25 minute read
protecting our planet
Saving Energy, Watt’s stopping you?
We all know the impact the pandemic has had on businesses, this has given some businesses the opportunity to look at how they can improve the office or working environment when we are allowed to re-open.
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Switching to LED lighting is a quick and relativity inexpensive way to do this, with large energy gains and saving to be achieved, as switching to low energy LED light can typically save between 60 and 70% when compared to traditional fluorescent tubes and given the long working life of between 15 and 20 years, a huge reduction in maintenance costs. Some of the latest industrial lighting has a working life of 100,000 hours or more than 30 years and are supplied with a 7-10 warranty.
These are numerous other benefits and options to consider as well when looking to upgrade your lighting, I have listed the below the main things to include when installing LED lights.
1, Colour temperature, correct levels of lighting for the office.
2, No Flicker driver, can help improve the overall wellbeing by reducing stress and anxiety, increasing productivity and profitability.
3, Daylight dimming, this reduces the output of the luminaires when natural light levels increase, further enhancing the energy savings.
4, Sensor controls, PIR or microwave installed in toilets, kitchens and corridors, if the lights are off, they are saving you energy and money.
5, Greener and recyclable, produce less carbon and contain no harmful metals.
6, Generate less heat, lowering the temperature of the office and reducing the dependency on the air conditioning.
I have heard that there are some grants available, can I qualify?
You will be advised and guided throughout by LED-UK, who can even submit the application on your behalf (you will need to sign the application form!). The grants available in the local area is LoCase, the amount of the grant can be up to 40% of the project cost, (minimum project cost is £2,000 and the maximum is £20,000). The LoCase grants currently cover East and West Sussex, Kent, parts of South Essex, parts of Hampshire, and parts of Surrey. If we are to reach Carbon Neutral, it is businesses that need to make the greatest changes in how they operate and invest in energy saving measures and products. Visit The East Sussex Commercial LED Lighting specialists - LED UK (led-uk.co.uk) for further information.
Stephen Marshall
Director, LED-UK Lighting Ltd
Demand drivers for community wastewater treatment systems
Severn Trent Connect, an Ofwat regulated wastewater company, can provide purpose-built community-scale wastewater systems.
The demand for new decentralised, community-scale wastewater systems is likely to rise over the coming years; a trend already seen in parts of Sussex and the Southeast. This trend is being driven as incumbent water companies aren’t able to keep up with demand for providing new sewerage connections. As a result, statutory sewerage and sewage disposal services are causing significant delays in the delivery of the nation’s new housing and commercial space.
Locally available wastewater treatment capacity is often insufficient to meet the demand from large developments. Where the shortfall in capacity is large enough that a strategic capital scheme is required (sewerage networks and/or sewage treatment assets), the timeline for an incumbent-delivered solution can be five or more years due to the sector’s funding cycle.
Developers are buying land in increasingly remote locations, where the distance to connecting into existing networks can be prohibitively expensive as laying mains sewers can cost more than £1million/km.
Statutory objections from developmentcaused nutrient pollution are increasing the need for local high-performance treatment systems. Some catchments in England are subject to statutory objections to planning consents on the basis that developments will result in additional pollution to the water environment. Avoiding a statutory objection requires developers to engineer “nutrient neutral” developments; a major barrier to achieving neutrality is effectively managing wastewater discharges.
Purpose-built community-scale wastewater systems offer a viable means for reducing the delays associated with wastewater utilities. Building these systems from scratch presents an opportunity to holistically manage a development’s nutrient footprint; helping developers and planning authorities select the optimum solution by balancing nature-based solutions and more conventional treatment systems. While we at ST Connect hope that nature-based solutions will in general be favoured, we’re here to support developers, planners, and local authorities when technical treatment systems are also needed.
William Mackveley, General Manager of Wastewater Solutions & Onsite Treatment Works, Severn Trent Connect
Working towards Sustainability
CoirProducts launched its online shop in early 2020, although the founders of our company have been in the coir industry for over 15 years.
