BEEHIVE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
CONTENTS
ABOUT PLAN BEE
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SO, WHAT’S THE STORY?
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SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
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HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
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EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION
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WALK THE TALK
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THE BEES KNEES
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BUILDING THE BUZZ
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PLAN BEE TV
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ENVIROTEC ARTICLE
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WHAT THEY SAY
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WHAT THE PAPERS SAY
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STAFF PROFILES
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Hi, we’re Plan Bee Ltd and we’re the bee people. We’re not just a business but an entire movement, we’re changing the world one beehive at a time. You might have already heard of us, but if you haven’t then here’s a bit of info. Everything we do is aimed at protecting and preserving dwindling honeybee numbers, and we mean everything, cause not only are we sustainability champions, but we’re also eco-innovators. That means that we’ve developed loads of uses for the great honey and beeswax that comes out of our customers’ beehives and most importantly created a unique award winning beehive management company for other organisations to highlight their sustainability message. And, how do we know it’s great? Well, its already won loads of awards…and praise from our partner businesses.
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ABOUT PLAN BEE
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SO, WHAT’S THE STORY?
“a sustainability business, an eco-inn and the driving force behind a move
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novator ement”
Our boss Warren was a pretty successful film and music video producer in South Africa. He worked with loads of famous people like director Ridley Scott and Tina Turner, and remember Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’? But, in order to grow his career he moved to the UK. Making movies is pretty stressful so he got an allotment and started growing heritage trees to relieve the stress. From that he got some bees to pollinate the trees, and fell in love with beekeeping. He found out that honeybees were responsible for pollinating a third of the food that we eat, but he also found out that their numbers were in drastic decline. So, he decided to do something about it, and Plan Bee Ltd was born. Since then we’ve helped to protect and preserve more than 10 million bees, and with your partnership support we can protect and preserve millions more.
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Honeybees are responsible for pollinating a third of the food that we eat, from fruits and vegetables to nuts, spices and even animal feed. They pollinate the forests that help to keep our air and our rivers pure. Without them life would be pretty grim. University of Reading research has found that honeybee populations have declined by more than 50 percent in the last two decades. This is down in part to climate change, but also poor pesticide management and man’s impact on our planet. University of Bristol research has also found that honeybees and their pollinator friends are responsible for 80% of all plant species in Europe including both fruits and vegetables. Millions of consumers around the world are starting to vote with their wallets and choosing to spend their money with only the most ethical of companies. Plan Bee’s brand of ‘proactive sustainability’ allows businesses to meet the highest standards of corporate social responsibility, and to enhance even the highest of environmental credentials.
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WITH B
SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
BEES WITHOUT BEES
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HOW WE CAN HELP YOU!
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Plan Bee is a sustainability business, an eco-innovator and the driving force behind a movement to protect and preserve dwindling honeybee populations across the UK and beyond. Our multi-faceted business acts on more than one level in support of partnership companies, delivering services that include: •
Beehive installation and management
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Beekeeping practical learning and training
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Companies receive their share of honey from their beehives
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Corporate social responsibility support
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Community engagement opportunities
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Curriculum-based environmental education opportunities
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Bespoke branded beehives carrying partnership business branding
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Planning and implementation of public relations strategy and releases
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Social media planning and support
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Internal communications planning and messaging
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Design of bespoke branded honey
We treat all our partnership businesses with the same level of care and respect, regardless of their size or standing. Our small business partnerships often make the greatest environmental commitment.
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At Plan Bee we don’t like to call our partners ‘clients’ or even ‘customers’ because it’s about much more than just providing a service or a product. We’re working together to protect and preserve endangered honeybee populations. We need their support, and the support of their employees, suppliers and shoppers to make a difference and help save the planet one beehive at a time. We treat every partner business with the same care and attention, whether a small, family-run company or a global household brand. More and more companies are realising the importance of protecting endangered honeybees. Last year, beehive partnerships increased by 81%. For companies like Kellogg’s and Highland Spring who are already recognised as environmental leaders our brand of proactive sustainability helps to enhance their sustainability credentials. For a company like Glengoyne, Plan Bee is now woven into the fabric of their business and their product. We are more than an environmental ambassador, we are an integral part of who they are and what they stand for. Here’s a look at just some of our partner businesses:
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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
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EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUC
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Schools have really embraced the project, wi many young people really excited about bein involved. What we are seeing now is that learnin being developed into a really practical approach David Craig, North Lanarkshire Council, Quality Improvement Director
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CATION
ith ng ng h
Already, with the support of our partner businesses, more than 18,000 young people have learned all about the importance of bees in their delicate environment, the important role they play in food production and their roles during their short lifetimes. They’ve danced the waggle dance, while some have even suited up, opened beehives and held up a full frame of delicious honey while 120,000 honeybees buzzed safely around them. They’ve ‘seed bombed’ wildflower meadows and tasted real honey, from real hives.
