Every month we pose 7 questions to a Chamber member, this time it’s Fred Betley, MD of FutureTracker
1.Who are you and what do you do?
I’m the Managing Director of FutureTracker. Finding solutions to sustainability problems is something I’ve been fascinated with for my whole adult life and I’ve been lucky enough to contribute to that as the leader of FutureTracker. We’re a team of passionate people focused on solving problems and generating value from corporate sustainability and we work with many of Guernsey’s biggest companies from States to Finance.
2. How long have you been doing this?
10 years ago I studied Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick as part of their very first cohort. I’ve stayed in Sustainability ever since. I co-founded ESI Monitor (FutureTracker) in 2019 and we’ve been growing it ever since.
3. How did you get into this field?
This is a very new field and we were one of the first corporate sustainability platforms on the market. It evolved gradually from wanting to find a way of making businesses more accountable, to eventually building a solution where we partner with our clients to get the most from being sustainable, and moving beyond tick-boxes and towards positive transformation.
4. What’s the ‘why’ behind your work?
For me, I do my work because I think it needs to be done and I’m excited by what is possible.
It’s been an adventure from the beginning, but my mission has always been to contribute to building a more sustainable economy and to find solutions that mean prosperity and sustainability can come hand-in-hand.
5. How do you approach problem-solving?
There is lots of problem solving at FutureTracker. We’re trying to understand what the market wants, what it needs (from a sustainability point of view), and how to combine them into something that’s valuable and greater than the sum of its parts. We’re constantly asking clients how we can do things better, what they’re really looking for, and trying to understand how we can bring new technologies into solving the continuously changing problems of corporate sustainability. Put simply, we’re always trying to do things better.
6. What mentor, book or podcast has shaped your thinking?
There are a few authors that have changed my relationship to life and work:
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk and activist who spent his life teaching the importance of mindfulness in healing the wounds of humanity.
Adam Grant, I love his books on business psychology – particularly Give and Take which shows how having a ‘giving’ reciprocity style creates a net positive environment for one’s self and their surroundings. 
7. Tea, coffee, or something stronger?
I love lapsang souchong tea, a cappuccino, or a Negroni if I’m looking to take the edge off!
