Welcome to the first episode of The Impact Files - conversations with leaders balancing purpose and profit. 

In this short episode you’ll hear how the podcast came about and the types of guests we chat with: business leaders working to meet near-term financial needs while creating lasting wellbeing for people and planet.

You’ll also meet Season One co-host Ally Dunnett. Ally’s a sustainability consultant with experience in deforestation legislation, responsible sourcing, and an interest in optimising the life of wood products through reuse, repair and recycle. 

Can businesses balance their short-term financial needs with positive long-term impact on people and planet?

And what's the role of marketing, media and communications in all of this? I'm on a mission to find out by talking to business leaders who are balancing purpose and profit.

I'm Ned Wells and this is the Impact Files podcast. 

Join me as I chat with leaders from across business, exploring their personal stories and the leadership challenges of balancing purpose and profit.

Here's a flavour of what's coming up in season one.

Meet Andy Bedwell, owner and MD of Point of Difference Workspace, the boutique office and co-working business behind some of the nicest places to work in Bicester and beyond. From serviced offices to shared housing, Andy’s built a business that cares about people, place and long-term value.

We discuss Andy’s journey from consultancy into property, and how he’s grown the business while deliberately keeping it local, human and design-led.

We dig into the realities of making office space more sustainable – from LEDs, insulation and waste contracts to carpet recycling, bat boxes, beehives and bee-friendly planting. We also explore why Andy decided not to go down the B Corp route, and the importance of telling honest sustainability stories without overclaiming.

Andy’s 10-year vision for the sector? For it to become a bit like the brewing industry - good quality local operators, connected to their communities and suppliers, although he fears it’ll be mopped up by bigger corporate entities, standardised and with costs driven out.

And his one piece of advice for businesses juggling impact and profit? “Understand your landscape. Make a plan. Get on with it. Pick the first thing, do it, then move to the next. It’s not much more complicated than that.”

Contact Andy at andy@pointofdifference.co.uk, and visit https://pointofdifference.co.uk/

Meet Emma Wellstead, founder of Warwick Events and genius organiser of B Corp’s Louder Than Words festival, which pretty much took over my home town of Oxford for two days in 2024. I volunteered there and it was a highlight of my professional year – brilliantly organised and with an eye to detail and sustainability that’s rarely seen at corporate events.

In this episode we discuss Emma’s personal journey, her philosophy of designing events around people, place and emotion, and her B Corp journey. We also explore a challenge many event professionals will recognise: that few people notice when events work well, which makes it hard to prove value.

Emma offers a practical critique of waste in the events industry, from single-use “sustainable” materials (is a bamboo fork really better than a reusable metal one?) to habits that are rarely questioned (does your event really need merch, or a branded backdrop?). She shows how questioning these defaults can save money and create better events with fewer materials, less clutter, and a more human experience.

She’s also fascinating on the importance of using local suppliers, as a way of reducing emissions and keeping money flowing into local communities rather than faceless supply chains.

Emma introduces Eventkind, her newly launched community for events managers – created in response to burnout, loneliness, and the lack of practical peer support in the sector. We finish by touching on Eventkind’s longer-term ambition: giving a collective voice to the doers in the industry and helping drive meaningful change from the ground up.

Contact Emma at emma@warwickevents.co.uk

Find out more about Warwick Events here: https://warwickevents.co.uk/ 

Learn about EventKind here: https://www.eventkind.org/ 

Meet Tom Cox, founder and MD of Decent Energy, and host of People Planet Pint in Cambridge.

Tom’s idea is simple: if you want people to live more sustainably, make it easy and make it affordable.

Decent Energy’s platform cuts carbon and saves users money. And Decent Energy only gets paid when customers do.

Tom explains their first product, Shîfter - software that helps households optimise when they use and store electricity, based on half-hourly shifts in UK energy prices and grid carbon intensity.

We explore Decent Energy’s risk-reward model: no savings, no fee. Trust sits at the heart of it, backed by full transparency about what the software does and why.

