IMPACT Issue 9

IMPACT

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

Centre for Enterprise

Sustainability Edition

Autumn 2016

Sustainable Case Studies • • • • •

Robinsons Brewery Actikem Ltd Kaya Responsible Travel BikeRight!

Bluebell Fitted Furniture

Eco-Innovation - An Infographic Stop Procrastinating!

Seize the Opportunity in Energy Efficiency Getting SMEs on Board with Sustainability Seize the Opportunity in Energy Efficiency Developing Business Ideas Through Enterpreneurship Promoting Entrepreneurship in the EU

PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

CONTENTS 2

Introduction

by Professor Susan Baines, Researcher at the Centre for Enterprise

3

Robinsons’ Brewery - The Greener Retailing Project How going green could save pubs thousands a year, Dr. Tamara McNeill

4

Greener Retailing Case Study: The Swan Inn A focus on food waste at the Swan Inn, Dr. Tamara McNeill

5

Case Study: Actikem Ltd - Bespoke Chemical Service With contributions from Andrew Mooney, MD and Trevor Gleave, OD

6

Electricity and Hydrogen Projects for the future economy, Amer Gaffar, Manchester Met

7

Opening up New Conversations about Water Stewardship Gadrun Cartwright, BITC talks business collaborations to manage water

9

Awarding Sustainability Excellence at Manchester Met Nina Bartlett, EAUC on rewarding universities for their efforts

10

Eco-Innovation - An Infographic A visual explanation of research on environmental damage

11

Case Study: Kaya Responsible Travel Heilwig Jones, CEO discusses the challenge of truly sustainable travel

13

Stop Procrastinating! Seize the Opportunity in Energy Effeciency Laura Timlin explains the Green Business Fund support for SMEs

14

Case Study: BikeRight!

Liz Clarke, CEO on BikeRight!’s journey to reforming cycling in Manchester

15

Investing in Sustainability Dr. John Hindley, explains MMU’s strategic approach to environmental practices

17

European Drivers for Zero Waste Industry and Higher Education collaborate to drive recycling

18

Barriers to Sustainability Dr. Brander-Brown & Dr. Vezjagic dispell the common myths

19

Getting SMEs on Board with Sustainability Mike Blackburn, GM LEP Chair & Samantha Nicholson, Business Growth Hub outline how support can help SMEs lead a low carbon economy

20

Case Study: Bluebell Fitted Furniture Mike Reuben, CEO and the ‘no-brainer’ decision to becoming sustainable

21

Manchester Metropolitan University Apprenticeships Manchester Met welcomes generous new government funding for businesses to employ apprentices

22

Developing Business Ideas Through Entrepreneurship Promoting entrepreneurship in the EU, Russell Yates, Enterprise Fellow

23

Centre for Enterprise and the Rural Indian Project Collaboration Supporting collaborative projects overseas, Dr. Tamara McNeill and Prof. Sue Baines

25

Centre for Enterprise’s ERDF-funded Growth & Innovation Programmes

25

Event: Non-Executive Directors: Benefits to You and Your Organisation

26

The World Duty-Free Project Understanding low-carbon and low-waste business models, Graeme Heyes

Centre Centrefor forEnterprise Enterprise

IMPACT: IMPACT:Sustainability Sustainability

WELCOME In this issue of IMPACT we look at environmental sustainability. Sustainability is sometimes seen as difficult and costly but there is now overwhelming evidence that it can be good for business. We hear from business owners who share their experiences of ways in which energy efficiency and waste reduction make excellent business sense.

Research at the university involves partnerships with businesses to develop innovative solutions to real world challenges such as waste management.

Manchester Metropolitan University is committed to putting environmental sustainability at the heart of its own business. Teaching programmes aim to ensure that graduates have the skills and expertise for sustainable futures.

It has been a pleasure to guest edit this issue of IMPACT. I hope you enjoy reading it and find some inspiring ideas about how environmental and economic benefits can go hand in hand.

You can read about some great examples of business university collaboration as well how the university rewards sustainability excellence.

Professor Susan Baines

Head of Research, Centre for Enterprise

2

Centre for Enterprise

T

he Centre for Enterprise and the Department for Food and Tourism Management at Manchester Met teamed up with the Stockport based brewing and pub company to identify ways in which pubs, restaurants and bars can become greener and more profitable.

Professor Susan Baines and Dr Tamara McNeill worked closely with Robinsons staff, and a number of pubs to trial various green money saving strategies. The lessons learned have been captured within the ‘Greener Retailing Publicans Guide’, which is available free to download.

IMPACT: Sustainability

and restauranteurs sharing best practice from inside the sector.”

After taking part in the project Mark Gibson, tenant at the Bleeding Wolf and Wilbraham Arms near Stoke-onTrent, said: “Generally just being involved made us think more, it opens your eyes to how much can be wasted.”

Robinsons have also launched the Greener Retailing award for their pubs, as a badge of recognition for those that have made considerable efforts to reduce their waste.

UNIVERSITY AND BREWERY SHARE GREEN MONEY SAVING SUCCESS IN FREE GUIDE A guide to greener pubs and restaurants that could help the hospitality sector save hundreds of thousands of pounds per year, has been published by Manchester Met and Robinson’s Brewery.

The handbook includes information on reducing waste food and drink, energy and water efficiency and dealing with trade waste, for example by generating an income from waste cardboard and cooking oil. The final section is on changing staff behaviour, which is often a large part of the challenge.

Dr McNeill explained: “The handbook provides useful advice to help all managers in the hospitality sector to realise savings by going green. This is just the beginning. What we aim to do is start the conversation, and facilitate a community of publicans

The first pubs have been awarded their badges, so look out for the green lightbulb in the windows.

For more information about the project, visit:

bit.ly/GreenerRetailing

Business Efficiences

Smarter & Greener

Greener Actions

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 3

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

A FOCUS ON FOOD WASTE AT THE SWAN INN, WYBUNBURY

I

an Booth has been separating and measuring food waste at the Swan Inn, Wybunbury and trialling the food waste calculator.

“The waste sheet is great. We put the sheet on the wall in the kitchen and then it gets filled in. Anything that just requires the numbers to be typed in and then gives you the figures and generates the numbers is perfect.”

While a waste book is traditionally used to record kitchen waste this is time consuming and some waste may be missed.

As Ian says, “What you are really asking someone to do is to write down all their mistakes. What we are doing here – by simply weighing the waste and using a simple cost per

kilo – is tackling the same issue but in a much less threatening and more subtle way. People react to it better.

At the start of this process I thought well ok I’m actually pretty good on waste. But once you start looking and actually going in the bins you start thinking and there has been a shift in what we do in the kitchen”.

Ian’s team are now much more waste aware and have made practical changes including a new menu with more soups and stocks using veg trimmings. The chef is also prepping veg to create less waste and makes the plate attractive using the food itself rather than putting on a garnish.

“We use Chantenay carrots which just need a quick scrub and add a bold splash of colour”.