Ella Batcheler
Coir Products, Sales and Marketing Assistant
It was during this time that they spotted an urgent gap in the market. Most coir-based products were being sold in bulk, therefore, those who wanted to buy coir-based products in smaller quantities, such as the everyday gardener, struggled to obtain the products. That’s when CoirProducts stepped in, offering the UK’s most diverse range of biodegradable products to the horticultural and erosion control sectors.
A sustainable waste product of the coconut industry, coir is made from the natural fibres and dust extracted from the husk of the coconut. We are encouraging the use of coir over the use of peat, as the growth and extraction of peat is very harmful to the UK’s environment. Only 13% of the UK’s peatlands are in a near-natural state, and these peatlands are emitting 10 tonnes of CO2 a year. Coir is an ideal alternative, the sourcing and production of our products is far more environmentally friendly, and we are always taking steps to adopting more sustainable practices.
At CoirProducts, we aim to empower communities around us. We support local charities such as Chestnut Tree House, a children’s hospice that supports over 300 children and young adults, by contributing a portion of every purchase towards them. We are also working towards building partnerships and communities online, as a way of raising awareness of the wider benefits of coir. Recently, we have gotten in touch with independent gardeners, and have asked them to share their gardening journey with us and readers of our blog. Working within a competitive industry, as a company we are not merely profit-driven but take pride in helping communities and sharing knowledge.
www.coirproducts.co.uk
20% off Vehicle Signwriting
Van signwriting is the best way of promoting your brand to potential clients while you travel… Eye catching van signs and signwriting inform in a subtle way letting potential local customers know you are there and ready to help.
Your vehicle says who you are, what you do and how to get in contact.
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5% off a fixed-fee Marketing Consultation
For a fixed, one-off fee, you’ll get: 1hr face to face consultation to talk through your business and your goals, a core competitor review, a current marketing review, an annual plan based on seasonality and specific business objectives and a 2hr face to face review of your plan with practical advice on how to run it to achieve success.
Reduced from £699 to £524.
Call Charlotte today on 07789933194 to book.
Email: charlotte@smallmademighty.com
www.smallmademighty.com
Fixed Fee Money Claims
The Jonathan Lea Network would like to offer the members of the Sussex Chambers of Commerce a fixed free price of £500 plus vat for a consultation in a zoom or in person meeting, to include an initial letter of claim (aka letter before action) to be prepared (if so advised) for any recovery of debt claim, subject to an initial review of the merits. We also offer a free no obligation consultation over the telephone or zoom (or in person if you wish to drop into our offices) before you commit so that we can sound out your matter. Many cases settle after an initial letter of claim is sent and the first step can often be the last step.” Email: wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net Tel: 01444 708 640
www.jonathanlea.net
UK technology for a global problem
Climate change is the single biggest challenge of our time and governments around the world have been publishing their economic plans for a post-Covid world, which have at their heart stimulus packages for green initiatives to tackle its impact.
Mark Garrett
Chief Operating Officer, Ceres Power Limited
August saw the long-awaited publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy, an important signal of intent from the Government about its commitment to the energy transition and to maximise the UK’s hydrogen opportunity. Without it the UK risks being overtaken by countries with much more ambitious plans for decarbonisation and deployment of hydrogen technologies.
For example, Korea's goal is to power 10% of the country's cities with hydrogen by 2030. It has already installed over 300MW of fuel cells for power, including the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell power plant, installed by Doosan. The country’s £46 billion green stimulus package features 15GW of fuel cell power by 2040. That is the equivalent of nearly five Hinckley Points.
Ceres aims to play a central role in the global energy transition to affordable clean power. Our purpose is to deliver clean energy for a clean world through embedding our unique fuel cell and electrochemical technology in the systems and products of some of the largest companies in the world. Bosch and Doosan are among our global partners. It is technology that spun out of research conducted at Imperial College London and it remains at the leading edge of clean power generation and the revolution in green hydrogen. We like to think of it as UK technology for a global problem.