You’ll also hear about:

• Why “green tariffs” don’t remove the importance of when you use energy
• How Decent Energy measures impact - money saved and CO₂ avoided, tracked against changing baselines
• The unexpectedly hard part: producing a bill that clearly proves the savings
• Early traction with councils, and why inverter integrations matter
• The roadmap ahead: Shîfter; Flex̃er (flexibility markets with cash payouts); Switcher (tariff recommendations based on real usage); and, longer term, peer-to-peer energy trading

Tom’s one piece of advice for sustainability-focused start-ups:

Make sure the sustainability business case is watertight. Whatever your mission, it still has to be commercially viable - because saving money is a message everyone understands.

Tom’s 10-year vision:
A shift towards hyper-local energy systems, where communities intelligently balance their own demand using rooftop solar, batteries and smart software. Less strain on the grid. Lower carbon. Lower bills. And a model that avoids the grid congestion already seen in parts of Europe.

Find out more at decentenergy.io, and try Power Hour - a simple tool showing the cheapest and lowest-carbon time to use electricity.

“Sustainability is about running a business well”

Meet Ali Peck, Head of Communications and Engagement at a net-zero committed pension fund.

We hear how an £8bn public sector pension fund, responsible for around 100,000 members, thinks about climate change not as a moral add-on, but as a material financial risk. Flooding, heat, supply chains, stranded assets – if investments aren’t resilient, pensions aren’t either.

We explore the fund’s net zero commitment, and why fiduciary duty now means actively understanding and managing climate risk in portfolios that span everything from global equities to UK infrastructure.

Ali gives a rare behind-the-scenes view of how a small communications team operates at serious scale – covering the full marketing mix, being deliberately vocal, and using transparency to influence asset managers, suppliers, and even other city pension funds around the world.

We also get into the realities of reporting: imperfect data, evolving frameworks, and the challenge of explaining complex investment decisions in plain English – without slipping into greenwashing or going quiet.

The conversation widens to divestment versus engagement, the limits of “just pulling out”, and why LPFA has also committed real capital to climate solutions – backing renewables, infrastructure, and technologies that support the transition.

Finally, Ali shares a grounded take on sustainability inside large systems: real change comes from working both inside and outside the system, using transparency, pressure, and persistence – and from engaging employees, members, and partners rather than relying on top-down declarations.

A thoughtful, practical episode on influence, money, risk – and how communications can be used to drive change where it really counts.

Season two kicks off with a short introduction to co-host Ruth Davis.

Ruth is co-founder of Oxygen, an Oxford-based creative agency and certified B Corp working with purpose-led organisations. Their work spans brand, design and websites, with a growing focus on low-carbon web design. 

In this short episode we learn how Oxygen started as the marketing team at Oxford HR, a leadership consultancy serving the global for-purpose sector such as WWF, Greenpeace and Médecins Sans Frontières and developed into a standalone agency.

Ruth also shares a little of her own story - from studying at the LSE to building a career centred on purpose-led work, climate awareness and responsible business.

Find Ruth on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-davis/

Learn more about Oxygen at designedbyoxygen.com.

What does it take to build a social enterprise that truly sustains itself - financially, environmentally and socially?

Ally and I had a wonderful chat with Adrian Sell, Chief Executive of Oxford Wood Recycling, a social enterprise turning waste timber into valuable items while helping people facing barriers to employment rebuild confidence, skills and working lives.

Oxford Wood Recycling collects waste timber from businesses and households, diverts it from landfill, and resells reclaimed materials through its Abingdon wood shop. Alongside the environmental mission sits a powerful social one - supporting people facing barriers to employment into meaningful work.

Adrian shares why trading income sits at the heart of the organisation’s sustainability. Grants can support innovation, he explains, but commercial activity builds resilience, learning and long-term stability.

We explore how purpose-led organisations can balance mission and margin without losing their soul - and why building strong trading income is often the most responsible thing a social enterprise can do.

