Name: Annette Thurgood
Title: Business Strategy Director
What is your role at The Sourcing Team?
To work with our clients to understand how we can help them across a wide range of product centric areas. This could involve the creation of bespoke programmes leading to more ethical and sustainable merchandise solutions and how we communicate to and inspire the organisation to get behind this. Also making sure our clients are keeping ahead of the market with new innovations such as our pioneering interactive technology linked to physical products or looking at ways to drive operational and purchasing efficiency for example through e stores.
Bit of history.
My background is finding solutions to client’s business, marketing and fundraising challenges through my role in various communications agencies. Working across all channels in commercial, charity, not for profit and government organisations.
What do you particularly like about working at TST?
I am the newbie at TST. The team have been fantastic – they are so knowledgeable about sustainable and ethical production. I have learnt so much about manufacturing, how we source materials, how products are recycled and the impacts on the environment and the people who produce them. I love the fact that new solutions and technologies bring new innovations almost on a daily basis and that TST are at the forefront of this.
What’s your favourite Promotional Product and why?
Some of the sustainable solutions we have managed to find are ingenious. My favourite at the moment are our sunglasses made from 60% wheat straw. This innovation allows us to produce plastics from the stalk left over after wheat is harvested. It means we can help reduce waste and air pollution as farmers burn this in some parts of the world.
Name someone who inspires you?
Kids inspire me – both my own and those I meet as a Governor at our local primary school - how resilient, resourceful, creative, questioning and funny they all are. I love the fact that kids keep you on your toes by asking all the big questions and want to know ‘why’ we do what we do around every conceivable subject!
What is your favourite pastime?
Having 2 children still at home (and one at Uni), means the time left when not being a taxi service or becoming fluent in football, hockey, squash and karate is spent outdoors North London walking our 2 dogs, festivals or gardening.