. “Start at packaging
Yardley, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing. “Rolland design and work through the entire lifecycle and we’ll get
Papers began operating in 1882, manufacturing a wide variety of there. Reducing waste and keeping the recycled fibre in use as
printing and writing papers. With sustainability in our DNA, we part of the circular economy helps ensure we are acting today
started making recycled papers in 1989. In the 1990s, from an for a better tomorrow.”
employee’s suggestion, we converted to biogas, an energy source www.sustanagroup.com
which was well ahead of its time. In recent years, many people
have become concerned about fossil fuels, and again, we were
already taking steps: 93 per cent of the energy for the mill comes
from biogas, a renewable energy that reduces our carbon
footprint by 70,000 tons annually.” Many other companies are
playing catch-up, especially as consumers demand sustainability,
echoed by government legislation and global agreements. What
sets Sustana apart is that rather than being forced into this
position, the company was a trailblazer for it long before it
became popular to be concerned about carbon footprints and the
circular economy. The circular economy is built on the notion
that the life cycles of materials and resources that have already
served a purpose for end users can be preserved and extended,
and this is at the heart of everything Sustana does.
“The speed of change is remarkable,” says Renée. “Shifting
from a linear economy to the circular economy is challenging and
we are working with our partners to make it a reality. We’ve put
together a detailed sustainable-development plan and use the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as our guiding
framework. We’re also looking at very innovative ways for
recycling. For example, our sources for fibre are offices, schools
and government buildings which all shut down during lockdown.
In order to meet the change in incoming material availability, we
receive our material from municipal recycling, as we have the
capability to recycle aseptic and gable-top containers such as milk
and juice cartons, strip away the poly linings and reuse the fibre.”
For Renée, sustainability is an essential part of Sustana’s
makeup. “We’re at the forefront of the circular economy,” she
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Clean energy, contained

“Our technology has the potential to eliminate
100 per cent of the carbon footprint of the
thermal plants that are running”
Dr Javier Cavada, Highview Power
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A s the world embraces renewable energy, it has become more

important than ever before to develop technology that can
store the energy that is created by wind and sun. That is what
makes UK technology company Highview Power such an important
player. The company’s revolutionary energy storage technology –
its trademarked CRYOBattery – can store energy for days or weeks
by cooling air and storing it efficiently in insulated, low-pressure
vessels. It is the only large-scale, long-duration energy storage
solution on the market today capable of delivering power when,
where, and how it’s most needed.
“The UK has enormous wind-generation potential, but it
sometimes generates power at the wrong time, or way more than
is needed,” says Dr Javier Cavada (pictured, right), Highview’s
CEO and President. “All that excess of power is completely
wasted and that means you still need coal and oil plants to
compensate. With our technology, all of that is eliminated.”
The potential of Highview’s liquid air energy storage
technology was highlighted in the UK government’s ten-point
plan for a green industrial revolution in November 2020.
Highview Power has a late-stage pipeline of over 4GWh
(gigawatt hours) of projects across the US, Europe, and Latin
America. This is in addition to the current 700MWh (megawatt
hours) of projects currently under development. While initial
projects were in the UK, Highview is taking this British
innovation around the world to countries that have similarly was no demand. Dr Cavada compares this to electric vehicles.
developed an increased capacity for renewable power generation. It has been possible to make electric vehicle charging stations
“The plant we have in Trafford will be the first and largest in the for years, but there was little point as there were no electric
world but it will quickly be followed by the second and the third vehicles. With renewable energy, the tipping point came in
and so on, so it won’t be the largest for long,” says Dr Cavada, around 2015-16, and as supply increased, there was suddenly a
who has several decades experience in the energy sector and was great need for new technologies that could store all this energy.
appointed to help drive this international deployment. Liquid air technology has other benefits. It is clean and
Highview Power is making a 100 per cent renewable energy compact so plants can be located almost anywhere, and it uses raw
future possible by ensuring the energy created by renewables is material that can be sourced locally, without the need for mining
not wasted, allowing the complete phasing-out of fossil fuels, or long supply chains. That helps to support local economies,
which are still currently needed to generate electricity when while also providing communities with clean energy. “This is a
wind and solar are not producing enough power. That will allow UK-born technology, supported by the UK government, that is
the UK – and the rest of the world – to move more rapidly making a global impact,” says Dr Cavada. “Every component in
towards a zero-carbon status. “Our technology has the potential the system is made and sourced locally so there is no international
to eliminate 100 per cent of the carbon footprint of the thermal supply chain or reliance on mining. We are creating local jobs
plants that are running,” says Dr Cavada. The technology to for the local supply chain, and bringing them renewable energy,
create liquid air energy storage has been available for decades which is something that makes us pretty proud.”
but had never been applied to renewable energy storage as there www.highviewpower.com
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A super harvest
“If we can scale this technology quickly, the world
has at least a couple more decades for all other
decarbonisation technologies to mature sufficiently”
Dr Steve Meller, CH4 Global
I t may be an unpalatable fact to digest, but one of the biggest

contributors to global climate change is flatulent cows.
The methane that cows produce, via microbes in their stomachs
they will be harvested, before being freeze-dried and made into
supplement products. The finished product is then added to feed.
This drastically reduces the amount of methane that is released
as they digest fibrous food, is responsible for a significant into the environment, buying more time for other sustainable
proportion of the emissions caused by agriculture, a sector technologies to come into daily use. Indeed, it is calculated that
which, according to the IPCC, contributes to around 14 per cent if Asparagopsis could be fed to just 10 per cent of the world’s
of all greenhouse gas emissions. And methane is 86 times more cattle, it would be like taking 100 million cars off the road.
potent than CO2 over 20 years. However, there is a solution: “The world is getting closer to reaching a climactic
seaweed. A small amount of a red seaweed, a species of tipping point,” says Meller. “If you had in hand a tech that
Asparagopsis, in a cow’s diet can reduce methane emissions by unequivocally works, has been shown to be safe, and you could
almost 90 per cent. CH4, a company located in Australia, is in grow it at massive scale, wouldn’t you want to do that? If we
the process of building a groundbreaking commercial can scale this technology quickly, the world could have a couple
Asparagopsis aquaculture and processing facility, which will more decades for all other decarbonisation technologies to
supply feed for between 10,000 and 20,000 cows. It is, says CH4, mature sufficiently.”
only the start of a process that might buy the planet valuable www.ch4global.com
time in the fight against environmental devastation.
The company was co-founded by Dr Steve Meller, and in
2020 raised US$3 million in seed funding, which is being used
to understand the end-to-end cycle of growing and processing
the material. “We have much more control now over where to
grow it, and how to grow it, and in which ways to grow it,” says
Meller. “More importantly, we’ve also been spending a large
amount of resources, time and money on understanding the
processing of it, which is important because the plant itself
contains a volatile material called bromoform, and it is
bromoform that actually imparts that methane-reduction
on ruminant animals. So it’s really important that when you
harvest the seaweed from the water, whether it’s growing in
tanks or whether it’s in the sea, through to when it’s going to
be given to a cow or sheep, that you maintain the level of
bromoform inside the plant.”
Asparagopsis is native to Australia and New Zealand. If
carefully processed after harvest, it can be used as a supplement
for cows and other ruminant animals, including goats, sheep
and deer. Just a small amount is added to existing feed, with no
effect on milk or meat. Compounds in the seaweed disrupt the
enzymes of gut microbes that produce methane gas as waste
during digestion. The seaweed also improves water quality,
absorbs carbon, mitigates ocean acidification and reduces
introduced nitrogen and phosphorus in the water from
fertilisers and other environmental pollutants.
CH4 will grow hatchlings on land and then place them on
substrates in the ocean. After the appropriate amount of time,
297
Taking charge
of our impact
“We want to help our customers reach their
vision of energy freedom, setting realistic
targets to help them achieve their goals”
Graham Cooke, Zenergi
298
Z energi is a professional consultancy aiming to make a

positive difference in the world of energy, and to do so in
a manner that is simple, sustainable and achievable. “The best
way to describe us is as a customer service company
specialising in energy,” says CEO Graham Cooke (pictured,
opposite). “I joined when there were four or five team members
and we now have nearly 170 energy champions. I see myself
very much as a custodian of the business, holding it true to our
values and ensuring we do things in the right way – what we
call the Zen Way.”
Zenergi is built on the belief that there is a better, brighter
way forward for the energy industry. “To begin with, a lot of
our customers were schools,” says Cooke. “We listened to
them and that shaped how we’ve approached building the
business over time. Today we support both public and private
sector clients across a range of industry sectors. We’re
committed to investing in building a future that supports
those organisations through the transition to net zero and
tackling the largest challenge of our generation head on –
responding to a changing climate. This is a great opportunity
to make a difference, and throughout the company there’s We want to help our customers reach their vision of energy
a very genuine desire to use our professional skills and freedom, setting realistic targets to help them achieve their
experience to facilitate that.” goals. We’re always working towards understanding what
Zenergi helps organisations across the UK to arrange those individual legacies will be and providing our experience
energy contracts and manage energy legislation and carbon and expertise to help them every step of the way.”
reporting. It identifies ways to reduce their energy It’s not all serious, as illustrated by the company’s
consumption and leads low-carbon mechanical and electrical development of Climate Crisis, a game that educates the
engineering, as well as renewable generation projects. “Our energy users of the future in an interactive way and teaches
focus is on well-being and living our values, which to us is all them the vital steps towards making a difference. Zenergi’s
about the Zenergi family,” says Cooke. “Customers and our investment in the game was driven by the desire to make a
people are always our first priority.” This proved particularly positive and lasting difference, rather than with a view to
pertinent during lockdown when vital information and making a profit.
guidance was shared with schools, care homes and businesses “We want to help set our customers free from what is
to help navigate an unprecedented situation and ensure they seen as a very reactive and impersonal industry,” says Cooke.
weren’t paying more for their energy than they needed to. “We design energy around you and do the right things to the
“Energy freedom plays a major role in the service we best of our ability. One of my favourite statements to the team
provide,” says Cooke. “It means different things to different is to always concentrate on doing a good job and the rest will
people but, for us, it can encompass sustainability, energy take care of itself.”
assessment, feasibility studies and designing new buildings. www.zenergi.co.uk
299
300
Emission possible
“This kind of advancement is something
that hasn’t happened for over 30 years”
Yerasimos Angelis, GA R&D
“
W e’ve changed the game,” says Yerasimos Angelis (pictured,
below), Managing Director of GA R&D. “And now, we’re
leading this market, globally.” The company, based in Aberdeen,
3C-Steam Turbine, a novel power generation technology which
re-imagines the use, efficiency and power of steam from existing
power plants, waste heat and geothermal sources. “We’re
Scotland, is a highly innovative and experienced technology actually now developing the new textbook of steam turbine
design and product development company focused on delivering technology for universities,” Yerasimos says of its success.
novel global energy solutions. Having developed many design The uniqueness and innovation of this U-line technology
solutions for others, the company is now focusing on developing has already seen record-breaking work in Nigeria and as a result
its own IP, which so far includes two highly novel patented is experiencing huge demand and rapid global expansion. “By the
global energy technologies to meet challenges in oil and gas end of the year, we will take this to another 20 countries,”
downhole conveyancing. Yerasimos says. “This will generate the revenue we need to apply
“I created the backbone for a new business structure,” says for more funding for building this steam turbine generator that
Yerasimos. “Which is the U-line technology. It’s the first we believe will reduce emissions by 20 per cent.”
technology ever developed in the oil and gas industry, or any Not only is the company focusing on reducing emissions
industry, to deploy any tool you want in a well – and it doesn’t to create a cleaner and more sustainable world for all, but they
need screws to be put together. It is very unique.” Alongside this are also doing the same for companies’ expenditure in the oil
wireline downhole conveyance roller and tool product pipeline, and gas industries. “Oil prices have increased because getting
the company is leading the way on delivering sustainable and the oil out is now very expensive,” says Yerasimos. “What we are
environmentally friendly clean power. This comes in the form of trying to do is reduce production costs for oil and gas by 50 per
cent.” Because of the success and reliability of the technology it
has developed in this field, the potential savings in upkeep and
maintenance are also hugely significant for operators. “We can
claim that if this technology is used everywhere, the operator
will save 95 per cent on intervention costs,” says Yerasimos.
“For example, operators that we’re working with now were
paying about $100,000 a day and they now pay $3,000 a day for
the same service with our technology. They are saving
tremendous amounts of money in maintenance.”
The company’s trajectory is sharply on the up. “We’ve
created a very strong partnership with the biggest oilfield tool
manufacturer in India,” Angelis says. “The model is very hybrid
and allows partners to enter easily. What we’ve done is set up a
business that can replace very high tech with simple technology.”
The work that GA R&D is doing with its patented
technology is not just simply innovative and taking the next
logical steps in the industry, instead it has positioned itself as
a pioneer that has created a once-in-a-generation achievement.
One that is revolutionising the oil and gas world, as well as
the renewable energy and clean energy industries. “This kind
of advancement is something that hasn’t happened for over
30 years,” says Yerasimos. “It’s really game-changing.”
www.ga-rd.co.uk
301
Cold comfort
“Our unique innovation, the ‘Aerofoil’, significantly reduces the
fridge’s power consumption while improving the convenience
and comfort of the shopping experience”
Paul McAndrew, Aerofoil Energy Limited
R efrigeration is the single largest consumer of electrical

energy in supermarkets. Overall, food retail refrigeration
accounts for 3 per cent of the UK’s entire consumption of
and don’t actually save much energy if they are opened frequently
in a busy store. In contrast, the Aerofoil is inexpensive and
completely unobtrusive; it’s proven to be the perfect alternative.”
electricity, with a commensurate contribution to the country’s In just a couple of years, the company has fitted over 1.3 million
carbon footprint. The problem is multiplied at a global level. Aerofoils in the UK’s largest supermarket and retail chains. “We’re
“Open-fronted fridges are a great way to display food and make now working with retailers in Europe, North America and Asia to
it easy for customers to choose, but they are very power- roll out Aerofoils globally,” says Aerofoil Energy’s Commercial
hungry,” says Aerofoil Energy’s CEO, Paul McAndrew. “Our Director, Nicholas Burke. At the same time, the company has an
unique innovation, the ‘Aerofoil’, significantly reduces the ambitious research and development programme. “There is still
fridge’s power consumption while improving the convenience huge scope to save even more energy,” says Burke. “We’re currently
and comfort of the shopping experience.” trialling new refrigeration technology with our largest UK clients,
Developed by McAndrew in 2013, the Aerofoil is beautiful which we expect to see implemented in supermarkets soon.”
in its simplicity. Fridges use a curtain of cold air blown down the “The success of Aerofoil technology has earned us a reputation
front of the shelves to act as an invisible door. Fitting Aerofoils to for innovation, and has given us the confidence to challenge the
each shelf helps to guide this cold air more efficiently, preventing accepted wisdom of commercial refrigeration design,” says
it escaping from the cabinet and resulting in lower energy use, McAndrew. “We’re also attuned to sustainability, and we’re
fewer carbon emissions and warmer shopping aisles. “There’s passionate about supporting local businesses. The Aerofoils are
been little innovation in this area for decades,” says McAndrew. manufactured by suppliers near to our base in Cheshire, from
“The only option up to now has been to fit glass doors, which are 100 per cent recycled – and recyclable – aluminium.”
expensive, have large maintenance and operational overheads www.aerofoil-energy.com
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The fabric of life

“I wanted to work with sustainable materials rather than crude
oil. Common sense tells us we have to reduce our footprint on
our planet now, not tomorrow”
Matthias Foessel, Beyond Surface Technologies
O n the first day of his new life, Matthias Foessel went jogging
in Basel, Switzerland and contemplated his future. He had
just taken a plunge into the unknown, having left a 20-year
“It absorbed sweat and dried as fast as traditional synthetic
chemical treatments. We could then convince other brands, as
they could see it worked on the biggest stage.” In 2015 Tin Shed
career working for a corporation that produced textile chemicals. Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund from Patagonia,
“It had started to feel wrong,” he says. “It created money, but was invested $1.5 million in Beyond to accelerate its efforts.
the impact it left on the planet worth it?” Foessel knew that the Beyond Surface Technologies continues developing new
textile industry was responsible for 8-10 per cent of global carbon green chemicals and applications, like microalgae ones developed
emissions and 20 per cent of global wastewater. “I wanted to in partnership with the Californian biotech company Checkerspot.
work with sustainable materials rather than crude oil,” he says. “By carefully selecting every single ingredient we are able to
“Common sense tells us we have to reduce our footprint on our introduce products that are 100 per cent bio carbon and
planet now, not tomorrow. The industry wasn’t ready for change, biodegradable, with up to a 90 per cent lower carbon footprint,
so we formed Beyond Surface Technologies, running a common- without compromising on performance,” says Foessel.
sense-driven, purpose-driven business model.” A fervent believer in green chemical technology and the need
That was in 2008. After three years, Beyond had brought to work with nature rather than against it, Foessel emphasises
together a group of like-minded textile experts and developed a that more people will want to work for purpose-driven
plant-based technology that could compete with traditional companies. “You have to believe you can make a difference,” he
textile chemicals in terms of performance. Foessel took this to says. “You only have so much time, so you should do something
major sportswear manufacturers and, in 2014, Adidas adopted with it. It took me 20 years to realise that, but it is possible and
Beyond’s green chemistry for its football kits at that year’s it is essential for the planet.”
World Cup in Brazil. “That was the breakthrough,” says Foessel. www.beyondst.com
303
304
Race to the top

“Motorsport is a laboratory for the transformation of
new technologies, and electric marine motorsport has
the potential to completely change what is possible”
Alejandro Agag, E1 World Electric Powerboat Series
C o-founders of the E1 World Electric Powerboat Series

