Bioregional has appointed corporate sustainability expert Munish Datta to its board of trustees.

Munish Datta is Director of Sustainability for Specsavers Group, which operates in 11 countries with 45,000 partners and colleagues. He is also a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Senior Independent Advisor to BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management UK.

Until May 2022, Datta was a director at the UK Green Building Council. Prior to this he led the design and delivery of Marks & Spencer’s multi-award-winning, globally renowned sustainability strategy, “Plan A”, for its operations, including a property portfolio of more than 1,000 buildings.

Bioregional is a multi-award-winning social enterprise that provides sustainability consultancy services to partners including the United Nations, global financial institutions, multinational retailers, and city authorities.

In the UK it works extensively with retailers – such as the New West End Company, an alliance of leading businesses in London’s West End shopping district, and the multinational DIY retailer Kingfisher – on corporate sustainability strategy, carbon footprinting, and the development of sustainable retail products.

Its built environment consultancy team partners with UK housebuilders, asset managers, and local authorities to support the delivery of net-zero carbon homes and sustainable communities.

The 30-strong Bioregional team has offices in London and Oxfordshire, and an international presence through its partners Bioregional Australia and Bioregional South Africa. As a charity, it is governed by a board of trustees, of which Datta becomes the tenth.

Munish Datta said: “I am passionate about the crucial role that businesses can play to create a truly equitable, inclusive, and sustainable economy, and so am very excited to join Bioregional, which has a long track record in delivering innovative solutions for businesses showing how we can thrive within the limits of our planet’s resources.”

Sue Riddlestone OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive of Bioregional, said: “Munish has great breadth of experience as a sustainability leader working at the forefront of two of our key sectors of work – retail and real estate. I am grateful to Munish and to all our trustees for giving their time to support our mission to support ambitious businesses to raise the bar for sustainability in the sectors in which they work.”

Jonathan Griffin, Chair of Bioregional’s board of trustees, said: “Munish’s experience in creating and delivering complex sustainability strategies for leading retail businesses perfectly complements the skills and experience we have in our governance team, and so I am delighted to welcome him to Bioregional.”