Chamberlain joins ETI as new chair

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has welcomed Philip Chamberlain as its new chair.

Chamberlain brings a wealth of retail experience to the role, gained working with prominent European clothing brand C&A. He also has a strong background in linking business to social responsibility; he is a corporate representative on the Bangladesh Accord Steering Committee, which was established to improve health and safety conditions within Bangladesh’s garment sector. He notably established the Mondial Initiative for Social Development (a pre-cursor to the C&A Foundation), which financed a significant number of social projects in C&A’s sourcing countries. Most recently, Philip was part of a delegation of brands and trade unions that met with the Cambodian government, voicing support for raised wage levels in the garment sector.

ETI director Peter McAllister said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome someone of Philip’s calibre as our new Chair. He brings an in-depth knowledge about the complexity of global supply chains, and experience of working in partnership with diverse groups of stakeholders to improve working conditions. This is an exciting phase in ETI’s development as we finalise our strategy to 2020, and we know we’ll benefit tremendously from Philip’s stewardship.”

Chamberlain commented: “It’s a privilege to take up the role of Chair at ETI. In this world of rapidly changing consumer preferences and retail models, we must all work harder than ever to uphold the rights of those producing the goods and services we consume. As an alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs, ETI brings together the knowledge, networks and commercial leverage needed to catalyse change for workers in global supply chains. I look forward to playing a leading role, as ETI charts a course for the future.”