Our Team















Glenn is the founder and CEO of Global City Futures. Glenn Woodcock has more than 25 years of experience as a banker, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur. Since 2008 he has been a Director of Oxygen House, which invests in projects that foster social, environmental and economic prosperity.
Glenn is a founder of Sparx, the UK’s most significant Education Technology Company for enhancing maths outcomes for young people.
He is a founding director of Low Carbon Group – a renewable energy investment bank, and City Science, a city analytical product company, as well as an investor in many social and technical enterprises.
He is also a trustee of the University of Exeter and a governor of Exeter College.
Roli is Managing Director at Global City Futures and leads on Finance and Professional Services. His work focuses on building investable business models that deliver on sustainable housing, decarbonised energy independence, NHS infrastructure and community.
Roli Martin’s speciality areas combine both Public and Private sector accounting and budgeting, corporate finance and Green Book Business cases. Roli and the GCF team deliver projects in financial structuring, change management, data analytics, innovation and professional services. They work with the challenges of growing cities to deliver public and privately funded business models for sustainable infrastructure.
Roli has more than 20 years’ experience in professional practice, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2005. He led corporate finance infrastructure advisory practice for one of the Big 4, where he advised on high profile Government infrastructure partnerships with the private sector. He then led its renewable energy advisory practice, and was the lead facilitator of the Treasury Green Book Standard training course, firm-wide across the UK.
As MD and Head of Finance at Global City Futures, Roli leads the consultancy that partners with public sector anchor organisations and institutional leaders to co-create lasting solutions to urbanisation and establish sustainable cities.
Roli manages professional services contracts in this space to deliver thoughtful, people-centred solutions and reshaping business models to deliver commercially viable ways forward. Roli is adept at securing and navigating both corporate and public finance.
Elaine is Operations Director for Global City Futures. Her role is to oversee all project management and appraisal activity within the Global City Futures team. She also provides oversight and support on business case production, has extensive experience in stakeholder engagement and is highly adept at effective project workshop delivery.
Elaine has particular experience in service transformation and economic appraisals, especially delivering change and the calculation of benefits in business cases, and has been pivotal in the successful completion of a number of high-profile schemes.
She has recently worked with Bath & North East Somerset Council to support their Community Services Transformation programme and North Bristol NHS Trust, where her work was praised by DHSC Economists and assisted in gaining approval for the new Elective Treatment Centre. Her interest lies in stakeholder engagement and knowledge transfer, as well as the assessment of social value and supporting GCF’s mission for to achieve positive outcomes for communities and the environment.
Elaine is a CIMA Associate, coming from a procurement background prior to completing her accountancy training. She has extensive experience of programme management, project implementation, business case production, finance and accounting and procurement.
Elaine enjoys anything that involves food, but also running, cycling and going to the gym as well as walking the beautiful Devon hills and beaches with her family and dogs.
Sophie is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and Commercial Development Director at Global City Futures. From her time at a privately owned international property business, she brings a variety of experience from across a range of finance functions. These include Treasury, Corporate Finance and Supplier Management, as well as extensive project management experience involving complex stakeholder management.
Her role is to provide project management for multiple cross-organisation, multi-stakeholder commercial projects within the Global City Futures project management team. She also provides oversight and support on business case production, stakeholder engagement and financial model preparation and manipulation.
By drawing on her wide range of experience, she is highly effective at working with different groups of stakeholders in order to drive progress, especially on complex and time constrained projects.
Sophie brings to the project highly-competent varied project management experience, including debt-raising, process improvement, system design and implementation. Her varied experience underpins her approach to public sector contracting and governance arrangements. Any projects under her stewardship are certain to meet rigorous standards of transparency and scrutiny, ensuring that any potential risk is mitigated.
James is an Associate Director with a background of working extensively with local government.
James is focused on supporting the public sector with ambitious net zero objectives, supporting the expansion of heat networks across England, an essential contributor towards decarbonising heat and reducing fossil fuel reliance.
James leads GCF’s contractual relationship with DESNZ’s Heat Network Zoning Consultancy Support Framework, where GCF has been awarded the project management, commercial and financial sub-lots.
As part of this, James is leading GCF’s team on multiple projects in the Advanced Zoning Programme, which aims to construct zonal heat networks ahead of the introduction of new zoning legislation. In this role, James is at the heart of translating the emerging legislation and guidance to support the acceleration of heat network zoning.
