Meet the team
Chris Thompson
Chris set up his own sustainability consultancy in 2011, to train and coach SME's in how to manage their businesses more sustainably. He currently works with events companies and venues, corporates, international associations and Governments to help them integrate more sustainable practices into their everyday operations.
Chris taught secondary school science until starting a career in tourism in 1991. Working in a range of tour operating roles in the TUI group, he accumulated a very broad and detailed understanding of the tourism industry.
In 2003, he was recruited to manage and co-ordinate the responsible tourism activities for the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) and to manage the industry arm of the Travel Foundation Charity. He developed a sustainable supply chain management solution for tour operators, primarily aimed at improving the sustainability of tourist accommodations and attractions. The tool, called the Travelife Sustainability System, has grown into an internationally recognised certification programme.
Chris has managed and participated in a broad variety of sustainable business projects, from the creation of tourism standards, animal welfare policies and sustainable marine recreation guidelines to the establishment of multi-stakeholder partnerships and sustainability cooperation agreements. He was involved in the development of the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council concept and was a member of the interim Board during the establishment of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.
Chris is an experienced auditor in both Health & Safety and Sustainability, having performed over 1300 audits of businesses all around the world. His experience as a teacher has made him a confident skilled trainer and coach.
He was awarded the Advanced Diploma in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University as part of their Programme for Industry.
Ruth Holroyd
Ruth is a committed sustainability professional with experience working in a FTSE250 and FTSE100 environment delivering sustainability strategy, high level reporting, stakeholder and employee engagement, supply chain management and business change. She is passionate about sustainable business and producing results whilst retaining a commercial focus.
Ruth was previously Group Head of Sustainability for the Thomas Cook Group plc, where she was responsible for leading and overseeing the Group wide sustainability functions; developing, implementing and coordinating strategy and operations across 22 countries and in a FTSE100 business.
Ruth drove the development of sustainability strategy in the UK travel industry as part of the committee which led the creation and development of the Travelife Sustainability in Tourism scheme.
She has presented internationally at events such as World Travel Market and World Green Tourism in Abu Dhabi on implementation of sustainability and practical steps to create positive change.
She set up her own business in 2012, and following the birth of her second child has since been working with businesses, supporting their implementation of sustainability and working with them towards certification. Ruth also advises businesses on HR matters and has achieved a CIPD Diploma in Human Resources Management.
After graduating from the University of Leeds in 2000 with a Joint Honours degree in French and Management, Ruth started her career working in e-commerce before moving into sustainability in 2005. She holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University.
Ruth currently works with events companies and venues as well as tourism businesses to support strategic sustainability implementation and creation of better business. She supports education on sustainability in the events industry and passionately believes that sustainable business is just about doing business better.
Martyn Routledge
Martyn has been Creative Director at two of the UK’s Top 100 creative agencies and has over 20 years experience working in events, exhibitions, branding, marketing and advertising. He is a creative leader who brings ideas to life which engage customers, energise internal teams and motivate investors and partners.
After graduating from the University of Brighton in 1995, Martyn moved to London to embark on his career, initially at Open Agency where he went on to become Creative Director. He has since worked across multiple industries for an impressive list of organisations that include FTSE100s, NGOs and startups.
Martyn has put in place various graduate programmes, strengthening connections with some of the UK’s top design courses including Norwich University where he is a visiting lecturer. He has created and designed several books. His ‘Olympics: A Snapshot History of the Olympic Games’, was published in the lead up to London 2012 and was featured on CNN, BBC and Have I Got News For You. In 2016 he became an Independent Creative Director and now brings his creative expertise and passion to The Mice Machine.
Some of his key achievements include:
Tower Bridge - Reinvented the visitor experience and led the repositioning, rebranding, and integrated campaign for ‘The Most Famous Bridge in the World’. This culminated in the launch of the £2m glass floor and an increase in visitor numbers from 450k, to 800k.
Cunard - Created the largest floating exhibition in the world (onboard Queen Mary 2), which became part of Cunard’s award winning passenger enrichment programme.
RBI -Supervised the branding and advertising of Salon International at London’s ExCel, helping to transform a trade show into an exciting live event brand.
Ernst & Young - Re-invented the approach to annual ‘corporate hospitality’ events, including a ‘sensory masked ball’ at Hertford House (Wallace Collection).
Debra Routledge
Debra has worked in the travel industry for over twenty five years, initially in resort as an overseas representative.
When she moved back to the UK, she worked for Inghams Travel where she joined the product management team. This work required a strategic approach and a creative eye to market destinations whilst remaining commercially astute. She continued to work within marketing and product management at the UK's biggest experience company Red Letter Days, where she worked on campaigns and product marketing using print and digital means.
In 2006, Debra took on her first role within sustainability for the Carbon Neutral Company where she developed an on-line presence for their retail division by cleverly creating carbon offset packages and a green on-line shop.
After taking time out for her family, she returned to work for Travelife - ABTA's sustainability label for the travel and tourism industry. Debra was responsible for marketing the Travelife brand to hotels and tour operators and creating an identity for the product in the UK and Europe, whilst at the same time creating a consumer presence for holidaymakers through The Travelife Collection online portal.
Debra continues to work on marketing with a specialism in sustainability. She considers sustainability to be an "essential" in business today and knows that marketing the achievements to a wider audience is an important part of the mix. Her work at The Mice Machine is a combination of identifying marketing opportunities and creating communication strategies.