What’s encouraging for me is that this is being driven by investors and the stock market, because it makes people act. I hope we get to a point where people are awarding work based on what you do in this area, that will be key.
IS: There is a feeling that we’re in the vanguard, that we as businesses can actually lead the way. I’m on an Eco-I taskforce subgroup at Lancaster University formed from the food and drinks sector. Six SMEs from Lancashire are about to present some of our findings and to give our ideas on things like waste disposal and transport.
What practical measures can businesses implement around the issues raised by ESG. What works?
RG:We’re very focused on the social element of this. As a business, you have to choose what you invest in and the ecosystem that you create attracts not only the people, but the customers through the kind of social impact that you want to make.
Giving a little bit is good but giving a little bit more makes the biggest impact and that impact comes right back to your business. There’s no poorer business than one that earns just money.
MB: A lot of small businesses need advice on governance and how to get the message out. It is easier for larger companies to report on this.
If you look at a set of accounts for the biggest companies it will be possibly 200 pages, of which maybe 10 per cent is accounting information and the rest is pretty much a brochure explaining what the company does.
It’s structured in a way defined by legislation but gives the opportunity to expand on ESG issues, explain to shareholders where the values are coming from.
Smaller companies have exemptions and it’s practical that they do because of the cost of producing that brochure, so there is an issue about getting their message out.
We also have to take care, because sometimes what we perceive to be environmentally friendly does nothing more than tick boxes and education is needed, especially for smaller businesses that can’t afford to have officers who just focus on this.
IS: We invested in tens of thousands of plastic bags for our mail order subscriptions from a company in Holland who had a carbon neutral footprint. They were doing initiatives in Ethiopia, helping farms of origin and the product is recyclable. However, we found they can’t be recycled locally.
So, we have letterboxes in our shop door for people to return their packets and we take care of recycling for them. We’ve taken it into our own hands because the system is rubbish.
How do you see things advancing and are you in a position to go further?
ZW: We’ve talked about the advancements of technology, but the technology is not where it needs to be for us to be carbon neutral by 2050, it’s just not. I can’t run a 30-tonne excavator in a field, how are we going to do that? How are we going to power it? The infrastructure’s not there.
JH: We do a lot of research and development on our products. You’ve got to take risks and you’ve got to try different things to get different results and not everything’s going to work. But you’ve got to put the time and the effort in to want to do it, to want to make it better. That’s the most important thing we can do.
If a business is
thinking sustainably, it’s thinking long term
SC:We’ve got ten diesel vans maybe doing a quarter of a million miles a year. I’d quite happily switch to electric, but the infrastructure isn’t there. Look at how long it takes to charge up an electric vehicle compared to filling up a car. Our engineer’s time is where the revenue is. People are ready to make a change but we need help to get the infrastructure there so we can do it.
WB: We’re a company that likes to try stuff. We’ve put a new kitchen in at one business, taking gas out and putting electric in. It’s a better, cooler working environment for staff. That will be a rolling programme going forward.
It’s also the little things you do. We sell more than a million bottles of beer a year and they have three labels on them. A biodegradable label is more expensive but that’s three million pieces that are going to not be sat there somewhere in 30 years. So you do it, even though it is more expensive, because it is the right way.
BD:Every bank will be thinking about the sustainability of their customers going forward. As an organisation we’re bringing out an awful lot of tools and products to help. Managers may find it difficult to bring it up in a banking conversation, but I’ve said to them to just put
it on the agenda, even if it starts right at the bottom. We have to talk about it.
The starting point for business is put it on your agenda, speak with your customers, your suppliers, your professional advisors. Also think of it as an investment, as an opportunity for growth.
Successful businesses in Lancashire have been doing this stuff for years as part of their DNA. I work with some of the fastest growing private equity bank businesses and this is right at the top of their agenda because it’s at the top of their investors’ agenda.
RG:The banks could really make a huge difference. For example, if banks could offer half or one per cent loans on green initiatives over five years, which is the period in which you get the return, that would give businesses the incentive to invest.
ZH:Most of my clients are in the leisure sector and they are benefitting from sharing their green venture stories. It is great advertising and marketing and the customer feedback is really positive.
WB: I went on holiday a couple of years ago and had a honey beer. I took it back and said to our brewers make some of that. We now have our own beehives to make the honey to go in the beer. Not only is it great PR but it is actually a really good thing to do. We also have a borehole we’ve not used yet. It will reduce our water costs. We are trying all the time to do things.
AM: Our day job is to help businesses manage energy related costs and help them with sustainability. Whether you are big or small you are looking down the barrel of a three-fold increase in electricity and gas costs which will ultimately filter through to water costs. Suddenly that LED project that was a two-and-a-half-year payback is now one-year.
If you have a fixed energy deal, for goodness’ sake, open the drawer and have a look at it. Find out when it’s coming to an end and do something about it. If you’ve got a two-year, or even a one-year run, pick up the phone and reduce your energy, do your LED lighting, put solar up. You’ve got 12 months to do that, it’s possible. Do everything you can to reduce your footprint.
Environmental leadership is important, but now it’s also economic. It’s back to people. Put people first, invest in them and give them opportunities. And be prepared to fail in terms of trying things.
I trained as an engineer and intellectual property was everything. I’m having to untrain myself. We have to share everything, what have we tried and what has failed, even with our competitors.
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