Dave Culley minutes with

Q Who are you?

I am a Kingston based Carbon and Cost Management specialist. I work with small to medium sized Businesses, helping them to measure and manage their Carbon Emissions and non-core spend in a plain talking, straight forward and often self-funded way.

My background is Carbon Measurement and Management for FTSE 100 companies, where cost is no issue and my customers had huge budgets and teams they could throw at sustainability.

My mission now is all about bringing affordable Carbon and cost management to the Kingston business community. I have spent years developing skills that up until now have only been accessible to large corporates, and have stripped out all the complexities so that smaller companies can benefit from my expertise without needing deep pockets or sustainability knowledge. The whole area of Carbon management is too often complex and confusing with loads of acronyms and standards that many people think is complicated and expensive – I am here to turn that on its head and deliver Carbon management up to BSI standards for the masses.

I have a network of over 100 Sustainability and Cost Management consultants within my network that I can lean on at any time if I need some specific expertise.

Q What's your business all about?

Two things that are closely linked:

1 – Carbon.

I help you tick that sustainability box on the tender you are working on. I deliver annual Carbon Footprint Reports, Carbon Reduction Plans and Carbon neutrality consulting. This means I calculate your Carbon Footprint, I save you Carbon, and if you choose to, I get formal verification of your Carbon Neutral claims as I am BSI and NQA accredited.

2 – Cost and Procurement.

I save you money on the things you already buy. Most people are very good at buying core items, but possibly not so much at buying non-core items – stationery, janitorial supplies, fleet services, power etc. I have over 200 individual areas where I find significant cash savings. Often a Procurement review will find enough cost savings to pay for a Carbon Footprint Report and still make your bank balance healthier, hence the self-funding model.

Q Three words to describe yourself?

Detailed. Straight-talking. Passionate.

Q Ideal customer?

My ideal customer has a turnover somewhere between £1m and £50m and is keen on Carbon management. Sometimes it’s because of pressure from customers asking for this data as part of a tender, sometimes it’s because their industry is starting to feel the pinch of regulation and know that they need to publish this type of data, and sometimes it’s a real drive to do the right thing. My customers are great at when they do and don’t have the time or resource to look at Carbon. They trust me to do that for them. I like to form long term relationships with my customers and be the expertise they need to remain competitive and ahead of regulation.

Q Biggest achievement?

I am working with a local sports team who had already made a start on their Decarbonisation strategy before we met – changed to LED floodlights, installed waterless urinals and were already trying to source more sustainable food vendors, but ran out of money to do any more. I worked through a procurement review with them and found over £200k of annual cost savings which allowed them to continue with their Decarbonisation strategy which we are now working through. Their first Carbon

Footprint Report was 100% funded through cost savings and they still have more cash in the bank than they had before working with me. I am now viewed as their Sustainability Manager and regularly attend their matches and leadership team meetings. We have become good friends.

Q Biggest gripe?

Companies that think Decarbonisation is not relevant for them. What impact can my SMB have when large corporates generate much more carbon than me? How can my business afford a Decarbonisation strategy when we are struggling to keep our head above water in the current economic climate? Decarbonisation sounds complicated and I don’t have the expertise. Or the big one –I don’t know where to start so I won’t bother!

Q Your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from a number of places – I am inspired by my customers who get really enthused during this journey and find a passion they didn’t know they had. I am inspired by my peers who go above and beyond for their customers, but mostly I am inspired by my children who seem to have an innate level of understanding about what is good or bad for the world.

Q Philosophy in business?

Yes. Yes I can help. Yes I know someone else who can help. Yes I can find out for you. Yes I will get involved. Yes we can have a chat whenever you like. I believe in going the extra mile - after all we only have one planet!

Q Biggest tip for success?

Do something! You may not know where to start or how to start, you may not have good data to work with or a team that can start calculating Carbon Emissions, but you can always do something! Turn your thermostat down 1 degree, buy some LED bulbs, turn your lights off overnight. ‘Every Little Helps’!