How purposeful enterprise can prevail with David Boynton, former CEO of The Body Shop

How can purposeful enterprise prevail in turbulent times?

In our November 14th xChange Paul Skinner, founder of MarketingKind, interviews David Boynton, former Chief Executive of iconic British brand The Body Shop to explore this question.

David has been no stranger to turbulent times, taking over The Body Shop after what was widely regarded as a difficult period under the ownership of L’Oréal, leading a purpose-driven revival under the ownership of Brazilian B corp Natura, and navigating the global health crisis of the pandemic, followed by a polycrisis including international conflict, and a high cost of living, high cost of borrowing and high inflation.

This interview starts at the beginning of The Body Shop's journey with Anita's founding vision and takes us up to the latest news of the sale of The Body Shop from Natura to global private equity group Aurelius.

David shares the process of creating the 'fight for a fairer, more beautiful world' purpose statement and how it was implicitly used as the glue in tough times and the decision-making tool in growing the business.

And MarketingKind members and guest put their questions to David in the live Q&A.

This discussion also brings out David's background beyond The Body Shop. He is a proven global leader of purpose-driven, sustainable businesses. He previously held senior positions at a number of major high-street retailers and most recently was CEO of menswear company Charles Tyrwhitt. Prior to that he spent ten years at French beauty brand L’Occitane, where he was based in the US and part of a small global leadership group that took the company from 200m to over 1.2bn euro during that period. He has also held a number of senior management roles with A.S. Watson in Asia and supermarket group Safeway Plc in the UK.

He is known for creating challenging but supportive environments where talent can develop and flourish and for being a thought leader on sustainable brands and a keynote speaker at other major conferences around the world.