Plan Bee became an accredited legacy business. It was our job to leave an educational legacy of the event, one that the community across Scotland would remember. With the support of our many partners, we’re continuing this close working relationship with schools across the UK. We’ve even developed a lesson-in-abox ‘educrate’ initiative that contains curriculum-based lesson plans, lesson cards and beekeeping equipment. This is being piloted in schools both in Scotland and England, making it easier for teachers to engage children with the natural environment.
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Extending from our successful school lessons, we are also in demand for talks to business groups, environmental organisations and enthusiasts. We were invited, by the Scottish Government, to deliver a series of eleven presentations at the World Expo in Milan in 2015. We addressed the audiences, which varied from business leaders and students to visiting members of the public, on the parallels for the beehive philosophy in business and the growing need for a more circular economic approach. We have also addressed some of the UK’s leading environmental groups on our circular economic philosophy and spoken to senior business figures about addressing the mentality of Scottish companies to adopt a more sustainable beehive-like model. We continue to engage numerous community groups in a light and engaging manner to promote a more sustainable society and extend the reach of #GenerationBee
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WALK THE TALK
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Behind the scenes Warren and his team brought a creative social media streak to Scotland at the Expo. There’s something bee-like about them - the laws of physics say it shouldn’t really fly and occasionally it looks like it won’t - but it does, and more
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Richard Rollison, Scottish Government, Trade Policy Team
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THE BEES-KNEES
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Protecting bees, insects and other species is a crucial part in the fight against climate change and we look forward to continuing our work with Plan Bee in the future
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Quentin Scott, Low Carbon, Marketing Director
Plan Bee has won 27 awards over the last three years, helping us to enhance our credibility within a competitive sustainability market. Our awards success amounts to an award every eight weeks. Here are some of the accolades we have won:
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All our publications, digital productions, video, social media and PR is generated by our small, but talented In-House Digital Marketing Team. Produced videos for: Kellogg’s, Highland Spring and Glengoyne. Delivered a week long social media strategy and messaging, and won the utility front page coverage on a major trade publication for Scottish Water. While their work with renewable energy company Low Carbon extends from social media and PR to labelling, photography and design. Each partnership receives bespoke labelling, designed in-house to their own requirements. Companies renting Plan Bee hives annually receive numerous jars of their own honey as part of this partnership working. Our Digital design team works with our partner’s Marketing teams to build the buzz The Plan Bee Digital Marketing Team has also won national and international media coverage for our partnership businesses, and helped take the issue of dwindling honeybee populations to the debating chambers of the Scottish Parliament and beyond.
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BUILDING THE BUZZ
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PLAN BEE TV Our videos are produced in-house by our Digital Marketing team. Please have a look at some of the important work we are already doing through our beehive partnerships.
