Name Magdalena Wyrwas

Job title Head of Insights

What company do you work for and what areas do they specialise in?
Groundsure is a leading UK environmental and climate data authority. We have 25 years’ experience giving land and property professionals expert information on risks, including land contamination, flooding and ground stability, as well as forward guidance on potential climate risks to advise their clients in the transaction process. We champion a customer-first ethos, by putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

Where are your offices based?
Brighton, East Sussex and in Cornwall. We also have a number of home-workers – across the UK.

How many people does the company employ?
116 people.

How long have you worked at the company, and what inspired you to join?
I returned to work at Groundsure in 2022. What drew me back (and I believe that this is true for other colleagues who have returned), is the workplace culture, and the way that direct customer feedback drives the development and enrichment of our product offering. It’s rare to work somewhere that listens that closely to its customers, and I feel genuinely passionate about being part of the team that takes it forward.

What does a typical day look like for you?
In addition to managing the Insights Sales team day-to-day, I remain closely involved in direct conversations with the sector, capturing their needs and priorities and feeding them straight into the R&D and product development processes.

What project are you most proud to have been a part of? I’m very proud to have supported our product launch in July 2025: Groundsure Explorer – an environmental data workspace that brings together 170+ years of mapping history and 130+ datasets. Explorer swaps the traditional static PDF reports, for interactive, real-time data and maps, enabling a faster and more collaborative way of working for organisations and teams. Additionally, I’m involved in the customer product feedback sessions that we run for this product. These sessions provide a valuable opportunity to refine our products and tools and deliver greater efficiencies to users.

How important is sustainability within the company?
As a company focused on environmental issues, we’re aligned to the B Corp mission of using business as a force for good. Having B Corp certification, has helped us to shape our sustainability strategy and our conversations with customers and our teams within the business.

We achieved B Corp certification in September  2023, which enabled us to build and strengthen areas and also identify those areas where  more work is required. We’re in the process of recertifying under the new V2.0 scheme which is helping us build out our stakeholder collaboration  – including customers and staff collaboration, as we develop our approach to Net Zero and our inclusion practices.

How does your company support graduates and early career professionals who are entering the industry?
Our investment in people and our teams is always a key priority. We work with staff to develop their skills and support our employees to reach their career goals.

We have been challenged, particularly in the Cornwall area, (as it has areas of deprivation), in how we consider supporting young people and the local communities. In Cornwall, we offer internships to graduates from local universities, helping them to take their first steps into their careers. We’re particularly proud to be sponsoring one of the first Geoscience Graduate Apprentices in partnership with Keele University. This has been a positive experience for both the apprentice and the wider team.

What steps can companies make to improve the gender imbalance and diversity within their organisations?
A good starting point is to understand your current workforce diversity and set clear objectives for where you want to be. We found one of the most impactful ways to make Groundsure a comfortable place to work is to encourage staff to share their experiences – company wide. We’ve now completed two consecutive annual, anonymous Equality, Diversity and Inclusion surveys with all Groundsure staff. This helps us to understand who we are, and we use the results to support the development of the targets for the following year.

Why do you feel the work of the AGS is important to the industry?
The AGS has underpinned the geotechnical and geoenvironmental industry for decades, providing accessible, practical advice and guidance for practitioners and clients alike. It’s helped to raise industry standards and ensures that progress continues and evolves in alignment with the requirements.