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 4

The impact? As part of a wholesale redesign of the pub’s food business, this focus on waste has helped gross profit on food increase from 63% to 76% - a real cash benefit as well as an environmental one.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

ACTIKEM LTD CASE STUDY With Contributions from Andrew Mooney, Managing Director and Trevor Gleave, Operations Director

A

ctikem Ltd are a chemical manufacturing company based in Warrington, Cheshire. They specialise in providing customers with bespoke chemical services, working in partnership with some of the leading chemical distribution and manufacturing companies.

Becoming a sustainable company has been a gradual and persistent process for Actikem Ltd. ‘We all know the benefits of sustainability, but can often be put off with the financial and time demands in adopting sustainable practices’ comments Andrew Mooney, M.D. ‘Also knowing where to start, and taking that first small step can be tough. Keeping it small and simple is often the best way forward’ explains Andrew.

When Actikem Ltd re-located their business from Stoke-on-Trent to new premises in Warrington in 2014, it provided them with the perfect opportunity to introduce sustainable practices.

“We fitted a time-lag switch in our staff kitchen, as the light was often left on. This small change has already saved us considerably on our lighting costs” explains Trevor Gleave, Operations Director.

“To make further savings, this year we had thermostats fitted to our

radiators, and insulation fitted on the second floor. The additional costs and minor disruption were a small price to pay for the long-term gains” Other sustainable practices at Actikem Ltd that have been taking place for years, have now become embedded in their culture. ‘We have been reusing cardboard boxes as a means of sending samples to our customers for years now. It’s second nature to us. We also recycle our Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs), and have been recycling our ink cartridges for a long time now.’

In order to embrace sustainability, it is imperative to engage employees.

Having recently completed the Cheshire & Warrington Business Growth Programme at the Centre for Enterprise, Actikem have benefited from the variation in coaching sessions, understanding how to recruit to retain, saving on recruitment and training costs.

sell, manufacture and provide more products and services using fewer resources. Andrew continues ‘We care about our employees, customers and communities and it really is quite surprising just how simple it can be to become a more sustainable business, by taking that initial small step.’

“This year we took the first steps in becoming a paperless office. We employed three young graduates who were dismayed by the amount of documents we were producing.

We now only print a fraction of the documents. Despite there being some initial reluctance by some office staff, everyone is now on board with the paperless system, and wonder how they ever coped before!”

‘Last year we invested in Lean Six Sigma training for all of our employees, which is a methodology that relies on a collaborative team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste’ says Andrew. Lean Six Sigma improves competitive advantage by enabling Actikem Ltd to do more with less –

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 5

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

ELECTRICITY AND HYDROGEN Projects for the Future Economy by Amer Gaffar, Manchester Met

T

he UK is facing millions of pounds of fines from the European Commission for failing to cut levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and in the eyes of many, electrification of transport is the only credible solution. Manchester Met, along with partners, hosted the Science of Electrification in Transport event on the 25th & 26th July.

The aim of the event was to highlight and demonstrate the role of electrification in transport. With displays and demonstrations of both electric and fuel cell electric vehicles, the route road transport is taking for decarbonising Europe’s roads was central to the event. A shift to electrification of transport is a bold and appealing vision for transport in the energy union, moving

away from polluting, imported oil to clean ultra-low emission transport whilst in the process, stimulating jobs, innovation, growth and sustainable mobility choices. Much research is carried out on the technologies available and the event was designed to provide an insight into current and future trends in this area.

into current and future trends in this area.

A shift to electrification of transport is a bold and appealing vision for transport in the energy union, moving away from polluting, imported oil to clean ultra-low emission transport whilst in the process, stimulating jobs, innovation, growth and sustainable mobility choices.

Manchester Met is also leading a number of projects to enable SME’s in Greater Manchester to benefit from an emerging hydrogen economy.

These projects will remove barriers in the north west that stop Hydrogen Fuel Cell technologies coming to market by boosting the innovation potential for SMEs, and the region as a whole by supporting SMEs in product, supply chain, network and educational development.

Much research is carried out on the technologies available and the event was designed to provide an insight

The Themes covered included Electric Vehicles, Infrastructure, Fuel Cells, Batteries, Sustainability, Science, Economic impact, Opportunities for Business and the Role of the future workforce.

Manchester Met currently has three projects focused on developing this emerging economy:

H2SME

The Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre

Hydrogen Education Initiative

A transnational project that will work with partners in UK, France, Germany and Belgium. The EU currently lags behind other regions of the world, in the production, usage and export of fuel cells. The gap between policy aspirations for these technologies and actual market development in the EU needs addressing to provide an effective ecosystem for the industry to thrive.

A strategic project based within the Faculty of Science & Engineering, but also a collaboration between the faculty and MMU’s Centre for Enterprise. The MCFIC will advance hydrogen fuel cell research, development, and commercialisation and to promote business opportunities in Greater Manchester.

Another transnational project, HEI works with partners across nine EU countries to develop a standard for the way education should be delivered to schools, universities for the next generation of workforce in the emerging hydrogen economy.

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 6

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

OPENING UP NEW CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WATER STEWARDSHIP IN FOOD Gudrun Cartwright, Environment Director at Business in the Community talks about the importance of encouraging businesses to collaborate to manage water sustainably and protect the environment

O

ur national freshwater resources, and the biodiversity they contain, face a number of threats and a stable supply of good quality freshwater can no longer be guaranteed in many parts of the UK. All businesses have a role to play in looking after precious water resources, and the food and drink sector is key to this.

and to understand the risks from diffuse pollution associated with agricultural activities in their supply chains, and the opportunities to work with farmers and other stakeholders at a catchment level to help protect water in the environment.

In addition, we aim to show how environmental and economic benefits can go hand in hand. The business benefits from taking action include reducing water costs, enhanced risk management by ensuring resilience to flooding and water scarcity and protecting reputation.

To date, food and drink companies have largely focused on reducing water risks through improving efficiency.

Working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Business in the Community (BITC) is opening up new conversations with these businesses. We are encouraging them to look beyond their direct operations

Through our work, we have uncovered some great examples of collaboration.

â—Ś Knowledge â—Ś Enterpr 7

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

Improving bathing water quality in Allonby Bay West Cumbria Rivers Trust is delivering a pilot scheme in the Ellen Catchment for United Utilities’ Catchment Wise Programme in partnership with the Environment Agency and Natural England. The project brings together farmers, landowners, local communities and others to reduce phosphorus and bacteriological inputs to streams to improve bathing water quality in Allonby Bay. It is providing advice and looking at a range of activities including grazing regimes, livestock housing, and fencing and planting.

Promoting sustainable (SuDs) in schools

drainage

BITC, working with Costain, Marshalls, Arup, MWH and United Utilities, ran a pilot project in early 2016 to see if schools in the Greater Manchester area would implement sustainable drainage systems with the incentive generating significant savings on their water bills.

Collaborative approach to tackling water quality challenges and flood risk in Cumbria In the North West, Nestlé have come together with First Milk and The Rivers Trust to explore the opportunity to address key water challenges through the milk supply chain. Working with five dairy farmers supplying the Nestlé factory at Dalston near Carlisle, the team is testing the feasibility of achieving environmental improvements through alternative milk pricing structures.

