Karen Lynch

former CEO, Belu Water

Karen Lynch is the former CEO of leading social enterprise Belu Water, transforming the loss-making venture into a highly profitable, multi-award winning consumer brand. Prior to being at the helm of Belu for ten years, she has previously led a more traditional career at EMAP, Barclays, Audi and Pork Farms.

Karen was responsible for negotiating and implementing Belu’s long-term exclusive partnership with WaterAid in 2011, developing ‘Ethical Glass’ and for coordinating supply chain and compositors across the water industry. 

She has overseen an astonishing donation of over £5m to WaterAid, raised through trading with Jamie’s Italian, Sainsbury’s and Café Rouge to name just a few. Karen led Belu to be the winners in the UK Social Enterprise Awards, RBS SE100 Awards and the SMARTA Breakthrough 50, with personal honouree from the Women in Enterprise Network and Lloyds People Environment and Achievement Awards – Overall Champion.

In addition to Belu she is extremely proud to have mentored other social enterprises such as From Babies with Love and Rubies in the Rubble, and has been a judge for both the Social Enterprise UK Awards and The Big Society ‘Business Impact Challenge’. In 2021, Karen took up the role of CEO here at Expert Impact.

Karen has mentored

The Dusty Knuckle

Lovingly made, artisan bread and baked goods. We are a social enterprise offering employment to the young people that need it most.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen was frighteningly good and clear. I wish I could have had more time with her!”

Max Tobias, Founder of The Dusty Knuckle

Karen has mentored

Change Please

With the support and power of The Big Issue, we have empowered homeless people with the skills, equipment and speciality beans they need to become fully-fledged baristas.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Imagine encapsulating all of your challenges into a defined list and an expert answering them in an hour, this is exactly what Expert Impact does. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

Cemal Ezel, founder of Change Please, met with Karen Lynch of Belu Water

Karen has mentored

Settle

Settle supports vulnerable young people moving into their first home. Their mission is to prevent young people from being evicted and becoming homeless by equipping them with the key skills they need to live independently. They do this through support and training.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

It’s hard to find someone who gets what starting up a social enterprise is like. Karen immediately understood the challenges I was grappling with and was able to offer me practical advice on where I need to focus on. She got to the crux of the matter within 20 minutes and I came out of the session with new energy and determination to take my social enterprise to the next level.

Rich Grahame, Founder of Settle

Karen has mentored

Hubbub Enterprise

A social enterprise taking ideas of how to engage the public in environmental change into scaleable businesses.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

My session with Karen Lynch was really inspiring, we covered loads of ground and she’s given me really clear tools and advice in response to the business challenges I shared. I feel well-equipped and excited to progress with the next steps around strategy development and Hubbub’s value proposition.”

Rebecca Dove, Managing Director of Hubbub

Karen has mentored

Chatterbox

Chatterbox offers online and in-person language tutoring delivered by trained refugee tutors.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Extremely useful advice. Karen understood the architecture of my business at record speed. The rest of our session was filled with extremely useful advice and questions supported by her evidently impressive understanding of commerce.”

Mursal Hedayat, Founder of Chatterbox

Karen has mentored

NevHouse

NevHouse takes the waste that we throw away and turns it into affordable shelter. A sustainable social enterprise delivering love and light to nations in need.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen’s experience really matched my needs. Her in depth knowledge was mana to me. Very constructive, no fluff and pragmatic. I came away with three concrete ideas that I can work on. Many thanks Karen!

Miriam Wilson, General Partner of NevHouse

Karen has mentored

Project Access

We give under-privileged students access to information and support that their more affluent peers already receive. We do this through cost-efficient, high-impact initiatives, using the insights we’ve gained by helping over 1,900 students apply to top universities.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen is more creative on business model thinking than anyone I’ve met with before. She was very good at transferring the energy to think creatively about a problem, and I left with a new set of ideas to think about in terms of revenue structure.

Anna Gross, Co-Founder & CEO of Project Access

Karen has mentored

Fair Full

Deliciously positive. We create a world where every bite tastes great and does good.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen was fantastic. She gave me plenty of encouragement and food for thought, challenging my thinking and making amazing suggestions.”

Adam Bacon, Co-Founder of Fairfull

Karen has mentored

Glo-Ed

Glo-Ed organises tailor-made school & group trips worldwide. From regular tried and tested itineraries to completely bespoke programmes, and from entire tours to ad-hoc single services (ie just hotels or transport etc)- wherever you want to go and whatever you need – Glo-Ed can help.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

It was great to meet an expert like Karen to get guidance and reassurance in our business. The session provides food for thought and provides a fresh perspective on things from someone who has much experience.

Christian Walker, Founder of Glo-Ed

Karen has mentored

Juta Shoes

Handcrafted espadrilles made in London from reclaimed leather and environmentally-friendly materials.