LOW CARBON PARTNERSHIP
KELLOGG’S PARTNERSHIP
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HIGHLAND SPRING PARTNERSHIP
GLENGOYNE PARTNERSHIP
MHOR GROUP PARTNERSHIP
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WHAT THEY SAY “Working with Plan bee is important to us – we rely on bee pollination for some of our raw ingredients and we know that the bee population is declining, not just in the UK but globally.” Lynda
Percival,
Kellogg’s
European
Environment
Manager,
“Encouraging biodiversity should not be a bolt on for renewable energy companies, but rather a core responsibility. Protecting bees, insects and other species is a crucial part in the fight against climate change and we look forward to continuing our work with Plan Bee in future.” Quentin Scott, Marketing Director, Low Carbon
“We want to increase that sustainability portfolio even further and working with local Lanarkshire business, Plan Bee Ltd will allow us to adopt a proactive sustainability approach.” Alan Thomson, Head of Corporate Relations, Scottish Water
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“Plan Bee is buzzing with excitement, enthusiasm and energy. Their novel approach to business not only aims to grow a profitable and ethical business, but also works to increase awareness of the importance of bees to the world’s ecosystem. I’m proud Business Mentoring was added to Plan Bee’s “magic formula,” enabling further growth for the business. I know they are paving a strong and successful future in their entrepreneurial journey and I wish Plan Bee all the best in the awards. Good luck!” Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
“Our customers expect high quality produce, they want local produce and they want it to be good for the environment. Working with Plan Bee will allow us to raise the bar in urban sustainability.” Marco Giannasi, Owner, Battlefield Rest
“While it wasn’t called sustainability back in 1893 when we first started, being able to trace our products from farm to table has always been our fundamental philosophy. Working with local companies, employing local people and sourcing local produce is central to that. “Collaborating with Plan Bee, based just a mile down the road, allows us to take our environmental credentials to the next level. With four hives located next to the shop, we will be able to sell more than a hundred jars of the highest quality Wishaw honey directly to our customers. And, the only air miles are those put in by our bees.” Jamie Chapman, James Chapman Butchers Director
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WHAT THE PAPERS SAY Bees have a lot to teach businesses reckons Lanarkshire entrepreneur [source] Plan Bee, which also produces honey, has been chosen to represent Scotland at the event. Expos are held every five years. This year’s Expo in Milan will highlight the challenge of how to sustain the expected rapid growth in the world’s population. Some 145 nations are participating in the event. The UK pavilion has been designed like a beehive. Sweet success as Plan Bee secures £130,000 of new funding [source] Mr Bader said he offered companies “the quickest way to green themselves”, and the return on involvement included two dozen jars of ethical, pure, unfiltered honey in their own corporate livery. Urban meadows bid as Plan Bee targets city areas [source] He said: “I want to re-seed brownfield sites with wild flowers and bring in pollinating insects. “I’m hoping to work with local authorities to redevelop land where projects have stalled and temporarily turn them into an oasis in the city. Plan Bee installs new hives at Low Carbon solar farms [source] The company’s ethos is to play a central part in the farming communities surrounding its sites. By locating on fallow land that is unusable for agriculture, Low Carbon aims to deliver a long-term investment in these areas. Swiss store makes bee-line for Scottish honey [source] The company’s sustainable honey products have already received acclaim from high-profile customers with the product used at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and by leading television chef Jamie Oliver. 120,000 bees take up residence at Glasgow City Council HQ [source] More than 120,000 bees have taken up residence on the roof of Glasgow City Council headquarters. The insects are being housed in two insulated hives designed to keep them warm during the winter on the flat roof of the City Chambers. The initiative is part of wider council schemes to use spare space around the city for sustainable development. Plan Bee finds new source of capital to back up crowdfunding cash [source] Plan Bee last month closed a crowdfunding appeal having raised £105,500 from 177 investors on the Crowdcube platform, well below the £175,000 target first advertised on the site but well above a revised £60,000 target later set by the business.
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Bees taking up residence in 100 year old building [source] ONE of Glasgow’s most iconic restaurants is inviting in some new guests - bees. And it’s all happening as the Battlefield Rest celebrates the 100th anniversary of its building. Investors swarm as beekeeping firm secures £175k [source] ECO-FRIENDLY beehive firm Plan Bee has secured funding of £175,000 in what has been deemed one of Scotland’s most successful crowdfunding campaigns. The news comes as the Motherwell-based company, advised by the law firm Harper Macleod, was named Small Business of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards on Wednesday. Wishaw butcher adopts beehives to increase sustainability [source] Being able to follow a product’s journey from farm to table has been a central focus of Chapmans for more than 120 years. Director, Jamie Chapman, said: “Collaborating with Plan Bee, based just a mile down the road, allows us to take our environmental credentials to the next level. Plan Bee appoints McDavid as chairman as it prepares to launch crowdfunding bid [source] He said: “It is really prestigious for a company from Wishaw to be selling in these very highfalutin places. I love it.” How Plan Bee is creating a biodiversity buzz among businesses [source] Plan Bee founder and chief executive Warren Bader reveals why everyone from Boyzone to Balfour Beatty is embracing the bee-keeping craze. Honey bee decline: protecting the bees in the fight against climate change [source] Each of the five sites will host more than 300,000 bees to help cultivate local crops and encourage biodiversity. A remote monitoring system is planned, which will allow Plan Bee to keep tabs on each bee colony by monitoring parameters such as brood temperature, humidity, hive weight and weather conditions. Scots Plan Bee helps Low Carbon solar parc to support biodiversity [source] Low Carbon has partnered with Plan Bee to install and manage 25 bee hives across five of its solar farms in Cornwall, Dorset and Suffolk. Low Carbon makes solar buzz [source] Renewable energy investment company Low Carbon is partnering with sustainability company Plan Bee to install and manage 25 bee hives across five of its solar farms in Cornwall, Dorset and Suffolk. Beekeeping with Plan Bee [source] As well as catering to individuals, a lot of Plan Bee’s clients are big companies and organisations, which is where their work starts to get a bit more interesting. Their client list boasts a mixture of big names such as Highland Spring, Balfour Beatty and Harley-Davidson, and a good mixture of Scottish restaurants, spas and small businesses.