At Ceres, we have created over 400 highly-skilled jobs in the UK, through exporting our technology to partners in Germany, Korea, China and Japan. We are proud to be a UK high-growth technology success story, to be attracting inward investment and to be employing the very best global talent to work with us from our headquarters in Horsham, West Sussex.
Today, we have a diverse and multinational workforce of 33 different nationalities, contributing to research, development, innovation, test, and manufacture. Many people have migrated from the automotive world or more traditional industries, attracted by the opportunity to make a difference, and ensuring we have the best minds and a global cross-section of experiences and cultures.
Building a pipeline of talent that can support the future growth and deployment of clean technology and keep us at the leading edge of research and development, is a constant focus for us. It starts at an early stage and Ceres is engaged with STEM Learning UK – an organisation working in 100% of UK secondary schools with a vision to achieve world-leading STEM education for all. It is a unique collaboration between Government, charities, and employers. We also continue to expand our graduate and intern programmes as well as recruiting across all levels of our business. In the first six months of 2021, we recruited another 120 employees including numerous scientists and engineers. We also strengthened our industry–academia research collaboration, announcing Professor Stephen Skinner as the Ceres Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Electrochemical Devices for a Zero Carbon Economy. The five-year position will focus on developing solid oxide cells that convert fuel to electricity and in reverse operation can produce clean hydrogen. It is intended that Professor Skinner, from Imperial College London, will establish a world-leading research group in the field of materials engineering.
With the UK’s strengths in electrochemistry, advanced manufacturing and early development, its fuel cell and electrolysis ecosystem holds a distinct advantage, but it needs the right support now to build the entire value chain, from skills, R&D, innovation, commercialisation through to investment if it is to capture a substantial share of the global market for the technology.
We are confident in the opportunity for hydrogen, and will watch with interest to see how the UK Hydrogen Strategy translates into actions that support UK low carbon innovators to capitalise on the opportunity to tackle climate change, both at home and abroad.
To find out more about Ceres or to view current job vacancies visit https://www.
ceres.tech/.
Successful IT change is about mindset, says Roger Bateman
Roger Bateman of Horsham based Vazon Technology, says that delivering IT change need not be the challenge that everyone thinks it is.
Having worked with many organisations in delivering change projects, he says that there are common needs in projects of all sizes and complexity, but in Roger’s experience, the two most important elements are a company’s readiness to change and the need for high-quality communications.
Readiness for change:
By this I mean that the ‘As-Is’ state which requires the change is understood by the Management Team and that they have a vision of how to change it for the better, says Roger. This team should also have a sense of the risks and impacts that any change project will have on day-to-day operations, during implementation. Here, the support of a project sponsor can assist in contextualising the change benefits, something that top management will welcome.
This understanding or state needs to be underpinned by a company’s willingness to bear the associated risk of the change too. Risks and risk appetite can vary within the organisation’s functions – something to consider, says Roger. These risks should inform project planning and project controls. It is also important to define what success looks and feels like to the organisation too – but be pragmatic; don’t over-promise, says Roger.
High Quality Communications:
Communication is often cited as the most important facet of any change, and Roger would agree. A practical communications framework can really help, even for the smaller projects or those impacting specific groups. Using established communications channels can help as staff will be familiar with them. In bigger projects, separate methods and channels can be used to complement existing ones. However, even the best project communications need to be bound to a common view of the ‘need’ which system users can identify with, otherwise communications might not land. Change perception plays an important role too, so getting this element right is key: Your communications plan will need to fit your organisation’s needs on several levels. This will help engagement with the project and with your new operating state, at Go-Live.
With the foregoing elements duly considered, the change project will have a greater chance of delivering a successful outcome.
