Securing the services of the ethical marketing specialist will be a ‘game-changer’ for the Dalkeith-based social enterprise, according to co-founder Mark Glasgow, who has further bolstered the marketing department with the recruitment of Anton Winters as head of content.

As managing director of regenerative marketing firm Zebra Growth, Fitzpatrick has helped support over 400 impact start-ups and scale-ups around the world.

He’s relishing the prospect of doing similar with a business flourishing after launching on home soil 18 months ago and will use his experience to help propel the training centre through the next phase of expansion, working closely with the newly-promoted marketing and operations manager Carolynn Edgeworth and her team.

“From a local community and environmental aspect, it ticks a lot of boxes for me in terms of values and mission alignment,” said Lee Fitzpatrick, who also serves on the board of trustees of Firstport, Scotland’s development agency for social entrepreneurs and social enterprise.

“I’ll be making sure all our activities are aligned with strategic goals.

“Our clients at Zebra Growth are solving social and environmental challenges at scale so this fits perfectly into my domain and portfolio. Our focus is on building sustainable growth to create long-term stability and that is where I thrive and get the most enjoyment from.

“I’m genuinely excited from the social mission perspective as well as working with the solid team that is already in place.

“We have a global client base at Zebra Growth and I made a commitment last year to strengthen my roots in Scotland as this is where I have lived all my life. To help contribute to the next stage of growth of a Scottish organisation like this is hugely exciting and is the perfect fit for me.”

Mark Glasgow said: “Lee is highly respected in his field and he is the perfect addition to our team at the academy. I have known Lee for some time, am well aware of his capabilities and having him on board strengthens that side of the business considerably.

“There’s nobody better than Lee when it comes to knowing about the journey towards a greener future, and he’s a real visionary when it comes to net zero and offsetting carbon.

“Anton is a class act when it comes to creating quality content. It was important for me to not only bring in an advisor at a high level but also a creator to complement that appointment and Anton does that perfectly.

“Specialising in video, podcasts and creative and having the two of them on board is going to be phenomenal for the academy, a game changer for the business.”