Starting UP

Q1 In a few words tell us a bit about your business?

BlueGreen ESG helps businesses, particularly SMEs, integrate social responsibility into their day-to-day operations without incurring unsustainable costs.

The assistance offered includes everything from full strategies to individual initiatives, to creating content for a variety of platforms and audiences. This could mean helping to measure and reduce energy cost or working with staff to create a sense of purpose for the organisation and identifying the actions that support the purpose, or producing training and information material to help staff, clients, customers and suppliers to understand what part they can play in building better business.

Q2 What gives your business 'the x-factor’?

Few advisors offer the level of personal, handson experience I bring in building responsible business strategies from the ground up. I’ve done everything from big-picture 10-year plans, to designing and running training and stakeholder buy-in sessions, to getting my hands dirty picking through the details of the processes and tools needed to drive the initiatives that make the plans a success.

The advice is based on personal need and affordability, not creating initiatives that look or sound great, while adding little in the way of tangible benefits to the business or any of their stakeholders.

Many consultants focus on reporting, data analysis, and certification, with off-the-shelf solutions. At BlueGreen ESG, the focus is on real impact—helping businesses implement meaningful changes that drive success. One of the key differences setting BlueGreen apart from other consultants operating in this area is not assuming prior knowledge. The acronyms ESG (Environment, Social & Governance), DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and others are often not particularly helpful for most SMEs. They are so vast in their definitions and scope that they lead to confusion, worries about not speaking the right language and just generally seeming like barriers to smaller businesses. BlueGreen ESG is all about materiality – what is specific to the purpose, values and goals of each business, and the individuals that make up their workforce and their communities.

Q3 What motivated you to set up in business?

I could see a growing gap between large and small firms when it comes to engaging with the wider responsible business agenda. Larger firms often have ESG strategies and systems, however basic, but were now concentrating on reporting rather than continuing to push forward. This means that there is less leadership and innovation being shown to help SMEs take the same journey.

My experience of working with SMEs has revealed a real fear factor which was stopping them engaging with ESG and other responsible business thinking. They have concerns over not understanding how to start, that it would cost too much, or that they would be spotlighted for never doing enough - no matter how hard they tried. I wanted to use my extremely wide-ranging experience to help overcome those barriers, and to start to unlock the potential within the 5.5 million SMEs in the UK. After all, they form the backbone of the UK economy and society. With the right tailored and affordable support, SMEs have immense power to drive meaningful change.

Q4 What do you like most about working as a start-up?

The ability to be truly flexible and treat every client as an individual. I began working in the responsible business field because the issues involved were those that were key to how I live my life.

Being an independent start-up means I can fully align my business with my values, ensuring integrity remains at the core of everything I do.

Q5 What has been your greatest business success to date?

As a newly launched business it is still early days but helping a small accountancy firm develop from expressing a general interest in ESG to being able to offer tangible and expert client services, has been hugely satisfying.

I’ve also been very proud of having been able to work with partners to reshape some of their conversations about responsible business issues, bringing it back to the basics of how business and society can benefit, and away from using reporting as a substitute for driving change. That shift has the capacity to create more involvement and better results.

Q6 What has been your lowest moment?

I wouldn’t call it a low moment, but the sheer amount of admin required to get started was an unexpected challenge!

Q7 In terms of business achievements, where do you want to be within the next 5 years?

A classic job interview question!

I want to continue doing what I do now but on a larger scale, helping more businesses to be engaged with the wide range of social issues that affect them, their stakeholders, and their communities. I want to be integral in turning that engagement into business benefits that bring success to all those groups.

I want BlueGreen ESG to be recognised as a value-driven, client-oriented consultancy that is still changing the world for the better.

Q8 What would be your top tip for someone thinking of starting up their own business?

Be completely confident in your product or service. Your purpose is your foundation—stay focused on it. If your business is value-driven, make sure those values guide every decision. If it's product-based, prioritise quality, utility, and customer satisfaction.

Secondly, talk to as many people as possible. You’ll be surprised how many people are willing to help—so reach out and connect!