Roger specialises in Business & IT Change implementations and is independent. He offers a range of services that will turn your objectives in to reality. This includes…
Business Systems Reviews and Strategic IT Reviews IT Road Maps, Strategy and Planning
Project & Programme Management
If you would like to discuss a business change project, please contact Roger on
Roger Bateman
Founder Vazon Technology
03300 580282 roger.bateman@vazontech.co.uk www.vazontech.co.uk
Climate Challenge
Climate change presents the largest single challenge for businesses and societies across the planet. Failure to act, and to act swiftly, effectively and decisively, is simply not an option.
Ana Christie
CEO, Sussex Chamber
The science is clear, the next decade is critical for action on climate change. It's more important than ever for governments and businesses to lock-in carbon reduction targets. The planet can’t wait.
For the British Chambers of Commerce, we are using our Chamber network of 53 Accredited Chambers in the UK and more than 70 affiliated bodies across the globe to advocate for the kinds of structures and incentives our members need, and to support our members to both play their part and thrive as they do so.
As a global Chamber network, we are united in the importance we give to working to meet the Climate Challenge. We and our members are entirely committed to playing our part in helping the UK meet its targets, both through delivery and policymaking.
As we work towards meeting the climate challenge as a society, we have three core policy principles.
First, this is a revolution that will be delivered through deep and substantial change in which we must all play our part. But it must be a change done in partnership, not forced upon businesses and consumers.
Second, successful change of any type needs to take account of the specific conditions in each sector and every place. Whilst the scale of the challenge is global, the right answers will only be found in local detail. As we look towards the changes we must make, we must be aware of the extremely difficult conditions our businesses face in every part of the UK as they come to terms with the results of the pandemic and the UK’s exit from the EU.
Third, the Climate Challenge will, if handled properly, give UK businesses a strong competitive advantage for the rest of the 21st Century. The journey will be a difficult one, but if we think about this in the right way, then in future, UK businesses will be in the best possible place to compete in an increasingly carbon neutral world.
Drawing on these principles, our policy thinking in this space is evolving all the time, and we will keep our website updated as we actively develop policies. The hub is one part of how we are both working to help make that change a reality in a way which helps business to thrive. It provides a mix of information, guides, resources, and tools to help all types of businesses in meeting their net zero targets.
Our work essentially falls into 3 areas:
Government Interventions
Infrastructure
Business Support
Together we can help the UK to become not just the first major economy to set a net zero target, but also the first major economy to achieve it, and sow the seeds of a more prosperous and modern economy for generations to come.
https://www.sussexchamberofcommerce. co.uk/GreenSustainability
To net zero and beyond
Ricardo is a world-class environmental, engineering, and strategic consulting company.
Teri Hawksworth
Managing Director, Ricardo Automotive and Industrial EMEA Division
With over 100 years of engineering excellence, the company provides its customers in global sectors of: automotive, rail and mass transit, aerospace, marine and defence; energy and environment with technical expertise to deliver innovative cross-sector sustainable solutions to help create a cleaner and safer tomorrow.
Ricardo’s vision is to create a world fit for the future, and this is made possible by supporting clients with technologically advanced solutions that ensure access to clean air and water; cross-sector engineering solutions to accelerate decarbonised transportation; innovation to support global net zero and industry agendas; and comprehensive expertise in safety, assurance, and certification.
Being a sustainable company in practice isn’t about just one or two things - it is at the heart of everything that Ricardo does and the solutions the company delivers. As an international company, Ricardo is part of a larger effort that is guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and so is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions in its operations by 2030.
Ricardo uses a whole lifecycle carbon neutral approach to minimise environmental impact and deliver transformative, environmentally sustainable technology innovation. The company’s solutions are helping to decarbonise global transport and energy, while moving goods and people safely, sustainably, and efficiently.
Offering sustainable solutions which address environmental challenges including climate change, scare natural resources, air quality and the circular economy from policy to product development and manufacturing.
