What are your main areas of expertise?

Social investment, impact investment, crowdfunding, clean energy, environmental change and community ownership.

Tell us about your career experience:

I'm a prominent leader in the impact investment space, committed to democratising finance for communities and purpose-driven organisations. As Director and CEO of Ethex, a leading UK impact investment platform, and Founder/Chair of Energise Africa, I have helped raise over £150 million from retail investors to support social good, including funding solar businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I have represented UK fintech and renewable energy businesses on international trade missions, advised government working groups on social impact investing, and frequently provides media commentary on ethical finance. I have a strong commercial and business development background, including senior roles at EcoSecurities, guiding its growth and acquisition by J.P. Morgan, and contributions to pioneering energy trading platforms.

Recognised as a WISE100 Social Investment Champion and a Meaningful Business MB100 honouree, I received an MBE for services to impact investing in 2024. I hold an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College and an executive Diploma in Financial Strategy from Oxford University, where I was awarded the PWC scholarship.

How are you able to help with press comment? 

I can help with face-to-face interviews, phone, email, broadcast pieces and written comment.

How can journalists contact you?   

Through the marketing team: melissa.gilmour@ethex.org.uk and Julie@ethex.org.uk

Apart from soundbites are you happy to write comment pieces or similar?    

Yes.

Why should journalists cover positive investing?

Positive (or impact) investing is still a relatively niche sector of the investment market and awareness among the general public about the options to use their money for social and environmental good is low.

 Journalists can help this kind of investing become more mainstream, they also have the power to improve the transparency of claims by organisations involved in ‘greenwashing’ and hold them to account by scrutinising their green credentials.

Positive investing through Ethex involves grassroots and community-focused organisations, so there are many strong human interest stories to be told by journalists to educate and inspire.

Currently, what are the most newsworthy ethical investment issues and why are they important?    

Greenwashing: exaggeration or misrepresentation of green impact by investment companies leads to mistrust in the sector.

The evolution of philanthropy: getting more bang for your buck through impact investing.  

Political and global challenges: Impact investing can play a role in addressing some of the pressing challenges of our time, including climate change and social inequality if it can be integrated into mainstream investment. Just transition – how impact investing can help to deliver net zero.

Blending finance: Finding ways to blend institutional and retail investments to meet social and environmental goals and maximise impact. 

Diversification of investment portfolios into alternative markets – the opportunity of direct impact investing.

Tell us about one topic within your sector that is currently under-reported?     

The power and success of Community Shares as an investment vehicle, they are generally not on people’s radar and yet they present an opportunity for direct impact investment with some little-known tax benefits read more here.  

They also offer opportunities to invest in community energy, another under-reported but important current topic. It forms a vital strand of Labour's green energy policy and is key to a just transition.

What are the big stories for your organisation this month?    

We’re sharing the news that Ethex has secured £500,000 in funding from a consortium including CO2Sense, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Friends Provident Foundation.  This investment will accelerate our mission to empower individuals to invest in renewable community energy projects. 

The funding will enable Ethex to reach more investors and unlock capital for community-led clean energy initiatives, contributing to the UK's ambitious renewable energy goals. This builds upon the strong support of Ethex's existing investors, including Barrow Cadbury Trust, Better Society Capital, and Esmée Fairbairn.

Give us a striking statistic/fact on ethical investing from Ethex’s research/data    

2024 research from Ethex found that two-thirds (67%) of UK investors and savers want to see their money being used to positively impact the planet and society. But more than half (56%) say they’re unsure where it actually goes.

If you could correct one fact about your specialism that the financial press gets wrong it would be:     

Impact investing can be portrayed as specialist, high risk and only for experienced investors. This is not the case, at Ethex we make impact investing accessible to all. Our ethos is to avoid financial jargon, making the investment process, impact and risk easy to understand. We have low entry level investments, as little as £50 and support place-based investment, where communities are empowered to invest in and own assets that are important to them. Ongoing education is key to debunking this myth.

The financial titles I always read are:    

FT, Times, City AM & The Economist.