Orchard Street IM appoints Barber as head of responsibility and ESG

Orchard Street Investment Management has announced the appointment of Kathryn Barber as head of responsibility and ESG.

Barber will be integral to building on Orchard Street’s strong credentials as a responsible investor. She will help the business deliver measurable social and environmental impact for its inaugural Impact Fund, Orchard Street Social and Environmental Impact Partnership, as well as continuing to integrate and manage ESG across existing client portfolios.

Barber joins from GPE, where she was sustainability lead for portfolio and social impact. She was responsible for co-delivering the company’s roadmap to net zero at portfolio level, establishing a social impact strategy to integrate social impact initiatives across the business, and overseeing all mandatory and voluntary reporting obligations, including the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, GRESB and global environmental disclosure system CDP.

Barber has also held positions relating to environmental and responsible investment at Intu Properties, Prudential and Hammerson, bringing a broad wealth of expertise and more than 10 years of real estate experience to the business.

“Responsible and impactful investing is at the heart of what we do at Orchard Street,” said Barney Rowe, a partner at Orchard Street. “Kathryn’s entire career has been focused on driving the ESG agenda forward within the UK real estate industry. Her wealth of experience will be important to the growth of our impact fund and the acceleration of our broader sustainability strategy.”