Rachael is one of the Senior Consultants at Global City Futures, with a background in accountancy and over 15 years of experience in the sector. She has a strong focus on compliance and upskilling stakeholders and has led and supported a wide variety of projects.
Rachael’s expertise spans financial analysis through to streamlining systems and processes and her work style is highly proactive with a keen eye for detail.
Rachael has gained considerable relevant experience in NHS specific business case writing and the Treasury recommended Green Book approach to business case writing. Rachael also supports on technical accounting appraisals and accounting standard interpretation.
Her interest lies in sustainability and supporting GCF’s mission for sustainable development and carbon-neutral societies.
She is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), qualifying in 2016, and she has a background in accountancy having worked in practice, industry and charitable roles. She has collected a wide range of skills from her previous roles which she can practically adapt to her work at GCF. Rachael is also accredited to AMPG’s Better Business Case – Practitioner level.
Rachael loves the great outdoors and has been walking the South West Coast Path for more than 6 years. She also has a great interest in longevity and wellbeing.
Chris comes from a regeneration, construction and manufacturing background with experience in the public and private sector. He is a certified chartered accountant.
He is focused on the delivery of local government regeneration, commercialisation and housing projects and creating a sustainable energy environment for future generations. He brings his experience to local government housing projects, capital assets builds, renewable energy, and is experienced in managing projects with multiple components and deadlines.
Current project – Global City Futures has been appointed by East Devon District Council to act as financial advisor on developing a new heating infrastructure project
Ruby is a Junior Consultant working on the B&NES Community Services Transformation and Royal Devon Key Worker Accommodation projects.
She is responsible for Business Case and project management support, in addition to leading research and engagement projects, most recently with the Royal Devon Trust. Her interest lies in researching evidence bases for sustainable, people-centred solutions, and supporting Global City Futures’ mission to provide Key Worker Accommodation across the UK. Currently Ruby is working with South West institutional leaders in both Exeter and Bath & North East Somerset.
Receiving her MA (Hons) in Arabic and French from the University of St Andrews, she applied for her first job post-graduation as a Research Assistant with GCF’s sibling company, Exeter City Futures CIC, before moving onto a permanent contract with Global City Futures. This initial position provided an excellent opportunity to contribute to Exeter’s 2030 Net Zero Plan with a focus on engaging local community groups and small businesses.
Ruby’s background is in research, in 2023 she achieved Practitioner level in CIPFA’s Better Business Cases qualification. With a range of skills in languages, effective communication and high-quality research, and experience in roles such as Research Assistant, Project Management Support and Project Lead, she notably won delivering on a Key Worker Accommodation Demand Assessment for multiple hospital and university sites.
Ruby grew up in the remote Highlands. Doing a move from ‘John-o-Groat’s to Land’s End’ 3 years ago, Devon quickly became her new home. Grateful to Exeter for the opportunities it has provided her, Ruby is keen to give back to the region through her work with GCF.
Will is financial consultant at Global City Futures and as a chartered accountant, has in-depth technical knowledge and a wide breadth of practical experience, across a range of business sectors.
He is responsible for mostly decarbonisation activities, focusing on retrofit, heat network and gap funding for decarbonisation projects. Will also has experience in specialist accounting, most recently working on building Key Worker Accommodation project, ensuring C-Del compliance. He supports the commercial development team, recently completing work on finding funding solutions for a large UK combined authority to decarbonise 45 of their publicly owned buildings. His interest lies in specialist gap and innovative financing solutions, supporting GCF’s mission for sustainable development and providing value for money to the public sector.
Currently Will is working with NHS clients and local authority leaders to build Key Worker accommodation, using a ratified, C-Del compliant model, greatly limiting the risk posed to the Trust and transferring to the private sector.
Receiving his BA (Hons) in Business, Accountancy and Economics, he went on to study to become a chartered accountant. While studying, Will worked for one of the largest accountancy firms in the southwest. Based in Corporate Services, he gained a wealth of experience working across many different business sectors with a variety of different sized businesses, charities and organisations. Predominantly auditing financial statements, Will has a good understanding of how businesses operate and can identify areas for growth and improvement, ensuring compliance while being considerate of accounting and financial implications.
Will became a member of he ICAEW in 2022, passing all exams making him an Associate Chartered Accountant. Despite vowing to never do another exam, he has since sat his foundation Better Business Case examination enabling him to write Green Book (government standard) compliant business cases.
Georgie, in her role as the Business Development Coordinator at GCF, helps steer us toward new horizons. Her primary focus is on identifying new projects, a responsibility that involves scoping tenders and leveraging her expertise in crafting proposals.
Georgie’s passion for development aligns seamlessly with Global City Futures’ mission of fostering sustainable community growth.
Building on her academic and professional foundation, Georgie earned her BSC (Hons) in Sociology, providing her with a nuanced understanding of societal dynamics that proves invaluable in her current role. To further refine her skills, she completed the Better Business Case Foundation and Practitioner training. These qualifications elevate her bid writing proficiency, reinforcing her ability to secure impactful projects for Global City Futures.
Georgie’s commitment to community well-being extends beyond her professional pursuits. In her spare time, she volunteers as a Counsellor for deprived communities in the South West, showing dedication to making a positive impact at both the individual and community levels. This hands-on experience not only underscores Georgie’s commitment to Global City Future’s mission but also equips her with a unique perspective that enriches her approach to business development.
Ben is a Consultant at Global City Futures, bringing over two decades of financial leadership experience across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution and media. As an accountant with a background in business transformation and sustainability focused finance, Ben applies a practical and people first approach to his work translating complex financial insights into actionable strategies.
Ben played a key role in a seven-year transformation project that led to the near elimination of carbon emissions from a manufacturing business, implementing targeted energy efficiency measures, process improvements, and low-carbon technologies to drive sustained environmental impact.
Ben achieved his Carbon Literate status in 2022 and played a leading role in his previous organisation’s journey toward Bronze Carbon Literacy accreditation. Passionate about mentoring others, he went on to train as a co-facilitator, helping individuals in other businesses around the group identify and commit to realistic emission-reducing pledges.
His focus on sustainability extends into his professional practice, most notably embedding environmental impact metrics into capital expenditure cases. With a sharp eye for detail, Ben has previously captured, calculated, and submitted complete Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions data using complex financial and logistics systems.
Ben recently passed the foundation Better Business Case examination in May 2025, equipping him with the tools to prepare Green Book-compliant business cases.
Outside work, Ben is often out enjoying Devon’s natural beauty on long walks with his dog, improving his sign language or getting a workout in at the gym. Ben also volunteers as a mentor for a local charity helping young people succeed after experiencing trauma. His values align closely with GCF’s mission to enable sustainable, inclusive growth and create carbon-neutral communities for the future.
Abi is a junior consultant at Global City Futures. Her role is to assist with the research and Business Case development.
Driven by a passion for sustainable development, Abi earned a first in BSc (Hons) Environmental Science at the Open University. This equipped her with a robust understanding of environmental issues that she leverages to help GCF achieve its sustainability objectives. She also brings insight from various volunteering roles, such as being a trustee for Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, and a guide for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
Currently, Abi is working with public sector projects for key worker accommodation and affordable housing developments. Her passion lies in using effective stakeholder engagement to deliver beneficial outcomes for society and the environment.
In her spare time, Abi loves sports, particularly tennis and going to the gym. She enjoys listening to music and playing the piano and guitar.
Amy manages Communications and Marketing for Global City Futures and promoting client project outcomes. She manages and delivers the communications plan, including online presence, CRM and updates to audiences.
Amy leads on GCF’s values that come through to their social media and online presence, as well as sponsorships, events, speakers and awards. She supports on maintaining GCF’s B Corp status bringing the ‘people and planet before profit’ ethos throughout company communications.
She has more than 20 years experience in marketing, managing and leading campaigns for varied audiences in not-for-profit, B2B and B2C products and commercial services. Graduating in Visual Art from Plymouth University, Amy manages the brand, graphics and design for print. She undertook postgraduate modules in Not-For-Profit management, and a certificate from the Institute of Fundraising.
Amy grew up in Exeter and lives on a farm with her family in Devon.
If you are passionate about creating sustainable, carbon-neutral societies, with a real interest and skills in data analytics, finance or bid writing, then we’d love to receive a speculative application from you.
We work with brilliant clients and together we’re committed to a sustainable future.
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