JONNY WATES

Trustee

Jonny sees sustainability as a key to the long term resilience of organisations, humanity and the planet itself. He is a fourth generation owner of the Wates Group, where the common cause of the owners is to hand on a stronger enterprise to the next generation. This ambition has led to a strong focus on operational sustainability and an awareness of the responsibility to play a role in the promotion of the sustainability agenda in the wider world. Having joined the family business in 1995 Jonny became head of strategy before being appointed to the Wates Group Board in 2008. He chairs the Board Sustainability Committee and is also a Trustee of the Wates Family Enterprise Trust and the William Wates Memorial Trust. 

Previously, having started his career in brand management at IDV (now Diageo) Jonny was Founder and Chairman of the renewable energy start up Myriad Cleaner Energy Generation. Outside of the company,  in addition to his role with Forum for the Future, Jonny  is an Associate at Leaders’ Quest, a Vice Chair of Polaris, the sustainability programme of Family Business Network International and he is an Advisory Council member of Commonland. Jonny has an MBA from the Cranfield University School of Management and a Master’s Degree in Sustainability and Leadership from the University of Cambridge. He is passionate about encouraging biodiversity in the city as a way to raise awareness of climate change, promote community cohesion and to engender a more harmonious relationship between humanity and nature