The Fairtrade Foundation has appointed a new chairman, in the form of business and brand consultant David Clayton Smith.

The appointment was confirmed at a board meeting in central London today.

“I am looking forward to working with the Fairtrade team in developing and implementing their growth strategy” said Clayton Smith, who has been a member of the board of ten people for ten months and is supporting the head of communications in developing the foundation’s new five-year communications strategy.

Clayton Smith is director and co-founder of the business consultancy Andrum Ltd, and has an impressive range of retail and online sector experience. He has been responsible for brand management, sales, marketing, and buying and supply functions in major blue-chip consumer businesses.

Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “David brings a fresh creative perspective to developing business growth in the Fairtrade sector. His wealth of experience in the consumer-facing retail world, combined with his commitment to development issues, means he is uniquely well placed to help the Foundation scale up to deliver greater benefits for producers.”

Lamb also paid tribute to Mike Gidney, director of policy at Traidcraft Exchange, who has served as chair on the Fairtrade Foundation Board for three years and before that was a board member for three years. Six years is the maximum period it is possible to serve on the foundation’s board.

“Mike has constantly challenged the senior management team and staff of the Fairtrade Foundation to deliver his vision of a Fairtrade lifestyle for the public,” says Lamb. “We are in particular very grateful for all his direction and steer in developing the foundation’s ambitious five-year strategy launched earlier this year, Tipping the Balance.”

Clayton Smith will now help the organisation deliver the goals of the strategy that, over the next five years, seeks to tip the balance of international trade in favour of disadvantaged producers.

Specific targets include achieving a UK market share of at least 50 per cent in the top three product categories, and more than 10 per cent in at least six other food and drink categories. The number of farmers and workers in the developing world benefiting from sales of Fairtrade products in the UK will have more than doubled.

Topics