Colleague Stories

Hey Zeb, tell us a bit about yourself.

I work as a Sustainability Manager for Virgin Money, overseeing projects that deliver positively towards our goals. I am also the chair of the Modern Slavery Working Group for the organisation. I love supporting and guiding anyone with a passion for sustainability, diversity, coffee, nature and animals. I connect areas of the business to drive corporate initiatives behind our ESG goals, addressing topics such as supporting those with vulnerabilities, financial inclusion, digital inclusion, climate risks in banking and routes to keep our carbon impacts down, and deliver annual sustainability reporting updates for the bank. 

One of my main tasks is to drive actions and discussions related to Modern slavery though the working group I chair. We look closely at trends related to Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in the UK and world-wide and discuss the relevance of these in financial institutions. Our reviews often help me to promptly adopt emerging strategies to combat MSHT with key stakeholders in the organisation, meaning we are prepared to prevent risks and protect potential victims in accordance with the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) 2015.  

I recently attended conference called ’10 years of the Modern Slavery Act’ which explored the progress made in the UK and what might need addressing today. I've captured my reflections online to share learnings with others, and I’ll be working on fresh ideas with the working group throughout the year.

What I love is working with people, and my focus for the months ahead is to design and deliver an ESG event.  The ambition is to inspire colleagues and help them to generate ideas where they can drive impact through the work they do. It often becomes a very energetic and exciting day which is fun. 

I’m happy either around food or in nature, combine the two and it’s a jackpot! I’m a big fan of sharing a discussion with others over a coffee (with cake) or having a meal together where interesting ideas can come alive, or I learn something new from another person. I’m a huge fan of nature and animals so being in the park and meeting friendly dogs (and their owners) or being by calming waters are always enjoyed.

I was fascinated by space as a child and often frustrated my mum when I used up tin foil to make spaceships out of any old bottles I could find – I blame the 1990s fairy liquid adverts for giving me the idea!  

Inspiring future generations and supporting creative ideas. This year I’ve been teaching my niece (13 years old) how to build a website and social media following, which isn’t as easy as we thought!   

We have a kingfisher toy called Squaky who goes on holidays (often in my backpack), and daily adventures (often for pizza with my niece). 

A few times a year I aim to volunteer my time to projects that are helping people in the local area, such as being part of the Net Zero living Programme or doing deliveries for a local charity organisation so they can save on time, delivery costs and petrol costs.