Diane Gilpin

What’s your job title?
CEO

What sort of duties do you have at work?
Responsible for the success of the business

What has your career path looked like until now?
I was on the launch team for Cellnet, the first cellular network in the UK. I’ve worked in F1, yacht racing, fintech, and renewables

What’s your secret to making progress each day?
Discipline. Looking after myself

What motivates you at work?
Making a difference

What makes SGS different from other places you’ve worked for?
I founded it

Who inspires you?
Aoife O'Leary, founder of Opportunity Green; Dr. Dianne Dillon Ridgely, climate activist

What kind of music do you like?
Classical, jazz, world, rock…everything really

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
In Between The Tides – the sea’s not made of water by Adam Nicolson

What’s your favourite food?
Potato dauphinoise

Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?
I can cook, and I love using stuff I’ve produced in our own garden

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A cartographer – combining my love of roaming in the countryside and art

What’s your favourite thing to do on a weekend?
Go for a run, drink a glass of fizz before a slap-up Sunday lunch, then have a nap

What’s your favourite season and why?
Spring, because it’s my birthday and the world is reawakening