This offers a fantastic opportunity for an industry-lead approach to solving societal challenges around

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 8

water quality and flood risk on dairy holdings.

Given the scale of the challenges and the nature of shared water risks, this kind of collaborative action is critical and we would like to see more of it. Over the coming year, we will be bringing more businesses together with farmers and other stakeholders to implement a number of practical collaborative projects in the North West and elsewhere to tackle key water and environmental challenges.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: IMPACT:Sustainability Sustainability

AWARDING SUSTAINABILITY EXCELLENCE AT MANCHESTER MET Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC)

E

stablished in 2004, the Green Gown Awards celebrate, share and promote the outstanding sustainability leadership, management and best practice initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland. With sustainability moving up the agenda, the Awards are synonymous with the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the tertiary education sector.

All Award categories are open to any tertiary education establishment – including all post-16 educational institutions such as colleges, universities and learning and skills institutions.

Specific categories are also aimed at encouraging applications from companies working with institutions.

Stage one entries for the 2016 Awards are now closed and finalists were shortlisted on the 4th July ahead of a prestigious awards dinner, which will be held in November. In the meantime, all of the resources from previous Awards entries are available to view on the university’s Sustainability Exchange website.

These include case studies and videos on Manchester Metropolitan University’s winning entries for Met Munch in the 2014 Student Engagement category and Let’s Make a Sustainable Planet – a campus wide commitment to creating a sustainable future.

In the 2015 Green Gown Awards, Manchester Metropolitan University, in partnership with the University of Manchester, was a finalist in the Community Innovation category which was sponsored

by InnuScience. This category recognises initiatives by tertiary education institutions which create significant benefits for local communities, disadvantaged groups and/or society as a whole in either the UK or developing countries.

Zero Waste - ‘Give it, Don’t bin it!’

The campaign encouraged students to donate their unwanted items at the end of the year, promoting a reuse ethos and creating lasting partnerships across Manchester’s community. Manchester is the UK’s most popular student city, with 74,000 student residents.

The impact of their annual migration back home is colossal. The campaign built upon this as an opportunity to engage the masses and, realising the potential reach of the campaign, especially in Manchester, the

Universities and Manchester City Council formed a strong partnership to work collaboratively to deliver the Zero Waste campaign.

As part of the campaign, anything and everything is collected and donated, reused or recycled- including books, clothes, electrical items, food, crockery, furniture, kitchen equipment, duvet and pillows and much more!

The partnership grew exponentially across Manchester to include stakeholders from the private housing sector, local communities and most of the city’s halls of residence providers. From humble beginnings, the campaign has generated 418 tonnes of donated items- raising £412,500 for the British Heart Foundation alone.You can view Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester’s video which gives more information about their winning entries on the Sustainability Exchange website:

www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk Sponsorship opportunities for the 2016 Green Gown Awards, which are administered by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) and are governed by a cross-agency steering group, are now available.

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterprising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 9

ECO-INNOVATION

Main Heading What is an eco-innovation?

Sub-heading with brief introduction

Apite et as et, et volut ped utatiniae Apite et as et, et volut ped utatiniae Apite et as et, et volut ped utatiniae rae occus re vent reptate aut eatem rae occus re vent reptate aut eatem rae occus re vent reptate aut eatem quam et eat idunditae abo. Nimpore quam et eat idunditae abo. Nimpore quam et eat idunditae abo. Nimpore rest aut pliciis cietur? rest aut helps pliciis cietur? rest aut pliciis cietur?

That the environment; from the reduction of raw Imilitatem hit laboreperum quis Imilitatem hit laboreperum quis Imilitatem hit laboreperum quis materials being used to decreasing harmful substances et que volorpo sapicient ea corum et que volorpo sapicient ea corum et que volorpo sapicient ea corum being produced. inciatiae sinvent, tem arcia quist, inciatiae sinvent, tem arcia quist, inciatiae sinvent, tem arcia quist, int, illecabores iduci de diti omniend int, illecabores iduci de diti omniend int, illecabores iduci de diti omniend iciminusda consedi dolut eris que iciminusda consedi dolut eris que iciminusda consedi dolut eris que eate nobitam faccus venis accae. eate nobitam faccus venis accae. eate nobitam faccus venis accae.

Et apicipi tibusdae quiducienes Et apicipi tibusdae quiducienes Et apicipi tibusdae quiducienes doloreh aut as doloreh endipsam volestiaewith aut as Theendipsam Centre volestiae for Enterprise conducted interviews a doloreh endipsam volestiae aut as voluptaesci audae ipientur, sequid voluptaesci audae ipientur, sequid voluptaesci audae ipientur, sequid number ruralquifirms.

They stated thatinvelest damage to the mollicia volum, invelest qui restibus mollicia volum, of invelest restibus mollicia volum, qui restibus environment harder to ignore in the magnis mi, corum que are que much magnatem magnis mi, corum quecountryside. que magnatem magnis mi, corum que que magnatem que voluptas ariorum enditat que voluptas ariorum enditat que voluptas ariorum enditat usdaerendae et estibus et ut volupta usdaerendae et estibus et ut volupta usdaerendae et estibus et ut volupta nonem volupta quia ni nonectecabor nonem volupta quia ni nonectecabor nonem volupta quia ni nonectecabor sernate verum rectur, voluptate sernate verum rectur, voluptate sernate verum rectur, voluptate sequia plici autempe rernatiur, qui sequia plici autempe rernatiur, qui sequia plici autempe rernatiur, qui omniasp ernam, temporum abore omniasp ernam, temporum abore omniasp ernam, temporum abore Stream pollution, which can have simet a direct effect on many simet aut lam ut ipsum at. simet aut lam ut ipsum at. aut lam ut ipsum at.

Product | Service | Concept

Our Research

Different types of damage noted by interviewees include animals and fish, to a noticeable reduction in birdsong.

Si bla suntotatis nos as accusdae di Si bla suntotatis nos as accusdae di Si bla suntotatis nos as accusdae di rero tem faccusae re, sit qui officia rero tem faccusae re, sit qui officia rero tem faccusae re, sit qui officia idebisquas volluptae dendae poriten idebisquas volluptae dendae poriten idebisquas volluptae dendae poriten daerrum reprorit venditate consequi daerrum reprorit venditate consequi daerrum reprorit venditate consequi ut acessim oluptat istium, ut qui dit, ut acessim oluptat istium, ut qui dit, ut acessim oluptat istium, ut qui dit, Benefits includes a reduced energy consumption and ea sed quia dollesequi doluptinctus ea sed quia dollesequi doluptinctus ea sed quia dollesequi doluptinctus est esciet escide doluptasitwhich ime natur estturn escietlead escide natur est esciet escide doluptasit ime natur carbon outputs, can in todoluptasit reducedime landfill arumcharges. ut res doluptatibus ipitemq arum ut res doluptatibus ipitemq It can also change the public perception of your arum ut res doluptatibus ipitemq uatiusae maio.Ris ad que perovid uatiusae maio.Ris ad que perovid uatiusae maio.Ris ad que perovid brand - you are seen as an ethical company. molum reris id magnihi lluptateni molum reris id magnihi lluptateni molum reris id magnihi lluptateni dolut mo magnihici vendae exped mi, dolut mo magnihici vendae exped mi, dolut mo magnihici vendae exped mi, occaectat miligendis mo ipsaped que occaectat miligendis mo ipsaped que occaectat miligendis mo ipsaped que sequoditis accatet quos acest alignim sequoditis accatet quos acest alignim sequoditis accatet quos acest alignim Sustainable can begin by sourcing locally poreic tempore, et modigni hillatur? poreic tempore, etcompanies modigni hillatur? poreic tempore, et modigni hillatur?

