Member profile

Alison Austin

ACNFP Member

Last updated: 03 April 2024

Alison is an independent sustainability consultant working with a range of businesses on strategy development covering environmental, social and governance matters.  She spent 25 years working for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. in roles ranging from Marketing to Food Technical and Sustainability where she gained a strong understanding of consumers’ needs in the food sector.

Since leaving Sainsbury’s 14 years ago she has continued to be active in considering the interlinked interests of consumers and sustainability both within companies and public sector organisations. Alison is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Consumer Council for Water (a statutory body providing a voice and advice for consumers in a regulated market) and a Trustee of the Green Alliance. Previous roles include Non-Executive Director of the Consumer Council for Water (a statutory body providing a voice and advice for consumers in a regulated market), Seafish Independent Board Member where she represented Northern Ireland on the Board for six years and Trustee for WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) on food waste and packaging strategies as well as with SGS UK Ltd and the Soil Association on governance of standards certification and accreditation.

In addition, Alison is a trustee of a renewable heat co-operative providing a district heating system for a care home complex and an active member of a number of other community based, renewable energy schemes in her local area.

Alison joined the ACNFP in June 2021 and her role on the Committee is to represent the needs of consumers to ensure that their interests are at the heart of the Committee’s discussions.

 

Register of Interests

In line with FSA policy and established good practice for accessing external expertise, Scientific Advisory Committee members are required to declare any personal or non-personal interests which represent a real or potential conflict in respect of general or specific aspects of work undertaken. Interests will be managed in accordance with the FSA’s policy and guidance. 

If members have interests not specified in these notes, but which they believe could be regarded as influencing their advice or other work for FSA, they should declare them. However, members are not under any obligation to search out interests of which they might reasonably not be aware. For example, either through being unaware of all the interests of family members, or of not being aware of links between one company and another. 

Current Interests

Personal

Category of Interest

Organisation/Body & Nature of Interest

Other fee-paid work from relevant organisations, consultancies

Sole trader and an Associate of Iken Associates Sustainability Consultancy, 2009 – current.

Clients within the last two years part of ‘the industry’ as defined by the Code - Quorn, Froneri, Ardagh (metal packaging), Hilton Food Group, SGS UK Ltd.

Non-Personal Interests

Category of Interest

Organisation/Body & Nature of Interest

Trusteeships

 

Green Alliance & Green Alliance Trust 2015 – current.

Springbok Sustainable Wood Heat Co-Operative, 2018 – current.

Other public appointments

Consumer Council for Water (CCW), Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, 2018 – current.

Land and property

Private Residential Landlord of two flats, 2010 – current.

 

Historic Interests

Personal

Category of Interest

Organisation/Body & Nature of Interest

Direct Employment

Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd.  1984 – 2009.

Fee paying roles with other organisations

Seafish (Independent Non-Executive Board Member, Chair of Remuneration Committee and Northern Ireland Regional Committee) April 2015 - March 2021.

Seafood 2040 (Chaired Defra sponsored cross industry group tasked with developing and delivering a seafood strategy for England) 2015 – 2020.

WRAP (Retail sector representative and then unpaid Trustee) 2011 – 2017.

Soil Association (Independent Member and then Chair of Certification Scrutiny Committee) 2014 – 2019.

SGS UK Ltd. (consumer representative, Independent Advisory Committee) 2004 – 2017.