Paul Monaghan – Chief Executive
Paul was a co-founder of the Fair Tax Foundation in 2014, and became Chief Executive in September 2017. Previously, he was architect of much of the UK co-operative movement’s ethical and environmental excellence for nearly two decades. Before that he combined biological sciences research with campaigning on Third World debt and ethical lending.
He led sustainability programmes across the Co-operative Group in areas as diverse as food, banking, insurance, pharmacy, funerals and travel. Contributions included the creation of world-class programmes of environmental management, ethical finance, sustainability reporting and a unique commitment to campaigning and progressive public policy intervention. In 2014, was voted first in Global CEO’s “Top 100 CSR Leaders” poll, and in 2022 was recognised with the Fair Tax Foundation in ITR’s Global Tax 50.
He has previously served as a member of WWF-UK’s Programme Committee, BRE’s Sustainability Board and Accountability’s Council, where he co-chaired their Technical Committee for a number of years. He regularly lectures at various business schools and co-authored the well-received Lobbying for Good. The rise and fall of Wigan Athletic keeps him awake at night.
Contact Paul on +44 (0)161 513 8165
Tom Skinner – Chief Operating Officer
Tom co-founded Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA), and was co-Director and Chief Operating Officer there for five years. During this time, he ran the GM Food Poverty Alliance, managed the Tameside Poverty Truth Commission, developed Money Advice Referral Tools, and oversaw day-to-day operations. He remains on the GMPA board as a non-executive Director.
Before GMPA, he coordinated the GM Living Wage Campaign, and led many other charities and campaign groups, as well as serving for a year as General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students’ Union.
Tom believes we need to address wealth and power inequalities for a better world, and that fair tax systems and practices are foundational to this.
Contact Tom on +44 (0)161 513 7930
Jaime Boswell – Head of Accreditation
Jaime comes from an accounting and taxation background, with professional qualifications and experience in both. Over the past decade, he has worked for a range of accountancy firms – from small family businesses to one of the top 10 accountancy firms – and has experience working with a variety of clients, from small sole traders to big plc corporates.
Jaime believes that every business should be transparent with their reports and taxes, and present them in a way that can be understood by the user.
Contact Jaime on +44 (0)161 513 8149
Greg Yates – Senior Ratings Manager
Greg is a chartered accountant, attaining his qualification at a local accountancy practice in 2011. After a further period in practice, gaining experience in tax, audit and accounts preparation, he more recently completed a stint as group accountant at a manufacturing business.
Greg believes in responsible tax conduct and is enthusiastic about promoting this through his work as part of our accreditation team.
He is a former University of Manchester student, where he studied Maths with Finance – and a keen spectator and follower of most sports, especially Bolton Wanderers.
Contact Greg on +44 (0)161 521 1966
Ocean Lam – Accreditation Officer
Prior to joining the Fair Tax Foundation, Ocean worked as a senior auditor and industry accountant in Hong Kong for a number of leading accounting firms and a listed corporation.
He has provided accounting, auditing and financial report compilation services to a wide range of clients across many industries, including multinational, listed businesses based in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Ocean believes responsible tax conduct is one of the most important components of corporate social responsibility.
Contact Ocean on +44(0)161 513 8116
Kim Pemberton – Finance and Administration Officer
Kim has gained most of her accounts and administration experience working for SMEs. This allowed her to work in other departments, such as sales and purchasing, to understand the processes involved which could impact her role.
While Kim was a bookkeeper in 2005, a payroll and HR position came up due to retirement. She went to college in the evenings to get her qualifications. Kim considers herself an ‘all-rounder’. Outside work she loves to ride horses competitively.
Contact Kim on +44(0)161 513 8926
Natalie Balmain – Communications Manager
Natalie is a strategic communications professional with a wealth of experience spanning the public and third sectors, particularly within the NHS and health networks. Renowned for her advocacy in the Type 1 Diabetes community, she has spoken at major events across the UK and Europe, amplifying the voices of those affected and driving meaningful change.
