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Jo Fairley is one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and an award-winning businesswoman best known as the co-founder of Green & Black’s, the pioneering organic chocolate brand that grew into a £100 million-a-year success story. A champion of ethical business and sustainable growth, Jo transformed a simple idea into a globally recognised brand that became the first in the UK to carry the Fairtrade Mark. Her achievements have earned her numerous accolades, including the World Aware Award for Ethical Business and an Honorary Doctorate in Business Studies from Kingston University.. Today, she continues to inspire new generations of entrepreneurs through her writing, keynote speaking and mentoring.
Jo’s journey began in journalism. After leaving school at 16 with six O Levels, she entered the publishing world and quickly rose through the ranks to become Britain’s youngest magazine editor at Look Now. By the age of 23, she was editing Honey magazine, making her the youngest-ever managing editor of a national women’s title. Her passion for storytelling and eye for innovation later helped her shape one of the most iconic ethical brands in British history. In 1991, she co-founded Green & Black’s with her husband Craig Sams, creating a brand that combined luxury with sustainability and set new standards for corporate responsibility.
Following the success and eventual sale of Green & Black’s to Cadbury in 2005, Jo continued to build on her entrepreneurial legacy. She founded Judges Bakery, a thriving organic bakery in Hastings, The Wellington Centre, a wellness hub, and co-founded The Perfume Society, an influential community for fragrance lovers. As an author, she has written and co-authored several bestsellers, including Sweet Dreams: The Story of Green & Black’s and The Beauty Bible series, and regularly contributes to national media as a columnist for The Daily Mail. Moreover, Jo also maintains a visible media presence, appearing regularly on BBC’s ‘The Apprentice: You’re Fired’ and featuring on BBC Radio 4 programmes such as Desert Island Discs.
A sought-after keynote speaker, Jo shares her insights on entrepreneurship, ethical business and brand storytelling with audiences around the world. She has spoken for leading organisations including HSBC, Bloomberg and Deloitte, and was named by Forbes as one of the UK’s Top 100 Environmentalists. In addition to her speaking and writing, Jo also serves as a judge for several prestigious awards, including the RSPCA Good Business Awards, the Woman of the Year Awards and the HSBC Business Thinking Awards. Through her work, Jo continues to show that purpose and profit can go hand in hand, inspiring others to create businesses that not only succeed but make a meaningful difference.
Jo Fairley is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming to our event on Monday. We had brilliant feedback from everyone that attended – it was along the lines of ‘inspiring speaker’, ‘engaging and humourous’ and ‘amazing career story’. Other interesting feedback… it was great to have a story from a woman where there haven’t been significant barriers because of gender.”
“She had an action-packed day at the College, speaking with local hospitality employers at a lunch, inspiring our current students at two workshops and motivating our award winners to believe in their ideas and ambitions at our annual awards ceremony in the evening. Jo’s experiences and achievements were shared so well with all audiences, everyone enjoyed their time with her. Her talks were from real experiences, sharing real problems and real solutions. Her friendly nature and positive attitude were a great example to all who attended, and her easy going personality made managing all three events an easy task. I would certainly recommend Jo to other organisations who are looking for a ‘down-to-earth’, inspirational and motivational speaker. Jo was a pleasure to host and I would welcome her back to the College again.”
“Josephine Fairley spoke at our Chairman’s Annual Business Dinner on the 15th March 2013. Jo was absolutely fantastic, her talk was so inspirational and completely fitted our audience of 160 business delegates. Jo’s story gripped the crowd by being both honest and funny, holding everyone’s full attention for 40minutes. Jo also communicated well in lead up to the event ensuring that she had an understanding of the audience that would be present as well as providing me with contact details, making my role as an event manages that little bit easier. On the evening and shortly after the event, I received an abundance of compliments from delegates all praising Jo’s talk so once again, thank you.”
“I have received such positive feedback from across the company about how insightful, entertaining, and engaging your talk was. The fact that you tailored your story, which is equally inspiring on its own, to also reflect on insights into ATG was the perfect fit for the day. With of course the very generous added bonus of a bit of chocolate for everyone!”
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