Making A Career in Sustainability
From Transforming Tomorrow by The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business
March 23, 2026 · 48 min · Season 3 · Episode 24
About this episode
Richard Mason discusses his career in sustainability and the evolving role of sustainability in business.
Once you go sustainable, you never go back. Careers in sustainability may not always be obvious, but once you get involved in the sector, it has its claws in you. Richard Mason is Positive Business Director at Pentland Brands – who include Speedo, Canterbury, Berghaus, and many more brands under their umbrella – and is a two-times Lancaster University graduate. Richard talking us through how sustainability threaded through and was inspired by his studies at Lancaster and went on to influence his subsequent professional roles with the likes of AO and Burberry. And as we consider how we each end up in our careers, Jan reveals a boring teenage rebellion that revolved around accounting, Richard reveals how his mum sent him in the right direction. We find out how sustainability has grown over the last two decades, and how it no longer sits separately from the rest of a company but rather as part of everything. As we delve into how corporations consider sustainability in their operations, Richard talks about how businesses balance sustainability and innovation with considering consumers – while not being dragged down by unengaging jargon – and the influence of global politics on…
People in this episode
Guest: Richard Mason
Topics covered
- sustainability
- careers
- corporate responsibility
- innovation
- supply chain
- global politics
Keywords
- sustainability
- careers in sustainability
- corporate sustainability
- supply chain collaboration
- business innovation
- global politics
- Pentland Brands
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pentland Brands, Lancaster University, AO, Burberry
Products: Speedo, Canterbury, Berghaus
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