Newcastle sustainability consultancy ‘going for green growth’ with NEL investment

A North East climate change leader is looking to secure sustainable growth for his business with the help of a five-figure investment from the North East Small Loan Fund Supported by The European Regional Development Fund.

James Staniforth set up Sustainable Business Services two and a half years ago to help public and private sector clients identify practical ways to reduce their environmental impact, adopt more sustainable ways of working and make more cost-effective use of the resources they utilise.

Headquartered in Newcastle and with a second office in York, the business has built up a growing regional client base which includes AV Dawson, Katmex, and Cleardata, while it also works in partnership with the Business & IP Centre North East and the North of Tyne Combined Authority to provide funded net-zero support to regional businesses.

The SBS management team is now looking to use the £10k Small Loan Fund investment, which was obtained through regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers, to build his team of sustainability consultants and take on more clients right across the UK to drive net-zero actions.

The investment has been made as part of NEL’s Net Zero Changemakers programme, which is designed to identify and support innovative businesses across the North East Local Enterprise Partnership area who are creating or adapting products, services or processes as part of the region’s low carbon agenda.

Sustainable Business Services’ structured Net-Zero Programme enables businesses to set a credible net-zero strategy which are aligned to internationally recognised standards, including the PAS 2060 carbon neutrality standard, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the United Nations’ Race to Zero Campaign.

Alongside its core services, it also helps clients manage and procure renewable energy and water contracts, supporting their drive to use and spend less.

James Staniforth commented: “A commitment to sustainable business practices has become a mainstream part of the public and private sectors’ ways of working in recent years, to the point that many large businesses won’t allow supply chain companies to bid for work from them without knowing what they’re doing to mitigate their environmental impact.

“It’s easy to generate lots of data around this important issue, but without human insight into what it means on a practical basis and how it can be utilised to make positive changes to an organisation’s ways of working, it can essentially be meaningless.

“Adopting sustainable business practices can go hand-in-hand with commercial growth and we’ve seen lots of clients securing cost and revenue benefits alongside the environmental improvements that we’re helping to deliver.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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