Members

Chair

Jill has over 20 years’ experience in investment banking, with her executive career spent working in corporate finance for SG Warburg & Co from 1985 to 1995, and senior positions in Group Strategy at UBS where she was a Managing Director from 2001 to 2012.

She was a Panel Member from 2013 to 2018 and a Non-Executive Director from 2013 to 2016 of the Competition and Markets Authority, and a Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales from 2015 to 2019.

She was an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Committee at the Bank of England and a Non-Executive Director of abrdn Property Income Trust. 

Jill is currently Deputy Chair of the Financial Policy Council In Bermuda, advising the jurisdiction on risk and financial stability matters.

She is also a Non-Executive Board Member of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster and the  JP Morgan Claverhouse Investment Trust and a Trustee of Tusk, a charity supporting progressive conservation initiatives across Africa.

Jill has family farming links in the West Country and a strong interest in environmental matters and climate change.

Chair, Scientific Advisory Group

Steve is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Group.  

Steve is Professor of Ecology and Co-Director of the Water Research Institute at Cardiff University.   He brings over 40 years’ experience as an academic ecologist involved in the application of ecology to biodiversity conservation and environmental management in the face of global change, publishing over 300 scientific papers.  

Steve has an extensive track record in provided expert scientific advice on the natural environment, including being involved in the National Ecosystem Assessment, the first analysis of the UK’s natural environment in terms of the benefits it provides to society and continuing economic prosperity, and is a former Chief Editor of the Journal of Applied Ecology. 

Steve is currently Deputy Chair of Natural Resources Wales, a Member of the Joint Committee of JNCC and Vice-President of the RSPB of which he was Council Chair (2012-17).  He also chairs the Strategic Implementation Group delivering the Welsh Government's responsibilities under 30 x 30 (Global Biodiversity Framework).  Steve is also a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust; CIEEM; the Learned Society of Wales; the Royal Entomological Society and the Freshwater Biological Association.

Emily is a farmer and an independent rural policy and strategy advisor, with a particular interest in emerging natural capital influences on land, food and farming. She qualified as solicitor before undertaking an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture. She has spent her career working in farming, food and rural affairs, most recently as Head of Rural Research at property consultancy Savills. Emily holds various board positions, including as Chair of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB),  Chair of the Advisory Group for Soil Association Exchange, as a member of the national policy committee of the CLA, and as a trustee at the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association. Emily lives and farms in Norfolk. 

Gary is an ecologist by training and holds a PhD in the application of systems theory to fish farming. He held the position of Head of Urban Ecology at Greenwich University, before joining the UK2000 initiative chaired by Sir Richard Branson, which brought together the private and voluntary sector with the public sector, to tackle environmental problems.

After his appointment in 1990, Gary led the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust for 33 years, during which time land under management for nature increased to more than 1,200 hectares across more than 40 reserves, and oversaw a major expansion in the scope and scale of the Trust's activities.  

Gary is highly respected in the conservation community, both nationally and internationally, and has worked closely with other wildlife trusts and forging strong partnerships with many other charities, public organisations, and influential people to magnify the impact of the trust’s work.

Gary was also instrumental in helping to establish the partnership and secure the funding for the Bristol Avon Catchment Market.

Global Digital Services Lead at Arup

Will leads Arup’s work to be a digital leader in the built environment, harnessing the opportunity of digital technologies to shape a better world. He was previously Applied Strategy Lead at DeepMind, where he was responsible for taking the world-leading breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence, and applying them for good in areas such as health and energy.

Prior to this, he was a senior civil servant, including roles as Director General for Innovation, Growth and Technology at the Department of Health, and head of the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit - working directly for David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

His areas of interest include challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, digital disruption and trends in the energy, construction, healthcare and aviation industries, and how digital executives can progress digital strategy into execution and implementation.

Executive Director at Wessex Water Services Limited (WWSL)

A civil engineer turned economist, Andy is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors with more than 30 years' experience in the water sector. This includes roles overseas and at Wessex Water, a UK water and sewerage company serving nearly 3 million people across the West of England, including roles in engineering, construction, customer services, economic and environmental regulation, scientific services, audit and finance.

Andy is currently Chief Finance Officer at Wessex Water, having been appointed to the board in 2012. He is also co-chair of Wessex Water's joint venture billing company, Pelican Business Services, and chair of Wessex WaterAid, which has raised more than £1.5m for the charity over the past 10 years. His vision is of business as a force for good, going beyond its intrinsic usefulness and making a wider positive contribution to society.

Company Secretary