Ricardo is at the forefront of developing the low-carbon solutions of tomorrow. From working on innovative energynetwork solutions, through helping to develop electrification policy, to the design of engineering solutions for a range of applications. Ricardo also offers an extensive range of skills across the hydrogen value chain. Ricardo is involved in policy development and infrastructure feasibility assessments right through to implementation and integration of hydrogen-based technologies for global transport applications. Ricardo is supporting the world’s first hydrogen train, is providing hydrogen fuel cell retrofitting expertise to bus fleets, as part of the UK’s first hydrogen transport hub and is also part of the consortium which is working to deliver the world’s first truly green passenger carrying airline services using hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Crucially, Ricardo also leverages digital technologies to improve customer experience, operational excellence and deliver new digital offerings that support transformation not only for customers but also for how Ricardo works.
One way which brings electrification, hydrogen and digitalisation together is in Ricardo’s global centre of excellence for electrified transport engineering at its global headquarters in Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex. Designed to support the Ricardo’s existing work in powertrain optimisation and electrification, the new state-ofthe-art Electrified Propulsion Research Centre, opened in February 2021, and cost £5.5m - including a grant of £1.5m from Coast2Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. Enabling the research and development of the next generation of electrified vehicles from component level subsystems to fully integrated powertrains, it has significantly increased the range of services and solutions in electric vehicle development available to Ricardo’s global customers.
The Electrified Propulsion Research Centre is underpinned by digital engineering and simulation technology, including digital twins to accelerate product development times. The facility is integrated seamlessly with the Ricardo’s digital analysis, simulation, and calibration accelerators so that vehicles can be developed holistically using fully optimised technology solutions. This will further enhance the company’s established digital engineering expertise, allowing the provision of ‘greener’ customer solutions which are less energy- and resource-intensive; and reduce cost and time to market to provide competitive advantage.
Ricardo’s Electrified Propulsion Research Centre in conjunction with its investment in the building of a hydrogen test and development centre will create a clean energy transport centre of excellence which will be unique in the UK. It will provide customers with access to a powerful flexible package of decarbonised and electrified transport engineering test and development services and will accelerate Ricardo’s position as a leader in this field.
www.ricardo.com
Why some CEOs go further and higher As a business leader, you know that the hardest climb isn’t Kilimanjaro, Denali or Everest. It’s the CEO’s leadership journey, and it’s fraught with all kinds of challenges and opportunities, setbacks and advances. The good news is you don’t have to go it alone. You can travel with an experienced guide who knows the lay of the land and an elite team of peers who’ve got your back. You can equip yourself with world-class resources to navigate changing environments and uncertain conditions. You can take an approach forged over 60 years and traveled by 100,000+ CEOs of small to medium sized businesses around the world. With that kind of support, how high could you ascend?
If you’re ready for the climb of a lifetime, the path starts here. Learn more at vistage.co.uk Or contact Paul Hetherington on 07881 627072
Executive coaching illuminates the way ahead
Hailing from a wide and varied background in professional development, executive coach Ian Mercer has been running his own consultancy for a decade now.
During that time, Merceric Ltd has nurtured the prospects and ambitions of business leaders at all stages of their career paths, whether that be at the start of their management journey or when faced with new challenges.
Ian’s clients have included managers keen to strengthen the decision-making skills of their own senior teams, supervisors assuming new responsibilities and high-ranking executives taking the lead through major restructuring.
There is a difference between business and executive coaching. “Both have their role,” he said. “The latter, my particular discipline, reflects the structures and dynamics of an organisation - it is very much grounded in an awareness and knowledge of how organisations work. “I have a Masters in organisational development, majoring in the sociology and psychology of people in the work environment, and that is my starting point.
“I don’t tell people how to run their business or do their job, rather I help them to help themselves. I walk alongside them, challenging them and supporting them, on the path to gaining new, fresh perspectives.”
Based in Sussex, Ian has wide-ranging experience working with SMEs in the engineering, education, healthcare, financial services and charity sectors.