Alejandro Agag and Rodi Basso had a vision: a dozen
streamlined electric powerboats racing through the centre of
technologies, and electric marine motorsport has the potential
to completely change what is possible.”
With prototype testing set to take place in 2022, the co-
international cities, bringing some of the thrill and glamour founders, whose backgrounds are in motorsport and technology,
of motorsport to the water without detracting from the serenity, are in talks with several international cities and technological
polluting the environment or causing disruption for residents. innovators as they prepare for the series, which they intend to
To realise their dream, the pair have conceived an exciting new launch the following year. The duo envisage that the competition
sporting event that they believe will persuade more people to will take place in major cities, as well as at various stop-off points
switch to electric powerboats and leisure craft. on board the former Royal Mail ship – the Saint Helena – used as
“This could have a really big impact – even bigger than the floating paddock for the Extreme E SUV off-road racing
Formula E for cars,” says Alejandro. “Electrical recreational series. Host cities will be encouraged to hold exhibitions
boats are really needed as there are so many oil and diesel demonstrating new technologies that are being developed locally
leaks on boats and rivers. When we create the championship in the areas of mobility, decarbonisation and ocean health, which
and show the world, it will demonstrate what can be achieved, will allow start-ups to raise much-needed funds. The races will be
while the futuristic designs will capture people’s imaginations. held over two days in different categories, creating a weekend
Motorsport is a laboratory for the transformation of new festival of electrification and aquatics.
The plan is to have several teams, created as franchises,
initially using the same design of boat. Once the series has
become more established, teams will be encouraged to foster
the same spirit of transformative technological competition
that characterises other motorsports. The need to remodel is
particularly urgent in recreational boats as they make up
a significant sector of the market and are best placed for
electrification. Not only will electric boats have a positive impact
on the environment, but they will also lead to an improved
overall boating experience, with owners able to appreciate the
twin delights of speed and open water in relative silence.
“As a society, we need to understand how to reduce our
environmental impact while still enjoying water and nature,”
says Rodi. “Alejandro and I feel a sense of urgency in addressing
this, and we will use the state-of-the-art innovation from
motorsport and apply it to the marine environment. At first, all
the powerboats will be identical, then we will open up to attract
technology innovators from around the world. We dream of an
event that will combine sailing, motorsport and powerboating.
The E1 World Electric Powerboat Series will add to the thrill and
the spectacle – but there must be a purpose behind it, and we
really believe in our purpose to revolutionise marine mobility.”
www.e1series.com
305
Dyeing on
their feet
“The solution isn’t based on a single invention –
we needed to knock down several obstacles to
show how we can change the textile industry”
Alan Hudd, Alchemie Technology
306
T he textile industry is responsible for more than 8 per cent of

the global economy’s carbon emissions. At least 3 per cent
of that comes from the dyeing process, a figure that presents a very
engaged with all these partners in the search for a solution and
eventually came up with two disruptive digital manufacturing
products for the global market. Endeavour, which provides
visible target to Cambridge-based Alchemie Technology as it smart waterless dyeing, and Novara, which offers precision
seeks to change the way the industry approaches dyeing through digital finishing. These make a unique value proposition
innovative and patented technology. “Alchemie’s solution to to textile manufacturers: 50 per cent lower cost, higher
combating textile pollution isn’t based on a single invention,” says throughput and a radically more sustainable alternative to
founder Alan Hudd. “We needed to knock down several obstacles traditional textile processing. Endeavour allows garment
to show how we can change the textile industry. We now have a manufacturers to eliminate the production of contaminated
solution for textile dyeing that eliminates waste-water pollution wastewater by more than 95 per cent and dramatically reduce
and can dramatically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide the carbon footprint of textile dyeing, using 85 per cent less
produced by the global textile industry. It weighs 10 tonnes and is energy compared to traditional technologies. “Water is our most
highly complex in terms of innovation, electronics and engineering. important resource on the planet,” says Hudd. “The textile
We have seen a lot of interest from all the major brands and have an industry is drowning in pollution and accounts for 20 per cent
order book that keeps us very busy – we look forward to delivering of global water pollution. A 95 per cent saving in water use
50 orders next year and 200 for 2023. Our ambition is large but will save lives.”
that’s because it is a massive market and a huge global problem.” Hudd believes that Alchemie’s innovations will help the
A crucial moment for Hudd came when he met the owner UK become the centre for a clean textile industry, making the
of one of the world’s largest textile dyeing companies in China, country a vibrant central player in the industry once more.
who persuaded him to focus Alchemie’s attention on textiles. This would be essential in a circular economy, where the
“That meeting in China in 2017 was a turning point,” says Hudd. recycling of textiles becomes part of what needs to be a
“That was the first time I came across somebody in the textile national solution. But Alchemie’s bold vision extends to the
industry who understood it could be changed if there was the right wider world. “We have a mission,” says Hudd. “What we are
technology. We are based in Cambridge and our company about as a company is reducing emissions globally. To achieve
is full of young and clever people who turned their focus to a 3 per cent reduction in emissions, the UN has put a value on
understanding the textile industry and its problems to develop that at $110 billion. We want to do this while remaining a UK
a technological solution.” company, which is why we retain the intellectual property and
Further pressure on the textile industry came from brands, patents. That is something we hold very dear to our hearts.”
manufacturers and environmental campaigners. Alchemie www.alchemietechnology.com
307
Packed with
new ideas
“While big businesses can do the research, we are more responsive
and agile enough to integrate new technologies into existing
processes. Businesses like ours have a great advantage”
Dr Helene Roberts, Robinson plc
308
A t a time when many businesses are seeking to align themselves

with sustainable values, Robinson is a rare example of
a company that has such principles embedded into its behaviour
from the very beginning. The business was founded in 1839 by
John Bradbury Robinson to create boxes for medical supplies,
such as pills and ointments, but Robinson was equally concerned
with employee welfare. He bought sports grounds for his staff
and the local town of Chesterfield, created pension schemes,
and provided access to fair pay, housing and health care.
“His vision included a total commitment to Chesterfield, the
local community, and a support for the environment as well as his
business,” explains CEO Dr Helene Roberts. “That highlighted the
business as a very early adopter of what we now call sustainable
business practices.”
That longstanding approach has stood Robinson in good stead
as time has progressed. The company now develops a range of
plastic and paper packaging for the food, homecare, luxury gift,
beauty and personal care markets. Through all this change, the
company continues to collaborate with the community, working
with local schools and colleges to develop apprentices with the
specialist technical skills, also engaging with the wider population
about the importance of sustainability and circular economy.
“We work with the local economy and waste-management
companies to source recycled plastics and paper to use in our
packaging,” says Dr Roberts. “Here the size of the company is
very helpful. As a small business, Robinson maintains speed of
execution and is a provoker of change, so while big businesses In addition to social responsibility, protecting the environment
can do the research, we are more responsive and agile enough is a major driver for the business. Much of Robinson’s packaging
to integrate new technologies into existing processes. Businesses portfolio is made from recycled plastic or recycled paper, and is
like ours have a great advantage as our agility and impact of recyclable. Robinson is also exploring the possibility of building
change is nothing like the impact of change in a big business.” a facility next to one of its factories that will break down plastic
Robinson has always adapted and thrived and into reusable plastic pellets. “We want to get to a point where we
continuously regenerates itself by moving into new markets. don’t use any new resources,” says Dr Roberts. “For example our
It is as comfortable producing a bottle for bleach as it is a box confectionery boxes made for premium branded chocolates are
for gourmet chocolates or a pot for fresh soup. “What sets us made from 95 per cent recycled paper. Our bottles for bath gel
apart is how we do business,” says Dr Roberts. “We go above are made from 50 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic, with
and beyond, whether it’s the way we treat our staff or how we a target to reach 100 per cent. We introduced recycled material
service our customers. We are not inventors, but we are very long before it was popular to do so and that creates a stable
good at taking inventions and commercialising them. We have end-market for all the packaging material that people put in their
combined that original mindset with the speed with which we recycling bin. We believe it can be done at all levels when we are
can operate and how we collaborate – that drives our behaviour creative and collaborative.”
and explains our success.” www.robinsonpackaging.com
309
Re-evaluating food waste

“If we want to make a material change to
greenhouse gas emissions, we have to deal
with methane and do it cost-effectively”
Rick Woods, Green Eco Technologies
W hen Rick Woods, CEO of Green Eco Technologies,

talks about food waste, there’s a real urgency to his
tone. Not many people realise this, he says, but rotting
money, as well as helping to protect the environment. “It’s a
no-brainer,” says Woods.
Green Eco Technologies’ diverse list of clients includes
leftovers generate almost the same amount of greenhouse hospitals, hotels, shopping centres, restaurants, schools,
gases as the entire road transport industry, and more than universities, apartment blocks, army barracks and prisons.
every aircraft in the sky. That’s because almost one third of They’ve even put a WasteMaster in a copper mine in Chile.
what we eat globally – or 1.3 billion tonnes – is thrown out, The result has been to prevent huge quantities of greenhouse
and likely travels to landfill where it decomposes, creating gases being produced. “Certainly, I’d like to see us in every
methane. “And methane is 20 to 30 times more potent than developed country on the planet,” says Woods. “People have
carbon dioxide,” he says. “So, if we want to make a material asked me how big the market potential is, which is a difficult
change to greenhouse gas emissions, we have to deal with question to answer because it’s so huge.”
methane, and do it cost-effectively. For major societal change, But the real breakthrough is coming further down the line.
we need to offer a cheaper alternative to current food-waste What the WasteMaster outputs is a valuable, calorie-rich
disposal methods.” product that retains the food’s nutrients; something that has
Woods spent 25 years as a top executive for Shell before value and could be sold, contributing to the circular economy.
leaving his corporate career to work with his philanthropist “That’s where we see the real benefits,” says Woods. “We are
friend Gordon Hoen, who was developing a revolutionary extremely optimistic about the value-added potential of the
machine that can recycle waste on site. The WasteMaster uses WasteMaster residue. Our vision is for discarded food to cease
patented technology to accelerate decomposition. The output being waste.”
is just one-fifth of the original weight, saving business owners www.greenecotec.com
310
“I find myself born into this particular

position. I’m determined to make the
most of it and to do whatever I can to
help. And I hope I leave things behind
a little bit better than I found them”
The Prince of Wales
311
312
PRESENT AND FUTURE LEADERSHIP
CHAPTER SEVEN
PRESENT
AND FUTURE
LEADERSHIP
313
314
Commonwealth
champion
When Prince Charles was announced as the
successor to The Queen as Head of the Commonwealth,
it was reward for more than 40 years of service to the
family of nations. Words by Robert Jobson
I n February 2018, the BBC went public with a story that many
people had long suspected – that the Commonwealth leaders
had secretly begun to consider who might succeed Her Majesty
Charles shows his support through official visits, military
links, charitable activities and other special events. Since 1969,
the prince has visited 44 Commonwealth countries. In April
The Queen as its next head. Prince Charles was not necessarily 2018 he opened the highly successful Commonwealth Games
the number-one choice, the BBC reported, and its reporters had in Brisbane and then toured Australia before flying back for
seen documents to prove it. the Commonwealth summit in London and Windsor.
Worse still on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was When he addressed the Commonwealth Heads of Government
wrongly claimed that Charles was not all that keen on the job Meeting (CHOGM) in London, he stressed that its leaders must
anyway and that the Commonwealth did not mean as much listen to the views of the next generation. It was the kind of vision
to him as it did to his mother. He was understandably peeved.
The reality is the exact opposite.
o For Charles has been a very active supporter of the
Opposite Commonwealth for more than 40 years. Understandably, for
School children greet the this entire time, he has been in the shadow of his mother, who
prince in Adelaide during succeeded her father, King George VI, as its head when she
a 2012 tour of Papua New ascended to the throne. But The Queen, due to her age, hasn’t
Guinea, Australia and carried out long-haul flights for several years and it is Charles,
New Zealand supported by senior members of the Royal Family, who have
done much of the heavy lifting when it comes to more recent
o overseas Commonwealth visits.
Right He is deeply passionate about the organisation, which
Charles receives a represents 2.3 billion people and 53 nations – a third of the
traditional welcome in world’s population. “I have long had an instinctive sense of
Honiara, the capital of the value of the Commonwealth,” he said during a visit to
Solomon Islands, 2019 Trinidad in 2000. He has often spoken of the “pivotal role” that
the Commonwealth has to play in safeguarding our planet.
“I have long had an instinctive sense

of the value of the Commonwealth”
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“sincere wish” to recognise that her heir, the Prince of

Wales, would one day succeed her as the next head of the
Commonwealth. Theresa May, prime minister at the time,
announced the decision from the 53 Commonwealth heads
of government after private deliberations at Windsor Castle,
where Commonwealth leaders said they had reached an
agreement to honour Her Majesty’s “vision, duty and steadfast
service” to the institution.
Speaking at a press conference after the retreat, May said
that the Commonwealth itself exists in “no small measure
because of the vision, duty and steadfast service of Her Majesty
in nurturing the growth of this remarkable family of nations”.
The prime minister continued: “On behalf of all our citizens
o I want to express gratitude for everything Her Majesty has done
Above and leadership expected of a future head of the Commonwealth. and will continue to do. Today we have agreed that the next head
The prince, the Duchess More recently with his Blue Economy initiative he has led the of the Commonwealth will be His Royal Highness Prince Charles,
of Cornwall and Australia’s charge for member island states that face being wiped out by a rise the Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness has been a proud
Prime Minister Malcolm in sea levels. In growing the Blue Economy he hopes to combat supporter of the Commonwealth for more than four decades
Turnbull (third from right) poverty and accelerate prosperity in these under-threat regions. and has spoken passionately about the organisation’s unique
meet members of the The problem for the monarchy is that the position of head is diversity. It is fitting that he will one day continue the work of
Australian team during not enshrined in the constitution. It is symbolic, with no formal his mother, Her Majesty The Queen.”
the 2018 Commonwealth powers. The Queen has been working hard in private to ensure When it was finally and formally announced the prince was
Games on the Gold Coast the Prince of Wales succeeds her as head of the Commonwealth. typically self-effacing. “I am deeply touched and honoured by
It is a responsibility she says she has cherished – but it is not the decision of Commonwealth heads of state and government
o one that her son and heir would inherit automatically. that I should succeed The Queen, in due course, as head of the
Opposite The BBC was right to discuss the matter but it was also Commonwealth,” he declared. “Meanwhile, I will continue to
Prince Charles and India’s stirring the pot ahead of the CHOGM. It was true, prior to support Her Majesty in every possible way, in the service of
Prime Minister Narendra a formal decision on who would be the next head of the our unique family of nations.”
Modi pictured on the organisation, that the prince was by no means assured of securing Sub rosa, presidents and prime ministers from across
third day of the 2018 the position. He was always going to rely on Commonwealth the world convened to finalise plans for the future of the
Commonwealth Heads leaders to give him their formal blessing to replace his mother Commonwealth, enjoying the hospitality of The Queen’s
of Government Meeting when the time came. That said, there was little doubt, after years home at the end of a week that had seen senior members
in London of distinguished service, that there were few better qualified for of the Royal Family out in force. President of Ghana, Nana
the albeit titular role. Akufo-Addo, said the decision was reached by “strong
On 20 April 2018 Charles took another step closer to the consensus”, while May insisted it was unanimous. Grenada’s
chalice when Commonwealth leaders backed the Queen’s Prime Minister, Keith Mitchell, said he had been convinced
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“His Royal Highness has been a proud supporter of the

Commonwealth for more than four decades and has spoken
passionately about the organisation’s unique diversity”
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the decision was a good one thanks to his belief that the young Commonwealth.” And Ralph Regenvanu, the Foreign Minister o
men of the Commonwealth need a strong male role model. of the Pacific state of Vanuatu, disclosed: “We see it almost Opposite
It was made clear, however, that the decision was a one-off, naturally that it should be the British Royal Family because The Prince with New
and the leaders spelled it out that the ruling did not apply to it is the Commonwealth after all.” Zealand Prime Minister
Charles’s own heirs, Prince William and Prince George, who Others had expressed frustration that the issue had Jacinda Ardern at
would not be automatically in line to hold the office. It would overshadowed more important discussions. Tevita Tu’i Uata, Clarence House, London,
remain, they said, a non-hereditary position. Tonga’s trade minister, told ITV News that people in his country in 2018
That said, The Queen had left nothing to chance. The day “are drowning” due to rising sea levels. “Maybe sorting out who is
before the ruling, as she spoke at the official opening of the going to lead the Commonwealth is an issue,” he said, “but it’s not o
CHOGM at Buckingham Palace, she made a heartfelt address as pressing an issue to [Tonga] as taking care of climate change.” Above
spelling out for the first time her hopes for the future of the The prince is expected to represent The Queen in the The Queen endorses
Commonwealth, and offering her unadulterated support to honorary role at future Commonwealth meetings, having Charles’s leadership
her son in the role. previously attended the meeting four times: in Edinburgh in at the official opening
“It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will 1997, Uganda in 2007, Sri Lanka in 2013 and Malta in 2015 when of the Commonwealth
continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations, he appeared with The Queen, rather than on his own. Heads of Government
and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry How does Prince Charles propose to change things, if at all? Meeting at Buckingham
on the important work started by my father in 1949,” she told The bottom line is that the Commonwealth is a fundamental Palace in 2018
the leaders gathered. There is little doubt that The Queen’s feature of his life. His first Commonwealth visit was to Malta
public words galvanised the world leaders into pushing when he was just five years old. He has, over time, spoken to
through the decision. many of the giants of the club: Sir Robert Menzies, Kwame
“We are certain that, when he will be called upon to do Nkrumah, Sir Keith Holyoake, Jomo Kenyatta, Pierre Trudeau,
so, he will provide solid and passionate leadership for our Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere and Lee Kuan Yew.
Commonwealth,” Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta, said But for Charles it is not about applauding past successes;
of the prince in the same ceremony. Later that day, Malcolm he believes that the modern Commonwealth has a vital role to
Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, confirmed that his play in building bridges between our countries, creating fairer
country “strongly supports the continuation of the king or societies within them and a more secure world around them.
queen of the United Kingdom as the head of the Commonwealth,” He hopes his role will enable member states not only to revitalise
he stated, unequivocally. “Prince Charles in time will succeed the bonds with each other but also to give the Commonwealth
his mother.” a “renewed relevance to all citizens”, finding practical solutions
Speaking to the media, Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime to their problems and giving life to their aspirations. That way,
Minister, said: “I very much agree with the wishes of Her he believes, the Commonwealth will be a cornerstone for the
Majesty that the Prince of Wales be the next head of the lives of future generations.
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A king in waiting
With The Queen now well into her nineties, Prince Charles
is taking over an increasing number of responsibilities that
would usually be the province of the sovereign in what has
become a unique royal job share
A s we approach the end of 2021, a more accurate description