You’ll also hear about:

• How earned income now accounts for over 95% of Oxford Wood Recycling’s £800k annual revenue
• The circular economy in action - collecting, reclaiming and reusing wood locally
• How environmental impact is measured through tonnes of waste saved and CO₂ avoided
• Supporting people into employment through practical skills and confidence building
• The cultural reality of running a warm, neurodiverse workplace alongside commercial discipline
• Why marketing isn’t just about sustainability messaging - but value, service and trust
• The challenge of building footfall when your best asset is hidden off the high street
• Growing demand for reclaimed materials - and the opportunity for national expansion

Adrian also reflects on the wider future of the sector: a UK where reclaimed wood services are available everywhere, making reuse the easy, everyday choice.

And his one piece of advice? Look carefully at what you already have - your expertise, your community, your audience. Somewhere in that sits value others are willing to support or pay for.

Website: https://www.oxfordwoodrecycling.org.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OxfordWoodRecycling
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oxfordwoodrecycling/

Meet Dr Karen Cripps, Associate Professor of Responsible Management and Leadership at Oxford Brookes University Business School.

Karen has spent her career exploring the intersection of business, sustainability and education. Today, her focus is clear: green skills - and why every job is now a green job.

We talk about what that really means in practice. Not just specialist sustainability roles, but marketing, operations, supply chain and leadership. The 99% of roles that need baseline carbon literacy, systems thinking and the confidence to act.

Karen delves into why demand for green talent is outstripping supply, why many managers still lack clarity about their role in delivering net zero, and why resilience and influence are now core leadership skills.

We explore the emotional toll on sustainability professionals - and why organisations must support them properly if they want progress to stick.

You’ll also hear about:

• Why sustainability must be meaningfully embedded in education
• The gap between education for sustainable development and real-world green skills
• The visibility problem in job descriptions - and why organisations miss talent by failing to signal their sustainability ambitions
• Carbon literacy training - and why no business graduate should leave university without it
• The growing communities of climate professionals supporting each other
• The role of marketing and internal communications in mobilising the 99%
• Why advocacy is a professional skill - and influencing change without becoming “the activist in the room”

Karen also shares encouraging signs of progress: packed green skills webinars, rising student demand for purposeful careers, and businesses continuing the work despite political headwinds.

Karen’s one piece of advice for employers:

Start with awareness. Reflect on how climate risk, regulation, talent expectations and cost efficiencies already affect your business. Then ask who in your organisation could act on that. That’s your green job.

Contact Karen at kcripps@brookes.ac.uk

Find Karen's book at: Cripps, K, and Ho, C. (Eds.) 2026 (forthcoming). An organisational guide to skills for green workforce transformation. Abingdon: Routledge.

Recent reports and publications: 

• Holding back climate progress - sustainability's critical skills gap - with Climate Change Coaches
• Sustainability in early careers, UK 2025 - with Windō
• Leading the Pathway to Net Zero - with the CMI

Meet Josh Pitman, Managing Director of Priory Direct — a sustainable packaging supplier — and a kite surfer turned accidental entrepreneur.

Priory Direct is a £10 million packaging business helping more than 16,000 UK e-commerce businesses ship products to customers — with as little waste as possible.

We hear how they’re taking on one of e-commerce's most overlooked problems. Secondary packaging — the boxes, mailers and dispatch materials that move products from warehouse to doorstep — is a massive and growing waste stream. Josh's mission is to make it as efficient and as harmless as possible.

Josh traces his journey from cutting out address labels for a teenage kite surfing side hustle, to a beach in Cape Verde littered with plastic, to the light bulb moment that gave Priory Direct its purpose: minimise the impact of e-commerce on the planet.

We explore what sustainable packaging means in practice — forecasting demand, filling lorries, reducing shipped air, and coordinating supply chains across 16,000 UK businesses. The insight that sustainability and commercial efficiency can be the same thing runs throughout.