Eheniet es arciae aliqui asinus Eheniet es arciae aliqui asinus Eheniet es arciae aliqui asinus produced materials, using recycled packaging, collectively

Benefits of being sustainable

What you can do

dealing with waste products and ensuring electrical items are switched off when not in use.

Get in touch If you would like to find out more about this research, contact the Centre for Enterprise on 0161 247 3871 or email cfe@mmu.ac.uk 10

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

KAYA RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL with Heilwig Jones, Founder & CEO of Kaya, and graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10KSB Programme

I

n 2004, I took a break from my advertising career to travel, and became involved in the aid operation following the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. At the time, I did not have any particular skills, but I came to realise that some of the skills I did have, like project management and organisation, could be incredibly useful in that situation. I came back with my eyes opened, and I wanted to bring that to other people. I started Kaya with the view to promoting volunteering abroad within the UK and Europe. Since then we have grown a lot bigger, with offices in Manchester, the US, the Philippines and Ecuador.

Kaya Responsible Travel offers voluntary and internship placements on over 150 sustainable community development and environmental initiatives in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

27 Different Locations

done online via skype and email.

Externally, we are different, because we make ethical sustainability within the communities that we work with a priority.

Making the Business Sustainable Kaya is a sustainable business both internally and externally. Everyone involved is passionate about environmental and development issues, so there is a natural inclination to address those issues. We call our brochure the bible, because it is as thick as one!

However, we make sure that we do not print it, only offering PDF. In addition, we do not have any car parking facilities because everyone walks, cycles or uses public transport. We have a lot of contact with the people on location in the project, but we keep travel to a minimum. Most of our communication is

Therefore, we can confidently say to people that when they volunteer with Kaya they are not just doing a good deed, but supporting all of the wider ideals of sustainability.

All of the projects we support are locally led, and not reliant on the volunteers. We also have staff in place to look after volunteers and to give them a full cultural orientation.

â—Ś Knowledge â—Ś Enterpr 11

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

Shortlisted: Innovation in Sustainability!

We work with NGOs, charities, community projects, schools and hospitals in 27 different locations across Asia, Africa and Latin America. We identify already existing projects that are doing great work, and could use some extra assistance from skilled or unskilled volunteers. Then we look to match people’s skills and interest with the projects, and provide a full support system while they are in the country.

150

3

Sustainable Community Initiatives

This way we ensure that the project leaders can concentrate on their work, and the volunteers feel comfortable and acclimatise quickly.

Challenges Our biggest challenger is helping people to understand the true value of our sustainability. It can be difficult to communicate how valuable all the various sustainability practices are when you are not seeing the immediate impact.

The Future for Kaya Putting ethics and sustainability at

‘Best Volunteering Organisation’ Awards

the heart of what we do is our USP. Unfortunately, there are many negative stories, suggesting that volunteering or taking gap years is the preserve of the rich, and has no real value.

We want to cultivate compassionate, educated, global citizens, and we know that when volunteering is organised sustainably it works well.

Our success has a knock on affect when someone takes those ideals and sustainable practices back to their daily life. We are growing in the areas of skilled volunteering and education.

For example, taking biology students to do an immersive project in the

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 12

rainforest, or a group of nurses to work in a foreign hospital.

We were also shortlisted for the “Go Abroad Innovations” Award in Innovation in Sustainability for our work around medical volunteering, having undertaken a large project to look in detail at the ethical best practices, and how it can fit within the constructs of the NHS.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

STOP PROCRASTINATING!

AND SEIZE THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN ENERGY EFFECIENCY

by Laura Timlin, The Carbon Trust

E

nergy efficiency isn’t a lot of fun.

Most people find it hard to get excited about installing LED lighting, or fitting variable speed drives onto electric motors. We know it is hard for businesses to push it up the todo list when there are dozens of competing priorities: sales to make, customers to meet, and suppliers to chase. It is especially difficult for small and medium-sized companies, where very often no single individual has specific responsibility for energy management.

But energy efficiency does make good business sense. In fact it is very often one of the most cost-effective investments a company can make into reducing unnecessary overheads. In a survey the Carbon Trust conducted earlier this year we found that almost half the SMEs in the North West of England are concerned by the amount they spend on their energy bills. We also found that 45 percent want to do more to improve the energy efficiency of their business.

But despite recognising the issue, and wanting to change, most aren’t taking enough action. Our 15 years of experience working with SMEs shows that many businesses can cut 20-30 % off their energy bills through cost

effective measures with attractive payback periods.

SO WHY ISN’T EVERYONE DOING IT? Our recent research showed that for SMEs the biggest barriers to making improvements is a lack of money to invest in new energy saving equipment. Other significant barriers include a lack of reliable external advice and support, as well as a lack of trusted and reliable suppliers.

To help overcome some of these issues the Carbon Trust launched the Green Business Fund in April this year. The new scheme provides SMEs across England, Scotland and Wales with energy saving training.

This capital contribution from the Green Business Fund is currently available for projects where exceed project costs in no more than five years.

Eligible companies can apply for a capital contribution of up to £10,000* to cover an energy upgrade project. Companies are able to source their energy efficiency equipment through the Carbon Trust’s Green Business Directorywhich provides companies with a list of high quality accredited suppliers.

Eligible companies can apply for a capital contribution of up to £10,000* to cover an energy efficiency upgrade project. Companies are able to source their energy efficiency equipment through the Carbon Trust’s Green Business Directory which provides companies with a list of high quality accredited suppliers.

We know that businesses in the North West are keen to learn more about energy efficiency - we had packed rooms when we recently ran Green Business Fund workshops in Southport in partnership with Sefton Council. But every day that companies procrastinate and delay taking action, they will be racking up energy costs. Energy efficiency may not be a lot of fun, but nor is paying bills. We would urge businesses to take action today and start making those savings as soon as possible.

To find out more about how the Green Business Fund can help your business become more energy effecient, visit:

carbontrust.com/ greenbusinessfund

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 13

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

BIKERIGHT!

Liz Clarke, CEO of Bike Right, on reforming cycling practices Get your staff cycling to work and provide facilities to support them.

Be positive!

Help people break down any barriers.

Background of BikeRight!

I

have always ridden a bike, and when my children were at primary school, I assumed that they would do their cycling proficiency as I did. At the same time, Cycling UK (formally

Complete an audit.