of Charles’s role is “shadow king”. It is he, rather than
Her Majesty The Queen, who is now doing most of the “heavy
to take over the stewardship of her reign by transferring her
executive powers to him and making him Prince Regent until
her death, when he will become king. This would enable her
lifting” for the monarchy abroad while helping to represent his to fudge the issue of not fulfilling her Coronation Oath to
mother at home, too. God and her people to serve as queen regnant until her death,
The Queen – who will turn 96 in April 2022 and who once something she told the then Archbishop of Canterbury,
said she has to be “seen to be believed” – has not travelled on Dr George Carey, when he went to see her when he resigned in
long-haul flights on state business since her visit to Australia her Golden Jubilee year of 2002. “Resignation?” she pondered.
in 2011. Her last state visit overseas was a short hop on a private “That’s something I can’t do.”
jet to Germany in June 2015, and her last Commonwealth visit Since then the monarch has marked her Diamond and
was to Malta in November 2015. The previous year she paid Sapphire jubilees. She has already surpassed her great-great-
a state visit to France and went by Eurostar. The Queen now grandmother, the Empress of India, Queen Victoria, and become
restricts her journeys to short flights, “away-days” by royal the oldest and longest-reigning monarch. In truth, with The
train, commercial railway or car, all within the UK. Queen now well into her 10th decade, senior officials within
And Her Majesty is now bereft of her once ever-present the royal household confirm that Prince Charles is, effectively,
“liege man”, her loyal consort and husband of more than 70 years, already a king in all but name.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April He already takes on many of his mother's responsibilities
2021 at the age of 99. Prince Philip had, of course, long retired and, now that she does not travel overseas, his royal tours
from public life, having, as he put it, “done his bit”. With perfect representing her across the globe are state visits. It is, in effect,
timing, he walked off the royal stage in a summer downpour on a job-share monarchy, with the heir leading the way for the
2 August 2017 at Buckingham Palace, raising his bowler hat in House of Windsor, not following.
acknowledgement to the Plymouth Band of the Royal Marines The Prince of Wales has always been consistent about his
who played “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. As he went back position. “Sometimes you daydream about the sort of things
inside he made one of his trademark quips, joking with two you might do,” he told Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994, while talking
Royal Marine corporals, who had run 1,664 miles over 100 days about becoming king one day. “I think you could invest the
as part of the 1664 Global Challenge (named after the year that position with something of your own personality and interest
the Royal Marines was founded), that they should be “locked up” but obviously within the bounds of constitutional propriety.”
for the corps’ fundraising efforts. The only time he went further was in 1998, when he was
The Duke of Edinburgh’s death marked the end of an era, forced to react to claims that he would be “pleased” if The
but his retirement from public life four years’ earlier was a Queen abdicated. He was irritated at the impertinence of the
watershed moment for his son the Prince of Wales. For, with suggestion in the tabloids. “I begin to tire of needing to issue
his father no longer ever present at The Queen’s side, Charles denials of false stories about all manner of thoughts which
would now be the lead man in the unfolding royal story. I am alleged to be having,” he said.
When he eventually ascends the throne on the death of his One of the most visually significant events that show a
o mother, he will be the oldest person ever to become our monarch. monarchy in transition happened at Remembrance Sunday in
Opposite None of this concerns him, or, for that matter, ever has. He has 2017. His head bowed, the Prince of Wales, rather than The
The Prince of Wales poses always said his getting the “top job” is “in the lap of the gods”. Queen, led the nation in commemorating our war dead. As he
for an official birthday There were rumours from people close to the monarch laid the first wreath – the nation’s wreath – of red poppies at
portrait, 2008 that she was, at some stage, officially going to allow Charles the foot of the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall, he took the
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lead role. As ever, he had performed his duties with aplomb

but, unequivocally, this was a watershed moment in the next
chapter in his royal journey.
A few minutes earlier on that day he had led out seven
members of the Royal Family, all dressed in military uniform.
His sons, William and Harry, his siblings Anne, Andrew and
Edward, and his mother’s first cousin and grandson of King
George V, the Duke of Kent, dutifully followed him and then
stood in silence. Charles, in front of them, waited patiently for
his signal to perform. The unmistakable chimes of Big Ben
and a gun salute marked the beginning of the two-minute
silence. Another gun salute, followed by the “Reveille” played As ever, he carried out his duties with the minimum of fuss. o
immaculately by nine white-gloved buglers of the Royal It was, as he saw it, his duty to do so as The Queen’s “liege man”, Opposite
Marine’s Portsmouth Band, bedecked in No 1 Full Dress of as he had sworn to be before 4,000 guests inside the medieval Charles leads out the
full-length, dark-blue greatcoats with the white Wolseley- walls of Caernarfon Castle at his investiture as Prince of Wales members of the Royal
pattern helmets, signalled that the impeccably observed silent in 1969. Back then he had received the insignia as the 21st Family at the Cenotaph
tribute was at an end. Prince of Wales and, along with it, the right to use the heraldic on Remembrance
It was 12 November 2017 – the day after Armistice Day and badge of the title that bears the motto “Ich Dien” (“I Serve” in Sunday, 2017
just two days shy of Charles’s 69th birthday and the start of his German) on the ribbon below the coronet and his feathers.
milestone 70th year. Less than 100 metres away on a Whitehall This engagement at the Cenotaph was perhaps Charles’s o
balcony, The Queen, wearing a spray of poppies held in place by most “kingly” to date. It was also possibly the most piquant as Above
Queen Mary’s gleaming Dorset bow brooch, keenly observed Charles was surrounded by the political, military and religious The prince inspects a
proceedings, watching her eldest son’s every move with a sharp establishment, with millions watching the broadcast live guard of honour during
eye. Alongside her, in his uniform as Lord High Admiral, was on BBC television around the country. What unfolded was his official visit to
Second World War veteran Prince Philip, then aged 96, protected an unmistakably historic image, the clearest visual sign to Singapore in 2017
from the autumn chill by his heavy Royal Navy winter greatcoat. date that the British monarchy was undergoing a seamless
Next to the royal couple stood Prince Charles’s second wife, all transition from monarch to eldest son. Charles’s sovereign
in black, the 70-year-old Duchess of Cornwall. It had been a moment was over in a matter of minutes and he had, as ever,
definite move by The Queen to authorise her heir to carry out performed his duty with equanimity.
the job and it was certainly not a decision taken lightly. Announcing the decision to entrust the job to Prince Charles
In the months leading up to this symbolic moment, the a few weeks earlier, Buckingham Palace had said that the reason
Prince of Wales had been taking on a number of The Queen’s was that The Queen wished to be by her husband’s side on the
more physically taxing engagements at her request. In 2017 the balcony and had asked her heir to lay a wreath instead.
prince clocked up 374 UK engagements and 172 abroad, making The Queen may still be in authority, but this moment
him the busiest member of the Royal Family with a grand total marked a passing on of obligation, if not power. Inevitably, such
of 546 engagements. He topped that figure in 2019 – the Royal designated responsibility – whether Buckingham Palace officials
Family’s last full diary before lockdown – with 550 engagements. accept it or not – gave the perception of a transfer of power and
He did the most travelling, too. an expectation of a new leader waiting in readiness in the wings.
“It is, in effect, a job share monarchy,

with the heir leading the way for the
House of Windsor, not following”
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A legacy of
leadership
Second in line to the throne, Prince William,
Duke of Cambridge, has proved an articulate
and effective statesman, and a loyal servant
to his grandmother. Words by Robert Jobson
S tanding on the Buckingham Palace balcony, Prince William

looked at his beautiful bride and asked, “Are you ready?
OK, let’s.” Before he finished his sentence, he drew Catherine
Elizabeth Middleton – now the newly ennobled Her Royal
Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge – close to him. They kissed,
not once, but twice, to the delight of the sea of people tightly
packed together in their thousands along The Mall as far as
the eye could see.
The kiss was the crowning moment of the first grand act in
the theatre of royalty this century. Their wedding, on 29 April
2011, was a spectacular show of British pomp and pageantry at
its finest; a resplendent symbol of British national pride and
unity, played out on the perfect gothic stage of Westminster
Abbey. The Abbey has been the setting for 1,000 years of regal
history and, perhaps, this one moment more than any other
showed what the monarchy has become and what it will be
in the future.
This, however, was not just a kiss for the cameras; this was a
true love match, and everyone watching, including the estimated
two billion glued to their televisions around the world, knew it.
“Are you happy?” Catherine asked her husband. “It was amazing,
amazing,” William replied. “I am so proud you’re my wife.”
A decade on it is clear that this happy marriage has certainly
helped to shape the man William has become. Now a father of
three – to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis –
the Duke of Cambridge has embraced his role as our future king.
Many believe his and Catherine’s strong marriage has been the o
making of him. She is his rock, helping him to improve once Left
cool relations with the media. Indeed, he has come to realise The Duke and Duchess
that he needs to use the media to highlight his agenda as well of Cambridge share a
as maintain the status quo. Ten years on, he is certainly more kiss on the day of their
confident and grounded. wedding in 2011
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For years, William consciously held back from devoting block may never be identified. He has been a reassuring presence
himself to full-time royal duties, fearing the detrimental impact for The Queen since the passing of Prince Philip, giving that
on his personal and family life. But he eventually bowed to the sense of continuity she is keen to foster.
inevitable in the autumn of 2017 and moved from Norfolk, Prince William knows the task of modernising the
where he had been working as an air ambulance pilot, to London institution of monarchy – and ensuring it is a relevant institution
and Prince George started school. Kensington Palace became in the 21st century – will fall on his shoulders. After all, his
his base and Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate the father, Charles, will not only be the oldest monarch to ascend the
Cambridges’ weekend home. throne, but his years as a devoted pioneer and campaigner will
After his stint in the armed services, William was, however, be behind him. Charles’s reputation as “the sustainable prince”
determined to manage his own royal career path. He took a and the environmental champion secured, his reign is hardly
10-week course in agricultural management, organised by likely to rock any boats. He will be in his 70s or 80s by the time
Cambridge University’s Programme for Sustainable Leadership he accedes to the throne.
in 2014. In 2019, he spent three weeks shadowing the William has thought long and hard about what kind of
intelligence officers at MI5, MI6 and at GCHQ, the Government monarch he wants to be. He is a modern man but a traditionalist.
Communications Headquarters, to learn how they combat He is a big ideas person, too, believing he will have a remit to
terrorism to keep the country safe from terrorist attacks. create positive change. The Queen, as head of state, has taken
He described it as “humbling”. a passive approach. She has not only remained above politics but
o It is no coincidence either that increasingly he has been seen actively distanced and protected herself from it. William is not
Above alongside The Queen when she has ventured out of Windsor foolish and knows he cannot be partisan, but some insiders
Prince William meets with Castle, where she had isolated during the Covid-19 lockdown. suggest that he may be a little more challenging of advice than
Chinese President Xi On 15 October 2020, after 220 days working behind the closed his grandmother, or even his father, when his time comes.
Jinping in Beijing in 2015 doors of palaces and castles, Her Majesty The Queen joined her William’s work and approach to big issues such as mental
grandson to fulfil a commitment to visit the UK’s national security health and saving the planet has been innovative. In October
o laboratory at Porton Down, Salisbury where they heard about 2020, inspired by his father and grandfather, he launched his
Opposite ongoing work to battle Covid-19 as well as counter terrorism and “Earthshot Prize” – billed as “the most prestigious global
The Queen and Prince the rapid response to 2018’s Novichok poisoning attack. environment prize in history” – announcing that £50 million
William visit a shelter in Three years earlier, William had also been at Her Majesty’s will be awarded over a decade to find solutions to repair the
west London for victims side, supporting her on a visit to a relief centre helping victims planet by 2030. Five £1 million prizes will be awarded each year
of the Grenfell Tower fire of the Grenfell Tower fire. It was the day when it was announced for the next 10 years, aiming to provide at least 50 solutions to
in 2017 that some of those killed in the fire at the west London tower some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
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“The Royal Family has to modernise and

develop as it goes along and it has to stay
relevant, and that’s the challenge for me”
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As a father, William now sees things differently. “I feel it is back from visiting a refugee camp in Ramallah, in an audacious
my duty, and our collective responsibility to leave our planet in move he changed his speech for a reception with young Israelis
a stronger position for our children,” he said after the launch and Palestinians in Jerusalem. “My message tonight is that you
of his film Prince William: A Planet For Us All in October 2020. have not been forgotten,” he said. “The United Kingdom stands
“My grandfather, and my father, have been in environmental with you.” Both sides hailed his visit a major success.
work for many years. My grandfather’s well ahead of his time. William is across the big issues that matter to our society.
My father, ahead of his time. And I really want to make sure that, In 2019, during a visit to a youth homelessness charity
in 20 years, George doesn’t turn round and say, ‘Are you ahead supporting Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender people,
of your time?’ Because if he does, we’re too late.” William was asked how he would feel if one of his children was
As he approaches 40, William may well be the man who gay. “Absolutely fine,” he replied. “I fully support whatever
appears to have everything – a loving wife and family, wealth decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent’s point
and global respect. But he is also at a crossroads. He seems a of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and
man in a hurry, determined to use his influence to be a bridge discrimination might come.” As President of Bafta he made
between the passionate young and the sceptical old to save our a powerful speech about the lack of diversity in the industry.
environment for future generations. “That generational gap Those who know him best believe he will continue to speak
has to be bridged, so that the older political leaders understand out on causes he believes in.
that the younger generation mean business,” William said in a Perhaps, given his background and the probable timing
statement of intent in October 2020. “They want their futures of his future reign, he may have to be the most modern ever
protected. I owe it to them to help their voices be heard.” monarch. But becoming king is not something he dwells on, as
William is a force to be reckoned with. He is persuasive he told the BBC on the eve of The Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016.
o and has won international respect for his knowledge on these ‘‘I certainly don’t lie awake at night waiting or hoping for it,”
Opposite big issues. Perhaps his moment of truth came in 2015 on his he said, “because it sadly means my family has moved on and
William and Kate attend visit to China, one of the world’s biggest consumers of ivory. I don’t want that.”
the Bafta awards in 2020 During the visit he met President Xi and condemned the illegal William has the spirit and strong intellect that means under
wildlife trade as “a vicious form of criminality”. He may not his stewardship he is determined the monarchy will remain a
o have wanted to engage with China’s hard-line Communist relevant institution fit for purpose and to hand on to his son,
Above Party leadership, but he believed it was right to meet the Prince George. He knows that he has a responsibility to ensure
Prince William was the challenge head on. He emerged stronger for doing it. Two years that the Royal Family moves with the times and that the family
first royal to visit the later, China banned the trade. smoothly transitions into a new age as he takes the crown. “The
Occupied Palestinian His foreign missions now carry real weight. In 2018 he flew Royal Family has to modernise and develop as it goes along and
Territories in 2018 to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As he travelled it has to stay relevant,” he said, “and that’s the challenge for me.”
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Engineered for life

“Robert Bosch’s concerns are in the DNA of the
company and have allowed us to achieve carbon
neutrality long before our original targets”
Vonjy Rajakoba, Bosch
S ome human beings – politicians, monarchs, scientists,

artists or entrepreneurs – have an impact that far outlasts
their own lives. One such person was Robert Bosch (pictured,
“Just as Robert Walpole’s long tenure as prime minister
left a massive imprint on the development of parliamentary
democracy in the UK, the values and way of thinking that
opposite), founder of the multinational engineering and Bosch embodied still permeate the company and shape how
technology company, who established concepts and principles we operate,” explains Christine Siegel, Bosch’s historian and
that still sustain the business today. “He was always putting an archivist. “He had very strong values and instilled several
emphasis on improving people’s quality of life through strategies that have been part of the company’s evolution.
technology while taking into consideration social and These are a focus on internationalisation, a belief in high
environmental factors,” explains Vonjy Rajakoba, Managing standards and a determination to be innovative all the time.
Director of Bosch UK. “He had the foresight to create products These are still driving us forward today.”
that people need and which are sustainable. We now see an It all started with the magneto ignition device. Bosch, an
increased interest and concern about being sustainable with ambitious and creative entrepreneur and engineer, was asked to
regards to decarbonisation. These concerns are already in the reproduce an existing magneto to be used in a stationary engine.
DNA of the company and have allowed us to achieve carbon He then refined and enhanced the magneto – this process of
neutrality long before our original targets.” improving existing technology would become a recurring theme
Bosch was founded in Stuttgart in 1886 but has had a UK throughout the company’s history. The magneto was later
presence for 123 years, longer than many renowned British applied to cars, introducing Bosch to a new sector and helping
brands. The UK arm of the business is still the second largest establish the company’s international profile, which Robert
European market for Bosch, and the fourth largest in the world. Bosch rebuilt after the First World War.
Today, the company employs around 4,500 associates at over “This desire to drive international trade in Europe was
40 sites in the UK, generating revenues of £2.9 billion in 2020. not just about business,” explains Siegel. “The war itself was
The company’s global workforce numbers 395,000 associates, a traumatic experience for Robert Bosch. In fact, he donated
and Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering and sales most of the profits from wartime production to charitable
network covers nearly every country in the world. The company organisations. He believed that trade was a way to develop
experienced sales of €71.5 billion in 2020 across four sectors: relationships between different countries, breaking down
mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and some of those nationalistic barriers. He was a very forward-
energy and building technology. Through the decades, Bosch thinking man.”
has maintained a long and productive relationship with UK Bosch died in 1942 so was unable to see the company’s
parliament as well as with the royal family through HRH second great reconstruction after the Second World War or the
Prince Michael of Kent, a partner on road safety issues. foundation of the pan-European trading bloc that he had long
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“Robert Bosch had very strong values that have

