Eco Week: Alumna Sophie's Sustainability Insights

As part of the Alleyn’s Eco Week programme we were delighted to welcome back Sophie de Salis (Spurgeon’s 2015) for a sustainability related careers talk to pupils in Years 10 and 11. 

Sophie delivered a fascinating and fact-packed presentation on her role as a Sustainability Policy Advisor for the British Retail Consortium, a trade association whose mission is to:

Make a positive difference to retail, its customers and communities, today and in the future.

The session took in a whole range of initiatives and areas that Sophie’s job connects with across the retail sector from supply chains to store front: government and media engagement, content curation for events, promoting deforestation-free supply chains, promoting carbon neutrality, protecting nature and biodiversity, combatting modern slavery and campaigning for workers’ rights such as medical care and safe workplaces. 

Sophie described how the BRC works to raise industry standards, working with members from small retailers through to large supermarket chains. Whilst the BRC is politically neutral, she outlined how it engages with institutions including both the government and the media to inform and influence around important issues in the retail sector. She also introduced pupils to the BRC’s Roadmap to 2040 and its net zero ambitions. 

Sophie stressed the importance of data in the work that she does, making sure that information is accurate as well as impactful to illustrate the points that the BRC is trying to convey. She also touched on how sustainability initiatives like Fairtrade and the Waitrose Foundation work, and what companies such as Co-op and Sainsbury’s are doing to make their supply chains more sustainable.  

In terms of Sophie’s career journey, she shared that initially she “didn’t have a plan”.

She studied Art Foundation and then attended Edinburgh University (which she highly recommended) to study history, including a year in Canada. After graduating during the pandemic, Sophie tried a variety of jobs including nannying, working in a coffee shop and several internships, where she discovered the interest in communications that led to BRC roles in the media team and then the policy unit.  

Pupils asked questions to understand how a circular economy works, about the day-to-day responsibilities of Sophie’s role and what they looked like, whether her role was stressful, about her particular interest in fashion retail, and what political parties the BRC engages with. 

The Q&A also took in whether Sophie had recommendations for those with an interest in sustainability or policy related careers. She advised that there was a broad range of entry opportunities, from the civil service to trade bodies or the sustainability or policy units within retail organisations. She recognised Geography as a useful subject, but also underlined that many courses, particularly the humanities, offer transferable skills that are useful for policy and/or sustainability careers. 

While back at School, it was lovely to reconnect Sophie with her former history teacher Dr Hawes, and to take the obligatory House Wall photo! We are incredibly grateful to Sophie for visiting Townley Road to share her experiences and advice to current pupils, and indeed to all our alumni who so kindly give back their time to support our careers programme. Their real-life experiences and perspectives make such a difference to our pupils’ understanding of the world of work, helping to shape and inspire them towards their own professional prospects.