Gloucester-based Blackfinch Group hires dedicated ESG Manager

By Nicky Godding

8 June 2021

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Gloucester-based investment specialist Blackfinch has appointed Steve John as ESG Manager. Steve will be working with both internal and external stakeholders to support the further development of the group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework, internal processes and strategy.

Steve brings 20 years of experience in ESG, sustainability, and community relations strategy development and communications. After starting his career in social investment, he moved into the corporate sector to drive organisational change and encourage responsible business practices. Steve has worked in-house for international steel and energy companies, based out of Europe and the Middle East. He has managed sustainability and community projects around the world, including in the Indian Himalayas and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Steve has a master’s degree in Ecology & Environmental Management. He is a Fellow at the Institute of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability and is a former Chairperson of the World Steel Association’s Sustainability Expert Group.

Richard Cook, CEO and Founder at Blackfinch, said: “Over the past 12 months, Blackfinch has undertaken a comprehensive integration of ESG principles and sustainability considerations across all our business areas (Asset Management, Ventures, AIM Portfolios, Energy and Property). Steve’s appointment as ESG Manager is the crucial next step in our ESG evolution.

“We are determined that our ESG strategy remains fluid and that our approach stays relevant. Steve has the experience and the insight to help take us further in this exciting and essential undertaking.”

Commenting on his appointment, Steve said: “I am enormously excited by Blackfinch’s ambitions in this area. ESG is still relatively new, and often misunderstood within the financial services sector, but the potential to deliver solutions to global challenges is very real. I have spent some time at the coalface, and I’m aiming to bring that fresh and real-world perspective to Blackfinch so we can continue to make a positive impact.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.