ITC Concepts

ITC Concepts services cover refurbishment, fitting out, new build and maintenance projects, predominantly serving clients in London and the South East. The business was established in June 1992 and employs 42 staff at their head office with a turnover of just over £20m. 2010 has been a prestigious year for ITC Concepts and at the 2010 South London Business Awards, ITC Concepts scooped the award for ‘Most Sustainable Business’ whilst also winning the Green Guardian’s ‘Best Green Business 2010’ Award. ITC were also justifiably proud to receive the Envibe Gold Award in February.

ITC Concepts endeavours to achieve best practice in their day to day activities, whilst striving to minimise the impact on the local community in order to sustain the environment as a whole. Following an Envibe environmental review they began working closely with ENVIBE in January 2006. ITC Concepts took part in the ENVIBE challenge which saw the business embed environmental best practice through their environmental policy and action plan, which delegates environmental responsibilities, ensures compliance with legislative requirements, and sets targets for environmental improvements year on year.

ITC Concepts created a ‘Green Team’ from the various disciplines within the organisation including Managing Director, Ian Conway. Through Ian’s leadership and the regular Green Team meetings ITC Concepts ensures that they remain focused on their corporate social responsibilities throughout their working practices with continual environmental performance improvement a priority. Staff have embraced this commitment as a result of the on-going direction they receive from the Green Team who raise staff awareness through regular campaigns and forums. Supporting the environmental message, all new employees are presented with a young tree, sowing the environmental seed in their mind from the very first day. Their commitment does not stop within the workplace. Staff have taken part in internal competitions encouraging them to implement green initiatives at home. Further to this, ITC Concepts have always and continue to strive to contribute to the local community through charity support.

In addition to staff motivation benefits, ITC Concepts have actively sought and achieved resource efficiency which has brought financial benefits. Through the simple, no or low cost methods identified below, ITC Concepts reduced paper consumption from 25 reams of paper per employee per year in 2006, to currently just under 3 reams per employee. These actions, along with others, has saved the business over £24,000:

• Printing double sided
• Recycling paper, card and ink cartridges
• Increased use of electronic communication
• Tenders sent in electronic format
• Using scrap paper as note pads
• Bespoke email address for specifications to be sent
• Screen in training room as alternative to using paper for minutes and agendas
• Electronic archiving system, Zylab

Their recycling initially started with paper and card within their office but this now includes plastic and glass and their waste management programme has been extended to all their project sites, which taking into account these are building sites, has required in-depth logistical planning and management. The recycling rates at their project sites now stand at an impressive 99%.

By reducing their use of electricity and water ITC Concepts have achieved a tremendous savings total of £76,000 since 2005. Some of these energy and water saving initiatives include:

• Locating and monitoring of utilities meters
• Turning off PC’s, photocopiers, printers, and lights at night
• Turning off boilers over the weekend
• Internal and external timed lighting
• All high level, low voltage lighting in the office corridor replaced with low energy LED lighting
• Office heating reduce by 1 degree
• Water saving devices in washrooms
• A procedure is in place for reporting leaks
• Time adjusted flushes in urinals

ITC Concepts are currently working with Envibe to further develop their Workplace Travel Plan which will also identified reductions in carbon emissions and financial savings, with staff attending a Driver Training course which can lead to a 20% saving in fuel. They have policies in place to ensure staff use public transport when travelling to London and a car sharing scheme is in place for staff commuting and travelling to meetings off site where it is not practical to use public transport. They have also installed video conferencing to assist communication with project sites and to reduce the need for some site travel. To date, ITC Concepts made a 36.55% saving in the use of petrol and 28.39% saving in the use of diesel.

ITC Concepts are currently investigating the purchase of materials from recycled, recyclable, renewable and/or sustainable resources and have implemented a policy to ensure, unless otherwise instructed, all wood will be purchased from sustainable sources. Furthermore, ITC are striving to ensure all purchases are made through local companies to reduce transport costs and the effects on the environment.

ITC Concepts have recently attained the ISO 14001 certification and continue to develop their environmental activity through the support of Envibe and the European Funded Project, Inspire South London. They are looking to continue to save money and improve their corporate image, giving them a competitive edge, while contributing towards their corporate social responsibility. Through their external projects, ITC Concepts are pioneering to change the face of the construction industry which is often perceived as inconsiderate of the impacts it has on the environment.

“In 2005 ITC Concepts made a conscious decision to be pro-active with regard to its environmental responsibilities by seeking ways to reduce any negative impact on the environment and introduce measures to protect and enhance it. However, with little experience in this area, as a company we needed some assistance. All of our initiatives have been borne out of or come directly from our relationship with Envibe, and the fantastic support and guidance they continually and unstintingly gave.

In monetary terms our environmental drive has cost us very little but has saved us a great deal in financial terms. It has also provided a valuable marketing opportunity for the company; as along with the environmental awards and achievements, ITC can truly claim to have undergone a change in attitude in its policies and in its staff. Envibe has played a key part in these environmental achievements; thank you”.

Ian Conway, Managing Director, ITC Concepts

Euro-Tech (Export) Limited, Purley Way, Croydon

Eurotech Export Ltd is a distributor of electronic and associated components based in Croydon. Lynn Wake, Quality & Personnel Manager of Eurotech, has worked for the business for 22 years. Eurotech have taken steps to become more energy and water efficient, saving the business resources and money. Eurotech have fitted intelligent plugs which ensures that all individual workstations are turned off at night and not left on standby - when computers are turned off, power is automatically switched off from the peripherals so saving energy. They’ve also installed “save-a-flushes” into the toilet cisterns to reduce water consumption and are looking at putting ‘presence detectors’ into the kitchen and toilets to control the lighting in areas of low usage.