Have a policy and a checklist. that they love, and making a difference to people’s lives. We recycle everything we can, and consider sustainability in our supply chain. We also have a food waste collection in the office. I went on the Goldman Sachs 10KSB course with

“I was shocked that even though my four children were at the biggest primary school in Manchester, they wouldn’t have received any cycle training.

At the time, there were 148 primary schools in Manchester, and the road safety team were performing in only around 20 schools.”

CTC) produced a report showing massive discrepancies in cycle training throughout the country. After this report, Cycling UK called together various organisations and collectively we wrote the National Standard for Cycle Training.

We tendered for our first contract in 2002. Now we deliver to over 3500 children in Manchester. We are the largest provider of cycle training in the UK, with offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and a small office in Newcastle.

Embedding sustainable practices As a cycling business, it was easy to maintain sustainable practices. Our staff cycle to work wherever possible.

They feel lucky to be doing something

MMU, and we scored about 96% on the sustainability module. Businesses without a sustainability focus were scoring about 20%. When you rent a property, you cannot change some things. Nevertheless, we have changed all our lightbulbs to energy savers, and we keep the heating off when possible. You can always do things like that.

Impact of Sustainable Practice We tender for our work, and in most tenders, there are questions about your environmental policies. Because we are an ethical business, we live and breathe sustainability, and this helps us through the process. We have funded two members of staff through a Master’s Degree in Sustainability and each of them conducted a

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 14

Live the values.

Make sure staff are aware of that.

Make it a part of your brand identity. sustainability audit on the business, two years apart.

Challenges Our biggest challenge is our need for vehicles. Although driving vans seems to go against the tenor of the business, if we did not take the bikes, we would miss out many people who could potentially learn to cycle. In the West Midlands, we have trained thousands of women who would not cycle if we did not take the bikes.

The Future for BikeRight!

The future is growth; it has to be in a business. Sometimes I cycle around Manchester and I see so many people cycling, and I am proud to think of the part we played. I want us to be long-term providers and we work very closely with the schools and businesses to maintain that longevity.

We train people all over the country, and they keep coming back to us for refreshers and advice. I am also involved with The Association of Bikeability Schemes. Through lobbying, we secured a funding pot of £50m for cycle training in England.

Now we have to start looking to the future!

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

INVESTING IN SUSTAINABILITY Dr. John Hindley, Head of Environmental Strategy explains Manchester Met’s strategic approach to environmental practices.

O

ur vision at Manchester Met is to be one of the most sustainable universities in the world. We have ambitious but achievable targets, including a 50% reduction in carbon emissions, and reducing and reusing 85% of our waste all by 2020.

Environmental sustainability is a key priority for the university. Alongside the Government’s agenda on climate change, statutory legislation, environmental taxation, rising utility and resource prices, which play an important role in driving our sustainability commitments.

Our strategy sets out our vision for 2020, and supports the delivery of Manchester Met’s corporate aim of long-term financial and environmental sustainability.

This year, Manchester Met has become the first UK university to attain the new ISO 14001: 2015 environmental management standard.

The new international standard sets out a framework for effective systems that focus on compliance obligations and continual improvement. We are delighted to have achieved this standard. We worked hard to embed an environmental strategy that connects our governance, curriculum, operations and student body with enhanced environmental performance; everyone has a role to play now and in the future.

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 15

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

Our commitment to sustainability is also recognised through our ranking on the People & Planet University League, a comprehensive and independent league table of UK univeristies ranked by environmental and ethical performance. We are proud to be a ‘First Class’ award University - placed in the top 10 performing universities for 3 consecutive years. Staff and students play a proactive and vital role in helping us to be a truly sustainable university. Through our sustainability engagement programme, Big Impact, we provide opportunities to help them live and work more sustainably.

We also actively encourage them to come to us with ideas, we then work with them to develop live projects. This is a great chance for individuals to work collaboratively with sustainability professionals, and recent ideas include interactive bins to improve recycling behaviours and bat and bird boxes to increase biodiversity on our site.

OUR LED LIGHTING PROJECT SAVES OVER 30 TONNES OF CO2 ANNUALLY AND OVER

£102,000 OVER THE PROJECT LIFESPAN.

Through our revolving green fund, we invest in a range of energy efficiency projects, which have both cost and carbon savings. Within the last twelve months, our Estates team commissioned a student project to undertake photometric testing and develop a lighting design plan. These were used in the implementation of an LED lighting project at our Business School & Student Hub. 500 LED light fittings were installed, which have improved he lighting levels and delivered a 66% saving on electricity consumption. The project saves over 30 tonnes of CO2 annually, 460 tonnes of CO2e over the lifespan of the luminaries and over £102,000 over the project lifespan. Our journey to be one of the greenest universities in the UK has been a long one.

Through a lot of hard work, we are now

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 16

RANKING IN THE PEOPLE & PLANET UNIVERSITY LEAGUE

“

500 LED light fittings installed.

Delivering a 66% saving on electricity consumption.

”

in a position where we can invest in new environmental practices and technologies. This is helping us to continue to reduce our negative environmental impact and make financial savings.

Any organisation wanting to improve their environmental performance should start with a review of their waste and energy management practices, which will have a financial benefit in the future.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

EUROPEAN DRIVERS FOR ZERO WASTE Industry and Higher Education collaborate to drive recycling Viridor Laing and Manchester Metropolitan University

T

he rates at which we use raw materials and generate waste are unsustainable. The need to de-couple economic growth from increasing resource consumption and develop new business models is essential in reducing our environmental impact and creating a more sustainable future.

The Faculty of Science and Engineering at MMU has developed a formal agreement with Viridor Laing who hold the largest UK PFI municipal waste management contract and are responsible for meeting the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) landfill diversion target of 90% by 2020.

The adoption of the EU Circular Economy package in December 2015 will help in achieving this by underpinning the EU targets to recycle 65% of municipal waste and 75% of packaging waste by 2030. A circular economy is an alternative to the traditional linear economy of make use and dispose, and ensures that the value of the resources we have are kept in use for as long as possible, through recovery, redesign and regeneration of materials at the end of each service life.

Over the last 18 months MMU has been working to support Viridor Laing to assess technical issues associated with waste treatment processing plants to ensure full operational efficiency is maintained and contractual recycling targets achieved. There is a clear advantage for industry to work with Universities as they can offer unique advantages by exercising academic freedom in applying new research techniques and methods to specific industry issues.

A circular economy is an alternative to the traditional linear economy of make use and dispose. It will ensures that the value of the resources we have are kept in use for as long as possible, through recovery, redesign and regeneration of materials at the end of each service life.

This approach can deliver cost, effective environmental solutions to real world problems.

To help provide additional diversion from landfill and to meet the challenging GMWDA target, Manchester Met are also looking at innovative approaches for hard to recycle wastes including wood, textiles, tyres, mattresses and plastics.

Opportunities for businesses in the Circular Economy Are you working with - or keen to work with reclaimed materials?

