7 minute read
Net Zero Champions
Local businesses form innovative group to help Hertfordshire organisations achieve Net Zero
Prominent Hertfordshire businesses have come together to create a cross-industry focus group to share their experience of acting on Net Zero and support others on their journey.
Colette Cooper Cariad Marketing David Hawes CEO Net Zero International Elena Lewendon Apsley Paper Trail Trust Fiona Edwards JPA Workshops Fourteen Hertfordshire
Chamber of Commerce member businesses have come together to share their experience of acting on Net Zero by uniting under the umbrella group HERTS GO GREEN AND GROW. This sharing of information is intended to help other businesses across the county who recognise that they should be incorporating Net Zero action in their organisations and don’t know where to start or what might be possible.
The need to act on new Net Zero reporting legislation is affecting all businesses. The UK became the first economy to pass a law to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. This, together with the emergence of many consultancies in this field, means organisations need help navigating a way through this complex potential minefield. How a business should act is a common question. The answer is often a combination of using external advisors and training your people – being able to discuss how much this might cost and what makes the most difference with other business leaders is what the focus group has been set up for.
Businesses joining the first focus group are: • Apsley Paper Trail Trust • Boffin Lab • CAE Technologies • Cariad Marketing • Croft Communications • Ecoserve • Estu • Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Hillier Hopkins • JPA Workspaces • KGK Genix • Net Zero International • Rothamsted Research • SA Law
The spark for the idea of a focus group came from conversations between Fiona Edwards at JPA Workspaces (Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards Green Business of the Year 2022), Briege Leahy at the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Simon Littlewood at Estu and David Hawes at Net Zero International.
Fiona is a participant on the Government funded Net Zero Leaders Programme delivered by Estu and has been inspired by the impact of JPA’s shift to putting sustainability at the heart of the business. “We’re creating a bigger impact, we’re creating new commercial opportunities and our people love what we’re doing together.”
David at Net Zero International says: “It is much easier for people to start than they think. This group is providing free workshops and reporting templates to walk through the simple steps for businesses to begin to understand their carbon emissions and take action.”
Briege says, “We want Hertfordshire businesses to lead the way in carbon efficiency and with the increasing pace of new legislation impacting businesses in this area, training people within the organisation is critical.”
This is echoed by Simon Littlewood, CEO of Estu. “In the current economic environment, using Government funding to retain and develop people and build the necessary Net Zero skills within organisations makes perfect sense.”
Graeme Fox, Tax Manager at Hillier Hopkins describes their response to Net Zero: “Hillier Hopkins has started looking seriously at reducing our environmental impact and we have taken good early steps to implement better internal policies and recycling. We are now looking to take that next step to really change our staff and clients’ behaviours to lower our carbon and general green impact.”
Colette Cooper, Client Services Team Manager at Cariad Marketing, “By being part of this group, we will be part of a cohort of like-minded businesses who are being proactive about changing the way we work to support our staff and our clients in their journey to make their workplaces greener and contribute to climate change. As a digital marketing company we have always been at the forefront of change and adapting to the fast-paced changes that take place within our industry and our clients’ industry.”
Information required to get started
The group is keen to help business achieve the accreditation for Scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting. Scope 1 emissions are Green House Gases (GHG) released directly from a business. Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHGs released from the energy purchased by an organisation. Scope 3 emissions are also indirect GHG emissions, accounting for upstream and downstream emissions from a product or service, and emissions across a business’s supply chain. “This can be much easier for people to start than they think,” says David Hawes of Net Zero International. The essential information required is: Utility bills, business travel data. Other data to be considered: Employee commuting data, water and wastewater, waste, purchasing data.
The Herts Go Green and Grow group will be delivering an interactive workshop at the Herts Chamber’s Sustainability Conference on 21 October when delegates will be invited to bring along their information to start their emissions reporting on the day.
Elena Lewendon is CEO of the Apsley Paper Trail Trust which runs the historic Frogmore Paper Mill in Hemel Hempstead. She highlights the transition that they are making. “As a Registered Charity and working industrial heritage site, we are faced with a huge challenge in reducing our carbon emissions. Historic buildings are notoriously difficult to insulate and heat and making paper uses power and water. We are looking at some fairly significant roofing works to stop this major energy loss as well as changing lighting to LED, window replacement and more holistically, a real culture change amongst staff and volunteers to reduce waste and to use energy more efficiently. Most significantly, we have been recycling paper for 130 years, and seek to not only continue this, but to use even more fibre sources to make paper making even more sustainable than it already is. We now use banana stem fibres and even elephant and rhino dung from local zoos to make paper!”
She adds, “We want to learn from the working group what has worked well for other businesses and organisations and what has not!” “We are at the very beginning of our journey to Net Zero, but in the past year, we have stopped use of all gas on site and appointed an Environment Officer to start planning our green future. We hope to develop our site to include a new carbon neutral visitor centre where we can teach our visitors and school groups not only about recycling paper but also how to live a more sustainable life in the face of the climate emergency.”
Government support for training
Training funded by the government is now available to businesses in Hertfordshire. Managers leading on sustainability activities for their organisations achieve Chartered Professional qualification (CMgr) and commercial and sustainability training across four key areas of the business: • People, leadership and change • Marketing, innovation and technology • Finance, accounting and risk • Strategic and operational success More information is available at www.estuglobal.com/net-zero-leadersprogramme
Graham Pitts, Group Managing Director at KGK Genix, reiterates the importance of businesses coming together to do more: “We only have one world. We all have a responsibility to do ‘our bit’ and KGK Genix are proud to be part of the Herts Go Green and Grow Group to raise awareness and assist others to get started on their Net Zero journey.”
Businesses across Hertfordshire are already acting on Net Zero. There are also a lot of local programmes and groups emerging. This focus group, open to all Chamber members large or small, is to help share information about what is working and give other businesses the confidence to start and accelerate their sustainability transition with all the benefits that brings.
“We are just so excited to bring this group of incredible companies together to help each other and start brainstorming Net Zero!’ adds Fiona.
The business focus group will be meeting to determine the content and activities for a series of workshops to help Hertfordshire businesses take action towards achieving Net Zero.
