Becky Toal: : Leading the Charge Towards a Sustainable Future
Long before sustainability became a headline topic in boardrooms and business strategies, Becky Toal was already working on solutions.
For almost three decades, Becky has been helping organisations understand their environmental impact and take meaningful steps to reduce it. As the founder of Crowberry Consulting, she has built a respected sustainability consultancy supporting businesses across the UK, Europe and the United States to navigate the complex world of environmental management and net carbon zero.
But Becky’s journey didn’t begin with a business plan or a corporate strategy.
It began with curiosity. A scientific curiosity about how the natural world works and how businesses, communities and industries interact with it. That curiosity would go on to shape an entire career dedicated to enabling organisations to build more responsible, resilient and sustainable futures.
Building a Business With Purpose
Before founding Crowberry Consulting, Becky worked in industry as Environmental Programme Manager for the Co-operative Group, gaining valuable experience in environmental management, energy strategy and sustainability leadership.
But she had a vision to do more. In 2006 she took a leap of faith and launched Crowberry Consulting from a back bedroom in Chorley, combining her academic expertise with practical industry knowledge.
Becky holds an impressive academic foundation, with a BSc, MSc and MBA, and is a Chartered Environmentalist and Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). Yet for Becky, qualifications were never the end goal. They were tools to help organisations translate environmental science into practical action.
From those early days as a one-person consultancy, Crowberry has grown organically into a respected international business with offices in Chorley and Dublin, supporting clients ranging from SMEs to global organisations.
Helping Businesses Turn Intention into Action
Sustainability can often feel overwhelming for organisations. Regulation, carbon reporting, environmental management systems and net zero strategies can quickly become complex territory.
This is where Becky and her team make the difference.
Through training, auditing and advisory services, Crowberry Consulting helps organisations understand their environmental impacts, set meaningful objectives and implement management systems that deliver real progress. Their work spans multiple sectors and has supported major events and global initiatives, including sustainability planning linked to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the G7 and COP26.
In 2022 the business achieved another milestone by securing its first sustainability consultancy client in the United States, opening new international opportunities.
Investing In The Next Generation
For Becky, sustainability isn’t just about the environment. It’s also about people. She is deeply committed to supporting the next generation of environmental professionals and has built strong partnerships with universities and colleges including the University of Liverpool and Lancaster University. Through apprenticeships, internships and year-in-industry placements, Crowberry provides young people with hands-on experience working on real sustainability projects. Many of these placements evolve into permanent roles, helping to build careers while strengthening the sector’s talent pipeline.
As a Society for the Environment Employer Champion, Becky actively supports her team in achieving professional qualifications and chartered status, ensuring that knowledge and expertise continue to grow within the industry.
Championing Diversity in Sustainability
Despite the growing importance of sustainability, the sector is still not as diverse as it could be. Becky is passionate about changing that.
She is a proud supporter of women-led businesses and the LGBTQ+ community, and actively works to create inclusive opportunities within the sustainability profession.
Through mentoring, networking and advocacy, she encourages more women and underrepresented groups to consider careers in environmental management and sustainability leadership. Her approach reflects the values that underpin Crowberry Consulting: integrity, inclusion and purpose-driven business.
Recognition for Leadership and Impact
Becky’s expertise and leadership have earned recognition across both the sustainability and business communities.
In 2022 she was named Environmental Professional of the Year by the Society for the Environment, a prestigious award recognising outstanding contribution to the sector.
In 2023 she received the FSB Business Women in STEM Award at the House of Lords, highlighting her achievements as a female leader in a traditionally male-dominated field.
And through the Enterprise Vision Awards she has been recognised twice, winning Diverse Business in 2023 and Professional Services in 2025.
These awards celebrate not only her business success but also her commitment to building a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Looking Ahead
With a growing international client base and expanding teams in both the UK and Ireland, Becky continues to scale Crowberry Consulting while staying true to the values that shaped the business from day one.
Future plans include further growth across Europe and the US, recruiting additional sustainability specialists and continuing to support organisations on their journey towards net carbon zero. But alongside growth, Becky remains focused on something equally important: helping businesses understand that sustainability is not just a compliance exercise, but an opportunity to lead.
Why She Inspires Us
Becky Toal inspires us because she combines expertise with purpose.
She has built a successful consultancy in a highly specialised field, championed diversity in a STEM sector and supported organisations around the world to take meaningful environmental action.
Her story shows that sustainability leadership is not just about protecting the planet. It is about empowering people, sharing knowledge and creating businesses that operate with responsibility and integrity.
In doing so, Becky is helping shape a future where sustainability is not the exception in business, but the standard.