EAST MIDLANDS
SMEs and the business case for sustainability
The business case for sustainability is clear for all sectors. By adopting sustainable practices, SMEs can find efficiencies, reduce costs, innovate – helping them to attract and retain talented employees, gain competitive advantage and improve financial performance. Helen Taylor (pictured), founder and managing director of Nottingham-based sustainable business consultancy Hosta Consulting, explains how companies can integrate sustainability into their business plan.
Climate change, extreme weather events and Covid-19 all pose risks to businesses. But the current momentum for clean growth, increased awareness of the fragility of nature and the environmental links to Covid-19, create the perfect opportunities for businesses within the landscape sector to contribute to “Building Back Better”. Alongside the business case, it is the ethical
responsibility of all business owners, leaders and managers to embed sustainability practices throughout organisations, including within supply chains. Environmental performance and sustainable
procurement strategies are increasing pressure on SMEs within supply chains, and product transparency and accountability is fundamental to meet the needs of the customer and larger clients.
HOW DO SMES WITH LIMITED RESOURCES BEGIN TO APPROACH SUSTAINABILITY? SMEs face significant challenges in implementing sustainability strategies due to resource constraints and other stresses such as Covid-19 and Brexit. A strategic and planned approach to
sustainability that includes realistic, achievable goals that can be implemented within a defined budget with the necessary human resources will ensure the success of projects of any size. It doesn’t matter how small the initial project
is – what’s important is to make a commitment and build on small steps and bring stakeholders along the journey. If every small business takes action, the positive collective impact is going to be high.
BUSINESS ASSESSMENT It’s vital to understand your current business landscape, both internally and externally, to build a successful business case and justify deployment of resources. This involves defining what sustainability means to the business and agreeing a definition that can be widely communicated and understood. The company may already have sustainability
initiatives in place, be affected by social or environmental issues, and already positively or negatively impacts society and the environment from its activities. Consider how the rest of the industry would address sustainability, what best practice is, and which policies affect the business and its sector by undertaking a fresh competitor analysis.
COMPANY CULTURE Embedding sustainability within business leadership and culture is imperative for the success of any project. Leadership buy-in is crucial but all stakeholders should understand that sustainability is part of company culture and be able to communicate a unified narrative.
SUPPLY CHAINS Supply chain management and compliance is part of responsible business. There is no excuse for not knowing the provenance of products and services within the business supply chain. Developing a bespoke questionnaire to investigate sustainability credentials and risk for existing and future suppliers can be a good start.
PLAN Set out the strategic goals and objectives, and “why” – then consider which frameworks and
tools best suit the business, as well as what is realistic within a defined timescale and budget.
ENGAGE OTHERS AND GALVANISE SUPPORT Access leadership and management support, build internal co-operation and make sustainability everybody’s responsibility. Ideas could include selecting a sustainability champion, building a taskforce or considering graduate recruitment. Identify and engage customers, stakeholders, business partners and external business networks.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING Run workshops to train staff in sustainability and carbon literacy, while also consider external training. There are strong positive links between sustainability, and diversity and inclusion, so combining those elements within a project can create some win wins.
Helen Taylor teaches individuals in small businesses about carbon literacy in a sustainability and inclusive leadership course at Nottingham Trent University. A new sustainability roundtable series is currently underway for participants to discuss their sustainability needs and access bespoke support, with two free events in March – Sustainability, leadership and culture on Tuesday 9 March, and Sustainability and circular economy principles on Tuesday 23 March. For more information, visit
bit.ly/NTUSustainabilitySeries.
SUSTAINABLE
Positive about carbon reduction
Creative agency CCM Group has announced it is becoming a “climate-positive workforce” after joining a scheme to offset its carbon footprint. The Mansfield company, which employs 46
people, has signed up to the Ecologi programme, which helps businesses to plant trees in a dedicated forest and fund both UK and international carbon reduction projects. Employees, whose personal lives’ carbon
Tina Brown is a member of the new "green team"
footprint will also be offset, have formed a CCM Group “green team” to get involved in quarterly sustainability events such as town tidy-ups and beach cleans, while they will also be able to benefit from a company electric car scheme. CCM Group, which offers services such as
marketing and graphic design to organisations including Leicester City FC, Games Workshop and EDF Energy, will also work with some of its clients to plant more trees – with the company forest’s growth visible on an Ecologi webpage. Tina Brown, managing director of CCM’s creative
division and a “green team” member, said: “Starting 2021 on the right foot, one of our biggest focuses is to become a sustainable company. “We also want to set a great example and it's
important for us to not only get fully immersed in becoming a more eco-friendly business, but also encourage our customers, suppliers and peers to be more sustainable too. The voice of one company could be in the influence of 100 others.”
business network March 2021 49
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