The Business Commitment to the Environment (BCE) Environmental Leadership Awards scheme is the longest running, and one of the most prestigious, environmental award schemes in the UK.

The BCE Awards are sponsored by businesses for business, and are given to companies that the judges recognise as meeting the commercial demands of the present, without compromising the environment for future generations. The BCE Awards aim to provide a unique opportunity for any business to demonstrate clearly that corporate responsibility is an integral part of their organisation, they are innovative and are ahead of the competition.

We entered the awards as a means of pitting ourselves against the very best businesses in the country. Those that are on the frontline of responsible, sustainable, ethical business. The process was gruelling. After a lengthy application form was submitted we were delighted to hear we had made the next stage. A visit from a senior environmental consultant, (part of the judging process) ensured we weren’t all talk and we were delighted to show him round our premises and talk about the very many processes we have in place to minimise the impact the business has on the environment. These include anything from meticulously segregating and then weighing the recylable, compostable and landfill waste we produce to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep what we send to landfill to an absolute minimum (which by the way is less than what an average family household produces. Other measures include running our delivery vehicles on Biodiesel made locally in part from waste vegetable oil we collect from restaurants we supply, and growing or foraging for as much of our ingredients as possible, and limiting the rest of our sourcing to within a 40-mile radius.

The event was fantastic, with awards and commendations presented by the sustainability goliath that is Sir Stuart Rose, who had this to say:

“I’ve been very impressed with the quality of this year’s BCE Award winners and commend them for their commitment to the environment, particularly in the face of such challenging economic conditions. They’ve really set the bar for other companies. I know from my own experiences at Marks & Spencer that businesses need to display qualities of leadership, innovation and excellence to succeed with sustainability initiatives. These demanding attributes are also required to win a prestigious BCE Award and all the winners deserve enormous credit.”

We were delighted to be a finalist in these awards, pitting giants like Sony, BAE and Sharp to the post, and were even more delighted to be awarded a Major Commendation, which I collected from Sir Stuart Rose himself.

You can see the short video we produced for the awards by clicking here.

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