Sustainability professional Chris Harrop OBE welcomed as Visiting Professor

Huddersfield Business School is delighted to welcome accomplished Marketing and Sustainability professional Chris Harrop OBE as Visiting Professor. 

Each year, Huddersfield Business School hand-picks a group of high-profile visiting professors to collaborate on a variety of activities that will enrich our students’ learning experience. This year, the School will welcome Chris Harrop OBE as Visiting Professor in Sustainable Business.

As an accomplished marketing and sustainability professional, Chris has held roles at the Shell International Petroleum Company and The United Nations Global Compact UK as Non-Executive Chairman and has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in creating sustainable business models. Most notably in his current role at Marshalls PLC as ESG Strategy Director, and previously as their Group Marketing & Sustainability Director, he transformed the company into a sustainable business, winning the ‘PLC of the year Awards for Sustainability’ three times, the only company to have ever achieved this and are rated European Climate Change Leaders by the FT.

Along with his current role at Marshalls PLC, Chris also has two other board positions as the Chairman of Made in Britain, a not-for-profit organisation that supports British manufactures where Chris has worked to build the board and establish strategic partnerships with commerce, government, and academics, and as a Non Executive Director of the FairTax Foundation, whose FairTax Mark is considered to be the gold standard of responsible tax conduct, bridging the gap between corporate responsibility and the wider tax justice movement. Prior to this Chris was a Corporate Non-Executive Director at The Ethical Trade Initiative, an alliance of companies, trade unions, and voluntary organisations working in partnership to improve the lives of workers across the globe.

Proving just how passionate he is about the impact of climate change, Chris visited the North Pole in 2017 to see the effects for himself, thus helping him to become a better advocate for business action on climate change. In 2018 Chris was named BtB Marketing Director of the Year at the BtB International Awards and was very proudly appointed as an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to the Prevention of Modern Slavery and Exploitation by Her Majesty the Queen in 2019.

From October 2022, Chris will begin engaging with the school across all teaching levels through guest lectures, live projects, and events to name a few. With his passion for sustainability and ethical business practices, Chris will utilise his expertise to ensure students go out into the working world of business knowledgeable and clued-up on responsible business practices.

Commenting on his appointment Chris remarked:

"The ability to share my experience with students and to inspire them about the positive role of business and they themselves can play is one that I am very much looking forward to. Let’s not forget Sustainability consists of fulfilling the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations, balancing People, Planet and Profit. Today’s students will be the drivers and the beneficiaries of how well we address the very real challenges we are facing."

As a school, we are currently working towards ensuring the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals are incorporated into the curriculum and with Chris as a visiting professor in sustainable business, he will be able to provide our students with real-world examples from industry.