Businesses now adopt a greener work model
Apr 22 2008 By The Journal
DESPITE the traditional image of factories and power stations causing untold damage to the environment, a look around the North East’s business landscape reveals a number of projects aimed at creating a greener future.
Adopting a green business agenda can deliver the double whammy of doing well and doing good and businesses are now competing on their green credentials and their plans to be carbon neutral.
With the help of key developments such as the wind and solar-powered Green Business Park in Jarrow, an increasing number of key players in the North East’s economy are beginning to consider sustainable development as a key ingredient to their business model.
For example, large construction firms such as Esh Group and Surgo are now eager to increase the use of renewable materials in their builds and realise that they must play a part in the green economy if they are to sustain future profits and service their more environmentally-conscious clients and customers.
There are a number of schemes in the region that are helping to foster this greener attitude within the local business community, including some from One NorthEast.
The regional development agency’s North East Productivity Alliance (NEPA), which for four years has worked to improve the performance of the North East’s manufacturing industry by focusing on waste reduction, has recently added a Energy Resource Efficiency (ERE) strand to its many activities.
More than 80 firms are already working with One NorthEast as part of the project, which has £5m set aside to help local businesses tackle the serious issue of rising energy costs and enable them to play their part in reducing the region’s carbon footprint. One firm that is benefiting from the project is Hartlepool-based Corus Tubes Energy Business. John Joyce, works engineer at the firm, said: “By improving energy efficiency, we are not only reducing our energy cost, which enables the company to be even more competitive, we are also helping protect the environment.
“This can only help us in our drive to improve our competitiveness, win more orders, secure more jobs and increase profitability. The encouraging results and invaluable advice and support from ERE throughout this programme will strengthen our long and successful track record as one of the world’s leading pipe suppliers to the onshore and offshore industry.”
Some of the region’s larger companies have also been quick to pledge their support for a carbon-free economy. One example is Northumbrian Water’s decision to employ its first climate change manager in the shape of David Chapman.
He has already introduced ways to cut the firm’s carbon output and reduce its energy use and is currently collecting and collating weather data to come up with other measures.
He said: “It’s crucial we engage with people right across the business and change their way of thinking. It’s the same with the whole environmental issue. A few years ago only a few people would bother to recycle glass bottles. Now we have bottle banks all over the place and huge numbers of people are recycling – it’s become a habit.
“The initiatives we have introduced to our offices and transport network can all contribute. And hopefully people will carry that over into their personal lives – it’s about all of us becoming more aware.”
There are simple measures that smaller firms can take to commit themselves to the green cause, such as putting more thought into what its fleet vehicles are. Senior staff at Newcastle-based architecture firm _space recently made the decision to swap their gas-guzzling family saloon cars for more eco-friendly models such as the Toyota Aygo and Prius.
Andy Roberts, managing director at the firm, said: “We believe we are one of the first businesses to encourage eco-friendly cars at a senior level and hope other business leaders will follow suit by opting for cars that don’t cost the earth.”
With more and more North East businesses eager to prove their green credentials, the future now looks green for the region.
