A new chapter beckons for the West of England’s #SMEs and start up businesses, as a major #sustainability project, inspired by #TheEdenProject, officially launches with strong support from the government.
The #PlanetMark, which has reached over one million employees nationwide, enabling them to save over 14 tonnes of #CO2 emissions annually and thousands on their energy bills, launches The Planet Mark Start! at a high profile event on 16 May 2019. The key note speaker is Right Honourable Claire Perry MP, the government’s minister of state for energy and clean growth.
The Planet Mark Start! is a free sustainability programme, specifically for businesses in the West of England, which provides advice and guidance about how SMEs and start ups can reduce their carbon emissions, cut energy bills and become environmentally sustainable. After taking local action to enhance their sustainability, companies are awarded formal accreditation that demonstrates their commitment to taking global climate action to suppliers and customers.
Mike Harris, project manager for The Planet Mark Start!, said: ‘Eighty-one percent of customers want to buy from an environmentally focused company. Business sustainability is a global issue that must be tackled locally. We welcome the fact that the government shares our values on business sustainability and is willing to play their part by helping to turbocharge our profile in the West of England.
‘Planet Mark accredited organisations achieve outstanding results and cut their carbon emissions by 12% per employee per year on average. Our team is here to provide businesses with the tools, resources and above all, the inspiration, to act. Adopting sustainable behaviour is good for business and we look forward to welcoming the West of England’s SMEs and start ups to this event.’
One of The Planet Mark Start’s biggest success stories is the Young Entrepreneurs Network Association (YENA), a Bristol based online platform and acceleration community for start ups. Ash Phillips, the company’s founder, said: ‘We believe that any business – for profit, or not – should care deeply about the impact it has on the world. We refuse to run a business that has a net loss on the environment and the people within it.
‘Becoming The Planet Mark Start! accredited was a natural choice for us. The ability to know, and show, that we are doing good as a by-product of the work we are doing, helping with reforestation and lowering emissions by operating in a lean way, sets a standard not only for our future as a company and our peers, but also the hundreds of start-ups in our community at YENA.’
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