Robin Murray

= Robin was a huge contributor to the movement for a cooperative commonwealth, and passed away at the end of May 2017, a huge loss for all those who knew him

Bio

1.

"Robin Murray is an industrial economist. Currently a Senior Visiting Fellow at the LSE, he was a teaching Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex for twenty years, prior to which he taught economics at the London Business School. Having specialised in industrial strategy, international corporate taxation and international commodity supply chains, his most recent work has focused on industrial restructuring in response to environmental pressures (notably waste and energy), on social innovation, and on the civil economy – particularly in co-operatives, with whom he has had considerable personal involvement.

During the 1980s and 90s, Robin acted as a consultant on industrial and development issues to a wide range of governments, serving as Director of Industry in the Greater London Council and later as a Director of Development in the Government of Ontario. This work led him to the conclusion that there was a major role that could be played in achieving social goals by mission driven third sector companies. In response, he co-founded Twin Trading, the fair trade company, in 1985, which now sells four branded products in the UK: Cafedirect, Divine Chocolate, Agrofair and Liberation Nuts. The company works with existing farmers co-operatives and supports the development of new ones, now supporting over 300,000 farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Robin has also established a range of environmental ventures, focused on the economy of distributed systems and their potential for environmental and social sustainability. He is co-founder of the environmental partnership Ecologika, whose members work in the fields of waste, energy, transport, food and health, which has played a major role in the re-direction of UK waste policy, and, with the Mayor’s office, helped to establish the London Climate Change Agency, a consultancy service for the retrofitting of Green Homes, and the development of city-wide plug-in hybrid vehicles. From 2004-5 he served as Director of RED, the innovation unit of Design Council, where he led the team working on public health.

He is a Fellow of the Young Foundation, for whom he co-authored two books on social innovation, and is currently working on a text on the Social Economy." (http://beyondthetechrevolution.com/team/robin-murray/)

2.

“Robin Murray is an industrial and environmental economist. His recent work has focused on new waste and energy systems and on projects in the social economy. He was co-founder and later chair of Twin Trading the fair trade company and was closely involved in the companies it spun off, including Cafedirect, Divine Chocolate, Liberation Nuts and Agrofair UK. He has alternated working for innovative economic programmes in local, regional and national governments, with academic teaching and writing.” (http://www.socialinnovator.info/blog/blog-bio/robin-murray)