Sustainable Growth

By Mark Jenkinson, Crystal Associates and SELCC Board Member.

Croydon Business Growth Summit

Croydon’s Business Growth Summit 2024 on 8 October brought together industry leaders, decision-makers, and business owners for an afternoon of insightful workshops, engaging presentations, thought-provoking round table discussions and lots of networking - all exploring business growth and innovation.

I was honoured to join an esteemed panel of speakers, including London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber, and the Executive Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry. My contribution was a short overview of sustainability. I presented the standard definition of sustainability – featured in my column in Issue 28 – and the oath sworn by citizens of ancient Athens which is similar in vein.

“We shall leave this city not less, but greater, better and more beautiful that it was left to us.”

Maybe an approach for us all to follow!

As well as leaving our planet in a good or better state, I highlighted other reasons for businesses to adopt sustainable practices. These include competitive edge in tenders – particularly when supplying public sector organisations - access to finance and staff recruitment and retention.

Other topics covered during the excellent event included: AI and technology, financial management, procurement and supply chain and women in business.

SELCC Sustainability Group

At the end of August, we held the second meeting of the SELCC Sustainability Group – an outcome from the Greener Greenwich Summit 2024 (GGS24). Kindly hosted by the University of Greenwich (UoG), the members shared their respective approaches - and the arising lessons learned - to improving the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of their buildings and estates. One of the four GGS24 project initiatives.

We learnt, for example, that UoG is working to ensure its buildings are Net Zero by 2030. To support this, new zero carbon air source heat pumps have been installed at Avery Hill which will cut gas consumption by two thirds, significantly reducing the use of fossil fuels. And the heat pumps are not noisy, despite what you may read in some parts of the media!

On a different note, we heard how Royal Museums Greenwich recycles materials to make impressive bags which can be bought in the museum shop –while stocks last!

I’m looking forward to our third meeting in November to be hosted by Ravensbourne University London at their campus on the Greenwich Peninsula.

An Introduction to ESG

In early October I had the opportunity to run a workshop on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) for the London Chamber’s Women in Business Development programme.

The thinking behind the programme includes facts that only one out of three businesses around the world are owned by women, female-founded businesses receive less than one-fifth of malefounded businesses and £250 billion could be added to the UK economy if women matched men in receiving business investment. These were issues also raised at the Croydon Business Growth Summit. The programme provides practical business support, access to resources, mentoring and networking opportunities. The aim of my session was to understand ESG principles, aligning operations with ethical, environmental, and social values for long-term sustainable growth.

Key learning outcomes include:

The ESG three pillars are:

• Environmental: how an organisation performs as a steward of the natural environment

• Social: how an organisation manages relationships with its employees, suppliers, customers, stakeholders and the communities in which it operates

• Governance: relates to an organisation’s internal processes and leadership

ESG is becoming increasingly important as the likes of EU law now requires large companies to disclose. The new rules will ensure that investors and other stakeholders have access to the information they need to assess the impact of companies on people and the environment and for investors to assess financial risks and opportunities arising from climate change and other sustainability issues. Over 55,000 businesses, including SMEs in the supply chain, are now in scope to report on sustainability.

Benefits to businesses for focusing on ESG include those indicated above for embracing sustainable approaches, namely competitive edge, access to finance and staff recruitment and retention.

If you would like to hear more about ESG and make it ‘easier’ to apply, then feel free to get in touch. Planned upcoming activities in the next quarter include:

Green Travel Plan webinar https://www.selondonchamber.org/ event/?url=2024%2F11%2F20%2Fhow-todevelop-and-implement-a-green-travelplan#!event/2024/11/20/how-to-develop-andimplement-a-green-travel-plan

Building on another of the ambitious goals set at the Greener Greenwich Summit 2024 (GGS24), this webinar ‘How to develop and implement a green travel plan’ will reveal how the University of Greenwich tackled the challenges of inter-campus travel and accommodating international students while reducing carbon emissions.

This must-attend webinar on Wednesday 20 November at 10am is perfect for all businesses, both large and small, across the five SE London Chamber boroughs of Royal Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley, Bexley and Croydon.

Sign up via the SE London Chamber website.

Green Business Action London

The latest cohort and webinar programme of Green Business Action London has started but there is still time to sign up.

Sessions held in early October are ‘Measure your carbon footprint’ and ‘Reducing energy consumption’ – both project initiatives identified at the Greener Greenwich Summit 2024.

Webinars to come include: ‘Supply chain engagement’, ‘Eco-design and circularity’, ‘Green finance’, ‘Writing sustainable policies’, ‘Discover your digital footprint’ and ‘Avoiding greenwashing’.

Once you sign up, you’ll be able to access recordings of the sessions, the carbon management tool, oneto-one support and potential funding for projects.

What are you waiting for?

Greenwich Business Awards

By the time you read this article – and you are a business in Greenwich - you will hopefully have also entered the Best of Royal Greenwich Business Awards 2024.

Back for their seventh edition, the awards celebrate the incredible achievements of our brilliant business community over the last year and their important role boosting inclusive economic growth and providing opportunities for local people.

I am proud to be one of the Judges and look forward to reviewing the entries across the 14 categories during the course of November. Of course, I will be particularly interested in the applicants for the Greener Greenwich Award and see who takes the crown of last year’s winner and member of the SELCC Sustainability Group, the Royal Museums Greenwich. You will have your say when the shortlist is announced, and public vote opens on Monday 9 December.

Good luck!

In summary

I’m finishing this summary a few days after ‘Hurricane Milton’ tore through Florida leading to fatalities and over 2 million people without power. According to scientific analysis, the exceptionally warm water of the Gulf of Mexico supercharged the hurricane.

In September, we saw ‘catastrophic’ floods sweep through Central and Easter Europe following Storm Boris, causing significant damage and also deaths. I’m sure you’ll agree, it has been another busy quarter as we roll out the post GGS24 green programme of activities for members across the five boroughs. But we clearly need to do more to make it easier to reduce the impacts of climate change and ensure sustainable growth – and will do – so we can all play our part.

As ever, keep your eyes out on the website, get involved in the events and take advantage of the extensive support to help your sustainable growth. And ‘see’ you again in 2025!