Welcome, Iain

We are delighted to welcome Iain Pelling to our Board of Trustees.  A prior leader and board level executive of enterprises large and small, a business growth consultant and a qualified Chartered Accountant, Iain brings a huge amount of experience to the role.

“It was obvious when we met Iain that he has deep respect for the talents and ambitions of others, particularly those who are contributing to positive change in their communities and the world around them,” says Penny Hunt, Co-founder of YDWR.  “His experience in responsible financial stewardship, strategic planning, governance and entrepreneurship will help us create an even firmer organisational foundation for our work.  With uncertainty around our tenure at our current premises, we have a challenging period ahead.  Iain is just the person to help guide us and we are thrilled to have him as part of the team.”

Iain Pelling has over 30 years’ experi-ence of leading some of the UK’s most successful TV businesses.  He was latterly Managing Director and Co-founder of Arrow International Media, one of the UK’s leading factual TV producers, building it to £30m+ income and 200 employees, producing and selling TV content internationally.  As SVP Media Operations, IMG (Europe), his wide-ranging responsibilities ensured that IMG Entertainment (TV, Sport, Digital content) was effective; and as Managing Director, Darlow Smithson Productions, he took the business from a lifestyle-based enterprise to a global producer of award-winning content.  Previous roles include: Principal, Golden Ratio Consulting, working with animation companies, IMAX producers, documentary makers and start-up businesses; and Managing Director, Cosgrove Hall Films, where he helped grow the company into a UK leader in digital animation. His finance-specific roles include: Head of Finance Entertainment, BBC Television; and Senior Executive Consultant, KPMG Consulting.   He now devotes his time to working with charities and small organisations including the RFSA Foundation, The Migraine Trust and Zinc VC a social venture capital fund focussed on health and climate.

Iain Pelling adds: “As soon as I saw the work of Yorkshire Dales Wildlife Rescue, I could see the vital difference they are making right now to the world around us, and their huge potential for the future.  Without organisations like YDWR, many wild animals would have their lives cut short.  If we want to safeguard our natural world, we all need to do more to support work like this, and I am thrilled to be able to play my part.  I cannot wait to join the Board.”

As Finance Trustee, Iain will work closely with YDWR’s Treasurer, Sarah Brown.  He takes up his role immediately.