Our Board members
There are currently 10 trustees on the Keep Britain Tidy board. The members come from a diverse range of backgrounds, each with particular areas of experience which provides the organisation with an impressive level of expertise across all its operations.
Dinah Nichols, Chair
Dinah was formerly Director-General Environment in Defra, where she was responsible for the UK’s policies on sustainable development and the environment at home, in the EU and worldwide, including sponsorship and funding of Keep Britain Tidy and its predecessor organisations. During her time as a government official she also held senior posts dealing with in urban regeneration, housing, and commercial property.
She is currently a director of Pennon Group plc, (the parent company of South West Water and Viridor Waste) and serves on the board of the Crown Estate. She was chair of the National Forest Company, whose mission is to transform the despoiled landscape of a 200-square mile area in the Midlands through multi-purpose forestry, until 2011 and she has recently completed ten years as a director of an Aberdeen Asset Management Investment Trust.
Dinah is a trustee of the Land Trust, which leads the conversion of derelict land into accessible and well maintained public spaces and was chair of Groundwork North London and a founder member of the Travel Foundation and the Carbon Trust. As well as becoming chair of Keep Britain Tidy in December 2012, Dinah has just been appointed as an external member of the council of the National Trust.
In her spare time she enjoys singing with Goldsmiths Choral Union, theatre and music, mountain and hill walking, cross- country skiing and travelling.
Sohail Husain PHD
Sohail is an expert in community safety, justice reform and urban renewal. He is director of Analytica Consulting, having previously held posts as deputy CEO of Crime Concern and lecturer in Geography at Southampton University.
In the UK, Sohail has contributed to government policy and programmes, and been involved in implementation of the 1998 Crime & Disorder Act and its subsequent reform. Through research and publications he has contributed to our understanding of effective practice and been a member of expert groups for the Home Office, National Audit Office and Audit Commission, and previously the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Social Exclusion Unit.
His expertise in his field has also seen him take part in a range of other national and international projects including work for the UN.
Alastair Singleton
Alastair Singleton is an experienced entrepreneur and voluntary sector trustee passionate about the environment, social and youth justice. His early career was as a diplomat, working largely in Africa and the Middle East, and he has held senior positions in the public, private and charitable sectors.
Alastair has a restless hunger to understand what makes communities and organisations work better, and a particular interest in the psychology that lies behind littering and other similar environmentally degrading actions, together with the dynamics of facilitating behaviour change to address them. He is committed to the values of an open, engaged and participative society, and firmly believes in sustainable and inclusive communities.
Daniel Ratchford
Daniel Ratchford is Chief Executive of Quality Health (www.quality-health.co.uk), a private company providing staff and service user research for the public sector, predominantly the NHS.
Daniel was previously Strategic Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods at the London Borough of Sutton (www.sutton.gov.uk), where he led Sutton’s work on behaviour change. He has held senior positions in other local authorities, the Audit Commission, an NHS Primary Care Trust, and a national social care charity. Previously, he spent seven years working as a management consultant for PA Consulting, delivering a range of assignments in central and local government, and for the police.
Daniel is a Board Member of the Public Management and Policy Association, and an Advisory Board member for Common Purpose in London. You can follow him on twitter (http://twitter.com/danielratchford)."
Paul Bettison
Born in Preston, Lancashire, 57 years ago, Paul has spent most of his life to date in the South of England. He is Leader of Bracknell Forest Unitary Authority. Having set up his own successful business in the mid 1980s supplying printing equipment to the UK newspaper and general printing industry, Paul turned to local politics in 1991. He was elected to Sandhurst Town Council in May of that year, and to Bracknell Forest Borough Council at a by-election in October 1991. Under Paul’s leadership, Bracknell Forest gained unitary status in 1998.
Paul firmly believes in local authorities’ power of community wellbeing. He is active within the Local Government Association (LGA), having held several Board chairmanships. From 2006 – 2009 he chaired the LGA Environment Board and is currently chair of Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) and sits on the LGA Executive. Paul was the LGA e-Government Champion and is the Conservative Party’s National spokesman on local government ICT matters.
Paul has been married to Jean for 34 years, and they have two daughters, Clare (26) and Emily (25). Paul retired from his business activities in 2004, and now devotes himself full-time to Local Government.
Peter Kent
Peter is the Director of an executive coaching company working with leaders in both the private and public sectors. As well as one to one coaching he also works with teams on leadership, team performance and strategy development.
Previous positions include senior roles in ICI working in the UK and India. In his time in ICI in manufacturing he was responsible for transforming the environmental impact of a major part of ICI’s operations on the River Mersey. In India he was responsible for exporting and commissioning technology in the expansion of India’s industrial base.
As well as Board experience in industry, Peter was Chairman of the Board of a Further Education College, appointed by the Secretary of State for Education to lead the turnaround of a college in serious difficulty and its subsequent expansion.
Peter’s interests include reading, golf, sailing and walking.
Peter Styche OBE
Peter has been Chair of Salix Homes, Salford’s ALMO, since June 2007 and of Helena Partnerships, a registered housing provider based in St Helens, Merseyside, since September 2007. He is also a member of the board of management of the European Institute of Urban Affairs.
Before retiring, at the end of 2006, Peter spent most of his career working in planning, regeneration and housing for various arms of central government, based first in the West Midlands and later in the North West of England. During his time at Government Office North West he was influential in the development of policy for Housing Market Renewal and the decent homes programme. He led the creation of the Regional Housing Board and preparation of the region’s first Housing Strategy.
He was awarded the OBE in the 2007 New Years’ Honours List for services to Communities and Local Government.
Mathew Prosser
Mathew Prosser, Commercial Director at DS Smith Recycling, a division of DS Smith Plc (a FTSE 250 company), is responsible for implementing development strategy for the company’s growing facilities management brand as well as the expansion of its operations into continental Europe.
As a trustee for Keep Britain Tidy, Mathew brings a wealth of experience in the environmental sector, which he is keen to utilise toward the development of initiatives for both local communities and the wider field of sustainability. Recycling and waste management is a key factor toward reducing carbon footprint and improving environmental performance, meaning Mathew is ideally placed to advocate the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra in both the business and community arena.
Mathew previously worked at P&O Transport, The Mirror Group, Cadbury’s, and more recently, as a Director at Biffa PLC (also a FTSE 250 company), where he gained 22 years’ experience in the environmental sector. He managed the organic growth activities and was operationally responsible for PFI contracts and the development of its municipal sector.
Matthew Bennett
Matthew was formerly chairman of Waste Watch and is also chair of the Conservation Foundation. He has also been involved in a number of local voluntary and community activities in central London for many years.
Matthew was a founder and director of a major London based recycling and environmental company until its sale in 2009 and is managing partner of a restaurant in central London.
Sylvia Levi
Sylvia is a chartered accountant by training and has worked in financial services for many years, initially as an auditor and later as a regulator, investigating a wide variety of issues concerning financial services, businesses and individuals. Switching ‘sides’ she has been working as a regulatory compliance professional for the last few years.
Currently Director, Quality Assurance at Compliance Network Limited. Sylvia has over 20 years experience of financial services regulation at the FSA and its predecessors and more recently as a practicing compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer and risk manager.
Alongside her professional career Sylvia has been a long-time green activist. She has used her training to assist several organisations with their financial management.