Business sustainability: shifting from good to great

Sustainability can relate to the impact your business has on the world around us and also whether it demonstrates corporate responsibility in the way it treats its people. How you do business has now been brought into focus, writes Ben Loveday, Managing Partner, Haines Watts Reading.

Going greener

Business owners with corporate responsibility on their agenda have been considering their environmental impact for some time now, but it is clearly easier for some sectors than others. 

Some industries have greater challenges than others in terms of environmental impact as they naturally deal with more resources and waste. However, even in these industries, there are lessons to be learnt and ways of being more efficient and responsible. For example, Waitrose has pledged that all their operational waste will be diverted from landfill by 2021. Their KPI of 99.8% indicates that they are almost at that goal.

Technology paving the way

There is exciting technology arriving and being developed every day which can help protect our natural resources. Indeed, some of this technology has leapt forward during the global pandemic. The adoption of technology that might have otherwise taken longer to become generally accepted by all is now becoming a necessity. 

From talking to business owners in recent times, it seems more important than ever for people to feel proud of the businesses they work for (or manage) and to believe they are doing business in a responsible way. 

A clear value proposition

When pitching for some new work or having a new business meeting, it is becoming more important to be able to talk about your green credentials and the way you look after your people in a credible way. 

When considering how responsible you are as a business, it’s not just how you run your own business that you need to consider but also those that you’re associated with. A supply chain audit can be a valuable process to undertake. It can be easy to suffer reputational damage by working with a business that has been exposed for bad working practices or culture.

If you want to talk more about building sustainability in your business, get in touch.

0118 9584111 • [email protected]