Commercial Group
Commercial is a leading UK offi ce services and
As part of the overall plan to put climate change
and CarbonNeutral® at the heart of its business
supplies company, offering IT services, offi ce supplies,
strategy, Commercial repositioned its sales strategy to
interiors, recruitment and print procurement. A member of
incorporate this message. This was good for business
Beacon - a portfolio of innovative companies in the
and continued to build Commercial’s profi le with
South West of England - Commercial has ISO 9001 like-minded companies. There was an additional
and ISO 14001 certifi cations. The company became
benefi t: both sales and support staff took pride in
CarbonNeutral® in 2006.
the company’s CarbonNeutral® position, providing
a common goal for everyone to work to.
What Commercial did
In 2007, Commercial updated its brand to refl ect
In the beginning
the company’s environmental position, introducing
the strapline ‘Handled with Care’, instilling the
Commercial’s CarbonNeutral® journey began in
message that all operations are handled with care, from
2006 with an invitation to see US Vice-President and
customer service to carbon emissions. The new look
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore, deliver his
brought Commercial’s values to life, resonating with staff,
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ presention. On hearing the
clients and suppliers.
presentation, Simone Mann, Commercial’s Co-Founding
Director, not only felt a moral urgency to act, but saw
Spread the word
a huge business opportunity: stationery is very visible
in many supply chains and larger corporate clients
With emissions reductions and staff engagement
were increasingly asking about Commercial’s
underway, Commercial began looking further afi eld
environmental credentials. It was clear that Commercial
to convey its message. The emissions and cost reductions
needed to implement a carbon management strategy
achieved through its CarbonNeutral® programme won
and Simone knew her staff would be a critical part of
many commendations: C+ Carbon Positive Pioneer at
its success.
the Prince of Wales May Day Summit; BP Car and Van
Fleet Effi ciency Award; two Energy Saving Trust Fleet
The inside story
Hero Awards; Greenfl eet Private Sector Fleet of the Year
and Gloucestershire Environmental Business of the Year.
Simone went straight to the Board and argued that
environmental responsibility needed to go right to the
heart of the business. As a result, the company went
CarbonNeutral® in 2006 and the staff were integral
“Being CarbonNeutral® and the carbon
from the beginning; voting for the offset projects that
reduction programme that it inspired has
resonated with them most. Simone organised an been the most amazing journey. We have
educational screening of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ achieved more than I would ever have thought
for all employees and at the end asked for 20
possible. It has been the best thing we’ve
volunteers to help her implement the CarbonNeutral®
done in the 18 years we’ve been in business.”
programme. To her surprise, this invitation was met with an
overwhelming response.
Simone Mann, Co-founding Director
The volunteers were split into two working groups: a
CarbonNeutral® group and a waste management
group, who were given four weeks to come up with and
research ideas to cut emissions. By empowering staff
to come up with the solutions, the teams become very
competitive and the resulting proposals were extremely
creative. The most viable initiatives were then submitted
by the team to be accepted for action. The suggestions
that gained the widest acceptance across the company
were innovative and fun, helping to engage even the
fi ercest cynic.
Having a climate change leader within the company
became an important next step to ensure the
programme kept on track. Simone identifi ed a
staff member who was already passionate about
environmental issues and seconded him into the
working group. With this climate change leader in
place, Commercial could carry out a clear plan for carbon
reductions with the appropriate allocation of
management and resource.
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