The Sustainable Cut-Flowers project is fortunate to have a fantastically committed Working Group at its core. The Group draws from different stakeholder interests
within the industry. Short profiles of the Group members are provided below:

Anna Barker, Head of Responsible Business, the Fairtrade Foundation

Anna Barker is responsible for the team working with Fairtrade’s major retail and FMCG partners to deliver responsible sourcing solutions in business supply chains across a

range of commodities. Anna was previously the Senior Supply Chain and Programme Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation, working on the flowers category in the U.K. and managing projects in a variety of commercial value chains. The mission of Fairtrade is to connect disadvantaged producers and consumers, promote fairer trading conditions and empower producers to combat poverty, strengthen their position and take more control over their lives.

Dr Angela Coulton, Grower/florist, Petal and Twig Ltd

Dr Angela Coulton has worked for over 20 years on sustainability issues. She was a senior policy maker in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affa

irs where she led programmes on Greening Government and research into Sustainable Consumption and Production. For the last ten years she has been at the forefront of the grassroots movement to bring back seasonal British flowers into UK floristry. She is a florist and grower, using sustainable methods to supply outdoor grown seasonal

flowers for weddings, events and local markets, including through a partnership with Booths supermarkets. Angela is a member of Flowers from the Farm, the national network of small scale flower growers, and is working with 

us to develop a recognised scheme for sustainably grown British flowers.

Colin Gray, Managing Director, Lavender Green Flowers

At Lavender Green Flowers we pride ourselves in providing market leading florals from weddings and hotel contracts to large sporting events. We focus in using seasonal flowers with sustainability credentials at every level and are proudly proactive in promoting sustainability with each and every client.

 

Caroline Downey BA, MSc, FRSA, 

Caroline is the Executive Director of Women Working Worldwide, one of the first UK NGO’s to spearhead the fight for women’s rights in global value chains back in the 1980’s. WWW has been working with partners around the world ever since promoting gender equity and ethical trade; from the flower farms of Kenya to the garment factories of Bangladesh.

Caroline has a BA in Design and Communication and an MSc in Environmental Resources. She has worked on behaviour change, women’s rights, ethical trade and sustainability programmes around the world, for companies such as FAO, World Bank and IUCN. For the last five years she has been the Executive Director of WWW and engaged in living wage, sexual harassment, CSR and gender action learning systems, with partners such as Oxfam, Amfori and ETI.

In 2019 she joined MM Flowers as their Sustainable Sourcing Manager (part time) and in 2021 became their sustainability consultant and is supporting their progress on these issues across their value chains. MM Flowers is one of the leading flower suppliers for the UK, and supplies major retailers with the highest quality, environmentally and ethically sourced flowers.

Chanel de Kock, Country Manager UK, Flower Council of Holland

Passionate about creating a better future for the planet, our industry must go further to steer change.  Being part of this group has given me many insights into the complex supply chain issues we face as an industry.  I am appreciative of the enthusiastic and knowledgeable people involved and contributing to this project, and I hope to continue to learn more from the members, and hopefully all areas of the industry can help make a difference in our sector.

Amy Collis, Senior Supply Chain and Programme Manager, Fairtrade Foundation

My background is in international environmental regulation and conservation, and before joining Fairtrade I was engaged in doctoral research exploring the livelihood and conservation impacts of commercial breeding of wild species. I joined Fairtrade n

early 4 years ago, initially in the business engagement team before joining the Supply Chain Team in 2019. Over this time, I have worked across many commodities including cotton, cosmetics, tea, flowers and gold. I lead our work with Fairtrade flowers in the UK; and have had the privilege of visiting some of our Fairtrade farms in Ethiopia and working with a variety of stakeholders across the flower supply chain!

  Sustainability is a key topic in flowers, and we are working with our farms, commercial partners, and wider industry to explore how the sector can respond to key challenges like climate change, carbon emissions, living wages, gender, pesticide and chemical use, and HREDD

 requirements. It is great to be part of the Sustainable Cut-Flowers Steering Group as a fantastic example of how we can collaborate and explore how to tackle these challenges together. I have already seen the value and successes that this group has achieved – for example, their bringing together new partnerships, which was critical to the creation of the Fairtrade florist scheme, and their research on market, supply chain and consumer trends in response to COVID, which has informed a joint paper and policy recommendations for UK flower supply chains.

Brian Wills-Pope, President British Florist Association

 

Ian McClellan, Branch Manager, Fleurametz UK Ltd