‘I’m an advocate but I’m also a capitalist’: Douglas Lamont on how to run a mission-driven business
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Douglas Lamont has found his lane. The CEO of confectioner Tony’s Chocolonely has a knack for picking mission-driven businesses that are thriving.?
?In 2022, after nearly 16 years as CEO of Innocent, the drinks brand, Lamont was looking for a change. As a champion of purpose-led businesses, he knew he wanted to go somewhere with an ethos similar to Innocent’s – but that wasn’t his only consideration.?“I was looking for an opportunity at a similar scale, in that scale-up phase from ￡100m to ￡400m in revenue,” Lamont says.
For him, the mission is key, but it must work in tandem with profit and growth. Here, he spoke with managing editor Francesca Cassidy to share why it is the smart thing to do, not just the right thing.?Read more.
COP 29: what progress was made on climate?finance?
Money was the key question at COP29, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. This was the first summit tasked with replacing the climate-finance target that richer nations initially pledged to provide poorer ones in 2009.
?This year's event took place against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions. The election of Donald Trump, who has promised to pull the US out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, fuelled doubts among attendees about the future of climate finance. These fears were further exacerbated by a dearth of major finance players and a secret recording of Azerbaijan's COP29 chief discussing investment opportunities in oil and gas
?After two weeks of negotiations, which ran 35 hours late and came close to collapse, negotiators agreed on a new climate-finance target of at least $300bn (￡238bn) a year by 2035 and rules for a global carbon trading market - but, as finance writer Sam Birchall explores, bitter divisions remain.?Read more.
Lack of neurodiversity inclusion in hiring is ‘extremely worrying’, says Zurich?CHRO
Job applications and interviews can be particularly challenging for the roughly 10 million neurodivergent people in the UK.?
A lack of inclusion is forcing 51% of neurodiverse adults to hide their condition during the hiring process, according to a survey by insurance firm Zurich. Almost half of the 1,000 neurodiverse adults questioned say they’ve been discriminated against when looking for a job. And one in five had been laughed at by an employer.
?Steve Collinson, chief HR officer at Zurich UK, says the current lack of neurodiversity inclusion in the recruitment process, highlighted by the company’s survey, is extremely worrying. “Too many neurodiverse people don’t feel safe to be themselves in the workplace, particularly during the hiring stage,” he told HR editor Sam Forsdick . Read more.
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