Barbara Stocking: opera lover who turned Oxfam into a £300m business

Under the ambitous Barbara Stocking, Oxfam has taken on a more 'businesslike' role and pursued partnerships with big corporations and the City. But not everyone is happy with the charity's new direction.

Even The Wall Street Journal has caught the happiness bug. "Adults who frequently feel gratitude [and translate that into good deeds themselves] have more energy, more optimism and more happiness than those who do not," it proclaims. Doubtless the goats will be flying out of the door of Oxfam's ethical gift department this Christmas. At £25 a pop, "our goats aren't just cute They produce milk to drink and sell, fertiliser for crops, and kids to take to market", notes the charity's all bells-and-whistles retail website. "Not baa-d."

Most of the credit for this informal and friendly, yet eminently business-like, approach goes to Dame Barbara Stocking. A former NHS administrator, she has taken Oxfam "on a whirlwind journey" since she took the top job a decade ago, says The Independent on Sunday. The charity founded in 1942 to help Greek civilian victims of war is now the largest second-hand bookseller in Europe (there are 700 shops in Britain alone). Under Stocking's guidance it's been pushing for partnerships with big business and the City "a major departure from the days when campaigners saw the giant multinationals as the enemy". Her latest venture is "a spin on microfinance". She's in talks with several financial services outfits to form a "fund of funds" to raise private capital for direct investment in chosen projects and businesses.

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