In addition to the practical quick wins, Eurotech have also received a free Workplace Travel Plan and transport advice from Envibe, which is getting the business on track, helping them improve their transport solutions with greener and cheaper tailor made solutions. Feeling inspired and creating a healthier, happier workforce, Eurotech installed a shower which has encouraged staff to cycling to/from work.

All of these activities have enabled Eurotech to step up to the Envibe Silver Award in 2010.

Chequers Contract Services Ltd.

Chequers Contract Services Ltd is local cleaning company servicing schools, housing associations and commercial businesses in and around the South London area, including local Croydon businesses. Set up in 1987 by two brothers Gary and Paul Jeal, the company has recently celebrated 23 years of successful trading. The company employs over 420 staff (full and part time) and their turnover is £6.5 million. Commitment to sustainability encompasses their core values as they endeavour to tackle the social, economic and environmental impact of their business. This approach sees them recruiting their employees locally, supporting local charities and more recently have becoming involved in supporting local schools in their own environmental projects, and they strive to reduce their own environmental impact. This approach has seen them win the Envibe gold award for two consecutive years and the South London Business ‘Best Business for Sustainability’ 2009 award. Further to this, their commitment has been endorsed through their certification of BS EN ISO 14001:2004, which sees the business continually verified and assessed to its requirements. With the environmental standard, ISO14001 and ISO9001, Chequers are leading the way in the cleaning industry. During 2010, Chequers also won the Green Apple Award and were runners up in the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code Awards for “best newcomer”. This year has also seen Chequers shortlisted by TfL for the best workplace travel plan with a National Blue Chip company taking first place.

Chequers commitment to the environment was first recognised in 2007 when they began working with ENVIBE and successfully achieving their bronze award. To attain their Silver award Chequers received a free business review of their operations. Kate Ward, Director, indicated that the review was ‘a real eye opener’. Kate herself took on the task of implementing the resulting actions, as she felt a responsibility for making a difference. The business now has an environmental policy in place ensuring that all staff are aware of this environmental commitment and the underlying environmental activity. This has seen staff morale and motivation regarding environmental initiatives improve significantly.

The simple, no cost environmental actions recommended by ENVIBE have produced resource efficiency savings and as a result gas consumption has decreased by 12.6% and electricity by 15.4%. Some of the steps taken have included:

• Turning off lights and removing unnecessary light bulbs.
• Switching off computers, monitors, photocopiers and office electronic equipment at night and when not in use. This along with their ‘light out’ policy above saved £2,304 per annum.
• Setting timers and temperature controls to control heating and hot water. Lowering the hot water temperature has saved approximately £1,262 per annum.
• Refilling ink jet cartridges resulting in a saving of approx £206 per annum. Purchasing efficient toner saved £48 per annum.
• Purchasing recycled copier paper and using less paper through duplex printing and scrap paper for notebooks and office messages etc.
• Free collection of recycled waste paper. The combination of the above paper saving measures saved £1,056 per annum.
• Installing ‘save-a-flush’ in all 6 toilet cisterns on site. This has saved the water use in the cistern by 60 litres per day and 15,600 litres per annum.
• Considerable fuel saving through switching to hybrid vehicles at vehicle renewal has led to a 7% reduction in petrol and diesel consumption.

Once efficiencies across waste, energy and water had been identified and actions implemented, Chequers produced their first sustainable travel plan, which has seen changes in staff travel habits. Vehicles with full satellite tracking systems have been fitted and managers now check on a weekly basis that drivers have not exceeded speed restrictions keeping them at the required fuel efficiency speeds.

Not only has Chequers reduced costs through improved environmental performance but going green has put Chequers in the running for more contract tenders, it has given them a competitive edge as they are recognised as a sustainable business.

Chequers have also benefited from the networking opportunities that ENVIBE offers and the opportunities this has created to enhance local business opportunities which has been enabled through ENVIBE’s regular events.

Kate comments: “The events are always well organised, interesting and professional. Attended by a wide range of organisations, they are a great opportunity to share ideas with other companies providing valuable knowledge, whilst at the same time allowing the company to obtain new business referrals”.

Chequer’s is part of a hub of ENVIBE businesses that are all proud of what they do. It has resulted in friendly competition and collaboration between the businesses as well as providing an opportunity for local trading. Chequers use other award winning ENVIBE local businesses to purchase materials and equipment, including Futures Supplies and Support Services and The Green Desk.

Chequers are continually improving their environmental performance and are currently looking to change their factory lighting to more efficient systems. In addition they are investigating how their builders can dispose of their waste more effectively. They have received additional support through European Funding which is allowing the business to further improve their environmental performance.

“It was our mission to supply an environmentally sustainable service and through working closely with ENVIBE, this has been achieved.

From the very first meeting and a visit to our offices, our relationship with ENVIBE and environmental work commenced. We instantly saw positive improvements to our environmental performance, whilst at the same time have also been able to make substantial financial savings.

The service, support and guidance offered by ENVIBE is first class and as a free advisory service, I am pleased that we are in partnership with them. We continue to work with ENVIBE and, as a team, they have made it possible for us to consistently improve and deliver a high quality environmentally sensitive cleaning service.”

Kate Ward, Director, Chequers Contract Services Ltd