Our Strategy
We believe those with the ability to lead the way must do so.
Our future viability as a business, and as a society, depends on three pillars: people, profit and planet.
In 2020 we declared a climate emergency and committed ourselves to a radical plan to reach carbon neutral by 2022 for greenhouse gas scopes 1 and 2. Having achieved this, we have since updated our plan to more than halve our total value chain emissions by 2030 and reach net zero across our operation before 2050.
Things need to change
Our current economic model is not sustainable. The amount of resources we consume has quadrupled in the last 50 years to over 100 billion tonnes annually, but less than 9% is being reused. Climate change and biodiversity loss threaten our future and the future of following generations.
These issues are soaring up the corporate agenda. Companies are facing pressure to act from the public, from their employees, from their customers, from their supply chains and from environmental legislation. Over the next decade more responsibility will be put on businesses to change than ever before.
We’re setting out to prove that even the smallest company can make a difference.
Our purpose
Our purpose as a business is based on three pillars: people, planet and profit. We believe our future viability as a business depends not only on our financial performance but also on:
- our role in the local community, supply chain and wider society as a responsible organisation, and;
- our role in mitigating, and building resilience to, the climate and environmental emergency.
In existing for people and planet rather than just profit, we recognise that our role in inspiring change is far more powerful than financial gain. That is why in 2023 we joined the growing worldwide movement of B Corp businesses.
What do we mean by net zero?
Net zero can be defined in several ways, so we want to be clear about what we mean.
We are following the Science Based Targets Initiative definition of net zero, which translates as reducing our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90% and neutralising any remaining emissions through high quality removal-based offsetting. This must be achieved across all three ‘Scopes’ of greenhouse gas emissions:
- Scope 1: The direct emissions from sources we control, such as our vehicles and factory heating.
- Scope 2: The indirect emissions we’re responsible for through our electricity consumption.
- Scope 3: The wider indirect emissions we’re responsible for beyond our own operations, such as the goods we purchase and the emissions of our employees when they travel to and from work.
Our roadmap
- 2015: Begin annual carbon footprinting assessments.
- 2015-2020: Make improvements to factory and fleet, including biomass heating, rooftop solar, LED lighting and smart energy-saving assets.
- 2021-2022: Engage with end-to-end supply chain on carbon reduction and corporate responsibility. Switch to 100% renewable electricity supply. Offset remaining Scope 1 and 2 emissions through high quality, UK-based carbon offsetting investments.
- 2023+: Begin developing innovative recyclable, reusable and reconfigurable circular economy products
- 2030: Achieve net zero across Scopes 1 and 2 and cut Scope 3 emissions by 42%
Our investment strategy
To date we’ve invested around £2 million in improvements in the factory to achieve our goals. This may sound like a significant outlay, but most of our investments are actually cashflow neutral or cashflow positive:
- Our 980kW biomass burner generates ~£60,000 a year through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. We reinvest this income in further improvements.
- Our 246kW rooftop solar PV array is being paid for with a cashflow neutral loan over 6 years using the savings on our electricity bills. We also generate income through the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) and Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) schemes.
- Our LED lighting system is being paid for through electricity savings.
Our strategy shows that you don’t need to be a large business with significant funds to go zero carbon.
Our supply chain strategy
We cannot achieve our goal alone. Starting in 2021, we began an active engagement programme with suppliers, customers and wider stakeholders to encourage and support commitments on carbon reduction, corporate responsibility and UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In the long-term, we plan to offer all our stakeholders training in carbon reduction action plans and reporting. We are also conducting R&D projects to find and develop new materials that support the circular economy, and we are looking to engage with suppliers to make this happen.
We will support all our stakeholders to take action with the aim of creating a community of likeminded companies we can work with. However, if we deem a customer or supplier is failing to make progress on carbon reduction by 2022, we will not do business with them. It is a radical step, but we believe in putting our money where our mouth is.
Our approach to carbon offsetting
Unlike other businesses, we don’t believe buying carbon credits from the other side of the world to offset our emissions is good enough. Taking responsibility for your actions means making changes yourself, not relying on others to do it for you.
However, it isn’t currently possible to achieve net zero without some form of carbon offsetting.
As of 2022, we offset our Scope 1 and 2 emissions on a rolling basis by investing in independently-verified peatland restoration projects in Scotland.
Sustainable Development Goals
Our strategy is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals – 17 key agendas to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The SDGs are an internationally-recognised blueprint to a better and more sustainable world, and the business community has a huge role to play in achieving them.
We want to see progress on all 17 goals and proudly display them on our factory floor for all to see. In terms of our own strategy, we’ve chosen to focus our efforts on four goals where we feel we can have the most impact.