been part of the company’s evolution: a focus on
internationalisation, a belief in high standards
and a determination to be innovative all the time.
These are still driving us forward today”
advocated. But the company continued to grow by following the of decarbonisation. In 2007, Bosch pledged to reduce emissions
principles Bosch had established, bringing innovation to diverse by 20 per cent by 2020; they hit the target in 2014, seven years
markets all over the world while behaving in a responsible and early. The company is now carbon neutral at all 400 worldwide
sustainable fashion. Robert Bosch’s will stipulated the company sites, the first global industrial company to reach climate
should support worthy causes, which led to a unique ownership neutrality at all its locations. The next challenge is to achieve
structure whereby 94 per cent of the share capital of the group carbon neutrality in the supply chain.
is held by a charitable foundation. At the same time, the company continues to pursue areas
As a philanthropist, he was passionate about nature, of technological innovation such as alternative energy, electrical
resource conservation and sustainable practices, and as an vehicles, AI, and the internet of things (IoT), bringing increased
employer he insisted his factories were energy efficient, while safety, sustainability, energy efficiency, convenience and
also ensuring they were safe and well ventilated. A supporter of timesaving. Alternative energies include green hydrogen.
representative democracy, he was one of the first employers in This can be used to power vehicles and heat homes as well as for
Germany to introduce an eight-hour week, as well as offering decentralised power generation using a “Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”.
excellent benefits and wages. He once argued, “I don’t pay good Bosch has established the environmental and economic benefits
wages because I have a lot of money. I have a lot of money of achieving decarbonisation through hydrogen, and is working
because I pay good wages.” with gas infrastructure companies and the government to
This pioneering approach to issues of environmentalism and encourage the gas grid to transition from natural gas to hydrogen.
social justice has allowed Bosch to easily embrace the principles Similar progress is taking place in IoT. “The common
denominator is our motto – invented for life,” says Rajakoba.
“We have always been in a number of innovative and challenging
technological fields and this competitive advantage allows us to
flourish in the market. We are now accelerating further our
commitment to the environment and decarbonisation, ensuring
our supply chain is carbon neutral. Technology like the internet
of things is aimed at connecting products and having less CO2
emissions as a result and there is also our continuing investment
in technology like hydrogen to help decarbonisation both in
transportation and energy.”
Robert Bosch’s driving passion was to improve quality
of life through technology, balancing the pursuit of economic
objectives with consideration for social and environmental
factors. He once said, “Improvements in the world of technology
and business should always also be beneficial to mankind.”
This remains the goal for the company he created. Bosch
uses technological expertise to create products that spark
enthusiasm, improve quality of life and help conserve natural
resources. A century ago, this created the mass transport
revolution, today it will enable IoT and hydrogen fuel cells,
collectively contributing to making the world a better place.
www.bosch.co.uk
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Credit with
compassion
“Our aim is to make the digital economy work for
everyone, everywhere. Even in the UK, 11.7 million people
do not have the digital skills needed for day-to-day life”
Ann Cairns, Mastercard
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W hen it comes to sustainable finance, Mastercard has long

been pioneering change through its business model.
Executive Vice Chair Ann Cairns points out that Mastercard is
considered a sustainable stock. “The reason for that is the way
that we run the company,” she says. “For years, we have been a
company with a purpose-driven agenda.”
The company has a mantra of “doing well by doing good” and
believes that profit and purpose should sit side by side. To that
end, Mastercard has been focused on expanding its efforts around
digital inclusion, social equality and sustainability. “It is our
responsibility to show up with decency and have a positive impact
in every interaction, not just every transaction,” says Cairns.
In 2015, Mastercard committed to the World Bank to bring
an extra half a billion people into the financial system around the
world. That ambitious target was reached in 2020. The company
now intends to reach another half-billion people and 50 million
SMEs by 2025. Having these easy-to-measure goals has helped
Mastercard assess the difference it makes – and the projects have
also revealed some interesting truths about who would otherwise
get left behind. “Our aim is not only confined to emerging
markets,” says Cairns. “It is about making the digital economy The company is also focusing on sustainability, and in
work for everyone, everywhere. Even in the UK, an estimated 2020 it launched the Priceless Planet Coalition, which
11.7 million people do not have the digital skills they need for uses Mastercard’s network to enlist partners to help plant
day-to-day life. We’ve joined with charitable partner Good 100 million trees by 2025. The firm has also introduced a
Things Foundation to tackle this issue and ensure that no one carbon calculator so that cardholders can measure the carbon
is left behind as the country increasingly shifts to digital.” footprint of their purchasing.
Another project, spearheaded by Cairns, was with the World It is not just in the programmes it develops for end users
Food Programme which started with a target to deliver 100 that Mastercard shows its commitment to act with decency.
million meals for schoolchildren around the world. “People came It is an employer of choice and is committed to giving people
up with lots of innovative models,” says Cairns. “Virgin Money a level playing field by ensuring it is a workplace where all
offered to give a school meal to a child every time someone used employees feel valued, respected and empowered to reach their
their Mastercard to tap in on the London Underground. Within a greatest potential. Indeed, Cairns herself has been an advocate
month, they got two million. The idea that you can help a child for this; both within Mastercard and outside. She is also chair
and connect that to a transaction is really powerful.” of the 30% Club, which aims to get 30 per cent of women on
Key to the company’s approach is the idea that doing good board seats and executive committees in the UK and around
does not have to rely on philanthropy. Instead, Mastercard the world. It now has targets for getting women of colour into
looks to create business models which can thrive and withstand these roles. “Unless you keep pushing,” says Cairns, “change
recessions. It gives staff members five days off during the year is not going to happen.”
to volunteer. Many choose to help charities digitise themselves. www.mastercard.co.uk
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Ahead of
the pack
“We want to offer the very best products and services
to our customers and to build a digital future for
everyone that is sustainable, inclusive and fair”
Ahmed Essam, Vodafone UK
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L eading from the front has always been a tradition at Vodafone.

The network was awarded the first UK cellular telephone
licence in 1982, and carried the first mobile phone call three years
later on 1 January, 1985. Other milestones followed: the first SMS
text message in 1992; the first 3G voice call in 2001; and the
world’s first holographic call using 5G in 2018. Now, Vodafone
has more than 300 million customers globally and is responsible
for millions of connections every day throughout the world,
bringing people, families and businesses together.
“We are a great example of a successful British tech
company,” says Helen Lamprell, General Counsel and External
Affairs Director. “We were formed in Newbury behind a curry
house and are now all over the world. There aren’t many UK
tech companies that have gone global.” In fact, Vodafone was
the only UK brand to feature in the BrandZ Top 100 Most
Valuable Global Brands list for 2021.
Summing up the company’s mission, new UK Chief
Executive Ahmed Essam, says: “We want to offer the very
best products and services to our customers and build a digital
future for everyone that is sustainable, inclusive and fair.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic Vodafone vowed to “keep the Vodafone is also a driving force behind the national roll-out
UK connected”, firstly, by ensuring that its employees had the of 5G and full-fibre broadband, and has pledged to help extend
connectivity they needed to work safely and effectively from rural mobile coverage through the Shared Rural Network. It is
home, and secondly, by supporting those who needed help the working with Midlands Future Mobility and other partners to
most. “When the lockdowns closed schools, many children were test transport systems of the future, using new high-speed mobile
shut out from education,” explains Lamprell, “so we created our technologies like 5G to enable vehicles – potentially driverless
Schools.Connected programme to give free connectivity to ones – to operate more safely as they communicate with, and
students across the UK to help them access online learning.” This navigate through, their environments.
involved donating free SIM cards to children and young people Vodafone is also taking a lead on climate change. As of 1 July
with the help of charity partners. The company also provided 2021, 100 per cent of the grid electricity it uses in the UK now
connectivity to UK hospitals, and six months’ free unlimited data comes from certifiably renewable sources, and it has committed to
to NHS and care home workers and vulnerable customers. reaching net zero carbon emissions across its UK operations by 2027.
Despite internet traffic increasing by 30 per cent during The company’s 100-million-plus “Internet of Things” connections
the pandemic and voice calls rising by 50 per cent, Vodafone are helping businesses reduce their carbon footprints, too.
succeeded in keeping its vow and enabled businesses, families “Achieving our ambitious net zero target is a critical part of our
and friends to stay in touch. “We helped more than 750,000 company strategy,” says Essam. “Now is the time to embrace this
people during the pandemic,” says Lamprell, “and we have made opportunity and work together to accelerate our transition to a
a new commitment to provide free connectivity to one million zero-carbon society.” Once again, Vodafone is ahead of the pack.
digitally excluded people by the end of 2022.” www.vodafone.co.uk
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The prudent
innovators
“Innovation is important but so is developing the
business in a risk appropriate way. We do a lot of research
to make sure that we understand where markets are
going and what the next important topics will be”
Gilbert Van Hassel, Robeco
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W hen the Dutch asset-management firm Robeco was

founded in 1929, it did so with a view to combining
a pioneering spirit with a sense of caution. It was a far-sighted
“We have worked with our clients in the UK to reduce the
environmental impact of their portfolios of between 15 per cent
and 50 per cent,” says Van Hassel. “This is the equivalent of
approach that saw it through the Great Depression and the annual emissions of 11,000 cars. We have made similar
allowed it to sustain other shocks to the world economic reductions with regards to waste and water.”
system, including present-day health and climate crises. The UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) are
“This idea of being prudent innovators may seem a little another way to measure impact. Robeco takes them into
contradictory but that still inspires us today,” says CEO Gilbert account when making decisions both as a company and as
Van Hassel. “These base thoughts are still very much part of investors. “We believe that if we understand sustainability than
the company philosophy. Innovation is important but so is we will over the longer term make better investment decisions
developing the business in a risk appropriate way. We do as we understand risk better and understand the potential on
a lot of research to make sure that we understand where markets returns,” says Van Hassel. “It is something we have integrated
are going and what the next important topics will be. ESG into all our decision making. With a stock people look at
(environmental, social and corporate governance) investment multiple variables and so for every stock in every industry
is something that gives us a seat at the table and it’s where category, we will identify the materially important ESG factors
we really differentiate ourselves from the competition.” that might affect the returns and take that into account of the
Robeco manages an investment portfolio worth £140 value. We have a regular version and a more sustainable version
billion, and ESG is the reason that Van Hassel believes it of most of our products, and we have impact products that
punches above its weight, both in terms of returns and wider really target SDGs.”
impact. Robeco launched its first sustainable investment fund When it comes to the community, Robeco works with
in 1995, long before ESG investment became fashionable, and a not-for-profit partner called City To Sea to increase awareness
now includes an component in all of its investment decisions. of single-use plastic and it ran a UK-wide schools competition
The company is committed to combating climate change and inviting children to design a sculpture to raise awareness of
social inequalities and has created a foundation to provide plastic use. The company also organised a river clean-up on the
educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, for Thames to remove plastic. Robeco continues to set the highest
example through a literacy programme in South Africa. standards for what a committed sustainable company can
As a thought leader, Robeco uses its wider influence to create achieve in terms of direct and indirect influence. “Everybody
transformative change, working with large multinational has woken up to the importance of sustainability now so we have
companies to encourage them to place climate change and to work hard to stay as the market leader,” says Van Hassel.
ESGs among their key performance indicators. www.robeco.com
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Lancashire
hot spot
“We are still a family business but we have proper
corporate governance and the family members
are required to work hard”
Edwin Booth, Booths
E dwin J Booth doesn’t just share a name with his great-great-

grandfather, the founder of the Booths chain of high-end
supermarkets in the north west of England, he also shares an
the product. We are concentrated on supporting small and
emerging rural-based businesses as provenance is now very
important. We will tell more and more stories online about
attitude. “He was very philosophical, extremely optimistic and the items we sell, because people care about the people and
always wanted to get the best product and sell it in the best way,” the stories behind what they buy.”
says Booth, the current CEO. “He wanted to people to enjoy the This approach has had successful results, with Booths now
business and the experience of shopping with him. We still have achieving above market returns. It was prompted by major
this attitude with everything we do – ‘what would Edwin think changes at board level, with Booth bringing in new blood who
of this?’ If we think he would smile and be excited by it, then recognised the potential of the business but would not be held
we will do it.” back by convention or the belief that small businesses should
Booths was founded in Blackpool in 1847 by Edwin Henry only operate in certain ways. “We are still a family business but
Booth. He started with tea, before moving into wine and spirits we have proper corporate governance and family members are
in 1870. Over the following decades the chain, with headquarters required to work hard,” says Booth. “We are a fifth generation
in Preston, has continued to flourish even as bigger rivals arrived and we want a sixth generation to join us on that basis being
in the market. For the present-day Edwin Booth, that success swift in our decision making and prepared for change. We talk
comes from placing people at the heart of everything they do. very volubly about our spirit, dream and focus.”
It’s an approach that is applied to all elements of what they do – This has rippled down to the shop floor, seeing an increase
customers, staff and suppliers. For customers, it is about ensuring in customer numbers. Booths is now rewarding this by offering
they enjoy the shopping experience and feel safe and welcome price reductions through customer loyalty schemes and
but also that they are listened to. Staff receive excellent training introducing wine bars and new cafés to the stores to make
to ensure all talent is properly developed, while suppliers are them a more enjoyable experience for shoppers. “We are going
embraced as partners, with Booths using its digital space to tell to spend more time entertaining people in our store,” he says.
the stories behind the great local products they stock. “At our wine bar you will be able to buy a bottle downstairs and
“Sourcing locally is a very important element and we we will serve it to you upstairs with a platter of local cheese
work closely with those suppliers and try to understand their and cold meats. We also roast coffee and blend tea. We have
situation,” says Booth. “Sometimes we invest in farms and we blended a tea for the Prince’s Countryside Fund and have
will help small suppliers who don’t know how to do things like worked very closely with other Prince of Wales charities.”
get a bar code. We encourage them if we see the potential of www.booths.co.uk
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Japan’s gentle
giant of electricity
“There is an opportunity for us to make a real difference –
we have the right products, the experience and expertise”
Martin Fahey, Mitsubishi Electric
I t’s a measure of the extraordinarily high levels of service and

manufacturing quality demanded by Mitsubishi Electric that
an electric train it designed and built in the 1950s is still
electrification of society. In the UK, legislation has been
introduced to ensure that all new homes from 2025 are built
with electric heating systems rather than gas and oil boilers,
functioning. “Mitsubishi Electric was asked to design some and Mitsubishi Electric will be heavily involved in this process
electric trains for use in India, where the coal-fired steam – particularly when it comes to that sector of housing that has
engines were very unreliable and causing big problems for existing gas and oil boilers and will need them replaced in the
connectivity among different communities,” says Martin Fahey, years ahead.
Head of Sustainability for UK and Ireland. “The first one of “You can’t just take the gas boiler out and replace it with
these trains was delivered in 1957 and it’s still running today. an electrically powered heat pump,” says Fahey. “People need
That is because they’re so well made and so well designed. In solutions as to how they can manage that transfer. There is an
1921, our fourth president said of Mitsubishi Electric that we opportunity there for us to make a real difference, and we have
made “electric products of the highest quality that contribute a long-term strategy to assist this happening in both homes and
to society”. We do that through longevity of the product and commercial buildings – we have the right products but also the
delivering on what is promised. You don’t throw it away, you knowledge, the experience and the expertise to do it well. We
keep using it, and the environmental impact is diluted over the believe we can help change behaviours as well as technology,
long life of the product.” and we are helping to craft legislation as advisors because we
Mitsubishi Electric is one of the divisions of the Japanese are seen as honest and able to give a proper, informed view. It is
industrial giant. The company was founded 150 years ago and known that we do the right thing for the long term as our
incorporated in 1921, 100 years ago. It began life making electric 100-year history of innovation demonstrates”
desk and ceiling fans, and as the possibilities and opportunities les.mitsubishielectric.co.uk
provided by electrification increased it soon started to expand its
range. But it did so while maintaining those core principles of
manufacturing everything to an exceptionally high standard
– the company’s own seal of approval is Mitsubishi Electric
Quality (MEQ), which no other manufacturer can match – and
always with a long-term view regarding the product’s life and its
impact on the world around it.
That means that environmental concerns and sustainable
development have formed a valued part of the company’s thinking
for decades. Mitsubishi Electric provides heating, ventilating and
air conditioning for the construction industry, where it is a market
leader in the advancement and deployment of energy efficient
equipment, because of this passionate commitment to carbon
reduction and limiting the impact of global warming. It does this
while seeking to influence others, providing some moral clarity
and thought leadership in the industry.
Mitsubishi Electric’s planning is influenced in turn by
the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with which the
company ethos is very naturally aligned. Its current strategy
revolves around the role it can play regarding the increased
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Sonic boom
“With the right mix of creativity and technology,
you can transform your caller experience and
enhance your brand perception”
Mark Williamson, PHMG
I n a connected world, audio branding, the caller experience

and audio touchpoints are more important then ever. “It is a
niche that we operate in, and we try to treat something that is
reasonably simple very seriously,” says Mark Williamson, Chief
Marketing and Strategy Officer at PHMG, whose audio branding
services are now used by clients including Coca-Cola, Audi and
Adidas. PHMG began life, however, in 1998 as PleaseHoldUK in
Chester. A period of rapid growth saw the company move to
Manchester two years later, and rename as PH Media Group in
2008. Today, there is another head office in Chicago, as well as
a presence in New York, Toronto, Melbourne and Singapore.
The company has consistently won awards for being a great
employer, including being listed in the 2020 Sunday Times Best
Companies to Work For. PHMG prides itself on its employees.
“We work in music and creativity, so we attract very talented
people,” says Williamson. “We have people who’ve worked on
Rihanna’s music, and two Grammy Award winners on our team,
and our executive producer has worked with names like Kings
of Leon. That’s the level of quality we bring to every production,”
he says. Producing that quality is a team effort and
collaboration is at its heart. “Through our recent staff surveys,
our people told us how much they valued their colleagues and the
connection within their teams. And our latest CSR (corporate
social responsibility) initiative, Around the World in 80 Days,
personified this. Staff from around the globe came together, US and Australia, our main territories,” says Williamson.
racking up the miles in trademark creative ways while raising “As companies migrate to cloud-based systems, we are one of
funds for worthy causes.” As for the music, it is important for the few companies with the technical expertise to deal with this.
brand communication, with 66 per cent of consumers believing Our technical team has knowledge of every cloud system and can
music used in marketing is more memorable than visuals. provide expert consultancy to our customers.” This skill-set
Companies of all sizes, from all sectors, need a telephone means that a tiny SME can, in theory, have the same standard of
system and this presents an opportunity to communicate with production on their audio marketing as a huge multinational.
customers, says Williamson. “With the right mix of creativity PHMG is going through a digital transformation to stay
and technology, you can transform your caller experience and ahead of and drive industry changes and is building a new
enhance your brand perception,” he says. “If the customer feels online portal for customers. The pandemic has brought further
like they are being looked after, you can then expand on that.” changes that the company is adapting to swiftly: telephone use
PHMG also offers podcasts and sonic logos – the latter being has increased, and people are also using video-conferencing
an area that is seeing significant growth. “It is an audio version tools, which can be adapted to include sonic logos and other
of a visual brand logo,” says Williamson. “When people hear audio branding techniques. What has not changed is the PHMG
that on a telephone system or a podcast, it really stands out.” approach towards its customers. “We have almost 40,000
Advances in technology are creating further changes. clients,” says Williamson. “But we make sure each one feels as
“A major move coming in the next few years is that analogue if they are our only customer.”
telephones are going to be switched off across the UK, the www.phmg.com
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XX
Innovative
consultation
“It’s all about being very transparent and
engaging. We go that extra mile to make sure
we talk to people in the company”
Peter Richardson, Protiviti
A s a management consulting firm with a focus on change

management, Protiviti works every day to support clients
who face challenges in a dynamic world. It does so by focusing
on its core values of innovation, integration and inclusion – with
innovation at the head of the list. “Innovation is the key element
and, in order to be innovative and to create change with our
clients, we have to be inclusive and we have to be diverse,” says
Peter Richardson, Head of Protiviti UK. “Innovation is all about
breadth of ideas, of concept, of people and of conclusions.
To achieve that, I need to create an environment where people feel
empowered. It’s all about being very transparent and engaging.
We go that extra mile to make sure we talk to people in the
company and we then back that up in terms of written words
and specific actions.”
For Richardson, communication is at the heart of this. He
has created a variety of communication channels within the
organisation so that staff at all levels can feel confident that their
voices are being heard. New joiners are set challenges that will
help the company to identify areas where there are natural
blockages in communication, while Richardson himself has an
upward coaching team, who coach him from within the business.
This challenges him, gives staff representation, and ensures that
he is exposed to a diverse range of thinking.
Even the work Protiviti undertakes outside the business,
including its corporate social responsibility engagement with invest in our people in terms of training, and our grassroots
the local community, builds into this hunger for innovation and employee-network groups are very motivated. As a result, our
diversity, while also keeping staff fulfilled. “We work with a range overall effort is hugely led by our fantastic staff who really want
of partners in health, education, women’s groups and mental to create change and be given the opportunity to make an
health,” says Richardson. “We do this because they matter to us, impact. That allows us to do more and to achieve more.”
and they add hugely to our thinking and our innovative mindset Protiviti staff are continually exposed to a wide diversity of
because of the diversity they bring into the company.” thought, which stimulates and supports innovation. Through
This empowering approach gets results. For Protiviti’s UK a careful but authentic strategy of top-down communication,
MD Roland Carandang, a global leader on innovation, it speaks staff also feel engaged and confident in expressing their
to “people’s desire to do significant things”, which is one of the thoughts. The ultimate beneficiaries of all this are Protiviti’s
core drivers of innovation. “Whether that means working with clients. “We get results from surveys that suggest that, as
our corporate social responsibility partners or creating change a consequence of what we do, we are naturally seen as an
within our core business, that significance is what we are inclusive and collaborative consulting firm,” says Richardson.
helping our people to achieve,” he says. “That filters into our client relationships and they praise us to
As a result, Protiviti staff are highly motivated. “Inclusion the extent with which we listen and engage – and in turn that
and openness are part of the company’s foundation,” explains changes the way our clients engage with us.”
Director Belton Flournoy (pictured, right). “That means we www.protiviti.co.uk
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Fit for
purpose
“Brand identity doesn’t come from the colour
of the walls or the shape of the logo: it’s a promise
that is delivered through your people”
Sophie Lawler, Total Fitness
A lthough Sophie Lawler became CEO of Total Fitness in