Accredited by the Association for Coaching, he said: “Executive coaching is a powerful, personalised development tool that complements so many of the activities that SMEs undertake.
“That includes organisational restructuring, programmes of team building and change, senior management and board development - in fact, just about any challenge that involves people and process.”
Merceric Ltd is currently offering potential new clients a free 45-minute executive coaching taster session.
Ian Mercer
Executive coach, Merceric Ltd
Website: www.merceric.co.uk Phone: +44 7505 19 33 11 E-mail: info@merceric.co.uk
Southern Water and the Environment
There is no denying that Southern Water has gone through a tough time as we faced up to our legacy issues in court this summer and apologised for our past failings.
Dr Toby Willison
Director of Environment & Corporate Affairs- Southern Water
We’re now working harder than ever to move on and rebuild the trust placed in us by our water and wastewater customers and the wider communities we serve. Simply put, the way we operate has fundamentally changed and we’re committed to action that preserves and improves the environment.
The first thing to note when discussing the water industry is the sheer scale of the sector. We treat 750 million litres of wastewater a day in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent and Sussex, at over 367 treatment works, with 2,375 pumping stations and a network of almost 40,000km of sewer pipes.
Ensuring we meet customers’ expectations on environmental preservation is a huge and important challenge.
Protecting the environment is at the heart of everything we do – we need resilient habitats retaining high quality water we can use to make drinking water. This makes our commitment to reduce pollution incidents by 75% by 2025, an essential endeavor.
Our Pollution Incident Reduction Plan (PIRP) is helping us achieve this commitment and we will shortly be publishing our first annual review. We are proud to be one of the first water companies to publish a PIRP and are committed to continuing work to improve our environmental performance.
We plan to invest around £800m in our environmental programme by 2025 as part of our over £2b investment to improve the capacity and efficiency of our wastewater and water network and reduce pollutions.
It’s important for people to understand the difference between pollution incidents such as broken sewer pipes and storm releases, which are part of how the system is designed to operate.
Storm releases, which go miles out to sea are more than 99 per cent rainwater, and happen because our Victorian-designed system combines surface water drains and sewers. In prolonged or intense rainfall this is first stored in tanks but when these fill, the content is screened and released to prevent flooding to homes, schools, and businesses – an activity heavily regulated by the Environment Agency.
The issue of these storm overflows, (CSOs) is now subject of a wider public debate, which we welcome. It’s a priority focus, and we want to go as far and as fast as we can to reduce their use, because we know that’s what our customers expect. However, we must face up to the scale of the challenge and be realistic.
In all our environmental work and future planning, we must face the dual threat of a growing population and the challenge of climate change, in a region that is already one of the most water-stressed in Europe.
This has been at the front of our thinking and planning which is why we have a Net Zero Plan, accelerating investment in projects that will increase carbon storage and improve biodiversity in partnership with bodies like the Wildlife Trusts and Rivers Trusts. I’ve already noted the scale of the water industry and its impact on the UK’s climate ambitions is no less important, with the industry accounting for 1% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions – we are under no illusion of the importance of our actions in ensuring the UK meets its climate commitments.
Nature-based solutions and carbon reduction efforts are only part of the story, we must also work to ensure that every drop of water is being used efficiently. I am proud that we are a leader in the sector for our Target 100 water demand reduction programme. Supporting and incentivising customers to reduce their personal daily water use to 100 litres by 2040 will build on our own work to reduce leaks – a collective effort will contribute towards the resilient water future we must build for our region.
To succeed – whether it is climate change mitigation or protecting the health of our rivers and seas – a collective approach is crucial. We must work together across the sector and other industries to tackle the issue of pollution and ensure we are all protecting the environment. We must also work with Government and our regulators to ensure we are properly held to account for our actions and recognised for our progress to tackle these challenges.
The environment and our role in protecting and enhancing it, is central to every decision we make.