 

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen was insightful, engaged, and genuine in our mentoring session. She’d spent time learning about our business model, our impact and our communications, and brought thoughtful ideas and questions to help us think ambitiously and broad. Above all, she was enthusiastic, interested, and optimistic!

Joanna Hamer, Co-Founder of Juta Shoes

Karen has mentored

Page & Bloom

Sell handmade paper flowers made from recycled materials, and create employment for women survivors of domestic abuse.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

The hour I spent with Karen could be a turning point for our social enterprise. Karen had some great ideas for innovative new income streams and business models we hadn’t considered before, and I came away with some practical steps to take away to change our business.

Rosie Oglesby, Founder, Page & Bloom

Karen has mentored

Fab Little Bag

Provides the only fit for purpose solution for women and girls to easily and confidently disposal of their used sanitary products in a eco-conscious way.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Meeting Karen was definitely an eye-opener for us, encouraging us to consider aspects of strategic planning that we had not considered fully which we feel will be hugely beneficial for FabLittleBag and our future success.

Martha Silcott, Founder, Fab Little Bag

Karen has mentored

Cloud’s End

Clouds End is the first UK social enterprise to work with people with hoarding issues.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen’s calm but perceptive manner was so reassuring and encouraging. I am looking forward to receiving her ‘homework’  and would encourage anyone to use the Human Lending library. It is a genius idea and I know will take me forward to my next phase which is exactly what I wanted help with.  

Heather Matuozzo, Director, Cloud’s End

Karen has mentored

Centre of Resilience for Social Justice

The Centre of Resilience for Social Justice tackles disadvantage and brings genuine change to people’s lives around the world.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen was truly brilliant at honing in on the issues that matter and also taking personal aspirations and developments into consideration. She gave me some really crucial things to take forward in my planning.  

Angie Hart, Founding Director, Boingboing

Karen has mentored

The Clean Kilo

The Clean Kilo is a zero waste supermarket with two outlets in the Birmingham area.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen is extremely knowledgeable about business growth and compliance – she highlighted some very key points and brought things to our attention that we hadn’t thought about before. She gave us new ideas and tactical methods of running the business to maximise sustainable growth.

Jeanette Wong & Andy Pell, Founders, The Clean Kilo

Karen has mentored

Hope for the Community

H4C is an award winning health and wellbeing social enterprise providing organisations with affordable and face-to-face digital products and services to empower people to flourish in their working and personal lives.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

It was great to meet and talk with Karen. She helped me see the next steps needed for our social enterprise to grow. Now to get on with the work, review our opportunities and FOCUS! Thank you Karen for your time.  

Gabriela Matouskova, CEO, Hope for the Community

Karen has mentored

Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a Bolton based social enterprise collecting unwanted computer equipment for reuse or recycling.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

What an amazing session. Karen gave me clear and concise advice coupled with thought-provoking ideas on what strategies we should be thinking about to make our enterprise sustainable and reach the next level in our development. Thank you Karen!  

John Hastings, Founder, Recycle IT

Karen has mentored

Sobriety Films

Sobriety Films UK uses the medium of film to assist recovery from addiction, mental ill health and trauma.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

I was exhilarated and reassured by my session with Karen, her expert knowledge of social business and her intuitive communication skills left me with a clear plan of how to move forwards (in scaling up). I wish we’d met two years ago when we started – so many questions answered immediately and insight gained.

Maddie Kitchen, Director, Sobriety Films

Karen has mentored

Make Space For Girls

Make Space for Girls is a charity which campaigns for parks and public spaces to be designed with teenage girls in mind.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen not only understood the issues that we are dealing with, but applied a critical and creative approach to how we might progress. She not only came up with some useful strategies for us to pursue, but also pointed us to some very specific opportunities. All of this was done with enthusiasm and a positive sense of our purpose.

Susannah Walker, Co-Founder, Make Space For Girls

Karen has mentored

Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

We are a social enterprise cookery school running cooking courses and clubs with different community groups experiencing disadvantage.

  • The Dusty Knuckle
  • Change Please
  • Settle
  • Hubbub Enterprise
  • Chatterbox
  • NevHouse
  • Project Access
  • Fair Full
  • Glo-Ed
  • Juta Shoes
  • Page & Bloom
  • Fab Little Bag
  • Cloud’s End
  • Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
  • The Clean Kilo
  • Hope for the Community
  • Recycle IT
  • Sobriety Films
  • Make Space For Girls
  • Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Karen was really helpful not only in helping me think about how the business might develop, but also really focussing on what it is that I actually want to be spending my time doing. I felt she got very quickly to the heart of what I’m trying to do, and asked focussed questions to help me think about how I could have more impact.

Charlotte Bradley, Hertfordshire Community Kitchen

Want to meet with Karen?