Christopher Michael Jack Gorell Barnes (born May 1974) [1] is an English digital entrepreneur and marine conservationist best known as executive producer of the documentary The End of the Line.

Early life

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Gorell Barnes was born to Henry Gorell Barnes (1939-1983),[2] merchant banker and a director of Morgan Grenfell,[3][4] and Gillian (née Carruthers), a family therapist at the Tavistock Clinic.[5][6] His maternal grandmother was film editor Lito Carruthers.[7] His paternal grandfather was Sir William Lethbridge Gorell Barnes (1909-1987), a War Cabinet official later of the Treasury and Colonial Office (where he was Deputy Under Secretary of State from 1959 to 1963), and who had been Personal Assistant to Prime Minister Clement Attlee from 1946 to 1948.[8]

His paternal great-grandfather was Sir Frederic Gorell Barnes (1856-1939), M.P. for Faversham, Kent from 1895-1900, Assistant Food Commissioner and Commissioner of the Education and Propaganda Branch of the Ministry of Food from 1918 to 1921.[9] The Gorell Barnes family were of Ashgate House, Ashgate, Derbyshire, with the Barons Gorell descending from Henry, elder brother of Chris Gorell Barnes's ancestor Charles (1818-1886; of Mossley Hill, Lancashire, J.P., a merchant).[10] The politician and colliery owner Alfred Barnes was the youngest brother of Henry and Charles.[11][12]

Gorell Barnes was raised in Maida Vale, and studied at Bedales and the European Business School at Regent's University London.[5][13]

Career

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Gorell Barnes founded a digital content agency called Adjust Your Set in 2008.[14][13][15]

He was named by the London Evening Standard newspaper in 2013 as one of the most powerful 'Tech Stars' in the UK.[16] Gorell Barnes has sat on the board of Eagle Eye Solutions, a digital consumerism business, since 2007.[17] Other board members include Sir Terry Leahy, former Tesco chief executive.[18]

Gorell Barnes was executive producer for The End of the Line, a documentary film that changed attitudes towards seafood, including among companies such as Pret A Manger and Marks & Spencer.[19][20]

It won the inaugural Puma Creative Impact Award in 2011 for its success in changing consumer behaviour.[21][22]

A study by the BRITDOC Foundation found that it had been seen by more than one million people and had created press and media attention worth more than £4 million.[23] The film was described by the Chicago Tribune as "an apocalyptic documentary that is as beautiful as it is damning".[24]

Marine conservation

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In 2009, Gorell Barnes and fellow producer George Duffield founded a marine conservation charity, the Blue Marine Foundation which aims to create marine reserves.[14][25][26][27] In 2010 it brokered a deal that created a huge marine reserve around the Chagos Islands[28] and two years later one that protected the waters around Turneffe Atoll in the Caribbean.[29] Among its supporters is Helena Bonham Carter.[30][31]

Personal life

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Gorell Barnes lives in London with his long-term partner Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho. Their identical twin sons, Milo and Felix, were born in 2016.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Christopher Michael Jack GORELL BARNES - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  2. ^ Gov.uk Probate Record Search, Surname 'Barnes', Year of Death '1984' (n.b. date of death given as 13 November 1983), p. 495
  3. ^ T. H. Fitzgerald, ed. (1982), Money Market Directory, p. 1105
  4. ^ Feder, Barnaby J. (17 November 1983). "London Exchange Entering New Era". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ^ a b Hattie Williams (13 April 2014). "How I made it: Chris Gorell Barnes, founder of Adjust Your Set". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  6. ^ Gill Gorell Barnes (1984). Working with Families. Macmillan. p. iv.
  7. ^ "Marriages". The Elizabethan. XXIX No 1 (661): 24. July 1966.
  8. ^ Chris Cook, ed. (2006). The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945. Routledge. p. 13.
  9. ^ John Venn; J. A. Venn (eds.). Alumni Cantabrigienses, vol. 2 – From 1752 to 1900, Part 1: Abbey-Challis. Cambridge University Press. p. 162.
  10. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Vol. 2. 2003. p. 1597.
  11. ^ "Obituary - Alfred Barnes". The Times. No. 36625. London. 29 November 1901. p. 6.
  12. ^ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1929). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat Armour (7th ed.). Hurst & Blackett, Ltd. p. 96.
  13. ^ a b "Chris Gorell Barnes' video venture Adjust Your Set is really". Evening Standard. 15 July 2013.
  14. ^ a b Williams, Hattie. "How I made it: Chris Gorell Barnes, founder of Adjust Your Set" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  15. ^ "Let us show you the way ..." The Sunday Times.
  16. ^ "The Power 1000 - London's most influential people 2013: Tech stars". Evening Standard. 19 September 2013.
  17. ^ "London Stock Exchange | London Stock Exchange". New issues. London Stock Exchange – via www.londonstockexchange.com.
  18. ^ Armstrong, Ashley (6 July 2015). "Sainsbury's strikes deal with Sir Terry Leahy-backed Eagle Eye". The Telegraph.
  19. ^ "Film prompts Pret a Manger to change its tuna". The Guardian. 8 June 2009.
  20. ^ "M&S lines up behind ban on endangered bluefin tuna". Evening Standard. 9 June 2009.
  21. ^ "Press release on Puma site". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  22. ^ Cooper, Sarah (12 October 2011). "The End Of The Line nets Puma Creative Impact Award". Screen.
  23. ^ "The BRITDOC study document" (PDF).
  24. ^ Turan, Kenneth (17 July 2009). "Forget pirates; fear the fishermen". chicagotribune.com.
  25. ^ SuperYacht Times https://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/51/article/id/9966. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[verification needed]
  26. ^ "Creating partnerships for a healthy ocean". Blue Marine Foundation.[verification needed]
  27. ^ "Blue Marine Foundation 5th birthday party". Tatler. 10 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Billionaire saves marine reserve plans". The Independent. 12 September 2010.
  29. ^ Robin Henry; Frank Pope (25 November 2012). "Beauty and the reef: billionairess dives in to save coral". www.thetimes.co.uk.
  30. ^ Singh, Anita (11 February 2015). "Helena Bonham Carter gets naked with giant tuna" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  31. ^ Rivera, Zayda (11 February 2015). "Helena Bonham Carter poses naked with fish in new campaign, despite fish phobia". nydailynews.com.
  32. ^ Bodkin, Henry (5 June 2016). "Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox becomes mother 12 years after devastating car crash" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
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