On Tuesday 12th November we welcomed 30 local businesses owners, managers, and interested parties, to our Doing Business Sustainably event at The Flowerpots Inn in Cheriton.
The two talks were kicked off by Dave Annette from local ethical bee farmers Honey Bee Happy. He explained how their entire business has sustainability at its heart: ensuring that the bees are well cared for and only the excess honey produced is taken from their hives. Dave and Rachel consider themselves guardians or custodians of their bees, considerately harvesting the honey, wax and propolis they produce.
Honey Bee Happy are pursuing sustainability in other ways too. They support two charities, Hart Wildlife Rescue in Medstead (to whom they gift 50p from every jar of honey sold), and international charity Plantlife, whose aim is to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. They also give a great deal of thought to the materials they use. Their hives are built using comparatively expensive but much more long-lasting red cedarwood, and their produce is packaged almost completely plastic-free. Soon their items will be entirely plastic-free. They are constantly reassessing and looking for better solutions.
Their business, similar to any relying on a natural product, is directly affected by our changing climate and weather patterns. Due to warm temperatures this autumn, instead of taking a rest from reproduction, the queen bees are continuing to breed now. This means that the devastating varroa mite, which predates on bee larvae, continues to feed and thrive – and will potentially destroy otherwise healthy hives.
After a short break, Adam Holden from the oldest English wine institution Berry Bros and Rudd spoke to us about a very different type of business. Berry Bros and Rudd turns over £250M per year and employs 420 people mostly in the UK, but additionally in the Far East. The company has recently purchased the Hambledon Vineyard in a joint venture with the Symington Family Estate, and their intention is for it ultimately to set the benchmark for sustainable wine production in the UK.
The Chair of the company, Lizzy Rudd, is committed to protecting the environment and to creating a positive legacy. The company is a founder-member of the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, an organisation focused on building awareness and knowledge around nature enhancing methods of farming grapes. Berry Bros and Rudd is keen to focus on the aspects of their business they can influence. For transportation within the UK, they have moved their fleet of vehicles to 40% electric, and are using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) to fuel the remaining diesel vehicles which are still needed for their range. HVO is purchased by the tank load, so for smaller businesses this might be something that could be addressed at a group, community level.
They work to highlight the link between better viticulture practices and better taste, and make the case for the use of natural cork, without dictating or preaching to their customers or their valued producer partners, many of whom are setting leading examples themselves.
Berry Bros and Rudd have solar panels on their premises in Basingstoke and Andover, generating their own energy. Their entire energy supply comes from 100% certified renewable sources. Their aim is to reduce their total emissions by 25% by 2030. They would like to be able to go further and faster, but this is a realistic (if challenging) goal. They have been using the B Impact Assessment as a blueprint to guide sustainable choices across all areas of responsible business and have found it to be an extremely valuable tool.
Adam concluded his talk by pointing to some useful resources. He recommended the UK Business Climate Hub for free online carbon footprint calculations, the Department of Social and Economic Affairs’ Sustainable Development Goals to help you work out where you can have a positive impact, the Carbon Literacy Project which offers everyone a days worth of learning, Community Energy South and more locally Energise South Downs for community energy projects and support, and People Planet Pint for networking opportunities.
New Leaf would like to thank Dave and Rachel Annette, Adam Holden, attendees, and The Flowerpots Inn’s generous offer of their lovely Barn, for making the second of our sustainability in business events a success.
Our thanks to Anthony Oxley for photographs.
