Two Very Different Roads to Sustainability

An industrial warehouse in Newport and Cheltenham Racecourse might not be the first two places that spring to mind for feeling reinvigorated about the business sustainability agenda but, for me, they were. The cause was two dynamic women entrepreneurs who have created successful, fast growing businesses that are seeking to place sustainability at their core.��

Creating a sustainable business

Their stories are interesting for a number of reasons. They are not the ?usual suspects? that people mention when talking about how sustainability integrates with successful businesses. They are both in massively competitive and highly challenging business sectors, and have limited resource to put towards the sustainability agenda. They both show how, once leaders understand and are gripped by a topic, they have a transformational impact on business. Finally, they demonstrate that there are different routes to creating a sustainable business.��

If you ever want to prove that sustainability and business success can go hand-in-hand look no further than Commercial Group. The company operates in the highly competitive office solutions space, where margins are tight and sales and customer relations are key.

Last year the company financially out-performed their market in every sector where they operate. At the same time they decoupled carbon emissions from growth, achieving an amazing cut in emissions of over 50%.

The co-founder of Commercial Group is Simone Hindmarch, a woman who has a strange definition of ?just one last glass of wine? but who has clearly embedded into the �29 million company a set of values, commitment and energy that is infectious.

Business success

Her transformational moment was an invitation from Sky to see Al Gore present the Inconvenient Truth slideshow. She told me that she went into the event thinking that she was running a highly successful business, and came out realising the opposite.

The Bentley on which her deposit had already been paid remained uncollected, and instead she persuaded a bemused board that a new agenda of sustainability would be core to the business.

Simone admitted that she had no idea what that really meant at the beginning, or where the journey would lead, but from what I saw of the company it has been transformational and integral to her business?s success.��

Most importantly, employees are engaged and motivated by the sustainability agenda. I particularly liked their internal Green Angels campaign where the Angels are encouraged to ?pass their wings onto others? to spread sustainability through the company.

The concentration on resource efficiency has enabled the company to be highly cost efficient which has given it a competitive edge during tight financial times. The agenda has clearly captured Simone?s imagination and has provided an even greater source of energy and creativity within the business.�

Finally, it has enabled the company to open up new routes of communications with customers and potential customers.� A good example of this was their CSR event at Cheltenham Racecourse where I was invited to speak along with the wonderful wildcard that is Franny Armstrong, Founder of 10:10. Over 200 companies attended, enabling Commercial to talk about their services and demonstrate their continuing commitment to the agenda, which included testing a new hydrogen-fuelled delivery van.�����

A different approach

The following day, Laura Tenison (pictured) founder of JoJo Maman Bebe and Business Woman of the Year in 2010 took me to her distribution warehouse in Newport. JoJo is a rapidly expanding retail chain selling maternity, baby and children?s clothing.

Like Commercial Group, margins are tight and the trading environment not easy. Despite these pressures Laura is clearly determined to run a business that ?does the right thing."

Laura has approached the sustainability debate from a different angle. Core to her principles are a commitment to her South Wales roots and a determination to provide secure work for her employees in an area suffering economic challenges. From these core principles the business is gradually embedding sound environmental practices. A particular emphasis has been on seeking to create closed loop solutions including the use of recycled fibres in clothing, re-using materials in store refurbishment and an exciting new customer initiative that will be launched in the near future.

In talking to employees at the warehouse, there is clearly a sense of community and commitment to the work of the company. This is largely engendered by Laura?s passion and commitment, much like Commercial Group.

Unlike Commercial though, JoJo is taking a softly, softly approach to its environmental communications preferring to gradually seek to do the right thing and only to highlight this when they feel it?s appropriate.

Sitting on the train back to London, it was interesting to compare the different approach and styles taken by both companies but what shone through was that they were both being lead by women who have a passion, integrity and level of energy that is truly inspiring.

This is a guest post by Trewin Restorick, who has been part of the Environmental Sector for 20 years. He is Founder & CEO of environmental charity Global Action Plan, one of Al Gore's UK climate change ambassadors & regular commentator on environmental issues. You can find Trewin on Twitter @TrewinR.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2011/06/21/two-very-different-roads-sustainability

Freida Pinto Aki Ross Ana Ivanovi Sarah Polley Jennifer Aniston