The transition to a circular, and therefore zero waste economy, involves change in work practices across product design, manufacturing, behaviour change, waste management infrastructure and operational practices. Manchester Met are keen to liaise with a range of SMEs across the North West to help address the current waste challenges within Greater Manchester and can offer industry contacts and consultancy support to drive forward new recycling ideas.

The Waste Team in the Faculty of Science and Engineering are keen to hear any potential ideas from our business contacts, partners and other stakeholders.

Amanda Reid Business Development Manager E: a.reid@mmu.ac.uk T: 0161 247 6650

Edward Randviir Research Associate E: e.randviir@mmu.ac.uk T: 0161 247 1188

â—Ś Knowledge â—Ś Enterpr 17

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

BARRIERS TO SUSTAINABILITY: Dr. Jackie Brander-Brown, Manchester Met and Dr. Vanja Vejzagic, Rochester Institute of Technology, dispell the three most common myths surrounding becoming a sustainable organisation.

Organisations are increasingly recognising that they can gain enormous benefits from being viewed as sustainable.

However, there are a number of perceived barriers. Several of these are no more than “myths” which can be dispelled.

Myth One

Myth Two

Myth Three

Sustainable operations are more expensive

It’s difficult to keep up with sustainable developments

Effectively communicating organisational sustainability is complex

It is a common concern of many business owners and investors, that it is more expensive to operate sustainably, though it has been proven many times over, that sustainable programmes are typically more money-savers in the long run. Through investing in more effecient buildings and energy saving programmes - including technology, by conserving usage of key resources like water and by significantly reducing waste via active recycling, organisations can substantially reduce their cost base.

Issues relating to sustainability are constantly evolving. Businesses must ensure they remain current, aware of contemporary developments in sustainable practices. One way of doing this involves collaborating and/or benchmarking with other like-minded operations, while reports produced by highly regarded sustainable organisations can also be consulted.

Solved!

Solved!

Solved!

Marks and Spencer’s believe that since they introduced their Plan A Sustainability Programme in 2007, the company has saved more than £500 million in costs. Significantly, Lord Rose, CEO who introduced Plan A, strongly asserts that,

Marks and Spencer’s Plan A website addresses developments concerning key issues such as:

In this case, if we use the known but simple rule,

“A sustainable business can be a responsible business and also a profitable business..”

“Sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities.”

In addition, organisations can also draw on information published on relevant websites and social media.

For further information or resources, please contact: Dr. Jackie Brander Brown E: j.brander-brown@mmu.ac.uk

Dr. Vanja Vejzagic E:vejzagic@yahoo.com

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 18

A major concern expressed by organisations involves how best to communicate sustainability, especially as sustainability involves much more than just financial results. More specifically, it is widely ackowledged that data reflecting the impact of an organsiation on the planet and its people also need to be provided. There are many different reporting systems and techniques available to help with this. The effects of sustainability policies adopted, and implemented practices, demands a system of benchmarking, verification and auditing, and their comparison on the level of the organisation, corporation or industry.

“You can’t (really) improve what you don’t measure (properly)”, logic dictates standardisation in sustainability level/results measurements to achieve needed level of comparability and accountability. This may be one of the last barriers to the creation of the sustainable benchmarking system, which would enable precise insight into an organisation’s sustainability performance on national, industrial or global level.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

GETTING SMES ON BOARD WITH SUSTAINABILITY Greater Manchester LEP Chair, Mike Blackburn & Samantha Nicholson, Head of Low Carbon at the Business Growth Hub, outline how hands-on, tailored support can help SMEs lead the transition to a low carbon economy

E

nvironmental sustainability is increasingly recognised as a fundamental building block for the economy of the future. While many larger businesses understand the risks that these issues pose to their short-term and long-term success, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) find it particularly difficult to seize the opportunity, even when they know they should.

For example, research by ENWORKS (now part of Manchester Growth Company) for the Department for Energy and Climate Change show that UK SMEs are missing out on annual savings of £2.4 billion by failing to implement simple, no-cost or lowcost energy efficiency improvements.

If materials, water and waste are also included, this figure would clearly be even higher.

The issue is being tackled head-on by the Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub, which provides tailored, hands-on support to help SMEs embed eco-innovation and carbon reduction into their core business models and practices.

Samantha Nicholson, Head of Low Carbon at the Hub, said: “The traditional assumption is that once a business recognises opportunities to improve

sustainability and the benefits these will bring, it will take action. However, this is simply not the case for the majority of SMEs. The barriers are much more complex than meets the eye. SMEs are timepoor and often have little capacity to identify and investigate improvements on their own. There also tends to be a chronic undervaluing of energy and resource efficiency.

sustainable, low carbon economy by supporting companies in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector to grow. In 2015, 150 companies in Greater Manchester’s low carbon supply chains received specialist growth support, helping them to win £6.8 million in new sales and create twenty-four jobs.

We’re helping SMEs to overcome these issues by providing fully-funded, one-to-one environmental business support that is tailored to each business and looks at all stages of the value chain. Companies can measure, track and report their cost savings using our award-winning Efficiency Toolkit software, and we also provide a range of further tools and services all geared towards driving growth, jobs and sales through improved environmental performance.”

Sustainability is one of the key themes of the Greater Manchester Strategy. A successful transition to a low carbon economy is a fundamental part of this plan, as demonstrated by our goal to reduce Greater Manchester’s emissions by 48% by 2020 against 1990 levels. This cannot be achieved without engaging our business community as a whole, including SMEs – which make up 99% of our businesses and support 70% of our jobs. One of the great things about the Business Growth Hub’s support is that it clearly demonstrates that sustainability is good for business.

In 2015 alone, the Business Growth Hub helped more than 130 businesses in Greater Manchester to save £2.2 million and over 5,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by reducing their use of energy, water and materials in day-to-day operations.

Greater Manchester was recently highly commended in an independent “Fit for the Future” report on best practice for LEPs as one of the top areas in the country for its commitments to climate change and the low carbon economy, so we are in a strong position going forward.”

The Hub is also aiding Greater Manchester’s transition to a

Mike Blackburn, Chair - Greater Manchester LEP

19

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

BLUEBELL FITTED FURNITURE Mike Reuben and the ‘no brainer’ decision to become sustainable

M

ike Reuben and his wife Alison, a graduate of the Centre for Enterprise delivered Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme, are the team behind Bluebell Fitted Furniture, a manufacturer of bespoke bedrooms, kitchen and home studies.

As the business was growing they soon began to recognise that so was their waste and decided that they could take action to both reduce their landfill fees, become more sustainable and save money.

They had always harboured the ambition to install a wood burner, but had been held back by the situation of their previous factory. So, when they made the move to new premises in Trafford they took steps to explore what changes they could make.

Mike said: “I recognise that we all need to do what we can for the environment so when I realised I wanted to get a wood burner I thought about other things we could do. We knew there were other opportunities available to us, so we got in touch with the Business Growth Hub’s Green Growth team to get a full analysis done.”

