Ethical employer profile: Blue Ventures

Blue Ventures combine ecotourism and marine research with conservation and sustainable development in Madagascar. Barney Jeffries speaks to three of their London-based staff to find out how they operate.

Blue Ventures is an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to marine conservation and sustainable development in tropical coastal communities. They employ two full-time and three part-time staff in the head office in London, which also hosts two volunteers. In Madagascar there are 15 Blue Ventures staff, Malagasy and international. The organisation is both a business – a responsible travel company – and a charity.

Volunteers – gap year students, interns and people on career breaks – sign up for marine expeditions, recently named one of the Top 50 “Tours of a Lifetime” by National Geographic, at their research site in Madagascar. Profits from this fund Blue Ventures Conservation. This in turn supports marine conservation, research and sustainable development initiatives. Blue Ventures Conservation is currently focused on developing a community-run marine protected area in the village of Andavadoaka in south-western Madagascar.

The managing director - Richard Nimmo

As managing director, my role is to manage the business side – marketing, talking to partners and volunteers, dealing with logistics, negotiating with suppliers, trying to arrange discounts and donations. It’s about marrying up an ecotourism company with a conservation charity.

Richard Nimmo: "The non-profit sector has a growing need for people from commercial backgrounds."

My own background is actually in commercial radio and TV, in sales and marketing. In 2004, my contract with one radio company had come to an end and I was finalising the details of a new one when I went out to Madagascar as a volunteer with Blue Ventures. I decided I didn’t want to take up the radio position and instead applied for a project leader position out in Madagascar.

Working on projects is great, but I wanted to be involved in the engine room, to be able to influence the finances and the future of the company. I’ve had to learn an awful lot about charities, funding, NGOs and so on, but my experience of the nuts and bolts of budgets and targets has proved incredibly useful. The non-profit sector has a growing need for people from commercial backgrounds, who can bring business skills and entrepreneurship.

The most rewarding thing is seeing the results of our work and the benefits it brings to communities. For example, around our research site octopuses are a main source of food, but were being heavily over-fished. We worked on a management plan, and the Department of Fisheries took that on nationally.

I imagine it’s true of most charities and social enterprises that there’s never enough time or resources to develop at the rate you’d like. All of us, paid staff and volunteers, are involved because we passionately believe in what we’re doing and want to make a difference – and that means hard work and time and commitment.

You have to accept that volunteering or an internship or some other sacrifice are necessary for this sort of career – experience and knowledge are essential to small organisations like ours. Identify your area of interest then do whatever it takes to get some hands-on experience.

The co-founder and science director - Alasdair Harris

There aren’t really any jobs in marine conservation, so starting Blue Ventures was partly about allowing me to do what I love. Being your own boss is great – although my mum says no one else would ever employ me now!

Alasdair Harris: "I was amazed at how easy it was to set up a business."

At university I took a keen interest in raising money for conservation and marine biodiversity projects. University was great for that, because you have access to all sorts of funds, and we developed some good relationships in East Africa. But it’s frustrating being dependent on grants, and there’s no sustainability in it, so we needed to find a way to generate our own income.

Combining our conservation work with ecotourism was the obvious answer, and that contributes about 95% of our turnover. But we’re innovating more and more: we’ve just launched a carbon offsetting scheme. And ironically the credibility we’ve gained for our scientific results means we’re now eligible for research grants again.

I was amazed at how easy it was to set up a business. A lot of people think they’ll never be able to navigate all the bureaucratic hurdles of being an entrepreneur, but if you’re genuinely good at what you do, you’ll get credibility and people will buy into it. We didn’t borrow a penny to start this business. I’m a biologist, I know nothing about finances – but you can get an accountant to do that.

As well as trying to make Blue Ventures into market leaders in our field, I’m doing a PhD at Warwick University, so I tend to live on the M40. I write papers, give lectures – 12 to 15 hour days are normal. You do a job like this for love.

I spend about a third of the year overseas. It’s mainly going to conferences, giving lectures – very little scuba diving at the moment.

I love changing lives, creating opportunities for people and seeing them develop. Two of our field staff from Madagascar recently collected the highest UN award for biodiversity and sustainable development at a ceremony in Berlin. They’d never been in a plane before, never seen a building higher than two storeys.

If you have an idea that you believe in, go for it – you have nothing to lose.

The science intern - Dan Stoker

I graduated last summer with an MSc in marine biology. I’d been stuck in a university bubble, so was searching for opportunities on the internet when I came across Blue Ventures. Some people from my course had worked as project volunteers and recommended them, and they happen to be based close to where I grew up, so I’m able to stay at home and minimise costs.

Dan Stoker: "I’d definitely recommend doing an internship."

I’m half way through a six-month internship, and the experience is really valuable. I’ll also have a two-month paid placement in Madagascar at the end of it.

I do a whole range of day-to-day office things. There’s staff recruitment for positions in Madagascar – arranging interviews, writing job descriptions, editing the website – as well as dealing with other applications for internships. I’m involved with a scholarship programme we run for training for Malagasy nationals. Then there’s outreach work in schools. Every day’s different.

At the same time, I’m doing my own research project based on data collected on our conservation site in Madagascar, which I’ll analyse and write-up to be published on our website. I’m also able to build on existing science skills in putting together funding proposals for research and so on.

Conservation wasn’t really dealt with on my university course, which was more pure science-based, but it was something I wanted to investigate and get involved with. It’s been interesting to learn about how marine research can be applied, and it’s amazing to see what Al’s achieved. People here are passionate about what they do – an organisation like this doesn’t survive without passion.

I don’t know where my own career is headed after this, but I’d like to stay involved in marine conservation and development while working in the UK. I like being part of the interface between the people on the sites and the operational side of things. You can’t run something like this from the beach.

I’d definitely recommend doing an internship, if you’re in a position to afford it – the value of the experience pays dividends.

Blue Ventures
www.blueventures.org