With TDi’s ten-year anniversary coming to an end, we took the opportunity to sit down with the man at the helm, founder and CEO Assheton Carter, to get the low-down on what’s gone well, how the sustainability landscape has changed, and what’s in store for TDi in the future.

Assheton founded TDi ten years ago – when responsible sourcing and business risk were primarily focused on conflict minerals. At this point, TDi’s core business focus was on gemstones, jewellery and precious metals; the sectors in which Assheton cut his business teeth, and where much of his early expertise was developed. But as the sustainability landscape evolved rapidly, so has TDi, and the company now helps a range of industries, from agriculture to renewables, and from cosmetics to the financial sector, to develop their sustainability ambitions, and the roadmaps that will get them there. ‘Diverse these engagements may seem’ reflects Assheton. ‘But they all face similar challenges when it comes to sustainability – the foremost being a quickly approaching tsunami of regulations and due diligence requirements. Another being the requirement for sourcing critical or strategic raw materials.’ Assheton’s overarching aim is the same as when he started TDi, however – to help businesses become as sustainable as possible, taking sustainability beyond a corporate checkbox and enabling them to become a force for good.

In an interview back in TDi’s nascency, Assheton told Vogue magazine that he liked to think of himself, and as TDi, as a business ‘matchmaker’ bringing together organisations and industries with similar aims, but who wouldn’t usually talk to each other, to make change happen. Does he still see TDi fulfilling the same role now?

Things have changed a bit’ he reflects. ‘In those early days we were working a lot on the jewellery and luxury supply chains, and it was very important for our clients to find sources of materials that met their quality needs and needs for sustainability and ESG. The role then was to try and to nurture companies who could help build those supply chains. That market has matured now and there are more offerings on the market, so in some ways that kind of matchmaking isn’t as needed as it was then. However, where TDi’s approach has expanded over the intervening period, is in the development and support of business leadership groups or ‘action platforms’. We’re strong believers that if we’re going to bring about systemic change, that can’t be done by individual companies, governments, or even NGOs. It needs a community. A collective. Much of our work now is in building these multi-party initiatives, these pre-competitive spaces where businesses can come together, understand specific and stubborn sustainability problems, and, with our corporate and field-based teams, enable the groups to put together the innovative solutions that can only happen if they unite as one. These projects have taken us on some exciting impact initiatives working with artisanal mining communities from Sri Lanka, to the Congo, to Tanzania and the Andes; developing new standards and assurance systems for the copper, solar, pharma, battery and energy sectors; and, creating some very elegant online platforms providing education and due diligence solutions for entire supply chains”.

Indeed, TDi has worked hard in recent years to bring together stakeholders that wouldn’t normally work together to create collective action – in the pharmaceutical industry with CiPPPA, in battery supply chains through LB360, in the renewables sector with the Solar Stewardship Initiative, and back to TDi’s roots, in the luxury sector with the Coloured Gemstones Working Group (CGWG). Is this then, where TDi’s will focus its efforts in the future?

‘This is definitely an area where we see ourselves continuing to grow going forward’ says Assheton. ‘It resonates with our core ethos of enabling companies and entire industries to go beyond compliance and generate positive change in the environments and communities in which they operate. And we have exciting developments coming in 2025 in this space’ he reveals.

‘But this is just one of our areas of focus for the next year and beyond. TDi Digital is an area of our business that we’ve been building over the last 18 months, and in 2025 we’ll be releasing our integrated platform, which includes the ability to identify ESG risks and the appropriate regulations and standards that can demonstrate that you’re mitigating those risks. The platform then allows you to load in your suppliers, map out your whole supply chain, see where your ESG risks lie, and the steps that can be taken to mitigate those risks. Where this differs from other tools in the marketplace is that we haven’t just focused on one aspect of sustainability, but instead on how we incorporate this into a systemic approach to corporate sustainability and ESG compliance management. So, we’re excited about the potential that these digital tools offer to our clients and the partners that we work with.’

Alongside collective action, and TDi’s digital offering, there’s a third area of focus, which Assheton sees as being key for the future, and to ensuring that TDi remains key to its roots; impact. ‘We have to show how there’s a straight line between our actions and improved conditions for people and their environment. And that’s why many of the TDi team are here, after all – because they have a desire to make a difference. It’s why I founded TDi – if we’re going to create change in the world and make our economy more sustainable and more just, then we have to engage the productive sector. Governments and civil society have a key role to play, but without engaging business, then we don’t have the best chance of making this work.’

And what of Assheton’s role going forwards? ‘I have news to share here as well’ Assheton reveals. ‘I’m transitioning to a new role as Executive Chair at TDi, which means I’m going to be able to focus on what I love most – championing innovation, driving our strategic vision and spreading the word about TDi’s position as a leader in responsible sourcing and corporate sustainability. I’m pleased to announce that Dave Crew, who brings with him many years of business management experience, will be taking on the role of CEO. This change will allow me the time to focus on developing the partnerships that will support our mission and enable us to amplify our impact.’

‘During TDi’s first decade, we have seen tremendous change in the sustainability landscape’ continues Assheton. ‘We’ve moved from companies mainly seeing sustainability as a reputational risk, to sustainability now encompassing every aspect of business and being integral to future resilience – for the smallest companies and the largest. Throughout that time, however, one thing has remained constant – and that’s the TDi team’s commitment to our ethos. We’re a consultancy, which means our core product is our people. I’m proud to say we have a team that can think for our clients, understand where they are and what they are trying to achieve, have the vision to see what they can accomplish, and then have the pragmatism and the skills to take them on the journey, one step at a time, to realise their ambitions. Therefore, I want to use my final written words of 2024, and of our tenth year, to thank each and every member of the TDi team for their incredible dedication and talent, which have been the foundation of our success over the last ten years. I’m excited for the future, and for the next chapter in TDi’s own journey, and am looking forward to undertaking it with Team TDi.’

Watch the full interview with Assheton or listen on TDi’s Suits and Boots podcast series: