Lisa Tyson, Deputy Managing Director of Aztec Services has been appointed as the new Chair and Andy Hickinbotham, Sales Director of Human Built, will be taking on the role of Vice Chair of ESSA's Sustainability Working Group.

Lisa Tyson, Deputy Managing Director of Aztec Services has been appointed as the new Chair of the ESSA Sustainability Working Group.

The group, which looks at how the event industry can continue to improve in areas such as environmental, ethical and social sustainability, will see Lisa bring her over 25 years of experience in event management to the wider team.

Andy Hickinbotham, Sales Director of Human Built will also be taking on the role of Vice Chair, bringing with him his extensive event sector knowledge and experience.

Speaking on their joint planned goals for the group, Lisa said:

“With sustainability a permanent fixture with people and companies throughout the industry, ESSA’s Sustainability Working Group will be creating resources and guidance for members to continue their journey alongside both online and face-to-face training.

“The group will be advocates for the ESSA Sustainability module, working with ESSA to develop the module following feedback from users and new regulation. Group members will also support ESSA in ensuring venues and organisers understand the value in the accreditation process and to use as a supply chain industry standard for measuring.”

Other areas for 2024 and beyond mentioned by the team include outreach for new members and encouraging membership, a ‘buddy system’ to pair different types of companies and people of different experience levels together, as well as the creation of an event to help members better understand and manage their businesses’ carbon footprint.

The ESSA Sustainability Working Group outgoing Chair, Karl Dukes, will take over as Chair of the Cross Association Sustainability Working Group, helping to champion change in sustainability across the supply chain.

For more information on the Sustainability Working Group, as well as the many other working groups ESSA provides, please visit our association working group page.