Natalie’s thought leadership has been featured in leading publications such as The Guardian and The Metro, and her campaigns have reached audiences of up to 3.5 million. In 2022, Natalie captured national attention as the winner of Channel 4’s ‘Make Me Prime Minister,’ impressing judges and viewers alike with her proposals for transparent tax legislation for multinational corporations. Her career is defined by a commitment to transparency, advocacy, and transformative communication.
Contact Natalie on +44(0)161 513 7197
The Board of Directors oversees and steers the Fair Tax Foundation’s development. Board members may sometimes work on the scheme on a part-time basis when staff workloads are excessive or a particular expertise is needed.
Rob Harrison – Chair
Rob Harrison is the consultancy manager and a director of Ethical Consumer Research Association (ECRA). Rob was one of three founder directors of ECRA in 1987.
Since that date he has worked as a consultant to NGOs (including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace) on engaging consumers in their campaigns, as an advisor to government departments (including those in the Belgium, Austria and Brazil) on encouraging the use of ethical consumption and procurement for social and environmental goals, as a consultant to consumer organisations (including groups in Spain and Hungary) on researching the CSR performance of companies, and to companies (including the Co-operative Bank and Lush Cosmetics) on developing world-leading ethical policies and implementing them in practice.
He has also edited and contributed to academic work in this area including ‘The Ethical Consumer’ (Sage, 2005) and ‘Green Building Handbook’ (Routledge, 1997).
He has also been an editor of Ethical Consumer magazine since its inception in 1989. In addition Rob has spoken widely in the press, on radio and on TV, and also to universities and campaign groups around the world on the importance of facilitating ethical consumption.
Chris Harrop OBE
Professor Harrop is a distinguished Sustainability/ESG and Marketing professional with a proven global track record. A Fellow of both the Institute of Directors and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, his contributions to responsible business have earned him wide recognition as an ESG leader.
With 22 years at Marshall’s plc as Director of Marketing and Sustainability, Chris also chaired the United Nations Global Compact UK Network for four years and served as a Non-Executive Director of the Ethical Trade Initiative for 10 years until 2020. In 2017, he became Chair of Made in Britain and joined the Fair Tax Foundation board in 2020. He is also a trustee of the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit.
Chris has been honoured with numerous awards, including being rated fifth in Ethical Corporation’s Heroes of Sustainability in 2007, named a Business Game Changer by BITC in 2012, and listed among the Top 100 Modern Slavery Business Influencers in 2018. He was BtB Marketer of the Year in 2018 and appointed OBE in 2019 for his services to preventing modern slavery and exploitation.
In July 2022, Chris was appointed Visiting Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Huddersfield Business School, specialising in accreditation schemes, net zero, modern slavery, the SDGs, and greenwash.
Rachel McEwen
Rachel joined SSE in 2007 and, as Director of Sustainability, is responsible for its sustainability strategy, partnership funding and corporate heritage. She is a non-executive director of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.
External to SSE, Rachel is Chair of the Business Leadership Group of Living Wage Scotland and is on the board of the Fair Tax Foundation. Formerly Rachel was the Senior Special Adviser and speechwriter to Scotland’s First Minister between 2001 and 2007.
She graduated in 2009 from St Andrews University with a Master of Literature in International Political Thought, with a first degree in 1993 in Applied Economics from the University of Abertay, Dundee.
Christian Hallum
Christian Barrie Hallum co-leads Oxfam’s tax justice work. In this role he supports tax justice work across numerous developing countries as well as helps coordinate Oxfam’s work for fairer international tax standards, responsible corporate tax practices and an end to tax havens. Christian is based in Copenhagen, Denmark – where he has been involved since 2016 in engaging multinational companies and institutional investors on the need for responsible corporate tax practices under the initiative ‘The Tax Dialogue’. He has also been a key driver in the campaign to get Danish municipalities to commit to becoming tax haven free.
Before joining Oxfam, Christian worked with other tax justice NGO’s, including: the Tax Justice Network Africa in Kenya, IBIS in Sierra Leone, and Eurodad in Belgium. He has also worked with the Danish tax administration SKAT as a compliance analyst. He holds a masters’ degree in political science from Aarhus University, and has taken courses in international corporate tax law and transfer pricing at the IBFD and Copenhagen Business School.
