Member Spotlight: Andrew Ruffler, Regional Director – Sustainable Ventures

1. Introduce yourself

Hi, I’m Andrew Ruffler, Regional Director at Sustainable Ventures. Sustainable Ventures (SV) helps climate startups and entrepreneurs across the UK to scale through investment, workspaces and venture support; from beermat to exit.

With more than 700 companies already in our ecosystem and on a mission to develop 1,000 climate tech businesses by 2025, we are proud to call ourselves Europe’s leading climate tech hub.

The London HQ, home to the largest climate tech hub in Europe, is based in the iconic County Hall overlooking the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames.

Our Northern hub in Manchester is due to launch this autumn, and the SV team is actively engaging with the regional ecosystem and key stakeholders ahead of this.

2. Career highlight

I joined SV earlier this year following four years as Chief Executive at Pro-Manchester’s equivalent down the M62 in Liverpool, and despite the challenges of the pandemic, enjoyed the opportunity to support and engage across the vibrant professional community.

However, a particular highlight during my career was as Regional Director at RIBA, and the privilege of leading the team in the delivery of several high-profile projects, including overseeing the Regional Awards process. 2014 saw the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool win the Stirling Prize for architecture, and I was proud to have played even just a small part in the building’s journey towards this prestigious national award.

3. Name three words that describe your personality

Considered, Thoughtful, Humorous

4. What’s the best thing about pro-manchester

Pro-Manchester plays an essential part within the city region’s business ecosystem in connecting the dots between the professional services community, and providing important representation for a sector that is a key enabler and integral part of the city region’s future growth. Being involved with an organisation like Pro-Manchester, and by association the professional community, is therefore key for an organisation like SV as we look to scale in line with the city region’s growth ambitions.

5. What are your priorities for 2024

We will be launching our Manchester workspace later this year as part of a high-profile regeneration scheme in the city, and a lot of thought is going into how to ensure that we can not only replicate the success of our London HQ, but improve on it! Alongside this, it is essential that SV is seen as an integral part of Greater Manchester’s innovation ecosystem, with start-ups being able to access our expertise, support services and programmes.

6. What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

As someone who is once again commuting into the city, it is impressive to witness the change in the built environment and infrastructure, which has happened at such a fast pace. On the ground, it feels like you are in a cosmopolitan, professional and perhaps even ‘European’ city, something that will only be enhanced through planned regeneration projects like ID Manchester.

7. Favourite meeting place in Manchester

I regularly use Manchester Oxford Road station, so you (currently) can’t beat the Refuge for it’s grandeur as well as perfect location. We do have plans for our own coffee bar later this year, so watch this space…

8. Are there any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet

SV are looking to engage with early-stage climate-tech/clean-tech businesses to help develop and enhance the innovation ecosystem across the city region. However, we are equally interested in exploring how we can work collaboratively in the development and delivery of support programmes and are actively engaging with corporates like Arup to do so.

Get In Touch

Email: [email protected]