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Staff

There are currently nine members of staff at Social Firms UK.

  • Michele Rigby - Chief Executive Officer
  • Sara McGinley - Marketing & Communications Manager
  • Di Cunliffe - Policy Officer
  • Tom Gaule - Membership Officer
  • Sandra King - Financial Controller
  • Theresa Belton - Accounts Assistant
  • Temidire Odesanya - Marketing Officer
  • Kathy Baker - Project Manager
  • Carly Malling - Business Development Associate

 

Michele Rigby
Michele Rigby joined Social Firms UK in January 2012 as the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this Michele was CEO of Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE) from April 2006 to November 2011. In 1995, she co-founded Recycle-IT! Ltd, an award-winning Social Firm with a global market, which she led for 10 years as Managing Director. Michele is a founding member of RREUSE, a network of Reuse and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises, serving on the Executive Committee from its foundation in 2001 to 2006, including one year as Chair. She served as a Board Member of the Social Enterprise Coalition from 2006 to 2009, and again from 2010-2011 and a Council Member since 2009. She was also a Board Member of Social Firms UK from 2009 - 2011. She served on the DTI Small Business Council from 2002-2004, was a Director of Investors in People UK from 2004-2007 and served on the Advisory Board of Inspire East from 2006 to 2011.   Michele’s dual experience - of setting up and running a Social Firm, and of leading a regional social enterprise support body - informs Michele's clear views on the needs of social enterprises and the policy directions that enable and encourage social enterprise both to occupy a proper space within the national economy, and to bring new ways of effecting social change. Email Michele

 
Sara McGinley

Sara McGinley joined Social Firms UK in November 2009 as Marketing & Communications Manager. Sara has a media and agency background and spent the 5 years previous to Social Firms UK as Business Development Manager for Yell. Prior to that she was Head of Sales & Marketing at CareandHealth.

Email Sara
Di Cunliffe

Di Cunliffe joined Social Firms UK as Policy Officer in October 2007. Previously, Di worked in a range of central government departments developing policy on anti-discrimination law and co-ordinating the different aspects of equality policy across Government. She has a grounding in the employment and training matters developed through work in job centres, and administering government training and job creation programmes.

Email Di
Tom Gaule

Tom Gaule joined Social Firms UK in October 2009 as the Membership Officer. Following many years in the private sector Tom has a background in international trade, involving both the physical movement of goods and dealing with customs regulations, standing as a committee member on the Southern Region Branch of the Institute of Export. As well as this Tom has been involved in a number of software system and procedural implementations, including trade controls within the USA and closer to home, Patient Safety, within the NHS.

Email Tom
Sandra King

Sandra King joined Social Firms UK in March 2011 as Financial Controller. Sandra has many years accounting experience in the private sector, having been trained in public practice and also worked in industry. From other voluntary roles undertaken, Sandra has gleaned valuable knowledge and experience relating to charities. Sandra is thrilled to be part of a team with a vision to support and facilitate business enterprises which seek to employ and empower severely disadvantaged people.

Email Sandra
Theresa Belton

Theresa Belton, Accounts Assistant, started with Social Firms UK in February 2004. Working part-time, her main responsibilities include assisting the Finance Manager.

Email Theresa
Temidire Odesanya

Temi Odesanya joined Social Firms UK as the Marketing Assistant in March 2010.  Temi graduated from the University of Southampton with a BSc (Social Sciences) in Politics and International Relations in 2007 and spent the next two and a half years in procurement for a global engineering company, first as Procurement Assistant, then as the Expediter.  Temi is very interested in Social Firms, social enterprise and youth social entrepreneurship and has been involved in a volunteer project with Live UnLtd researching the barriers young social entrepreneurs face.

Email Temi
Carly Malling

Carly Malling joined Social Firms UK in November 2011 as Business Development Associate as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Middlesex University and Social Firms UK. Carly left Southampton University in September 2011, having completed an MSc in Strategic Entrepreneurship after graduating in 2010 with a degree in Management and Entrepreneurship. Carly has a keen interest in the social enterprise sector with a particular interest in student and graduate social enterprise

Email Carly
Kathy Baker

Kathy Baker  is Project Manager for Social Firms UK and, in this role, is called in to run/lead on distinct pieces of project work as and when required. Up to the end of October 2010 she held the role of Quality Development Manager, within which she completed two major mapping exercises of the Social Firm sector and successfully developed, piloted and launched the independently verified Star Social Firm quality standard

If you wish to contact Kathy you need to go through Social Firms UK

Click here to email.