NEWS | Round-up
Our climate change champion Richard Hagan, managing director of Crystal Doors, says that small companies can lead the way in the quest to save the planet
Green light for indies RED FACES FOR SHEDS
SOMETIMES WE can fall into a trap of believing that large companies hold all the power. But when it comes to sustainability, I have found the opposite to be true. Large UK companies are required by law to disclose
their greenhouse gas emissions, and many are under more pressure than ever before to go further, as pension companies and investors demand more detail on their environmental impacts. Powerful companies are struggling to come to terms with the fact that the ‘golden era’ of enjoying obscene profi ts, while hiding their damage to the environment, is coming to an end. However, for small and medium-sized businesses, the situation is very different. We may not be required by law to disclose our environmental impacts, but to do so requires only a fraction of the time and energy it takes for larger companies.
Make the pledge
Pledging to become carbon neutral before 2050 – something we all must achieve – is a comparatively simple undertaking, and publicly committing yourself to it already makes you greener than the average corporate. You can then spend a year gathering data for your fi rst carbon footprint,
which can be calculated in just a day by an effi cient accountant. Crystal Doors undertook our
Small
companies can lead the way
fi rst carbon footprint in 2015, from which I set out a strategy, and with little money innovated a roadmap to be carbon-neutral. For me, environmental actions were not a tick-box exercise,
which is how most large companies see it. I replaced cost with value, where every decision took into account the balance of environmental considerations and saving money. We installed LED lights with a three-year payback and solar panels with a six-year payback without impacting cash fl ow. We switched to 100% electric cars and changed motors to more effi cient inverter drives.
Finding true value This year, Crystal Doors is asking all stakeholders to make the carbon-neutral pledge. This will reduce our indirect carbon footprint, but more importantly will prove that our entire value chain is taking action. Larger companies will not lead the way because their accountants only count numbers. But smaller, independent KBB suppliers can adapt incredibly quickly, and collectively our environmental impact exceeds that of the sheds where profi t for shareholders drives their business. We have just a few years left to avoid Earth’s tipping point to climate disaster. Act now – those left with red faces will be large companies whose accumulated wealth has been at the cost of our planet.
10
Aqualla and Adamsez acquired by FM Mattsson Mora Group
THE AQUALLA and Adamsez brands have been acquired by the FM Mattsson Mora Group, which supplies kitchen and bathroom taps in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
Brassware specialist Aqualla and bathroom brand Adamsez join Mora Armatur, Damixa and Hotbath brands under the FM Mattsson Mora umbrella.
Aqualla founder and managing director
Steven Allaway (pictured left) said: “We feel that this is a huge step forward for our business, indicative of our continual endeavour to provide fi rst-class service and quality products to meet the needs of our customer. “We are looking forward to offering some of the best products designed and manufactured in Europe.”
Northern Ireland-based brand Aqualla reports that it grew its business by more than 30% in 2020, delivering a revenue of £7.6 million. It employs 37 people.
Aqualla acquired the Adamsez brand in June last year. The Adamsez brand dates back to 1880 and is best known for its high-end free- standing bath range. It too is now based in Newtownards with Aqualla.
Aqualla will continue to operate as a freestanding business unit within the FM
Mattsson Mora Group and will be supported by the group. Its existing management team will remain in place, led by MD Steven Allaway and sales director Noel Daly (pictured right). Aqualla said that the acquisition will enable it to bring new, innovative products to market, bolstering its current offering through access to the group’s in-house design and manufacturing facilities. It
will also, said the company, bring new opportunities to export its brands to the Nordics and across Europe. In 2019, the Sweden-based FM Mattsson Mora Group, reported sales of more than SKr1.4bn (£119 million) from its companies in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Benelux, Germany and Italy,and employs more than 500 staff.
Wickes welcomes fi rst female installation apprentices
WICKES HAS welcomed two female
apprentices into its new Installation Apprenticeship scheme. Abby Watkinson and Rachael Folds started on
March 8, which was International Women’s Day. The pair are said to have plans to break the ‘glass ceiling’ in the installation world. Watkinson will be training as a fi tted furniture
installer. She said: “Many women are not typically seen in these roles, something I want to change.” Wickes said that Watkinson lives her life by the motto, “you should strive for what it is you want to do while you have the chance, because if you let an opportunity go by then it might not come round again and you will regret missing it”. Folds is an apprentice carpenter and previously worked as a granite and marble mason. She also
becomes the fi rst female Intermac CNC Stone Machine programmer in the UK at just 21. In December last year, Wickes launched its apprenticeship programme across the UK. The apprentices will learn from Wickes’s Approved Installer Network for around 80% of their time, while the other 20% will be formal classroom training by Nottingham-based WEBS Training. Tony Brown, installations director, at Wickes, said: “We’re really proud to have Abby and Rachael joining the installer apprenticeship scheme, both from very different career backgrounds. We hope they are the fi rst of many women to join the trade. Installation of kitchens is a very skilled job and we want to invest in people to help close any skills gap. “There are many great careers to be had in this industry and opportunities for people in a sector
that can be fl exible around them or give them the opportunity to create a small business. I am really proud that we’re able to offer a unique programme like this that appeals to men and women. We know the industry needs more skilled tradespeople and we hope this is just the beginning of a very successful and long-running scheme.”
· April 2021
Climate
Champion Change
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