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CHAIR Mark McDavid Mark is big-hitter in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, having spent more than 30 years at the top of the industry as both a Marketing Director and Managing Director. Having successfully steered both Hallmark Cards and Aunt Bessie’s to market success, Mark is currently chair of Yorkshire-based, top-tier producer, HECK! foods. He guided Hallmark to UK success and initiated the company’s first television marketing campaign. His depth of experience is perhaps best recognised in the food sector where he helped to make frozen food giant Aunt Bessie’s a household name, and introduced Yorkshire Puddings to every freezer in the country. He was also Managing Director of Marine Harvest and Northern Foods. Mark also spends some of his time as a non-Executive of NHS National Services Scotland.
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CEO Warren Bader A former movie and music video producer, Warren has worked with some of the greats, both in the film industry and in music. He’s made movies with Alien director Ridley Scott and produced music videos for Tina Turner and Michael Jackson. Warren is the founder of Plan Bee Ltd. Having taken up an allotment to get away from the stresses and strains of the film industry he started growing heritage fruit trees and rare vegetables. From there he got some bees to pollinate the trees, and the rest is history. Critically aware of the crisis facing the world’s honeybee populations, Warren had an epiphany and started not only a company but a movement. He’s now won around 30 awards at a rate of about one every eight weeks. The highlight of his Plan Bee journey so far was representing his adopted nation, Scotland at the World Expo in Milan where he delivered a total of 11 presentations to visitors, students and the local business community.
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Chris Hodge - Director of Buzz Chris joined the business as a freelance communications consultant in 2014, having recently returned from Australia where he was Senior Manager Communications for a large water utility. As a former radio News and Sports editor he is used to creating a buzz. He developed his communications craft at Scottish Water, working on some of the utilities largest projects. He has also worked in the renewables industry; and during a short spell with Balfour Beatty/ Mouchel joint venture Scotland TranServ, successfully developed a number of new communications offerings.
Meik Molitor - Warehouse Manager Hailing from a village near Bremen, Meik Molitor’s German efficiency is well utilised in the running of the busy Plan Bee warehouse, while also juggling hive management responsibilities. Meik makes sure Plan Bee’s operational arm runs smoothly, ensuring our beekeepers are prepped and ready to meet the needs of over 10-million bees, based in hives from Aberdeen to Cornwall. He also ensures that our international exports are delivered to high quality retailers around the world and that online orders are prepared and delivered efficiently worldwide.
Brett Adshead - Urban Farmer Experienced beekeeper Brett runs Plan Bee’s efforts in the south. Having established our base in Sussex, he tends our millions of bees from Cornwall to the Midlands. He spent his career as a Project Manager for organisations like Reuters and West Sussex County Council, and is therefore experienced in juggling the many aspects of our busy bee business.
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Robert Doyle - Multimedia Manager Robert is our Digital Design genius, having recently graduated with a Masters in Interaction Design from Edinburgh’s Napier University, where he received the university’s medal for having the highest of all marks in his year. In fact if you’ve been entertained by one of our motion graphics recently then that’s Robert’s handiwork. When he’s not designing the digital out of Plan Bee, Robert is keen martial arts fan and bagger of Munros (Scottish hills over 3000ft).
Peter Longmuir - Warehouse Assistant Pool shark Pedro is a native of the city of Discovery, and that’s why we sometimes need subtitles. Mild asthma robbed him of a life in the Merchant Navy, but the ocean’s loss is Plan Bee’s gain. He’s currently saving all his pennies before marrying fiancée Amanda next year.
Dexter Bader - Head of Security Dexter Bader has been with the company since the early days and was promoted to Head of Security and Logistics when we moved to our current premises. All post and deliveries are personally checked by the diligent schnauzer. Dexter puts in very long days, but in his downtime he likes long walks, eating in and sleeping next to the heater.
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VISIT US:
PLANBEELTD.COM HEAD OFFICE
3/3 Etna Estate Clamp Road Motherwell Scotland ML2 7XQ TELEPHONE
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