Following an on-site review, the resource efficiency advisors recommended that as well as a wood burner, they should look to upgrade to LED lighting and make use of their southern aspect for solar panels. The team also supported Mike and Alison to run an event for local suppliers to pitch for the work involved in making Bluebell Fitted Furniture more ecofriendly.

Mike continued: “We had a day of presentations with six local companies, who explained all about their products. After that day we were able to make a considered decision based on what we were presented with.

We decided who was going to supply our wood burner, our solar panels and who would install our LED lighting.

Soon after that it was all done.”

The team of advisors had predicted that Bluebell could see annual savings of around £12,500 from reducing landfill, £800 from lighting and see a £5,000 drop in their electricity bills from installing the solar panels. Mike explains that in reality, it has been even more dramatic.

roof. I think people are starting to notice companies that are doing things like this and looking at them more favourably. I also think that for organisations such as councils, the environmental policy of businesses they are working with will form an important part of the decision-making process when awarding contracts.”

“Initially we were using three or four skips a month and now we are using one. Our solar panels have reduced our electricity costs by about 60 per cent, and with additional income from the feeder tariff, this is more like 80 per cent. It’s hard to put an exact figure on the LED lights, but I think we are looking at savings of around a couple of thousand pounds a year. That is way over our initial expectations and it’s motivated us to take additional steps, such as having additional solar panels fitted.”

As well as the financial benefits, Mike explains how being seen to be green is becoming an important selling point for businesses.

“We are on the main road from Manchester to Altrincham and the solar panels are very obvious on our

20

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

MANCHESTER MET APPRENTICESHIPS Manchester Met welcomes generous new government funding for businesses to employ apprentices

T

he government has announced a new funding proposals for apprenticeships, in which they will ‘co-invest’ with employers, to cover at least 90 per cent of the cost of training. The new rules also mean that employers with fewer than 50 staff, are able to enrol apprentices under 19-years-of-age onto certified programmes, including those at Manchester Met, at no cost.

The new funding arrangements, coming into effect from May 2017, were announced along with additional information about the Apprenticeships Levy. The levy will see new firms paying 0.5% of any payroll amount over £3 million into an account that must be spent on apprenticeship provision.

like Manchester Met to deliver longterm and sustainable higher-level skills development to drive growth in the economy.

Commenting on the new funding rules Liz Gorb, Director of Apprenticeships at Manchester Met, said: “The new funding that the government has announced is a huge boost for apprenticeships and provides businesses throughout the North West and nationally an opportunity to bring new skills into their business for little or no cost.”

is at the forefront of new Degree Apprenticeship creation, working with national and regional employers. The University continues to expand their apprenticeship offering, which currently includes Degree Apprenticeships in Digital & Technology Solutions and Business Management, Advanced and Higher programmes in Legal Services and the Chemical Science apprenticeship.

Manchester Met will be organising an apprenticeship funding event for October to present the final

“I believe that these new funding arrangements reinfornce that an apprenticeship is one of the best ways for businesses to both train existing staff and also attract new talent."

These are the latest announcements in a huge shake up of the way apprenticeships work, introduced to meet the government’s commitment of creating 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020. These are the latest in a series of changes, which started with the creation of employer-led apprenticeships and the establishment of programmes, such as Manchester Met’s Degree Apprenticeships.

The rules have also made it clear that businesses will not be restricted from enrolling employees onto apprenticeship programmes, even if they already have higher qualifications, such as a degree or post-graduate qualification. Where the new training is in a subject materially different from existing qualifications, employees will be eligible for funding regardless.

The government hope that the new rules will encourage firms, both large and small, to engage with providers,

Apprenticeships have become an important part of Manchester Met’s academic delivery and the university

funding arrangements following the governments consultation period.

Contact us to find out more about how you can best utilise apprenticeship funding in your business or for an informal discussion about apprenticeship opportunities.

More information about the Manchester Met programmes are available at: www.mmu.ac.uk/apprenticeships/ employers.

www.mmu.ac.uk/apprenticeships E: apprenticeships@mmu.ac.uk T: 0161 247 6043

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 21

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

DEVELOPING BUSINESS IDEAS THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP Promoting entrepreneurship and sustainability throughout Europe

T

he Centre for Enterprise held an international entrepreneurial bootcamp in June, which was part of a European project funded by Erasmus+. ESSENCE stands for European Sustainable Solutions for Existing and New City Environments, and is a partnership between 5 universities: MMU, The Turku University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Utrecht, The Valencia Polytechnic University, and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, and 3 cities: Alcoi, Utrecht and Turku.

The project is dedicated to European co-operation and development of sustainable solutions for new cities.

In particular, it aims to:

Create new joint curriculum tackling Smart Sustainable Cities

The 3 European cities are setting sustainability challenges for students to solve

Develop creative teaching methods, including blended and flexible learning

The entrepreneurial bootcamp was designed to augment standard project activity, by utilising MMU’s strengths in entrepreneurship to develop business ideas in the context of a Smart Sustainable City. Students from 5 universities came together for one week to create new businesses in teams. Their ideas included:

ECt

Water Battery

Techpost

Development of a new app where all receipts can be kept, saving on printing, paper and toxic BPA. Warranties for goods are also stored and update you when they are due to run out

This innovation uses energy when there is too much for the grid to pump water up to the top of buildings, while dropping it into a turbine to create energy when more is needed

This is a solar and wind powered lamppost with modular attachments, including WiFi, a camera, charging points for electic cars and other energy saving devices.

Teams developed their ideas over 5 days, through working on the Business Model Canvas, with inputs from experts. These included Professor Cathy Parker who discussed Place Management and Smart Cities and Liz Clarke from BikeRight, who described her entrepreneurial journey with a sustainable business from her basement to 87 employees!

Finally, students developed pitches for crowdfunding, and delivered these to a 20 strong panel of judges, who each had an imaginary wad of 50,000 euros to spend on the projects of their choice. ECt triumphed on the day, receiving the most funding from the crowd, and walked away with the prize for best business idea.

The recent head of Future Cities at Manchester City Council, discussed our own city in terms of its smart sustainable credentials, and the MMU team worked with students to create their businesses.

The bootcamp was a real success of EU co-operation, and working together to develop solutions for smart, sustainable cities. We are planning to support students to take their business ideas further into reality.

rising ◦ Collaborative ◦ 22

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

THE CENTRE FOR ENTERPRISE IN INDIA Supporting collaborative sustainable projects across rural communities in one of the world’s fastest growing countries

International research collaboration

RHEES is funded in the UK by the Engineering and Physical Research Council (EPSRC) and in India by the Department of Science and Technology. The UK principal is Prof. Michele Clarke, University of Nottingham. As a joint UK-India award RHEES is an exciting opportunity to work closely with researchers in India, bringing practical benefits to rural people.

C

entre for Enterprise researchers are part of an international consortium on renewable energy at the community scale. Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems (RHEES) is a research collaboration between six UK and seven Indian Universities.

In India, partners are working with rural villages to improve access to energy and equity of cost, and to help stimulate new income generating activity.

