Caleb is an international multi-disciplinary sustainable development consultancy based in Wotton Under Edge (near Bristol, England). The company was established in 1994, initially as a vehicle for Paul Ashford (Managing Director) to continue his career in `issues` management. Paul, a chemist by training, had been with BP Chemicals during the previous 15 years, where he undertook a series of roles including technology licensing, business development and general management.
In 1998 Arnie Vetter (Environmental Director) joined Caleb and took on the remits of environmental project management and Sustainable Development to help grow this area of the business. Arnie`s previous career spanned the private, public and voluntary sectors, where he had developed experience in managing multi-stakeholder research and industry projects. Arnie came to Caleb from the Environmental NGO Worldwide Fund For Nature, where he had responsibility for developing sustainability based business education programmes.
In 2003, Caleb was joined by Dr. Paul Becker, who is based in Wiesbaden, Germany and who is increasingly taking the lead on chemicals issues. His organic chemist background and experience from the German and U.S. resins industry allows him to address a wide range of issues in the chemical area.
Paul Becker is working successfully with chemical companies / consortia in the area of:
- EU PBT assessment including management of related tests.
- Food contact related regulatory questions.
- Management of chemical Round Robin testing.
- Management of toxicological tests.
- Industry oriented preparatory work for REACH implementation.
- EU chemical registration.
Caleb has recently cemented links with Dr Jason Yapp (Technical and Horticultural consultant) to assist in our work with Renewables. He has a strong background in sustainable plantation management and technical elements of `modern biomass` requirements for the generation of affordable, clean and carbon-neutral energy. He has been involved in the early assessment of the new technologies such as the development of a `Bio-refinery` for the torrefaction of agricultural and municipal wastes as high energy feedstock for co-firing a gasifier for heat and power generation.
What We Do
Caleb has four main areas of interest:
- Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol
- Ozone Depletion and the Montreal Protocol
- Chemical Risk Appraisal and Management
- Sustainability and its Impact on Business Planning
How We Work
Caleb is essentially an action oriented networking business that is well integrated in the various policy and practice groups within our chosen business areas. As a result of our successes, the company continues to grow and expand its resources. However, we have a clear policy of only growing by the direct employment of like-minded and committed people.
Who We Work With
One of our measures of success in our role of stakeholder engagement and consensus building is the split of our client base. At present, only 20% of our work is with private clients. However, 35% is with trade associations, 30% with Governments and other regulators and the balance of 15% with other International Agencies such as the United Nations. This balance is very important to us in demonstrating our credibility with a variety of stakeholders, particularly within the Chemical Risk business area, where we always seek to be a mediation service rather than lobbying service.
