SUSTAINABILITY S
ustainability is a hot topic right now, with legislation coming in left and right but how does one begin their sustainability journey? How do you begin to
turn your business into something that aligns with green policies.
Archwood Group has been on its own sustainability journey and has posted figures reporting 66% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions – which it had independently verified by Planet Mark. It has also signed up to the UK race to zero emissions by 2050 which means it hopes to halve the Group’s emissions by 2030. “I am interested in it on a personal level but also as a company, we have set up something called the ESG group. It includes staff members from different departments and they collaborate to find ways the business can reduce its emissions” says Josh Burbidge, managing director of Archwood Group. He explains that one of the motivating factors behind the decision was to be an outlier in the space, “it’s something that can differentiate us out there in the marketplace.” One of the ways the group has cut its emissions is by installing solar panels and this regenerates between 40 to 50% of its energy requirements. It also reviewed which parts of the business were producing the most emissions, it then reviewed how it could reduce these without compromising on the growth of the company.
To enable it to carry out these improvements the Group raised funds from Lombard, which is a part of the Natwest Group.
Burbidge says: “It’s a three-quarters of a million-pound investment to put 2,600 solar panels on our Chirk factory and this is something we are paying off over a period of seven years.”
“So first off, from the investment side, I don’t know whether we can cast our mind back two years ago, but before Russia decided to invade Ukraine, we were previously in a very attractive energy contract and we were going to come out of that contract in the September of 2021. And our bills were going to go from a third of a million a year to 1.8 million, which wasn’t sustainable from a business point of view.” Also, the company has found that being able to point to your business being sustainable it provides a useful hook to get new people in when recruit new, younger new members of staff.
He adds: “It just makes the business more attractive from a total package perspective and it’s something that is attractive to our customers.”
10
GREEN
The group also has ambitions of eliminating all carbon emissions from fuels consumed at all its sites and its internal HGV fleet by 2030, as well as achieving zero carbon emissions, and to generate 100% of its own energy requirement by 2030.
He explains that this investment has enabled the company to become autonomous from outside influences such as wars and fuel price increases – which have become frequent.
INTENTIONS
Knowing how to begin your sustainability journey is a challenge. Will McGill found out about the Archwood Group’s plans to achieve net-zero.
Burbidge says: “I think you want to look at total energy usage and see what your business’ big users of energy are. If I was a builder’s merchant, I would sit there and go okay, well what is my total energy usage and is it worth investing in photovoltaics to put on the roof?
“I would encourage people to move over to electric cars and help to offer incentives to your employees to make the switch. “We’re generating electricity from our roof so I don’t charge people to charge their cars so they’re basically commuting for free, which actually is quite an interesting perk. “I do believe builders merchants will want to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and to be supplied by a manufacturer who is trying to reduce their impact on the planet has got to be a good thing.”
The Archwood Group was also awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development 2024 on May 6. The award recognised it as one of 252 organisations nationally for its sustainable practices. n
A supplement to builders merchants journal June 2024
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