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Jamie Craddock, Customer Support Team Leader, explores how we tailor our service across the private sector. The result: more organisations can make visible commitments to sustainability more easily than ever.
Being one of the first to join Green Mark, fresh from an environmental engineering master’s, gives me quite a perspective. I came in with an academic technical background, and ended up leading the customer support team for nearly four years. Straddling scientific knowledge and people skills, it’s been fascinating to see how we’ve grown.
In fact, that fusion of academia and practicality perfectly captures the whole Green Mark journey so far. We’re helping ambitious people put sustainability into action, people on both sides of the public-private sector divide. Our core methodology has evolved to satisfy both. Their respective drivers, however, are what stand out to me.
What’s pushing private-sector organisations to take environmental responsibility? How can we as providers adapt to ensure any stakeholder from any sector feels like their unique objectives are met?
Two routes along the same valuable journey
From experience, we see that the public sector is led by legislation. Elements like the Care Quality Commission (CQC) framework, for example, push care organisations towards better understanding of their environmental impacts. Then there’s measures like PPN 06/21 affecting any procurement contract over £10,000, obviously a major consideration.
Meanwhile, in the private sector, businesses are largely trying to get the same kind of accreditation. Their motivators, however, are more often financial. Investors like to see sustainability credentials as a sign that an investment prospect is truly futureproof. There are also, of course, potentially significant cost savings that come with energy efficiency. Business owners are keen to capture those.
Pressure to go sustainable comes from a surprising number of directions in the private sector. There’s internal stakeholder pressure, as well as that from investors and consumers. Businesses renting shared office space want to know the building’s whole supply chain is up to standard. Sustainability is on everyone’s radar.
In both sectors’ cases, Green Mark has been developed as an appealing alternative to something like an ISO14001. Yes, it’s competitively priced in comparison, but that’s not the core of the offer. As I see it, the real value lies in the level expertise we can bring to a business, more or less immediately.
Private sector organisations can skip hiring or training their own in-house sustainability experts from scratch. They get a faster understanding of their current environmental impact.
We guide them more efficiently towards planning the best next steps. And all this developed and delivered to satisfy their sector-specific drivers.
Taking Edwin Coe from baseline to sustainability champ
Seeing organisations make tangible progress in good time is one of the most satisfying elements of the job. We recently provided Green Mark accreditation for both of Edwin Coe LLP’s London offices. This stands out as a strong example of how we work.
In the beginning, Edwin Coe knew they wanted to make a positive difference while cutting some operational costs. They didn’t know exactly how or where to start. We helped them implement new processes and improve their documentation, right up to Green Mark level three.
Using that as a springboard, they went on to achieve B Corp certification soon after. They also cut their energy costs by up to 30%. Measures like phasing out old storage heaters, putting in new lights, and swapping to LEDs had a significant combined effect.
All this goes a long way towards satisfying corporate responsibility goals, which brings its own reputational rewards. We’ve developed our service around taking businesses from relatively little sustainability background to environmental champion status.
Any organisation can start embracing sustainability
What would I say to an organisation looking to get started on their own sustainability journey? It can absolutely feel overwhelming, but there are processes that exist to make it easier. Start by familiarising yourself with the language: What does carbon tracking mean? What are the different types of emissions?
Armed with that understanding, you can start to get a feel for your sites’ sustainability performance and environmental impact. You can likely make improvements in areas like utilities, waste, packaging, and business travel without any help.
From there, we can help you fine-tune your approach to sustainability and fully align with best practice. There’s no rigid timeline for this, it naturally takes longer for some organisations to reach Green Mark level three than others. Some deliberately stay at levels one or two, depending on what they need to achieve in practice.
Sustainability accreditation will continue to grow and evolve. We’ve introduced elements over the years like carbon tracking, the pledge system, and baseline measurement. What’s important is that accreditation grows around the immediate needs of people, giving a human face to new academic understandings.
For me, it’s immensely satisfying to see organisations using our advice to thrive. Green Mark clients grow, both domestically and internationally. One client is now active from Houston to Dubai; hearing our input echoed worldwide is a truly great feeling. It keeps me focused on what matters: Maintaining strong relationships based on consistently great service, so our insights can keep reaching all types of organisations.
Ready to make sustainability work for your business?
Whether you’re driven by cost savings, investor expectations, or corporate responsibility, now is the time to embrace sustainability. At Green Mark, we make the journey simple, efficient, and tailored to your unique objectives. Start your sustainability journey with confidence — together we can take your organisation from baseline to environmental champion.
Get in touch with Green Mark today and take the first step toward meaningful, visible sustainability.
