Better Tomorrows

This community led company has a Board of 11 voluntary Directors made up of:

Seven Community Directors
One West Sussex County Council representative
One local authority representative
Two waste contractor directors Each excelling in a relevant field of expertise that contributes to the effectiveness of the company.

Alex Spofforth BA FCA is a partner in a leading firm of Chartered Accountants in West Sussex, Spofforths LLP. He works from their Chichester office, and leads their IT team.
He has recently finished a long term as Chairman of the South East District Technical Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW), which entailed review and commentary on technical accounting and auditing developments. This included being on an ICAEW working party for guidance on Environmental Issues in the Audit of Financial Statements.
His client base is wide spread across Sussex and London, having worked in the City and the West End, and covers property and media businesses in particular, alongside a portfolio of charity and family group clients. He is 47 and is married to a Chemistry teacher and has three children.

Bill Cutting - I spent my working life in the Water Industry in the South of England. I trained as a Civil Engineer, working in water supply, sewage disposal and flood defence. I worked on the construction of Bewl Water, the large impounding reservoir near Tunbridge Wells and on rebuilding the sea walls as part of the Thames Barrier Project. During the latter part of my career I became a Director and finally Managing Director of Southern Water Services, based in Worthing. I became interested in recycling and waste reduction, particularly by using composting. Now, I want to find ways of reducing packaging and other unnecessary items we receive and which only serve to fill our waste bins, widen the use of composters and try to reduce the amount of food that finishes up in the dustbin. I am hoping Better Tomorrows will help us all reduce waste, reduce our use of natural resources and reduce our carbon footprints.

Jan Sander – Jan studied engineering in Sweden followed by later academic studies in the UK (Open and Sussex Universities). He worked in electrical engineering for several years, then moved to computers and information technology. That work led to Quality Assurance as a QA Manager for a large international computer services company responsible for ensuring suitability of working practises to meet the critical customer requirements. He has worked in the UK, Europe and Africa.
An active member of several local environment organisations, Jan’s interest in waste started when he joined West Sussex County Council’s Community Interest Group representing the local Friends of the Earth. He aims to bring a broad, holistic , systems approach to Better Tomorrows CIC, working to reduce West Sussex waste and its detrimental effects.

Phil Townrow - I've been an Aircraft Engineer for over thirty years, with the Royal Air Force and now British Airways. I have been interested in environmental issues for a number of years, building up my knowledge with the Open University and The University of Brighton.
I recently became a Volunteer Waste Prevention Advisor, and am part of WSCC
Better Tomorrows initiative to promote a more eco-friendly way of living. I have been an active member for over a year, attending events around the county to encourage the principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
I took the opportunity to become a member of the Board of Directors to play an even bigger role in shaping our responses to environmental issues in West Sussex.

Ashley Ralston: I have been involved with the Community Involvement Groups since their inception in 1997 and live in Shoreham-by-Sea. I am married with 2 children and have been retired for nearly 5 years from my job as a chemical engineer in the pharmaceutical industry. I am actively involved with social justice issues, hence my passion for the environmental concerns and the footprint we are leaving behind. Conservation of our resources is fundamental to the well being of this planet and why I believe that the way we manage our waste is a key to our own sustainability.

David Fearnley - “Better Ideas = Better Results” - this has been my business philosophy for over 40 years+ in International Business development. For the last 25 years I was employed by DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group the largest communications group in the world, in various capacities from MD in their Sydney branch, where I was also elected to represent advertising agencies as Chairman of the 4A’s for a year and in 2001 I retired as Snr. Exec VP Europe and President of MEA based in Paris and London after returning to Europe in 1989. I have been associated with many global brands including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. This global marketing experience has convinced me a ‘can do’ attitude wins through all the time and therefore I look forward to working with others at Better Tomorrows to initiate new ideas and communication programmes in recycling/waste management to improve the environment for all of us in West Sussex.

Tak Fan Chan is living in Crawley with his wife and 2 young boys. He moved to Sussex in 1993 after completing his research in industrial wastewater treatment at Newcastle.
He is currently working for a leading global engineering, consulting and construction firm as a process engineer specialised in wastewater treatment and advance treatment technologies. Work and conferences take him to countries in Europe, Asia and North America. Recently he completed the course as one of the Waste Prevention Advisors in Sussex.
He is actively involved in the life of a local church. In the spare time that he has, apart from being with his family, he likes to sail in the summer and stay warm in winter.

John de Mierre - First elected to the County Council in May 2005, John has lived in Haywards Heath for over 30 years. He is a partner in a Marketing, Design, and Public Relations company which he helped to found in 1990. He is a former Chairman of the West Sussex Sustainability Forum as well as a past Director of the West Sussex Start Up Co, which helps new businesses in the county. He has been active with business organisations locally and nationally and specialised in liaison between local authorities and business. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, he is Chairman of its Home Counties South Region, a member of the Institute's Professional Practices Committee and a member of the President's Panel. Aged 60, John is married with two grown up sons and a new grandson and lists as his interests theatre, music, writing, swimming as well as armchair cricket and rugby.

Ian Jopling - After graduating from Manchester University, Ian served as a navigator for 8 years in the Submarine Service. He was then a company director for 5 years before working a s a consultant on productivity and IT projects across Europe. Ian joined local government in 1992, before moving to Horsham in 1998. He is now responsible for all asects of recycling, waste and cleansing across a district of 205 square miles and 54,000 properties. Ian is a founder member of Better Tomorrows CIC and represents the District and Borough authorities on a number of panels as art of the wider West Sussex waste partnership.