Simon Billing

Background

I’m working on projects in Bristol that aim to contribute to making Bristol our top Green city. We set up a project called the West of England Carbon Challenge, which is a bit like a carbon fitness club and I guess I would be the fitness instructor. I also work on sustainable food and dipping into how the creative talent of the city step up to the sustainability challenge, appropriately called Think Future Now.

I’m here because I wanted to work for an inspiring organisation which really makes a difference. After leaving school in Bristol I ended up living and teaching at Jesuit Mission in an isolated community in Guyana. Besides learning how to manage a dugout canoe for the commute to work, it opened my eyes.

I was lucky enough to travel further into my degree and beyond. I spent a year working with small sugar farmers in Kenya, then after university fell into a research position in Mexico City for two years. I got a great opportunity to spend time with small farmers on the margins of the city looking how the city provided both opportunities in terms of the market but also degradation of their environment. Moreover, I added Spanish and Tequila drinking to my CV.

I came back to the UK knowing that I wanted to use these insights and conversations to shape my career. I’m no farmer, but isn’t it beneficial to have a closer relationship between grower and consumer? After dipping my toe into the finance and travel world, I ended up at pioneering Fair Trade organisation Twin Trading, who founded Cafédirect and other leading Fairtrade brands. I helped tell farmers' stories and link them into a network in the UK and beyond, as well as helping build new business opportunities.

Now living back in the place I grew up I find myself planting potatoes in a new venture sharing the risks and rewards between farmers and households in the city.

What floats my boat outside work? My time outside of work is set around the joy of a young family. It luckily means I can keep enjoying camping, being outdoors and eating.