Ed Mayo

Secretary General of Co-operatives UK

Ed Mayo is Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, the membership network for co-operative businesses. He is a long-term co-operator and has a track record of innovation and impact in his work to together economic life and social justice. Ed was one of the team who founded the Fairtrade Mark, which sources products from co-operatives and small-scale producers in developing countries, and is on the Board of the Fairtrade Foundation. He rose to prominence as director of the New Economics Foundation (NEF) from 1992 to 2003. He led NEF from two to fifty staff, creating an award-winning ‘think-and-do tank’, looking at ethical market activity, local economies and public service reform. He helped to start the London Rebuilding Society as its first chair. He also chaired the Jubilee 2000 campaign over this period, bringing together a wide coalition. The campaign led to billions of dollars of debt cancellation, helping countries like Tanzania and Uganda to raise their primary school enrolment rate. From 2003 – 2009, he was Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council, merging this with two other bodies to found a new statutory consumer champion, Consumer Focus, in 2008. He was described by the Independent as “the most authoritative voice in the country speaking up for consumers”, while the Guardian has nominated him as one of the top 100 most influential figures in British social policy. Ed Mayo is nominated a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the London Metropolitan University in 2007 for his work to build an ethical economy. His original degree is in philosophy from Cambridge University. After a short period as a management consultant at Accenture, Mayo joined the World Development Movement, serving as acting Director until 1992. He has co-written a book, “Consumer Kids” with Agnes Nairn on marketing to children, published by Constable in 2009.