We’ve appointed a new chief executive
MEET OUR SEA-EO!
We’re excited to share the news that City to Sea have appointed a Chief Executive, Rebecca Burgess, to manage our growing team and build on this year’s incredible success as we move into 2019.
We’ve seen phenomenal growth over the last 12 months – evolving from a dedicated team of just 5 in early January 2018, to a team of 18. The rapid growth follows an busy year of campaign success and both public and corporate interest in the issue of plastic pollution. Our Refill campaign was awarded Gold at the Global Good Awards earlier this year and now has the support of High St chains such as Costa, John Lewis, Morrisons, Greggs and Wetherspoons and through partnerships with transport hubs, including Network Rail and Heathrow Airport. The campaign is now going global, with plans to launch in Europe in 2019 and interest Internationally from Australia to Iceland.
Rebecca joined City to Sea in April 2018 as Head of Partnerships, to manage the growing network of businesses and organisations keen to support City to Sea’s work through campaigns such as Refill. After a few busy months she was appointed to the board as Commercial Director and naturally stepped into the role as Chief Executive as of December 2018.
Prior to City to Sea, Rebecca worked at Bristol-based independent consultancy Eunomia. Here she was responsible for the project management of Eunomia’s larger policy-related clients and oversaw the effective running of the twenty-strong consultants in the Policy and Sustainable Business teams. It was through working with the European Commission on their Plastic Strategy, that Rebecca felt inspired to do more in the fight against single-use plastic. Rebecca will take over the role from December 1st 2018.
I’m delighted to be taking on the role of Chief Executive at City to Sea at such a pivotal point in the organisation’s history. The growth we have seen over the past 12 months is a testament to both the amazing team we have and the increase in public and corporate concern about the issue of plastic pollution. I’m excited to see where we go next and look forward to leading the organisation into 2019 and beyond.
City to Sea was founded in 2015 by Natalie Fee, an author, campaigner and recently one of Nesta’s 50 New Radicals. Having witnessed the amount of plastic flowing out of the river Avon into the Bristol Channel, during the city’s year as European Green Capital, Natalie, whose background was in media, was inspired to see if she could do something about it.
Natalie Fee will stay on in her role as Founder and continue to be the spokesperson for City to Sea as the organisation’s media presence continues to grow.
I’m thrilled we’re in the position to offer Rebecca the role of Chief Executive. We’ve sprung up from nothing to become a key player in the fight against plastic pollution with a thriving, growing team. And while our enthusiasm and passion got us this far, it feels like great leadership and governance will be the key to our continued success.