2018, her relationship with the nationwide chain of health
clubs began some 20 years before. Lawler had just completed
her Masters and was hoping to do a PhD, but needed to support
herself. “I qualified as a fitness instructor and sold Total Fitness
memberships for commission to fund a PhD I never did,” she
remembers. “I left after 18 months but I stayed in the fitness
industry, working with another chain.”
By 2018, Lawler had reached another crossroad. Total Fitness
once more loomed into her future. Lawler was on a career break,
reflecting on what she wanted to do next, and building the
confidence to follow through on her vision. She was originally
contemplating moving into a number-two position and, with
this in mind, contacted the CEO of Total Fitness. She discovered
he was leaving, but even then didn’t consider herself ready for
the role. It was only after a conversation with her mentor that
she realised that she might have what it took to be a leader.
“I knew this wouldn’t be easy,” she says. “It’s a challenging
marketplace. But sometimes the universe is telling you something
and you just need to go for it.”
Lawler quickly settled on the best way to turn things around
for Total Fitness. Rather than commissioning a new logo or
investing in new facilities, she decided to take the harder route
of improving staff morale. She believed that Total Fitness had
lost its sense of purpose, and once that was restored, the benefits
would be felt throughout the firm. Similarly, when it came to Under Lawler, employee satisfaction rose rapidly
creating new brand values, she was insistent that these should along with member satisfaction, and a long-term decline
be centred on rebuilding low engagement levels among staff, in membership was reversed. Both employees and members
connecting them with the business so they were more committed began to see they were undertaking a shared fitness journey,
to driving improvement for members. taking pride in each others’ achievements. Growth suffered
“It’s a tough approach for a CEO to drive performance a setback during the Covid pandemic, but that experience
through purpose, because it is a people-focused approach,” has only strengthened Lawler’s resolve and belief that she
she explains. “Most CEOs would rather change the product in is the right person in the right place at the right time.
small ways than go the tougher route of restoring pride and “It might take us 24 months to get back to where we were
purpose. When people asked about rebranding I explained that before the pandemic but this is a brilliant business and I am
brand identity doesn’t come from the colour of the walls or the a passionate advocate for it,” she says. “I love the fact that we
shape of the logo: a brand is a promise that is delivered through provide this very broad range of activities in areas of the UK
your people. Your people are the brand and their behaviour is other operators don’t bother with. Our staff and our members
the identity. If you engage your employees through values and want to achieve something, there’s real heart and soul in that.
leadership, then they will engage the members, and improved Total Fitness has a purpose.”
performance will follow.” www.totalfitness.co.uk
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Every book
matters
“Five years ago we were the 12th largest publisher in the UK:
last year we finished sixth. Our mission is to get into the top
five. We’re looking at multiple strategies to achieve this goal”
Perminder Mann, Bonnier Books UK
A s the eldest of eight children, Perminder Mann is used to

having to fight her own corner. Mann is the CEO of Bonnier
Books UK, one of the UK’s largest publishing companies, and
her way up to become CEO of the UK division. Bonnier Books is
a family-owned Swedish company whose first publication – in
1837 – was titled Proof That Napoleon Never Existed. The roster
she has had to break down many barriers to achieve her current now includes bestselling authors such as Lynda La Plante and
position. Upon becoming CEO, she was determined to make it Wilbur Smith as well as brands such as Disney and Marvel. The
easier for others to follow in her path. company has 12 imprints: five adult (John Blake, Manilla Press,
“One of the first things I did was to put in support for new Echo, Blink and Zaffre) and seven children’s imprints (including
mothers with a great maternity package,” she says. “We want to Hot Key Books, Piccadilly, Templar, Big Picture, Studio Press,
build a sustainable workplace which means attracting a diverse Autumn Publishing and Igloo Books).
talent pool. I want a company culture where anybody has “Five years ago we were the 12th largest publisher in the UK,
the potential to thrive whatever their background. This was a last year we finished sixth,” says Mann. “Our mission is now to
reaction to my own experiences in the industry. I feel I represent get into the top five. We are looking at multiple opportunities
women; I represent people of colour and, most importantly, and strategies to achieve this goal – including a new dedicated
I represent people from a working-class background.” music imprint, recently announced.”
Mann took her first job in publishing because she could not Mann regularly visits schools to help spread the message
afford to work as an unpaid intern in her chosen field – Bonnier of aspiration among children, hoping to encourage others
Books UK, needless to say, offers only paid internships. She says to follow in her footsteps. She believes that the secret to
that it wasn’t until she was 25 and found herself working in the a successful business is to create the right culture, which will
publishing industry that she discovered this was the place she ensure you attract the best talent. “The skill is to get the right
wanted to be. “I was the first of my family to go to university people. It is all about people,” she says. “If you nurture an
but wasn’t aware of all the career paths open to me,” she recalls. environment where everybody’s voices are heard, your team
“Success was a more conventional career in medicine or law. will feel empowered, engaged and connected. Sustainability
Then I saw all those books and felt right at home as I had spent comes from enabling passionate people to be themselves at
my childhood in libraries.” work and a direct consequence of this, is great teamwork and
Initially working in sales, Mann’s responsibility was productivity. Another fantastic outcome is that our external
to find ways to sell books outside of traditional bookshops. partners who work with our empowered teams will have
She progressed her career, while trying to balance her role as a great experience too.”
a mother, until arriving at Bonnier Books UK, where she worked www.bonnierbooks.co.uk
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A growing concern
“We have one of the world’s most advanced growing
facilities. It’s a pioneering demonstration of what
sustainable development in the UK could look like”
Louise Motala, Bridge Farm Group
sustainable growing model that is unrivalled at this scale

in the UK. The design of the glasshouse and the technology
that has been incorporated allows for a range of different
crops to be grown, ensuring that the glasshouse is at
optimum capacity throughout the year. Pest control comes
from beneficial insects, while any lighting that isn’t supplied
by the sun comes from LED lights.
“We have one of the world’s most advanced growing
facilities, computer-controlled and entirely sustainable,
managed by expert growers who have years of experience,”
says Motala. “Growing in Lincolnshire means we get our
flowers and plants to retailers on the same day they are
picked. It is a pioneering demonstration of what sustainable
development in the UK could look like.”
Already supplying over 70 million plants a year to
retailers the business is set for further expansion with
its launch of a new brand called The Growers. With an
increased interest in gardening following the COVID-19
pandemic the brand is aimed at offering the novice
gardener an expert helping hand to bring their gardens
T he story of Bridge Farm Group’s evolution from a small

family-run business selling houseplants into one of the
UK’s largest producers of edible and ornamental plants, is
to life with plants.
Always looking for opportunities to innovate, Bridge
Farm Group also has a research-and-development license
one rooted in ambition and innovation. from the Home Office to grow cannabis for the purposes
“The company was founded in 1988 by Jayne and of extracting cannabidiol (CBD). This cannabis compound
Tony Ball, selling high quality houseplants with a focus is an emerging market that has the potential to help
on growing sustainably,” explains Bridge Farm Group’s consumers with a number of conditions ranging from
Managing Director, Louise Motala. “Then, in 2010, the pain relief through to anxiety and sleep disturbances.
founders’ son David Ball joined the business and with his All this plays into Bridge Farm Group’s core strength of
pioneering approach, led its investment in technology and being one of the UK’s largest and most ambitious providers
automation, a real first for the British horticultural industry.” of plant-based products. “Plants offer so many therapeutic
Under David Ball’s leadership, Bridge Farm Group has and physical benefits,” says Motala. “With our journey of
invested in fantastic new facilities, acquiring a 100-acre site growth comes a commitment to sustainability, because
in Spalding, Lincolnshire, and starting construction of a above all, as plant growers we care about the natural
70-acre glasshouse. As one of the UK’s largest glasshouse environment – and that underpins everything we do.”
facilities, the business has developed a cost efficient and www.bridgefarmgroup.co.uk
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The advocates of
impact investing
“I concluded that the goals of investing and
improving society were not mutually exclusive
and in fact these goals can be mutually beneficial”
Naruhisa Nakagawa, Caygan Capital
for their social and environmental impact as their profitability,

an approach commonly defined as “impact investing”. Caygan
quickly established a strong reputation among early-stage
companies as being smart, transparent and effective partners.
Once an investment is made, Caygan continues to work with its
portfolio companies to help accelerate their progress, and enables
them to successfully enter Japanese markets. “As we invest in
both private and public companies, we are able to make
appropriate introductions to help these companies within these
different spaces bridge the information gap and work together
for mutual benefit,” says Nakagawa. “That is something that
helps us stand out against our competition.”
The company’s unique structure sees Nakagawa concentrate
on investment decisions, allowing his analysts to focus entirely
on original research and analysis. “We use a think-tank approach
in terms of analysing investment themes,” he says. “Other
investment funds typically have portfolio managers that are
supported by analysts who both perform research and suggest
investment ideas. At Caygan, each analyst specialises in a
different area such as business fundamental, macroeconomics or
E arly on in his career, financier Naruhisa Nakagawa realised

something needed to change in the finance industry. It was
clear to him that investment banks were not set up to support
financial accounting. We seldom rely on third-party research and
prefer to form our independent opinions from primary data
sources. This allows us to uncover interesting opportunities.”
the industries of the future, especially those seeking to address These include investments in a company that uses artificial
crucial issues such as climate change and ageing societies. intelligence and machine learning to monitor wind turbines so a
Now, in his role as Chief Investment Officer of his own piece of equipment can be replaced before it breaks, eliminating
investment company, Caygan Capital, he is committed to lengthy stoppages. Similarly, research undertaken by analysts
driving the change. “I could see the traditional approach to explored the reasons behind the low productivity in healthcare
trading and investment management did not at that time take workers and realised that countries with higher productivity in
into consideration broader societal concerns or meet social healthcare labour also had greater investment in healthcare
needs,” says Nakagawa. “I concluded that the goals of investing technology, highlighting an area where Caygan can focus its
and improving society were not mutually exclusive and in fact investments. While sustainability and social concerns remain the
these goals can be mutually beneficial. Over the years I have focus of investment, Caygan does not neglect the importance
increasingly combined asset management with a desire to seek of profitability. “What is important to us is choosing the right
solutions to social problems. More recently I have invested in companies and the right businesses,” says Nakagawa. “They
about 30 early-stage companies committed to tackling critical need to be sustainable and they need to make a profit. If that
environmental and social problems.” company cannot make a profit then it suggests society doesn’t
Nakagawa (pictured, opposite) focuses his investments on need their product and they might not succeed, so we have to
early-stage companies within smart healthcare, green tech or think about what is both good for society and profitable.”
promoting a sustainable outlook. He selects companies as much www.caygan.com
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For the love of coffee

“We genuinely believe that coffee can
be a force for good. It can positively impact
the lives of people and nature”
Guillaume Chesneau, Nespresso
N espresso is the pioneer of portioned coffee. It makes fresh

coffee of exceptional quality by combining precision
technology, quality and design to deliver a barista-like
experience with speed, convenience and consistency. “Who we
are and what we stand for is rooted in our coffee expertise, our
innovative spirit and the farmers we work with,” says Guillaume
Chesneau, Managing Director for the UK and Ireland.
The Nespresso range now includes the Original and Vertuo
machines for domestic customers and a choice of Nespresso
Professional machines for businesses, with 80 coffee varieties
available between them. The Nespresso Professional Origin
collection alone covers Peru, India, Brazil and Guatemala, while
the Master Origins range features coffees from Ethiopia, Costa
Rica, Colombia and Nicaragua, all with different characteristics.
There are espressos flavoured with vanilla or caramel, and
ristrettos and decafs of varying intensity. Whether you prefer a
strong dark espresso, a large mug or a milk-based coffee, you’re
guaranteed consistency in the perfect cup, every time.
The silky-smooth coffees available today are the result of
over 30 years of refining from master craftspeople. “Our Vertuo
machine, for instance, has a barcode that detects the size of
coffee,” says Chesneau. “It then works out the precise amount
of water that needs to be pushed through the capsule.”
Nespresso’s evolution is not just rooted in its inventive
technological leaps but also in the coffee itself, as well as the company. “Sustainability has been at the heart of Nespresso since
journey it takes from farm to cup. “Through our trademarked it began,” says Chesneau. “We are committed to being carbon
AAA Sustainable Quality Programme, we work closely with over neutral by the end of 2022. There are currently 7,000 capsule-
110,000 farmers across the world to make sure that everything collection points around the UK where you can just drop off used
is sourced sustainably, and to help improve the quality of life Nespresso capsules to be recycled. This year we co-founded
for the communities behind our coffees,” says Chesneau. “This Podback, a collaborative recycling scheme with Nestlé and Jacobs
includes providing training and assistance to support farmers in Douwe Egberts to make recycling even easier by unlocking the
improving coffee quality and yield, and embedding sustainable kerbside collection of pods for the first time. In terms of
farming practices, while increasing their incomes.” Nespresso’s technology and sustainability, our newest Vertuo machine is made
Reviving Origins range also provides leadership in this field. from 54 per cent recycled plastic. As a company we are always
“This looks at coffee farming in regions impacted by conflict, pushing ourselves to be the best we can be on sustainability.”
economic hardship and environmental disasters,” says From its inception in 1986, Nespresso has revolutionised
Chesneau. “We work with farmers in those communities the way millions enjoy their coffee. “The Nespresso machine
to help them revitalise coffee and breathe new life into local was born out of a really innovative idea,” says Chesneau. “Since
economies. We genuinely believe that coffee can be a force for then we’ve continued to strive for innovation. It’s in our DNA
good. It can positively impact the lives of people and nature.” to push the boundaries of what a unique and sustainable coffee
This passion for reigniting local communities and their experience can be, while making a positive impact on lives.”
economies ties to a wider focus on sustainability throughout the www.nespresso.com/uk
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Net benefits
for the world
“We are providing isolated people with digital
skills so they can start to take advantage of all
the things that connectivity offers”
Daniel Becerra, Buf faloGrid
T he internet is one of the world’s most extraordinary

accomplishments, with a capacity for improving health and
education, creating opportunity for billions across the entire world.
But that’s only true for those with access to the web or the ability to
use it. Hundreds of millions of people remain unconnected despite
having access to 3G technology because of a combination of
poverty, lack of power, digital illiteracy and lack of suitable content.
That’s where BuffaloGrid comes in. The company produces
devices for remote communities that are pre-loaded with relevant
information, offering users suitable content without effecting data
usage. “We are like a streaming platform for the unconnected,”
says co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Becerra.
BuffaloGrid’s commitment is on connecting billions of new
internet users, with particular focus on rural communities in
Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Products include the
solar-powered BuffaloGrid Hub, which makes phone charging and
digital content available to all. This allows users to access remotely
updated content information from the internet without impacting
their own data usage – firstly having spoken to users to ask what
they most want from the internet. “They can stream it directly
from us or they can download it to watch at home,” says Becerra.
Mindful of the problems some of these communities have with
powering their phones, the company has designed the Buffalito, a
combined smart lamp and power bank for villages that lack access
to power. The Buffalito is supplied to such villages for free and is directly by the creators rather than being pirated. BuffaloGrid is
also being distributed in refugee camps in Uganda with the also able to avoid the problem of misinformation, which can cause
support of the UN Refugee Agency in the knowledge that damage in all communities.
something as simple as a light and working phone can make a The net result is to increase knowledge as well as teach digital
considerable difference to the health and safety of refugees, literacy, preparing users for when they get full access to the
particularly women and children. All the company’s devices have internet. “We are providing isolated people with digital skills so
been carefully constructed so they are robust enough to deal with they can start to take advantage of all the things that connectivity
the difficult conditions. offers,” says Becerra. “We provide a stepping stone into the
Although BuffaloGrid strives to eventually provide its own internet-connected world, even if it’s not the full experience.
content, it currently works with local film studios and sporting We take royalty-free content and deliver it for free, offering the
associations as well as a range of education partners such as the creators new viewers and market intelligence. The internet is one
Open University to produce content that covers the areas of health, of the most amazing things humanity has produced and is the tool
education, sport and entertainment. The devices are deployed via that has the most potential to level the field between the people at
mobile phone companies, who have already identified the areas the bottom of the economic pyramid and the rest. It can improve
where there is an existing demand for internet services. As well as health, education, wellbeing, opportunity and everything that
giving rural communities access to information, the company matters – and we want everybody to get access to that.”
ensures that films and TV programmes can be provided to users www.buffalogrid.com
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XX
An enduring impact
“We are focused on the concept of investing for tomorrow’s
world, as we feel that is what will bring results for our clients
and ensures that we are investing responsibly”
Abigail Dean, Nuveen
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W hile some asset management companies tend to take