Josh gives an honest account of embedding sustainability into the business — putting carbon footprint and waste streams on the same KPI dashboard as turnover and profit, democratising responsibility across every department, and letting people surprise you when you get out of their way.

We get into the realities of certifying as a B Corp, working with fast fashion clients without conflict, and why EPR legislation is finally forcing large retailers to scrutinise their packaging spend. 

The conversation turns to what's next — a machine learning forecasting platform funded by Innovate UK, a new life cycle assessment tool covering 14 environmental factors, and an open letter campaign to ban misleading recyclability claims on soft plastic.

Finally, Josh makes a grounded case for why marketing and sustainability belong together — and why green hushing may be more dangerous than greenwashing.

A practical, energetic episode on purpose, packaging, and the unglamorous work of making supply chains less wasteful — one lorry load at a time.

Find out more about Priory Direct at https://www.priorydirect.co.uk/

Meet Amanda Powell-Smith, Chief Executive of Forster Communications - a purpose-led agency working at the intersection of communications, sustainability, and social change for nearly 30 years.

Amanda shares the story behind Forster’s founding in 1996, inspired by the Body Shop era and the belief that business can be a force for good. That ambition still shapes the agency’s work, client choices, and how it runs day to day.

We explore what it means to be selective about clients in practice. Forster works across sectors, but with clear red lines - and a constant question: will this work contribute to real change, or just polish the surface?

Amanda talks through how those decisions are made - using evidence, research, and judgement - and the tension of balancing purpose with commercial reality in a values-led business.

We also look inward at the people and processes behind the model. From colleague-led impact groups to sustainable travel incentives and a plant-based office, this is about building a healthier, fairer business from the inside out.

Not everything is straightforward. Diversity remains a challenge. Recruitment is slow. And some initiatives take time to land. But Amanda makes a strong case for small businesses treating agility as a strength.

There’s a wider discussion on the role of communications too. In a noisy, distrustful environment shaped by misinformation and greenwashing, Amanda argues the industry has a vital role to play - building trust, clarity, and support for change.

We close by looking ahead - from growing European partnerships to preparing for new B Corp standards - and why small businesses should lean into their ability to experiment, learn fast, and lead.

A thoughtful episode on purpose-led communications, client choice, trust, and the power of small businesses to move things forward.

For more information visit forster.co.uk, and connect with Amanda on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-powell-smith/ 

Meet Nick Billingham, Managing Director of Charity People - a recruitment business serving the UK non-profit sector, built around impact, employee ownership, and long-term thinking.

Nick shares his route into charity recruitment, moving from a more traditional path to finding a better fit in the non-profit world. Ten years on, he leads a business working across charity, education, and social impact roles, from place-based hiring to senior leadership and trustee appointments.

A central theme is what impact really means for a recruiter. For Charity People, it goes beyond filling vacancies. Nick talks about supporting life decisions, helping organisations hire better, and strengthening the sector’s long-term resilience.

We also explore the internal side of impact - from staff wellbeing and flexible working to becoming wholly employee owned. Nick explains why they chose an employee ownership trust, what it changes in practice, and how it sharpens thinking on fairness, accountability, and shared success.

There’s an honest discussion about the realities of purpose-led business. Nick reflects on a difficult period after the move to employee ownership - including market slowdown, limited access to capital, and the challenge of staying transparent with staff.

The conversation then turns to equity, diversity and inclusion. Nick shares how Charity People works to make hiring fairer, while recognising the pressures many charities face. It’s a thoughtful look at the tension between long-term goals and short-term needs.

We also touch on governance, B Corp, and the role of structure in making purpose credible. Nick argues that businesses serious about impact should think carefully about who benefits and how decisions are made.

Finally, Nick looks ahead to the future of recruitment - including AI - while arguing that human judgement, trust, and partnership remain central.

A thoughtful episode on recruitment, employee ownership, transparency, and building a business that tries to do right by its staff, clients, and sector.

For more information visit https://charitypeople.co.uk/

Connect with Nick at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbillinghamcharityrecruiter/