Alison Austin
Independent Board Member
Alison has experience of public sector non-executive director roles combined with an independent sustainability consultancy working with a range of businesses on strategy development covering environmental, social and governance matters.
She spent 25 years working for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. in roles ranging from Marketing to Food Technical and Sustainability where she gained a strong understanding of consumers’ needs in the food sector.
Since leaving Sainsbury’s over 16 years ago she has continued to be active in considering the interlinked interests of consumers and sustainability both within companies and public sector organisations. Previous roles include Seafish Independent Board Member where she represented Northern Ireland on the Board for six years and a Trustee for WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) on food waste and packaging strategies. She completed a term as non-executive director with Consumer Council for Water where she also chaired the Audit and Risk Committee. Alison has worked with SGS UK Ltd and the Soil Association on governance of auditors for standards certification and accreditation.
Appointed to the FSA’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) in June 2021 her role on the Committee was to represent the needs of consumers to ensure that their interests were at the heart of the Committee’s discussions. She resigned this post upon being appointed a non-executive director of the Food Standards Agency Board in November 2025.
Alison is a past Trustee of the Green Alliance (nine years) and a current Director of a renewable heat co-operative providing a district heating system for a care home complex.
She was awarded the OBE for services to sustainability in 2000.