a short-term view of investments, the global giant
Nuveen is committed to making an enduring positive impact
on the world. The company takes a long-term view partly
because of its deep history and culture of progressive
investment. Founded in 1898 in Chicago by John Nuveen,
who pioneered the financing of American infrastructure
projects, Nuveen is the investment management arm of
TIAA, which was founded by philanthropist and businessman
Andrew Carnegie in 1918 to create viable retirement options
for teachers. Today it serves more than 5 million active and
retired employees in the academic, research medical, cultural
and governmental fields.
“A key difference between our business and that of many
of our peers is that ultimately we are owned by TIAA, which
provides retirement benefits for teachers in the US,” explains
Martin Davies, CEO of Westchester, Nuveen’s farmland
division. “TIAA cares very passionately about sustainability.
We are often investing on behalf of them, which gives
meaningful alignment to what we are doing.”
Westchester is the world’s biggest investor in farmland, governance issues. Here the company is investing to transform
having expanded from its origins in the US Midwest. The existing structures into net-zero-carbon buildings and is
company ensures it has strong relationships with farmers creating strategies specifically devoted to “impact investment”,
and is committed to act as a steward and custodian, leaving which consider social and environmental impact to be as
the land in a better condition than before. This is done by important as financial returns.
ensuring the land produces high-quality food, by respecting “We are focused on investing for tomorrow’s world,”
land rights and by protecting and finding ways to value the she says, “as we feel that is what will bring results for our clients
natural capital of the land in terms of soil heath, biodiversity and ensures that we are investing responsibly. Real estate is
and water quality. That can be done by developing a richer a long-term investment so it makes sense to focus on long-term
and healthier mix of crops, and by investing in regenerative structural trends and have a good understanding of how society
agriculture – farming that actively improves the land and will transition towards a low-carbon economy, deal with
helps to reverse the damage caused by climate change. demographic changes and withstand the impact of climate
“There is a strong feeling of responsibility for what we change. Understanding that makes us a more responsible
do,” says Davies. “We have developed leadership capacity investor and also one that safeguards our client’s money.”
for young people in farming with the Nuffield Farming The challenge is to find the balance between sustainability
Scholarships Trust, so young people can study and travel and commerciality. As Davies admits: “The sector generally
in the agricultural industry and spread their knowledge needs capital but what we aspire to do is bring capital that
while building their own leadership capacity. We are investing allows farmers to move to more sustainable ways of doing
in the future of people as well as of the land.” things, whether that’s regenerative agriculture, shorter supply
Nuveen’s real-estate division has a sustainability division chains or dealing with climactic change. We believe we can
led by Abigail Dean. Again, this sees Nuveen aspiring to be bring significant change to the rural economy.”
a global leader and innovator in environmental, social and www.nuveen.com
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Securing tomorrow
“If you want to be a long-term, responsible organisation,
you should encourage all the companies you invest in
to behave sustainably”
Richard Maitland, Sarasin & Partners
I nvestment management firm Sarasin & Partners knows a

thing or two about growth. The firm started out with zero
capital in the late 1980s, and by the early 1990s was managing a
says Maitland. “They have proved their sustainability over
generations.” Sustaining them requires charity investment
managers to perform a careful balancing act, calculating the
couple of billion pounds. “The first billion is by far the hardest maximum amount they can spend on today’s beneficiaries
billion that you ever raise,” says partner Richard Maitland. While without overspending and killing off a fund’s future potential.
in its early days the company catered mainly for private clients, As of July 2021, Sarasin & Partners is managing £19.3 billion,
in 2003 it merged with a specialist charity investment manager more than £8.3 billion of which is earmarked for charities. “It’s a
to become the firm it is today. huge proportion of our business,” says Maitland. Historically, the
Along with traditional charities, Sarasin looks after firm has focused on the UK, but times are changing. The
educational endowments for schools and universities. Among company is setting its sights on the USA and Canada, with the
them is The King’s School in Canterbury, which was endowed by long-term intention of extending its reach to other English-
Henry VIII in 1541. “He gave them enough money to take 50 speaking nations. “We are now actively seeking to grow our
King’s scholars through the school,” says Maitland. “The initial business out of the UK, where our market share is quite
endowment back in 1541 was to provide heavily subsidised significant,” says Maitland. Such expansion plans have been
education for those who could otherwise not afford it” – a given a boost by the investment world’s increasing emphasis on
mission that Sarasin helps continue to this day. In some cases, the principles of environmental, social and corporate governance
the sustainable asset management that makes these subsidised (ESG), where UK companies are at the vanguard of international
school places possible can be traced back to initial gifts received asset managers.
centuries ago. “A lot of our charities are 200 or 300 years old,” “People are now coming round to the mindset that a
sustainable and responsible approach is a better way of doing
investment,” says Maitland. “I’m reminded of that New Yorker
cartoon where people are sitting in a cave saying: ‘Yes, the planet
got destroyed but, for a beautiful moment in time, we created
a lot of value for shareholders.’ If you want to be a long-term,
responsible organisation, you should encourage all the companies
you invest in to behave sustainably. We are incredibly lucky that
our heritage means that our clients have challenged us on
responsible investment issues for 30 years, which a lot of people
are only now getting round to focusing on for the first time.”
Sarasin & Partners actively considers the impact its
investments make on the planet and future generations and, for
example, will engage with directors to ensure investments align
with the Paris Climate Accord. Through its Compendium of
Investment, it has trained more than 5,000 trustees and charity
executives in investment skills, which has helped charities
understand how to achieve their specific investment objectives.
As ever, the firm’s focus is on the future. “I am proud of what
we have built, but I will be even prouder if the generations that
come after us take it on and make something more of it,” says
Maitland. “It is about securing tomorrow, today.”
www.sarasinandpartners.com
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Meet the sustainable

business pioneers
“We encourage leaders and emerging leaders to be the best
they can be in sustainability, guiding them in good practice and
working towards real and meaningful positive change”
Fran van Dijk, One Stone Advisors
S ustainability is in the spotlight as never before – and for many

businesses and individuals, it is new, complex and sometimes
daunting. Fran van Dijk and Andrea Spencer-Cooke, founding
speciality is guiding organisations on that integration journey,
to help future-proof their companies and lead their sector.”
In setting up One Stone in 2009, the name was carefully
partners of One Stone Advisors, have a long history in this sphere, chosen to embody sustainability. “A natural resource and
beginning when they first started working together in the mid-’90s. humankind’s first tool,” says Van Dijk. “With stones you can
“We worked together at SustainAbility Ltd, an early build, create, connect, communicate. The Earth is our stone and
pioneer in this space,” says Van Dijk (pictured, opposite, above). we only have one.” The company’s vision is to turn sustainability
“We helped to develop and roll out what has become the most challenges into lasting value for its clients. Over the past decade,
widely accepted business definition of sustainability, the triple it has helped dozens of organisations across many sectors to move
bottom line. This brought in a broader understanding of corporate sustainability thinking from the fringe to core business
corporate value creation, namely that instead of just one bottom strategy and become more effective sustainability leaders.
line, there should be three: people and planet as well as profit. “We work with leaders and emerging leaders,” says Van Dijk.
This is now the basis for stakeholder capitalism.” “We encourage them to be the best they can be in sustainability.
Sustainability awareness has grown rapidly since. “Back then, We guide them in good practice and work towards positive
it was a niche area” says Spencer-Cooke (pictured, opposite, change. One Stone offers boutique, tailored advice, not a
below). “Now it is basic good business. Rather than having a one-size-fits-all approach, and our aim in every project is to
business strategy and a separate sustainability strategy, for today’s help clients move the needle on sustainability performance.”
leaders, sustainability is the business strategy. Simply put, if your This can range from developing a net zero pathway for a
company is unsustainable it doesn’t have a future. One Stone’s prestigious private bank, to guiding a major global cultural
institution on how best to contribute to the UN Sustainable
Development Goals. Every project is supported to measure
and communicate impact.
“Making a positive impact is very important to us,” says
Spencer-Cooke. “That’s why we do what we do. It’s why we
are one of the first certified UK B Corps – walking the talk by
harnessing the power of business to address society’s greatest
challenges. That’s where we believe the greatest future business
opportunities lie.” With the footprint and flexibility of a small
company, One Stone engages a global network of skilled,
specialised associates according to project needs. “When Covid-19
struck,” adds Van Dijk, “our business model proved to be
incredibly resilient. We have never been busier and demand
for our expertise is growing exponentially.”
For One Stone, Covid-19 presents important takeaways for
would-be sustainability leaders. “Overnight we all had to pivot
and do things differently,” explains Spencer-Cooke. “It showed
what we can do when we put our minds to it. Now we need to
do the same for climate, for nature, for a more diverse and
inclusive society that leaves no-one behind. That’s where we
need real transformation at pace and scale. It’s where sustainable
business pioneers are focused.”
onestoneadvisors.com
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Climate science
in action
“Humans have operated on the basis
that nature is free and will always serve us.
But nature is biting back”
Iggy Bassi, Cervest
T he urgency of climate change became clear to Iggy Bassi

when he operated a sustainable agribusiness in Ghana.
The weather was making harvests increasingly volatile and,
Climate intelligence is business intelligence for managing
climate risk. It enables business and government leaders
to make decisions that help them navigate towards a more
while some villagers dismissed a bad harvest as “an act of resilient future. It also makes the need to act on climate
God”, Bassi was convinced that the science told a different change very personal and very apparent. “Humans have
story. He wanted to know how to break down climate risk for operated on the basis that nature is free, and will always serve
individual enterprises – data he was struggling to find for his us,” says Bassi. “But nature is biting back. We need to be
own business. granular in our approach because it’s the only way we can
Bassi (pictured, above) joined forces with Imperial personalise climate risk and link it to the broader business
College London and the Alan Turing Institute with the and financial risk agenda.”
idea to combine the world’s leading climate and statistical Bassi discovered that while most companies had a
science to create a unified framework for assessing asset-level detailed understanding of many aspects of their business,
climate risk at a global level. Today, this concept is the climate intelligence was notably absent. “When asked:
foundation of Cervest’s artificial intelligence-powered ‘Where did you have the most currency fluctuation in the
climate intelligence platform. past 30 years? Where are your best customers?’, they reeled
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off those answers,” he says. “Conversely, most organisations interventions they need to take in order to build climate
were unable to pinpoint how climate had or would affect their resilience. Cervest’s trademarked EarthScan tool, for example,
operations. They needed a clear breakdown of the risks and shows how each asset’s climate risk has changed in the past
opportunities to be able to make the right strategic and 50 years, what the risk is now, and how it will change in the
operational decisions. They needed climate intelligence.” next 80 years, based on different climate scenarios.
Climate intelligence will, Bassi believes, enable and One of the most extraordinary things about the platform is
encourage organisations to take action: as insurance payouts that the intelligence is open to everyone through a freemium
related to extreme weather cost billions, and regulatory model. “It was a radical decision,” says Bassi. “When all
pressure is growing for enterprises to quantify climate risks. stakeholders can see the projected impact of climate change
Accordingly, Cervest is mapping all the world’s physical on the same physical assets, there will be more pressure for
assets – from factories and buildings to fields and forests – to change.” With the growing need for organisations to quantify
show the impact of climate change. Its on-demand climate the effect of compound events, where multiple risks occur
intelligence platform houses an open, global catalogue of simultaneously and exacerbate each other, Bassi believes that
millions of built and natural assets. Products on the platform climate intelligence is needed more than ever.
give asset owners and asset managers insights about the www.cervest.earth
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Adapting through
forensic innovation
“Changes really started nearly two decades ago when
we recognised that the modern law firm needed to
be more adaptable, more agile, more responsive”
Craig Dickson, DAC Beachcrof t
I nnovation is not something you would associate with a law firm,

particularly one with as venerable a history as the international
law firm DAC Beachcroft, whose origins date back to 1762. But as
new ideas for commercial products and services, and develop
future claims solutions in a free-thinking environment. “It has
given us genuine agility to implement ideas quickly,” says
Craig Dickson, CEO of DAC Beachcroft’s Claims Solutions Dickson. “Lawyers inherently take a view that is somewhat risk
Group, points out, no organisation can survive that long without averse – avoiding risk is part of their training – so innovation
having learned how to adapt. In recent years, Dickson has helped has historically never been part of a law firm’s psychology.
further shape that adaptation. “Changes really started nearly two We have encouraged innovation to be part of our daily
decades ago when we recognised that a modern law firm needed to thinking, and change what people understand by innovation.
be more adaptable, more agile, more responsive,” he says. “So we It is more than tech, it is about looking and doing things
began to explore what that would mean. We had our 250th differently. It is innovating in how we deliver legal solutions to
anniversary in 2012 and were very mindful of changes that were clients, how we recruit, how we develop our people. These are
needed to ensure that we prospered for a further 250 years.” not always badged as innovation but they are very important.
Part of this need to change was to ensure that DAC Beachcroft We encourage diversification and finding new solutions to old
could successfully work across international borders to best problems, which creates a very buzzy environment.”
support its roster of prestigious clients, particularly in the The firm also changed its structure and invested significantly
global insurance and financial services sectors. To aid this, the in IT and digital transformation to allow for more flexible and
firm became one of the first commercial practices to appoint a virtual working practices, putting it in a strong position when the
non-lawyer as chief executive, a radical departure for law firms global pandemic struck in 2020. Employees adapted seamlessly
that usually operate as traditional partnerships. The decision was to the lockdown. The flexible and virtual working structure
so successful that it was quickly imitated by competitors. “Our also enabled DAC Beachcroft to recruit more creatively than
business model opened up our ability to attract good leadership traditional firms. “We can draw from the full range of diversity
talent,” says Dickson. “It also meant we solved the conundrum of of experience rather than recruiting lawyers who live within
how to retain the best parts of a partnership – being collaborative, commuting distance of London,” says Dickson. “I can recruit
collegiate and a place where talented lawyers want to come and somebody in Aberdeen to work with our London team or create
work – while adopting an entrepreneurial business mind-set.” a great team in Wales. Most successful law firms find they do not
Another innovation, introduced by Dickson, was DAC change unless they have to. We bucked that trend, consciously, to
Beachcroft’s Innovations Lab, an insurance claims research-and- try and effect good change ahead of the need. That has given us
development hub, where the firm collaborates with colleagues, the ability to make big changes very quickly and effectively.”
clients and industry stakeholders to design, prototype and test www.dacbeachcroft.com
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State of Fluxx
“I think companies are looking to work
with more boutique, agile agencies like us,
rather than the traditional incumbents”
Jenny Burns, Fluxx
T he pandemic has wrought huge disruption for businesses,

with markets and customer behaviour changing beyond all
recognition. But Fluxx, a company that uses innovation, design
working. Even industries such as insurance, which are
historically resistant to change, have had to explore pivoting
and adapting the way they operate and interact with their
and creative thinking to approach today’s business challenges, customers.” And because Fluxx takes an experimental approach,
has positive advice to offer them. testing out new ideas first on a small scale, it appeals to even the
“Our core purpose is to bring joy and human progress,” says most risk-averse of companies.
Jenny Burns, Executive Partner. “That sounds very grandiose, The first step is always to understand the needs of the
but actually it’s about making sure that everything we work on customer in great depth. “That’s where we can bring cross-
with our clients has great purpose, and they enjoy doing it.” industry insight into industries that perhaps haven’t been used to
The company is made up of a team from diverse adapting to their customers’ needs,” says Burns. This customer-
backgrounds that see themselves as “a group of misfits”. Their centric approach makes them more likely to develop new products
different perspectives and experiences help bring creative and and services that customers will want to buy or engage with.
inventive approaches to problem solving. Fluxx works with Ever since the dot.com boom, companies have realised they
global brands across a range of industries: from government to need an online presence, but there is so much more to
property and engineering firms to financial services. Clients digitisation than that. “Gone are the days when customers will
include Bupa, Landsec and Mars Wrigley, among many more. wait 48 hours for a response to an email,” says Burns. “We are
All are trying to grapple with radical transformation in their in the world of instant access and instant communication.”
sectors – but the Fluxx team believes the pandemic has also Fluxx helps businesses navigate this move away from a static
created opportunities for new products and services. digital presence towards something more engaging and live.
“One thing that Covid-19 has done is accelerate some Many management consultancies that grew out of the rise
trends,” says Burns. “Particularly digitisation and ways of of tech have since been swallowed up by larger firms; but Fluxx
has remained independently owned. It recently merged with
award-winning digital design studio magneticNorth, together
creating an innovation powerhouse serving business growth
across the country. Burns believes this independence has
helped the company retain an open-minded spirit and a culture
of individuality. “We are always looking to employ people with
that entrepreneurial spirit, who are restless, who want to
improve things and are curious,” says Burns. “The 60 or so
consultants at Fluxx are encouraged to work in an autonomous
way. It isn’t a traditional hierarchy.”
Just like its clients, Fluxx had to adapt during the
pandemic, but the company continues to grow rapidly as many
businesses sought help adjusting to the new reality. “I think
companies are looking to work with more boutique, agile
agencies like us,” says Burns, “who develop bespoke solutions
at pace, rather than the traditional incumbents.” And with
workshops, training courses and other tools and techniques
now available from Fluxx digitally, their opportunity to do so
is greater than ever.
www.fluxx.uk.com
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Shaping the
status quo
“We are there to help the government understand what is
happening, support evidence-based public policymaking,
and contribute to the quality of public debate”
Michelle Harrison, Kantar Public
D uring the Second World War, when the UK government

realised it needed to understand the impact of rationing,
it turned to an organisation called the British Market Research
extraordinary tradition in UK government of evidence-based
public policymaking, using very high-quality data and
evidence to understand the values, attitudes and needs of the
Bureau to collect evidence. Many decades later, that company British population.”
– now called Kantar Public – continues to deliver a similar For decades, this evidence was acquired through Kantar
service, aiding evidence-led policymaking across all aspects of Public’s infrastructure and teams talking to people face to
civic and social life in Britain as well as abroad. face, at home, and asking questions on a range of subjects.
“We support democracy by providing people with the The company is constantly improving how it gathers and
opportunity to contribute to the government’s evidence base,” interprets this data: something that requires an understanding
explains Global CEO Michelle Harrison (pictured, left). “With of the differences between values, beliefs and behaviours.
nearly 100 years of history in this role, we gather gold-standard Such evidence can now also be gathered digitally. “We work
evidence that allows organisations to make high-quality at the intersection between data, technology and human
decisions. Our ability to thrive and grow is based on that history, understanding,” says Harrison. “Our data ecosystem combines
together with our ongoing innovation culture. We innovate so we in home conversations with the public, as well as digital data
can continue to make that contribution to public policy in collection; the whole thing is technology enabled. Our expertise
Britain and abroad with our expert teams across the world.” in behaviour change also continues to evolve, from real-world
Kantar Public started life in the 1930s as the planning research programmes to the use of ‘lab-based’ testing.”
department of a UK advertising agency, talking to the public to Work includes topics such as domestic abuse, gender
see how people responded to ad campaigns. In the 1940s, this inequality and the environment. Considerable work was
expertise was repositioned to support the war effort, starting undertaken during the Covid pandemic across a variety of
the long and close relationship between Kantar Public and the areas, monitoring economic and social impacts, gender
UK government. The organisation provides evidence that goes dynamics and infection spread, as well as delivering public
into academic programmes and official statistics, such as the health messaging. Kantar Public worked closely with Transport
Understanding Society programme of work, which explores for London to identify key insights around needs and concerns
social and economic attitudes in the UK; and the Crime Survey regarding public transport during Covid. It was the first
for England and Wales, an official measure of the experience of organisation to analyse and predict the impact of Covid on
crime. This data is used to inform and aid policy decisions. household finances, delivering its first – impressively accurate
Kantar Public also helps evaluate policy effectiveness, and – report in eight weeks. “Evidence-based policymaking
works alongside the government to design public messaging requires absolutely brilliant data,” says Harrison. “We are there
to support changes in public behaviour. to help the government understand what is happening, support
“Kantar Public was the first applied social research evidence-based public policy-making and contribute to the
business in the UK,” says Harrison. “We are global and work quality of public debate.”
across every continent, but our history aligns with an www.kantarpublic.com
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The cream
of the creps
“We realised there were no products on the market
for cleaning and protecting expensive trainers”
Nohman Ahmed, Crep Protect
J ust before he and his brothers started their business, Crep

Protect, Nohman Ahmed had to have one very uncomfortable
conversation. “It was over the dinner table, with my mum,”
JD Sports and Foot Locker, and then Adidas came calling, so
we’re now the worldwide licence holder for Adidas shoe care.
Group sales hit over £35 million in the year to February 2021.”
he says. “I hadn’t long finished university and completed my The brothers didn’t stop there. They also own one of Europe’s
master’s degree in aerospace engineering, and now I was telling leading sneaker marketplaces, Klekt, and the experiential
her that I was going to clean shoes for a living.” streetwear boutique Presented By, which has stores in London,
It’s the simplest possible description of the business he Paris, Dubai and Doha. Being brought up in a close-knit,
started in 2013 with his two older brothers Rizwan and Imran, hard-working family has played a large part in their success.
who are equally well qualified in economics and IT respectively. “We have the same passion for success and total trust in each
They couldn’t have known that, with its line of shoe-cleaning other, and we are completely in tune,” says Nohman. “Sadly, our
products, Crep Protect would in 2019 be named the second- dad passed away before he saw this success but the beliefs he
fastest-growing independent company in the UK by The Sunday instilled in us are always with us: stay unified, you can be strong
Times, and the seventh-fastest in Europe by the Financial Times. alone but so much stronger together. And of course, our mum is
“We all knew when we started this how united we were in very proud of what we’ve achieved by cleaning shoes.”
our passion and exactly what we planned to develop,” says www.crepprotect.com
Nohman. “Ever since we were young the three of us bought the
most expensive trainers we could afford. We were serious
sneaker-heads and we liked looking good. As we got older we
all got involved in different businesses and did a lot of buying
and selling, so we were very aware commercially by the time we
started Crep Protect. There were no products on the market for
cleaning and protecting expensive trainers that were made
specifically for them and which reflected their quality, so we
set out to develop a lifestyle brand to encapsulate that.”
They realised that research was key and started by getting
some product samples made up, which went back and forth to
Germany from their base in London. “We were really inspired
by nanotechnology, which allowed us to create a hydrophobic
spray that repels most liquids,” says Nohman. “This first
product was specifically created for the high-end trainer market
so anything dirty on them can be wiped off. We added the
Cleaning Kit and Wipes to provide all-round care; and then the
Pill, which is placed inside shoes to get rid of bacteria; and the
Pen, to restore the white look on soles. There are other products
in the range, but these are the main ones that have caught the
customers’ attention and which they buy because they want
them, not because a salesperson has talked them into it.”
Crep Protect was always intended to revolutionise the
shoe-care industry, which is reflected in its extraordinary
growth. “We supply to over 52 countries and our products are
used by the high-end sneaker and lifestyle companies,” says
Nohman. “We quickly became the world’s largest premium
shoe-care brand, selling to sportswear retail giants such as
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376
Partnering
with care
“We become true business partners by pre-empting
what a company needs and offering the solution
before they even realise they have a problem”
Elitsa Gosheva, Dynamis
C uriosity brought a teenage Marian Temelkov to Manchester

from his idyllic home in south-west Bulgaria, and kindness
is what he discovered when he got there. He was soon joined
demonstrated such an attitude himself with the creation of a
Leader Academy in his hometown, where young people are able
to “learn, share and grow”.
by his strongest supporter and the person who brings constant The Dynamis team has worked in more than 50 countries;
kindness and care – his wife, Melina (pictured, left). Curiosity its founders are now in a position where they can carefully choose
and care remain central to Temelkov’s vision with Dynamis, the companies and clients they want to work with. “We want to
a firm he co-founded with Elitsa Gosheva (pictured, right). do one meaningful placement at a time,” says Temelkov. “Where
It combines executive search with corporate strategy, and people will thrive and radiate positivity, and everybody can feel
creates relationships with business leaders who demonstrate it. They will become top performers and inspire their teams to
talent, intuition and care. The company then connects them make a difference. We always think: would you stake your own
with businesses in need of their unique skills. Getting such a money on this person and this placement? We make it personal
match correct isn’t always easy, and one of the tools Dynamis and take ownership of that. Compromising is never an option
uses to get it right is curiosity. and we show up every time as if it is the first or the last time.”
“We believe in the mission of the client, the purpose and Such ambitions can only be achieved when Dynamis is in
the placement,” says Temelkov. “That is how we attract the best harmony with its clients. The name derives from a Greek word
people: they can sense our passion and conviction. To get that, meaning “will to win”, as this is what the company seeks to bring
honesty is very important. Care is important, but so is purpose. to its clients. But Temelkov and Gosheva quickly realised this
You need to have a deep curiosity about what works for could not be done by one-off recruitments – it required a more
everybody. It’s not just making a placement and getting the synergistic approach that saw Dynamis move from traditional
money; it’s about getting it right. This is why we have our executive search into the world of corporate strategy. “Our goal
system to find the right people and put them in positions where is to establish a true partnership, which requires an integrated
they can have the maximum positive impact.” model,” says Gosheva. “That partnership comes with trust that
One of Temelkov’s key insights is that a CEO’s personal builds over time as you exceed expectations. We become true
values can have a significant impact on tens of thousands of business partners by pre-empting what a company needs and
people. If somebody believes passionately in diversity, care offering the solution before they even realise they have a problem.”
and sustainability – and can transmit that to their employees It all comes down to the belief that through serving
– positive change can result. Alternately, uninspired or individuals, teams, communities and enterprises, Dynamis
unmotivated employees can have a negative impact on their contributes to the betterment of the world – inspired by
own families and society in general. Temelkov wants to find purpose and driven by values.
executives who care about the planet and their team, and has www.dynamisgroup.com
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378
The loan arranger

“While I knew what worked I also knew
what didn’t work, so I had a good idea
about what could be improved”
Toms Jurjevs, Sun Finance
geographically and in terms of product range. Jurjevs intends

to launch in two new countries each year while simultaneously
adding more products to those available in existing markets.
“We are not a bank,” he says. “When you need cash quickly you
use our service but if you want an investment, you go to the
bank. It’s a different market. This is instant solutions for people
who have an immediate need.”
Success has come quickly to Sun Finance, and Jurjevs puts
this down partly to his adherence to the five rules that
underpin the company strategy. The cornerstone of this
ideology is to “spend every euro as if it is your last”, which
means to treat revenue with respect and always consider
business needs when spending money. Secondly, Jurjevs
believes that when it comes to markets, size does not matter.
Sun Finance has enjoyed considerable success in countries such
as Latvia or Kazakhstan by offering customers something
different and making it easily accessible. “We have found that
small countries can be profitable and out-compete larger
countries,” he says.
As a tech-based company, having access to the best
I n 2021 Sun Finance, a bold and ambitious young Latvian

company that delivers online loans to customers in countries
all over the world, was named the second fastest-growing fintech
technology is essential to Sun Finance’s success. Jurjevs says
companies need to invest cleverly in tech, to understand
precisely what it is they are investing in and what they hope
company in Europe by no less an authority than the Financial to achieve with it. His last two rules concern staff. Jurjevs has
Times. This accolade was merely further vindication of founder a young management team and does not believe a CV tells
and CEO Toms Jurjevs’ vision in starting the company in 2017 the whole story. “It’s more important that the person is
– before his 30th birthday. “My area of expertise is online hungry for success and has the right characteristics to achieve
lending and I know it very well,” says Jurjevs (pictured, opposite), that success,” he says. “You can see – and feel in your heart
who spent eight years working in the field before setting up his and brain if they have that potential.” Finally, once you have
own business. “I understood the margins, the market and the built a team you need to keep them motivated so that they
customers. But the most important thing is that while I knew regard themselves as partners rather than employees, with
what worked I also knew what didn’t work, so I had a good idea a stake in the continued success of the company you have
about what could be improved. That is essentially what we did.” helped build together.
Sun Finance now has almost 850 employees operating in “We live by these five rules,” says Jurjevs, “the five lessons
seven countries on three continents. The company offers small I learned when I was working at my previous company. I could
loans – the average figure is around €300 – in a variety of see what they and the market were doing incorrectly and
different products, often (although not exclusively) targeting I realised we needed to avoid the same mistakes in order for us
younger consumers who are most comfortable with banking to prosper. These rules summarise why we are different.”
online. The growth strategy is to continue expanding both www.sunfinance.group
379
380
North star
“We provide the fastest internet speeds to our
customers, which has had an enormous impact
on business and economic growth in the region”
Dale Raneberg, KCOM
T here’s a tendency to assume that tech innovation belongs

exclusively to the 21st century, but as UK communications
provider KCOM illustrates, it is embedded in the past, too. As
when in the 1990s we introduced Europe’s first commercial
‘fast internet’ ADSL service.” In 1999, the company went on
to develop Kingston Interactive TV (KIT) and then pioneer
part of the telecom landscape since the early 1900s when it was the BBC’s interactive Red Button technology, for which it
set up by Hull’s local city council, KCOM (formerly Kingston won a Bafta Award for Technical Innovation. At the time,
Communications) has achieved many significant advances and Greg Dyke, then Director-General of the BBC, said of the
digital firsts throughout the past 120 years. technology: “We’re seeing the future of broadcasting here
“Technology never stands still,” says KCOM CEO before the rest of the country and opening the door to a
Dale Raneberg. “KCOM started life as the Hull Telephone new era.”
Department, which opened in 1904 equipped with an With the emergence of fibre networks during the last
Ericsson-Bell manual switchboard. We are now a full fibre-to- decade, KCOM transformed its home city of Hull into the
the-premises broadband company and our vision to be ‘Bigger first full-fibre city in the UK in 2019, delivering the fastest
Than Broadband’ for our customers demonstrates how far broadband in the world to its residents. “We provide the
we’ve come and how we never stop moving forward.” fastest internet speeds to our customers, which has had
KCOM’s journey is punctuated with some very impressive an enormous impact on business and economic growth in
milestones. “In the 1980s, we developed System X, an the region, leading to more opportunities and demand for
all-digital network that was the first in Europe; and in 1992 new skills,” says Raneberg. “The region is now a technology
we launched our own satellite,” says Raneberg. “We showed hub and recognised as one of the UK’s digital hotspots.”
an early appreciation of the potential of the digital economy Just like its telephone boxes, which are painted a distinctive
cream and don’t have the royal crown above the door like the
red phone boxes rolled out by the Post Office everywhere else
in the country, KCOM stands out from the rest of the UK. Born
from a regional community (“if a customer calls us, it could be
their neighbour who answers the phone”) social responsibility
is a key pillar for KCOM. “We support community groups and
sponsor our employees’ time so they can get involved in
projects that directly benefit the community,” says Raneberg.
“We’re keen to play our part as a responsible business,
conscious of the importance of sustainability. For instance,
all the extra PPE we’ve needed since the pandemic is being
recycled into garden furniture.”
While KCOM will never lose its sense of local pride,
it continues to grow and develop through technological
innovation, geographic and commercial expansion, and its
aim to have local impact and be “Bigger Than Broadband”.
“We are expanding our footprint,” says Raneberg. “We’re
currently moving further into Yorkshire and Lincolnshire,
with the focus on growth of our network and serving new
markets. Just as we did in 1904, we’re still looking to innovate
and for opportunities to do more and be more relevant to our
customers and the community.”
www.kcom.com
381
Mobilising
a generation
“My idea was to unite humanity and build a giant project-management
system to track our progress towards a global resolution for poverty,
inequality and climate change by 2030”
Manjula Lee, World Wide Generation
M anjula Lee’s adventure with World Wide Generation

has taken her from a conference with Prince Charles
at Clarence House to a presentation for Theresa May, via the
the non-profit sector. When the UN released its SDGs in 2015,
Lee recognised this as an urgent call to action. However, with
the additional investment of $2.5 trillion per annum needed to
United Nations, corporate boardrooms and some of the most deliver the SDGs, the private sector needed to play a large role.
deprived communities of Africa and India. It led to the creation Lee had to prove the economic argument of sustainability to
of the groundbreaking technology platform G17Eco, which bridge the gap between commercial investors and companies.
uses technology to measure, monitor, manage and market a Encouraged by the support of the Prince of Wales, Lee went
stakeholder’s sustainability impact, mapped against the UN’s to India to explore creating a practical, scalable solution to
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). affordable housing. This experience reinforced her commitment
“G17Eco is like your iPhone and Appstore,” says Lee to affect change. “Spending time in India, I saw disenfranchised
(pictured, opposite). “So far, we have Company Tracker, Portfolio communities and heard stories of inequality and injustice that
Tracker and World Tracker; we have designed G17Eco so propelled me to create change combining my talent, experience
partners can plug their solutions into the infrastructure to and network connections,” she says. “Investment in
fast-track humanity to purpose, protection and prosperity. Our sustainability was being held back because ultimately no one
belief is that if we can unlock trusted, comparable, timely impact could execute or get access to trusted, comparable and timely
data we will be able to unlock capital and solutions at scale.” data and thus measure impact. My idea was to unite humanity
Lee’s background is in business systems, starting her career and build a giant project-management system to track our
at Shell aged 17, where she was fast-tracked onto the executive progress towards a global resolution for poverty, inequality and
leadership programme and ended up on a 17-year journey in climate change by 2030. This was the birth of G17Eco.”
She developed and built G17Eco with the support of the UK
government following the direct intervention of the then Prime
Minister Theresa May. Experts globally got involved, recognising
the potential of what Lee was creating. “I told the Prime
Minister that Britain built the World Wide Web and the stock
exchange and now we would build the distributed ledger,” says
Lee. “It would lead the world to a sustainable future but also be
our legacy, unlocking one of humanity’s greatest opportunities.”
The G17Eco platform launched in 2020 thanks to hundreds
of contributors and partners. “Never in my wildest dreams did
I foresee building a ‘digital ark’ that would launch in the middle
of a global pandemic,” says Lee. “Covid was like a market force
that made the SDGs real to 7.7 billion people on the planet.
It showed that companies aligned to purpose were those that
coped best, reinforcing our argument about the importance
of embedding resilience and sustainability at all levels. I say
information is light, light is information, so we help people
see through a SEE (social, economic and environmental) lens.
If I can help people SEE, I can mobilise a generation to be
great and help make the next generation even greater.”
www.worldwidegeneration.co
g17.eco
382
383
384
Free radicals
“We have a brilliant team. They are radical and what
unites them is a dissatisfaction with the world as it is.
They want to make things better”
Eric Wilkinson, Cambridge Consultants
A t the end of 2020, during one of the most critical periods

of the pandemic, the US Food and Drug Administration
authorised the first over-the-counter, fully at-home Covid test.
Clients often want it kept secret that they rely on Cambridge
Consultants, which added additional global scale and capabilities
by becoming part of Capgemini Invent in 2020. It’s an attitude
The innovator responsible for the core of this diagnostic Wilkinson hopes to change so his staff get greater recognition.
technology was Cambridge Consultants, a company with He continues to encourage innovation, with staff invited to
60 years’ experience of creating technological breakthroughs. pitch ideas that could be commercialised. “We are able to recruit
“The news went global, and rightly so – it introduced a vital entrepreneurial staff because they know they can get a really
new way to battle the virus and encourage society back good grounding in how to make money from technology,” he
towards normality,” says CEO Eric Wilkinson. “It wouldn’t says. “We can’t just rely on our client projects giving us
have been possible without our optoelectronic detection inspiration, we need to be proactive. That means investing in
system. The boss of Ellume, the company that launched the our own cutting-edge tech to attract ambitious clients. We are
product, called our team ‘geniuses in the truest sense’. That’s currently targeting areas like computational biology –
a lovely compliment, but also accurately reflects the way our combining AI with biology – that would be very valuable to
teams buy into the vision of our clients and work together for clients and hard to get elsewhere. It gives clients a reason
world-changing breakthroughs.” to maintain a relationship with us, and it gives Cambridge
Cambridge Consultants was founded in 1960 by three Consultants potential access to future spin-off companies.”
Cambridge University graduates who believed their technology www.cambridgeconsultants.com
skills could help industries make essential breakthroughs and
spark ideas that could be spun-off into new businesses. That’s
essentially what the company still does, albeit on a global scale
with 900 staff located on three continents. Its achievements are
remarkable. From world-first communications that orchestrate
robotic warehouse automation for Ocado, to the world’s largest
commercial airborne antenna, conceived to target the furthest
reaches of the globe with 5G from the stratosphere. If that’s not
your cup of tea, then how about the round tea bag – another first
made possible by Cambridge Consultants. The company can also
commercialise its own innovations and in so doing has given
birth to several companies, including three billion-dollar
capitalisation companies. The team has invented, or made
commercially viable, such daily necessities as Bluetooth and
inkjet printing and has been described as one of the reasons
behind the success of the Cambridge Cluster, nicknamed
“Silicon Fen”.
If a company wants to remain at the forefront of innovation
for several decades, it must recruit and retain the very best
talents. “Our most important asset is people and we have a
brilliant team,” says Wilkinson. “They are radical and what
unites them across all the fields we operate is a dissatisfaction
with the world. They want to make things better. We then set up
career paths and allow people to follow their passion. They can
run big projects, explore commercialisation, or simply remain
technologists – this is one of the few places where you can
remain at the leading edge of technology, progressing your
career without having to manage people if you don’t want to.”
385
Investments with purpose

“The world has accepted there is a
climate emergency, and businesses
have realised they must become
sustainable, or become obsolete”
Patrick Sheehan, ETF Partners
W hen Patrick Sheehan founded the venture capital firm

ETF Partners 15 years ago, he was somewhat ahead of
his time. “At the start, people thought we must be a charity
sustainability-focused innovation. The company has since grown
exponentially, as sustainability has become a mainstream issue.
“We are no longer seen as doing something eccentric,” says
because we were trying to have an impact on climate change,” Sheehan. “The world has accepted there is a climate emergency,
he says. “We had to explain that capitalism can address real and businesses have realised they must become sustainable, or
needs – the need should create the opportunity.” become obsolete.”
Sheehan (pictured, above) began his career as an electronic ETF Partners invests in a number of European companies each
engineer before moving into venture capitalism and relocating year, with a particular emphasis on digital technologies. One of its
to Silicon Valley. “It was on my return to London, in 2003, that success stories is Peterborough-based ELeather, which takes waste
I decided to do something more worthwhile,” he says. “I felt I from leather tanneries that is destined for landfill and creates an
would have some explaining to do to my children if I didn’t do engineered “green” leather that is used in airline seating, footwear,
anything about climate change.” bags and cars. In France, ETF Partners has invested in Phenix,
The result was the Environmental Technologies Fund which uses technology to help large supermarket chains deal
(ETF), a European-based and London-headquartered venture with food waste. And, in Germany, it has funded the innovative
capital firm with the tagline: “Sustainability through innovation”. sustainable banking company, Tomorrow.
“The idea was to demonstrate that venture capital really could “We typically invest between £3 million and £10 million in
be used to address the real-world problems related to climate each company,” says Sheehan. “Our support doesn’t simply stop
change, by investing in innovation,” says Sheehan. Within a with financing. We are value-added investors – taking an active
short time, ETF Partners had raised £110 million, which it role in helping our portfolio companies grow and be successful.”
invested in what has become known as “cleantech”, or www.etf partners.capital
386
Family fortunes
“I was fascinated by the way my father worked, with his
traditional beliefs in treating his staff and customers as part of
the family, as well as being at the heart of the community”
Amaan Ramzan, United Wholesale Grocers
U nited Wholesale Grocers Ltd began in 1977 as a one-man

counter grocery store in Glasgow, run by Mohammad
Ramzan. His hard work, business acumen and ambition grew
discovered that the staff were thoroughly demotivated by
a manager who simply couldn’t manage staff effectively.”
Rather than sacking him, Amaan’s approach was to
that organisation into one of the largest privately owned determine his strengths, which were quickly identified as
companies in the UK, one that now employs over 190 people. paperwork, so he was transferred to another role. “I really
It’s Mohammad’s example which inspires his son Amaan, learned a lot from that and, within three weeks, that branch
now Managing Director. was starting to turn around,” says Amaan. “That’s why we
“I knew from age 16 that my future lay in the business,” still have people in the business who started working in the
says Amaan Ramzan. “I was fascinated by the way my father original branch in 1977. And that’s why we know almost
worked, with his traditional beliefs in treating his staff and as much about our customers as we do about our staff.
customers as part of the family, as well as being at the heart We cater for the customers who like to work face to face,
of the community. I feel very lucky and privileged to be able adjusted for current circumstances, as well as those who
to come into a family company, but my father expected me do everything digitally.”
to work as hard, if not harder than anyone else he employed. Mohammed is currently living in Pakistan, actively
“I worked in every area of the business from the age of 16 helping the community he came from. “He established
and by the time I was 19 I was at university studying business a leadership style which combines old-fashioned values
and administration and still working part-time. One of the and respect with the latest technology, giving us continued
branches was constantly trading at a loss and my father told success and growth while recognising that people are always
me I was going there to work and help him turn it around. the most important aspect to any successful business.”
I was quite nervous – I went in there prepared for battle and www.uwgl.co.uk
387
Managing risk with responsibility

“I see the government as a chief risk officer.
We citizens are the state and we elect a
government to manage us and that includes
managing risk”
Mike Clark, Ario Advisory
A fter accruing more than four decades’ worth of experience

in finance and investment as an actuary, Mike Clark
decided it was time to put something back after he retired
existential risks such as climate change, and has set up a
monthly conference – ZCFX (Zoom Climate Finance eXchange)
– so like-minded people can share knowledge and advice.
from full-time employment. So he created Ario Advisory, Clark has helped broker conversations between the
consulting on responsible investment with a view to creating Climate Change Committee – the independent, non-
connections and supporting clients around the confluence departmental public body created to prepare the UK for
of climate change, asset management and risk. climate change – and the Office of Budget Responsibility, and
“So much of this work is collaborative and it is about has been invited to Washington to talk to American financial
engaging with my network of contacts,” he says. “As a mutual regulators. He is also regularly involved with the UN Climate
company accountable to myself I can do a lot of things. I can act Change Conference.
like a CEO to give people a poke if I feel they aren’t contributing “I see the government as a chief risk officer,” he says.
but I can also support good ongoing work by promoting it and “We citizens are the state and we elect a government to manage
connecting people. I have plenty of experience so I know my us and that includes managing risk. We spend a lot of money
way around finance, governance, risk and pensions.” on adaptation – which means after the problem has happened
Clark works with asset owners such as the trustees of – but we don’t spend enough money ahead of the issue to
pension funds to encourage them to think about the impact prevent it happening in the first place. That’s the area I want to
of their investments on climate change (and vice versa), as well help change. Of all the possible risks facing us, climate is the
as working with NGOs, financial regulators and the UK big one. So it’s about solving that problem. The real economy
government. He coined the concept of “strategic risk will solve it eventually, but it needs finance to drive it.”
management” as a way to help focus pension funds on www.linkedin.com/company/ario-advisory-limited
388
“As human beings, we suffer from an

innate tendency to jump to conclusions,
to judge people too quickly, and to
pronounce them failures or heroes
without due consideration”
The Prince of Wales
389
390
APPENDICES
391
Acknowledgements
T he editors are very grateful for the help of the contributors
and colleagues in the Parliamentary Art Collection in
sourcing and providing images for this book.
the History of Parliament is generally regarded as one of the
most ambitious, authoritative and well-researched projects
in British history. It consists of detailed studies of elections
and electoral politics in each constituency, and of closely
The Parliamentary Art Collection is owned jointly by the researched accounts of the lives of everyone who was elected
House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is the national to parliament in the period, together with surveys drawing
collection illustrating the history of parliament and British out the themes and discoveries of the research and adding
politics over the centuries. The Speaker’s Advisory Committee information on the operation of parliament as an institution.
on Works of Art and House of Lords Works of Art Panel pursue For more information about the History of Parliament,
active acquisition policies ensuring the Collection continues and to access over 20,000 articles on parliamentarians and
to reflect Parliament and its work. To find out more about the constituencies, visit www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
Collection, visit www.heritagecollections.parliament.uk
The History of Parliament is a research project creating a

comprehensive account of parliamentary politics in England,
then Britain, from their origins in the 13th century.
Unparalleled in the comprehensiveness of its treatment,
392
APPENDICES
About the publisher

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publishing and communications companies. Working across the
spheres of royalty, government, and the public and private sector,
we specialise in providing organisations from around the world
with unparalleled access to hard-to-reach audiences and markets.
Each of our high-quality publications features a considered
and contemporary design identity along with intelligent and
engaging editorial that puts us at the forefront of publishing and
communications across a wide range of subjects and sectors.
We also provide our clients with unique and privileged access
to high-profile international events, launches and celebrations.
We are passionate about creating beautiful books,
memorable events and striking publicity campaigns that are
impactful, while also providing our clients with long-lasting
benefits and a global presence.
www.stjamess.org
393
Credits
St James’s House Claire Godeaux, Head of Marketing Illustrations
The Maple Building claire.godeaux@sjhgroup.com Page 32–3 © Kurt Rebry/SUSE
39–51 Highgate Road Pages 108–9 © Lizzie Henshaw Photography
London Stephen Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief Page 126 Saphira Group: location – Corinthia Hotel
NW5 1RT stephen.mitchell@stjamess.org London; jewellery by House of Garrard; styling by
Deborah Jackson Brown; clothes by Valentino
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8371 4000 Anton Jacques, Art Director Pages 192–3 Photography by Diego Padilla Philips
Email: publishing@stjamess.org anton.jacques@sjhgroup.com Page 218 Photography by Anthony Devlin
Website: www.stjamess.org Pages 342–3 Images supplied courtesy of
John Lewis, Deputy Editor Mitsubishi Electric
Richard Freed, Chief Executive john.lewis@stjamess.org Page 360 Photography by Adam Mørk
richard.freed@stjamess.org
Richard Seymour, Senior Designer Other images are the copyright of Getty Images,
Stephen van der Merwe, Managing Director r.seymour@sjhgroup.org Alamy or individual organisations.
stephen.vdm@stjamess.org
Associates Contributor
Richard Golbourne, Chief Business Officer Marc Campbell Robert Jobson is a best-selling author and royal
r.golbourne@stjamess.org Emma Bolger correspondent who has chronicled the story of
Eleanor Hall the House of Windsor for the past 30 years, and
Anna Danby, Publishing Director Sabrina Ieraci is internationally recognised for his in-depth
anna.danby@stjamess.org Lindsay Krushner and historical knowledge of the Royal Family.
Mark Bowles In addition to making regular appearances on Sky
Ludovica Bellomaria, Operations Director Nicola Henig News, the BBC, ITV and Channel 5, Robert is Royal
ludovica@stjamess.org Samantha Segal Editor of the London Evening Standard in the UK;
Emily Manski Royal Contributor for NBC’s Today Show and Forbes
Craig Vye, Chief Operating Officer Emma Carter magazine in the US; and is a regular on national
craig.vye@stjamess.org television in Australia and New Zealand.
394
APPENDICES
Sponsors index
8billionideas 202 BURN 219 Ella Thuiner Consulting 40
Elopak 240
Advantech Europe 196 Cambridge Consultants 384 Emerge 122
Aerofoil Energy Limited 302 CarnaudMetalBox Engineering 70 Enviroo 262
Ahava Group Global 160 Caygan Capital 354 Eskan 72
Alakai Technologies 180 Cervest 366 ETF Partners 386
Alchemie Technology 306 CH4 Global 296 Ethos Asset Finance 213
Aldridge Foundation, The 178 Chartered Insurance Institute 158 Ever Resource 236
Alta Semper Capital 137 Child Action Charity 176 Evrnu 290
Alternative Health 57 Chuckling Goat 112 Exertis UK 49
APP 208 City & Guilds 120
Archaeological Paths 118 City Farm Systems 276 Farillio 133
Ario Advisory 388 Cleeve Partnership 140 Findel Education 184
Atlas Copco Tools and Industrial Cleveland & Co 54 Fluxx 370
Assembly Solutions 190 Cobalt Partners 131 Frost, Rebecca 42
Code Worldwide 36
BAT 214 Cokebusters Ltd 71 GA R&D 300
Battery Solutions 243 Colnaghi 125 Give A Grad A Go 165
Beattie, Tina 34 Crep Protect 374 Glas Data 288
Best Western GB 198 Crystal Doors 206 Gleeds 194
Beyond Surface Technologies 303 Global Processing Services 47
Bitrode 238 DAC Beachcroft 368 Gray & Adams 139
Blair Project 218 Danecca 283 Greater Good Fresh
Bonnier Books UK 350 Direct Meats 73 Brewing Co, The 280
Booths 340 Dolphin N2 250 Green Eco Technologies 310
Bosch 330 Dynamis 376
Bridge Farm Group 352 Halo Coffee 270
British Film Institute 48 E1 World Electric Powerboat Series 304 Highview Power 294
BuffaloGrid 358 Elevate Farms 274 Home Instead Senior Care 108
395
Ignition 74 Mitsubishi Electric 342 Redsand Ventures 121

Immerse 123 My Green Pod 256 REVIV 130
Impetus 127 Rio ESG 246
Infinity Fuel Cell Technology 232 NatureMetrics 233 Robeco 338
Informed Solutions 66 Nespresso 356 Robinson plc 308
Integral Studies Academy 52 NOCN 116 Rochester Bridge Trust 179
IntelliDigest 281 NSR Management 200 Royal Institution of Naval Architects, The 164
iWarranty 136 Nuveen 360
Safety Shield Global 205
Joy Club, The 53 Ocean Almond 266 Saphira Group 126
Ocean Bottle 258 Sarasin & Partners 362
Kaizen Reporting 76 One Stone Advisors 364 SaveMoneyCutCarbon 260
Kantar Public 372 OrangeDoor 135 Sewell, Lisa 43
KCOM 380 Orean Personal Care 204 Silent Sentinel 75
KogoPAY 55 Owen, Michelle 41 Sime Darby Plantation 284
Kynigos Partners 50 Oxford Biodynamics Plc 69 Solar Foods 272
Springbok AI 132
Ladol 251 Perdomo, Irene 44 Sprout World 286
Larkfleet Group 244 Phastar 68 Staeger Clear Packaging Limited 278
Lightning eMotors 242 PHMG 344 Stephenson Law 141
Longley Asset Management 56 Planet-U Energy 265 Streets Consulting 129
LyteGro 230 Prior, Sharon 45 Sun Finance 378
Profusion 51 SUSE 32
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 228 Protiviti 346 Sustana 292
Mastercard 334 Public Offerings Ltd 134
Meatless Farm 234 Pura 254 Tiger Law 138
Mercanta 210 Total Fitness 348
Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association 248 Rare Chemistry 217 Trucknet Enterprise 212
Metrail Construction Limited 166 RDB Star Rating 162 Truver 124
396
APPENDICES
Ultimate Battery Company 282

United Wholesale Grocers 387
Unleashed 46
Vertical Future Ltd 188

Virgin Money 186
Vodafone UK 336
Voulez Capital 38
VoxSmart 128
Westinghouse Springfields 252

Witney Futures Group 264
World Wide Generation 382
Worldline 216
WSP 192
YASA Ltd 268
Zenergi 298
397

Leadership & Innovation Leadership & Innovation: 300 Years of 300 Years of

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Leadership & Innovation Leadership & Innovation: 300 Years of 300 Years of

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300 YEARS OF

© 2021 SJH Group

This book is published by Regalpress Limited t/a St James’s

Printed in the UK by Kingsbury Press. This paper has been

A catalogue record of this publication is available from the

This publication includes sponsor content that has been paid

All information in this publication is verified to the best of the

John Pym 22 Charles James Fox 71 Margaret Thatcher 151

Oliver Cromwell 25 William Pitt the Younger 72 Tony Blair 156

Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon 27 Chapter Three Chapter Five

Francis Atterbury 39 George Hamilton-Gordon, Where law meets government 170

Children’s crusade 261 Licence to skill 278 Spice world 302

Hive mentality 342 A clean slate 364 Contributors 399

Digital empowerment 344 Back to your roots 366 Credits 402

W hen Elizabeth came to the throne of England in 1558, Wales

“Leadership of the Treasury was

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

Sir Edward Coke

In an era when Parliaments were meant to be managed by the

In retaliation, the new king, Charles I, appointed Coke sheriff

George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, duke of Buckingham owed his prominence

amid rancour. Cromwell then became lord protector of

Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon

When Charles II returned to England in 1660, he was

Thomas Osborne, 1st earl of Danby

Traditionally, royal ministers expected that the House of

“Traditionally, royal ministers expected

Anthony Ashley Cooper,

Robert Spencer, 2nd earl of Sunderland

Sunderland’s career can be divided fairly neatly into two phases:

“Because this group worked closely together with

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

Francis Atterbury, the political prelate par excellence, was

“To prosecute the war successfully,

John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough

Sidney Godolphin, 1st earl of Godolphin

“Harley was a Country Whig in the 1690s,

Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford

S ir Robert Walpole is usually accounted the first prime minister

“Walpole’s hold on power was conﬁrmed by

Sir Robert Walpole

and Walpole to consolidate their grip on power. Essentially,

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount

Few groups in the 18th century have left such a lasting

“Historians have characterised Pelham as the

William Pitt the Elder

William Pitt, known to history as the elder because his son

Frederick North, Lord North

Charles James Fox

William Pitt the Younger

“Having come to oﬃce as a would-be

Although there were occasional efforts by Pitt to reach an

T he transformation of Britain’s economy in the 19th century

“Shelley captured the feeling of many when

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd earl of Liverpool

attempted to march to London in 1817, or the 300 ironworkers

county meetings in Hampshire, where he was the lord

were likely to prove most objectionable and dangerous in

of Waterloo’s 15th anniversary, The Times paid him fulsome

Charles Grey, 2nd earl Grey

became prime minister in 1841, however, he broke with

For some, it is Peel’s pioneering electoral strategies that

“Traditionally, royal ministers expected

“Because this group worked closely together with

“Harley was a Country Whig in the 1690s,

“In Parliament, many MPs remained deeply concerned about

“It was becoming no longer possible in an

“Churchill’s refusal to indulge in false optimism was

“Britain’s victory in the Falklands in 1982 defined

“What Blair perhaps lacked in passion for the more

“Today the DfT is overseeing the most ambitious

“Many of the problems in this world have been started

“Now the UK is an Truss in July 2021. “Now the UK is an independent trading