Make rival companies turn green with envy

Being a winner in the Sunday Times list of most environmentally friendly firms can give you an edge and save you money
Melanie Clayton

Today’s launch of the 2009 Sunday Times Best Green Companies competition allows British business to put its green credentials to the test. Now in their second year, the awards examine company policies and practices and, uniquely, how employees engage with them.
With a revised methodology, this year’s contest will take account of the efforts of firms not just to get their house in order environmentally, but to change the practices of key suppliers.
After the success of last year’s competition, in which nearly 90 businesses registered, it is hoped the changes will lead to more participation from high-street retailers, keen to extol their environmental virtues to their customers.
Ken Smith, director of environmental management for Bureau Veritas, the environmental consultants who are our partners in this project, said: “One of the biggest impacts of retailers is where they source their materials from, either nationally or globally. Feedback from last year has shown that retailers want to talk about what is a very important issue for them, and is becoming more important beyond the retail sector, too. The constant evolution of our questionnaire means we can make sure questions are suited to different sectors.”
With high energy prices and costs for non-environmentally friendly disposal of waste products via landfill, there is a stronger commercial argument than ever for businesses to embrace the type of green policies that are rewarded with a place on the Sunday Times Green List, sponsored last year and this by Bank of Scotland Corporate.
In these uncertain economic times, putting the bottom line at the top of the corporate agenda is not incompatible with having a strong environmental profile. The findings from the Green List 2008 show that saving money and saving the world can go hand in hand.
“There is still a very strong desire from a reputational point of view to keep the environment high on the agenda,” said Smith. “In times like this there will be pressure on the environmental issues but, if anything, I think it will accelerate the implementation of initiatives because of their cost benefits.”
The winner of the first Best Green Companies awards, coffin manufacturer JC Atkinson & Son, heats its Tyne and Wear factory using a warm-air heater powered by the firm’s waste wood. This saves about £18,000 a year in gas or oil costs. The £100,000 heater will therefore pay for itself in a little over five years. Skylights in the roof mean that only half of the factory’s lights are used, saving £1,200 a year in electricity.
A biomass generator produces all the firm’s own electricity. Although it cost £450,000 to get up and running, it saves about £100,000 a year on electricity. The sale of excess electricity generated is expected to earn the firm £25,000 a year.
Being named our Best Green Company has also boosted the business’s profitability by attracting new customers, said managing director Julian Atkinson: “The benefits of this have helped to motivate staff in giving the company a greater sense of purpose, facilitating further positive environmental changes. As a result of the award we have definitely received the benefit of new inquiries and sales. It has been the biggest contribution to our growth so far.”
Sometimes the initial outlay can be off-putting, admits Liz Thompson, environment adviser at the Co-operative Group. Its financial services division (CFS) came third in the Green List 2008. “It’s about looking at it over the long term. In today’s market, because electricity and gas prices are so high, if you can generate your own electricity, you’ll reap the rewards over time.”
When the mosaic tiles on the Co-operative Insurance Tower in Manchester needed attention, the company took the opportunity to cover the Grade II-listed building in 7,000 photovoltaic solar panels. This project has transformed the 400ft, 25-storey building into an electricity source with the potential to create 181 megawatt hours of renewable electricity and save 78 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. It is the largest vertical solar power installation in Britain.
Entries for the 2008 contest showed there were also plenty of other, less costly ways to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs. “All the little things add up, too,” said Atkinson. “Our lights are on movement sensors and we’ve rejigged working hours so machines aren’t running needlessly. These are things that don’t cost a fortune but do make a difference.”
Thompson is adamant that at the heart of corporate environmental responsibility is the individual: “It’s about little steps people can take. It sounds too big a task to make a difference but every individual really can help,” she said.
CFS recycles around 70% of its total waste, including paper, cans, plastic bottles, fluorescent tubes and electrical items. “Because of landfill tax increasing, the more any company can reuse or recycle the better.”
Price Waterhouse Coopers, ranked 15th in the Green List, can testify to the benefits of phone and video-conferencing. Last year PWC saved 1.1m miles of jet travel, thanks in part to remote meetings. When a face-to-face meeting is necessary, the company’s travel website recommends the lowest-carbon option, such as replacing a domestic flight with a train journey.
Sarah Davidson, technical director at Bureau Veritas, said being green also saves money in subtle ways: “As well as direct cost saving, there is an impact on staff recruitment and retention. Maintaining staff morale can be difficult at times like this. If you are engaging staff through environmental initiatives of concern to them, it shows them that management is listening.”
A firm is also less likely to run into regulatory problems if it engages in the Best Green Companies process, said Davidson. After publication of the results, firms receive feedback from Bureau Veritas and marketresearch group Munro Global, which benchmarks companies’ performance against businesses similar in size and environmental impact.
“The feedback from the judges was useful — we were pulled up on our lack of environmental training for employees and are now rectifying this in readiness for next year’s entry,” said Kitty Corrigan, deputy editor of Country Living Magazine at the National Magazine Company.
Since being ranked 10th in the Green List, Natmags has been contacted by several companies seeking advice on improving environmental performance. One initiative paying dividends is the installation of Dyson Airblade hand-dryers in the lavatories. These super-efficient dryers cost the firm £12,000, but cut the annual spend on paper towels and tissues from £30,000 to £9,000.
Managing director of our Best Green Company, Atkinson can see no downside to improving his company’s environmental performance. “There’s no excuse not to do these things if they are saving money and being green,” he said. “It’s a double whammy if you’re saving money and satisfying the green consumer.”