Biogas for Communities in India Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a natural process, in which micro-organisms break down organic material in an airless environment. AD produces biogas; a mixture of methane and

carbon dioxide that can be used for cooking, plus a residue containing rich plant nutrients. AD is particularly suited to areas that produce large quantities of animal manure. This process has been around for many years and, in India, a national programme has subsidised the delivery of digesters for individual households. A novel aspect of RHEES in India is community level AD installation and the ambition to add value with small-scale community enterprise.

In July 2016 Prof. Sue Baines and Dr Tamara McNeill joined colleagues from Nottingham, Derby and Bishop Grosseteste Universities in Assam to visit villages where the Indian partners installed biogas systems as part of the project.

◦ Knowledge ◦ Enterpr 23

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

multitude of leeches zooming towards our bare legs. One of the drivers managed to traverse the flood in his empty vehicle, and we piled in and continued to the village. Back in the car, a Nottingham colleague removed a leech from her foot!

On arrival at Jhawani we were greeted warmly and shown the almost completed community digester situated on land donated by one of the villagers to the project.

A community kitchen has a site allocated beside the digester but is not yet built. Using Hindi as a common language, villagers talked with Dr Deb Raha, our colleague from Derby, about their hopes for more affordable and cleaner cooking fuel. A village cooperative and self-help groups are in their infancy but there is potential for university colleagues to work with these groups to co-create new income streams. For example, local farming practices offer the possibility of achieving certified organic status to market the liquid by-product of AD as fertiliser.

Visiting a remote village Engineers at Tezpur University led by Professor Deben Baruah are working with the village of Jhawani, which comprises just over 100 households.

The majority of work in the village is farming and households also have kitchen gardens. The village has no road access and is connected to the main highway by a five kilometre track, dusty or muddy according to season.

Tree planting in a community hall The other Assam university team, led by Prof. Pinakeswar Mahanta of the Indian Institute of Technology at Guwahati introduced us to their research site village. Kukurmar is 40km from Guwahati and our welcome here was more formal. In the village community hall, around 50 people assembled to listen to presentations about RHEES and after this we were given the honour of planting trees outside the hall.

Our party of six UK and three Indian team members set off for Jhawani in two off-road vehicles. We were assured that the route would be passable that day, despite recent heavy rain, but after a short distance our vehicles halted where water covered about 10 metres of the track.

We took off our shoes and walked carefully and slowly across. The water was not deep although we were somewhat alarmed by the

rising â—Ś Collaborative â—Ś 24

ARE YOU SEEKING BUSINESS GROWTH OR INNOVATION? If you’re based in Cheshire or Manchester and are a small to medium sized business or start-up, you may be eligible for our fully-funded growth and innovation progammes. Engage with business leaders, use our expert knowledge, and access the latest research available to help you grow your business - at no expense to you!

Cheshire and Warrington Business Growth Programme Greater Manchester High Growth Network SMART Cheshire Innovation Programme For further information and eligibility requirements, visit: www.mmucfe.co.uk

Non-Executive Directors: The Benefits to You and Your Organistion Co-hosted by Manchester Met and NEDonBoard 24th October 2016 | 5.30pm - 9.30pm | MMU Business School Co-hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University and NEDonBoard, this event will provide insight from both the perspective of the non executive and the board. In addition to providing a Masterclass of information from industry experts, there will also be an opportunity to put questions to our expert panel, and take part in networking opportunities before and after the discusssion. Tickets are £20 for NED members and £25 for non-members. Refreshments provided.

To book, visit: bit.ly/NEDMasterclass

25

John Barnes

Yvonne Harrison

Clive Memmott

Ruth Thomas

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

WORLD DUTY-FREE PROJECT Understanding low-carbon and low-waste business models,

by Graeme Heyes, Tutor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management

T

he demand for low-carbon and low-waste business models poses a real threat to many organisations.

This is particularly the case for retailers, for whom consumption of products at high levels is the bedrock of profit generation. Airport retailing is a sector where this challenge is particularly acute. Such retailers represent a vital revenue stream for airports, and are popular with the public. The sector is, however, associated with not only consumption of goods, but also with high in-store energy demands, and the fact that the majority of products sold are taken onto an aircraft, resulting in increased weight, additional fuel burn, and ultimately higher emissions and fuel costs for aircraft operators.

Accordingly, I sought to understand the airport retailer’s business model, quantify the scope of these emissions, and make practical recommendations on how the sector could reduce the carbon intensity of its operations whilst meeting shareholder and airport requirements for profitability.

To achieve this I worked with a multinational airport retailer to calculate the impacts of their operations at Manchester Airport, and used them as a case study that could be extrapolated to the wider industry.

The ‘Business Model Canvas’ tool was used in a workshop with senior management in the company to understand the business in detail, and the likely sources of carbon emissions. This was followed by quantification of ‘on-the-ground’

emissions (including the companies logistics fleet), and those emissions that arise from products being taken onto aircraft. This demonstrated that the case business contributes a small proportion of emissions for Manchester Airport, and a negligible amount of emissions and fuel costs for the global aviation sector.

Based on the incumbent business model, and the quantified carbon impacts from the sector, I then set about generating and evaluating alternative business models for the company that would reduce the environmental implications of the businesses activity, without compromising profitability, and other corporate objectives. We found that whilst the airport setting makes many of the emerging business model archetypes from other sectors inappropriate, a number of solutions remain that the business could implement to help drive sustainability in the sector. These different options were evaluated, and the most appropriate were recommended to the businesses for their consideration.

The combined use of these different research phases resulted in the development of a novel framework for the conceptualisation and implementation of sustainable business models called Comprehensive Strategic Analysis for Sustainable Business Model Innovation Framework.

This framework utilises a number of emerging approaches to sustainability

26

that the academic community have generated, and used them to generate impact. I am now looking for organisations where this framework can be further tested and refined in the hope that this research project will lay the foundation for a significant impact in the Greater Manchester region and beyond, and make a real contribution to overcoming the challenge of sustainability.

Centre for Enterprise

IMPACT: Sustainability

“Putting knowledge to work to grow your business�

The Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University is passionate about turning research into practical knowledge that can be applied to improve regional businesses. Our areas of expertise are growth, leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainability. We offer a range of programmes around these themes, many of which are fully-funded. Register with us to access our knowledge, our business network and to grow your business.

Contact Us Address: Centre for Enterprise, Business School Manchester Metropolitan University All Saints Campus Oxford Road Manchester, M15 6BH Website: www.mmucfe.co.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)161 247 3871

Email: cfe@mmu.ac.uk

Twitter: @mmucfe

IMPACT Magazine Spring Edition IMPACT magazine is published by the Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University

Design & Editing Tacita Wilcox Amina Mufti

Photography Mike Simensky Shahrokh Nael

Director, CfE Lynn Martin

Contact t.wilcox@mmu.ac.uk a.mufti@mmu.ac.uk

Special note of thanks: John Williams, editor of IMPACT magazine will be embarking on a new career path within the Apprenticeships Unit at Manchester Met. We would like to thank John for his efforts and energy towards making IMPACT magazine a resounding success. Good luck John!

28