Rebecca Hurford
Rebecca Hurford is Head of Tax at Watches of Switzerland Group PLC, a FTSE250 luxury retailer and proud Fair Tax Mark accredited business. Rebecca leads the in-house tax team, overseeing all aspects of global tax compliance, governance, and strategy across the Group’s international operations. Her remit spans direct and indirect tax, transfer pricing, customs, employment taxes, and maintaining strong, transparent relationships with tax authorities worldwide.
Rebecca’s career in tax spans over 17 years, with senior roles at Avon Cosmetics Limited—where she was Head of Tax for Western Europe, Turkey, Middle East and Africa—and Joules Group PLC, where she also led global tax functions.
Rebecca brings a wealth of experience in tax governance, sustainability reporting, and responsible tax leadership. She is a strong advocate for the power of fair tax to provide essential resources for public services, supporting society’s most vulnerable. This commitment is reflected in her voluntary work as Vice-Chair of Governors and Chair of the Resources and Finance Committee at a Leicester primary school serving a diverse and disadvantaged community.
Penny Hogan
Penny is a values-driven finance leader with a passion for delivering robust, sustainable results in complex and fast-changing environments. As Chief Financial Officer and and Executive Director at Unity Trust Bank plc, one of the longest standing Fair Tark Mark certified organisations, Penny oversees Finance and Treasury, chairs the Asset and Liability Committee, and plays a key role across all Risk, Pricing, and Product Committees. She is a strong advocate for fair customer outcomes and has led significant initiatives to embed fair pricing and operational resilience throughout the bank.
Penny’s career spans over two decades in financial services, including senior roles at The Co-operative Bank plc and Deloitte. Her expertise covers financial control, technical accounting, treasury management, and strategic planning.
Penny is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Penny is known for her commercial acumen, technical excellence, and collaborative leadership style. Penny also holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Wales, and is committed to upholding the highest standards of transparency and ethical finance.
Hannah Wickes
Hannah Wickes is a sustainability and communications leader with a passion for leveraging business as a force for good. As the former Chief Marketing Officer at Ecosia, the German search engine that plants trees, Hannah played a pivotal role in scaling Ecosia’s global impact—helping the company reach over 20 million users and fund the planting of more than 150 million trees worldwide. Her leadership saw Ecosia become a household name in ethical tech, while championing radical transparency and climate-positive business models.
Prior to Ecosia, Hannah worked across the not-for-profit and corporate sectors, including roles in business development, growth and marketing at Trivago, where she saw the company’s journey from startup stages to IPO. She also spent seven years as a Producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Hannah is a Royal Society of Arts Fellow, and an advisor and coach for startups and nonprofits, including Creatives for Climate and Europe’s largest Climate Tech VC, World Fund. She supports UK Community Foundations as a Trustee and is a Non Executive Director for Impress, the independent media regulator.
The Technical Advisory Group communicates throughout the year and meets as and when needed to help, for example, shape the development of the Fair Tax Mark criteria notes and standards. The Group are drawn from a range of backgrounds and perspectives.
Assessors
In addition to our core team, we have a contracted network of trained assessors to support corporate accreditation.
Digital support
Blue Ginger help us out with our website design and functionality.
Background In 2021, the EU public Country-by-Country Reporting (pCbCR) Directive came into force. This requires large multinational companies that have a substantial presence in Europe to publicly share key financial information on their operations in each EU Member State and a designated list of tax havens.1 In the main, the Directive will lead to major new corporate tax disclosures in …
Fair Tax Leaders features senior professionals from across the Fair Tax Mark business community. In this special edition for Fair Tax Week, the Watches of Switzerland Group Head of Tax Becky Hurford shares her journey to a career in tax, why she's so glad the tax landscape has changed and how the Fair Tax Foundation helped her prepare public Country-by-Country Reporting. …
We are delighted to announce the appointment of three new non-executive directors to our board: Rebecca Hurford, Head of Tax at Watches of Switzerland; Penny Hogan, Chief Financial Officer at Unity Trust Bank plc; and Hannah Wickes, marketing advisor and former Chief Marketing Officer at Ecosia. These additions come at a pivotal moment, as we accelerate our international growth strategy …
