Greening business

Green business is not only good for the environment, but helps create profit through reducing waste and resource use, growing customer relations and staff enthusiasm. Learn how to implement the Greenest County agenda as a positive commercial move within business – covering creating a sustainability strategy, achieving staff buy-in, waste reduction, procurement and sourcing, energy use, community relations and marketing your green credentials.

You can watch the full session by clicking on this link

Altenatively you can download the presentation of selected people by clicking on their names below

Peter Gudde (chair)
CRed Suffolk business adviser

Peter co-leads the CRed Suffolk Climate Change Partnership, which includes all local authorities in Suffolk and other partners including the Energy Saving Trust and Environmental Agency. He is the Environmental Management Officer for St Edmundsbury Borough Council and manages the Council’s team regulating Industrial Pollution and contaminated land. He also has responsibility for the Council’s response to the Sustainability and Climate Change agendas. Peter has been on the steering Committee of West Suffolk Green Business Forum for the last five years. Prior to joining the Council in 1994, Peter worked in environmental consultancy and landfill management. Peter is a Chartered Environmentalist and member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, a member of the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management and a Principal Environmental Auditor with the Environmental Auditors Registration Association.

Simon Loftus
Non-executive director and former chairman of Adnams plc, winners of the Carbon Trust’s national Innovation Awards

Simon has lived in Suffolk all his life, apart from his education in Yorkshire and Cambridge, and a year spent backpacking around the world. His commitment to local environmental issues evolved during his time at Adnams, particularly during the ten years that he spent as Chairman. During this time, the team was able to change the ways that the Company worked and thought about the world, developing a values-based approach to business, with particular emphasis on social and environmental engagement. Adnams also managed to demonstrate that such an approach can deliver superior business results, and built a highly distinctive brand, with national reach. Simon is currently engaged in local regeneration as a Director of 1st East (the urban regeneration company for Lowestoft & Yarmouth) and in the arts, as Member of the Council of Aldeburgh Music. He continues to serve as a non-executive Director of Adnams, and of another regional business with strong social values, the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society.

Juliet Hawkins
Owner of The Hall in Milden and farm conservation adviser

Juliet Hawkins has worked as a farm conservation adviser for over 20 years, formerly with Suffolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and more recently with Suffolk Wildlife Trust and independently; and also edits environmental publications and teaches natural history in schools. With her farmer husband, Juliet hosts school-farm visits, runs an award-winning Wildlife Watch group for children and runs an environmentally friendly farm b&b and barn self-catering enterprise.

Jonathan Thompson
Environment Agency business adviser

Jonathan has worked as an Environmental Regulator for 18 years, initially with the National Rivers Authority and then the Environment Agency. He has worked as a pollution control officer, hazardous waste officer, contaminated land officer and latterly as team leader for both groundwater and water resources teams. Currently he is team leader for the Agency’s South Suffolk Environment Management team dealing with the regulation of waste, hazardous waste and water quality issues in South Suffolk. Jonathan’s areas of interest are how predicted changes for water resources and flooding could impact on businesses, given current predictions are that there will be climatic changes resulting in potential increases in flooding and also droughts. In this session he will address how businesses can prepare for this and also reduce their impact.