Sue Garrard

Sue was one of Blueprint’s founder Trustees.  Until Autumn 2018, she was EVP Sustainable Business and Communications at Unilever. She then went on to pursue a portfolio career, centred on helping other companies step change their strategy and commitment to sustainability. SShe also tutors for the University of Cambridge’s Sustainability Leadership Institute (CISL) and advises a range of sustainability related start-up projects on a pro-bono basis.

In her role at Unilever Sue was responsible for leading and embedding the company’s ambitious USLP (Unilever Sustainable Living Plan) into the business and ensuring progress against its 70-plus time bound targets. She was also responsible for teams in 180 markets who engage with Governments and key external stakeholders; lead employee engagement; handle the media; and are accountable for issues and crisis management. She was part of the four-strong executive team that led the rebuttal of the hostile takeover bid by Kraft Heinz and managed its significant aftermath.

In particular, Sue was responsible for establishing sustainability as a driver of brand growth. By the end of 2017 its ‘sustainable living brands’ were growing 50% faster than its other brands and representing 70% of the company’s growth.

For her final year at Unilever Sue led the work to develop Unilever’s next sustainability plan, the successor to their current USLP which expires in 2020. In this work she has engaged with many of the leading authorities worldwide on the social and environmental aspects of sustainability and the SDGs.

Sue has an unusual background, with two spells in the public sector, and roles in advertising and public affairs agencies in the private sector. Sue’s last role in the public sector was as the Director General for Customer Strategy and Communications at the Department of Work and Pensions, from 2006 to 2011.

Before that, Sue held Board level positions in Fishburn Hedges, a public affairs and PR agency, and in the highly acclaimed advertising agency AMV. Sue started her career as a civil servant in the Department of Energy, most latterly on the team that privatised British Gas, and was the marketing lead for the ‘Tell Sid’ campaign.