New leader for seafood ethics group
The Seafood Ethics Action (SEA) Alliance – which includes the UK’s major supermarket chains - has selected Georgia Worrall, a seasoned workers' rights and ethical trade professional, to lead its work in advancing social responsibility in global seafood supply chains. Worrall took up the post as head of the SEA Alliance yesterday.
The SEA Alliance is a pre-competitive collaboration comprised of 34 retailers, supply chain companies and trade bodies, including most major British supermarkets which are collectively responsible for 95% of grocery sales in the UK.
Worrall most recently worked for retailer and SEA Alliance member, the Co-op, as the human rights and ethical trading manager, while also holding a consultancy with SEA Alliance.
Impactful collaboration
In her new role, Worrall will be responsible for leading the delivery of the SEA Alliance’s workplan. The four pillars of this strategy involve establishing the SEA Alliance as an impactful, pre-competitive collaboration; supporting businesses to undertake aligned human rights due diligence (HRDD); carrying out engagement with governments, advocating for worker protections and supporting improvement projects designed to positively impact the labour standards of fishers and aquaculture workers through its “Change on the Water Fund”.
“The SEA Alliance is already well-established in its ability to bring market actors together, including direct competitors, to collaborate effectively for the meaningful advancement of human rights and labour standards in the seafood industry,” said Worrall in a press release. “My role as the new head will involve enhancing the existing pillars of work whilst reinforcing governance structures, ensuring that the alliance remains resilient and adaptable.”
She added: “I am eager to harness the leverage and influence of our alliance membership to take our advocacy efforts to new heights by engaging with global governments, standards and certification bodies and other influential stakeholders.
“I also look forward to developing and implementing initiatives that not only tackle current challenges but also devise solutions for sustainable and meaningful change. In essence, my focus is on a year marked by organisational growth and impactful collective efforts.”
Due diligence
Julia Black, who is SEA Alliance’s chair and group ethics and social sustainability senior manager at Hilton Foods, said Worrall would bring a great awareness and understanding of the actions businesses can take to meaningfully impact worker rights.
“Georgia has a successful history of implementing human rights due diligence within seafood supply chains and I am confident of the beneficial impact her work will bring to the SEA Alliance,” said Black.
SEA Alliance is supported by UK public body Seafish and funded by two US charitable foundations, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. The Alliance’s members include retailers Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, the Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Aldi, and Lidl.
