Hub client wins prestigious environmental award
25 February 2021
Crystal Doors, a Rochdale manufacturer that has been working with the Hub’s Resource Efficiency Service since 2015 to become carbon neutral, has won a major national award for its efforts.
Crystal Doors was named Small Business of the Year at the 2021 edie Sustainability Leadership Awards, the UK’s largest corporate sustainability awards scheme.
The award recognised Crystal Doors’ radical approach to reducing emissions from its factory, which is now among the most energy-efficient non-domestic buildings in the country and produces around three times as much energy as it imports from the grid.
Having reduced its own carbon footprint by around 75 per cent since 2015, the company is on track to achieve complete carbon neutrality across its entire value chain by 2022. The progress was described by judges as a “shining example of what’s possible for all SMEs”.
The Hub’s specialist Resource Efficiency advisors have provided advice and guidance at key junctures during Crystal Doors’ journey, including the original on-site audit in 2015 that identified many of the measures that the company has invested in since.
Commenting on the award win, Managing Director Richard Hagan praised the impact of the Hub’s support on his business. “The Hub were the springboard for so much of what we’ve achieved,” he said.
“Our drive to become the UK’s greenest manufacturer started back in 2015 after air quality concerns were putting the business at risk. I received a 26-point environment plan from the Hub, which I started ticking off one-by-one and kept building from there.
“Having a specialist advisor on hand to educate and guide me through the process has been crucial. The Hub also connected me with Perfect Sense Energy on their Low Carbon Network, who installed our LED lighting and rooftop solar PV.
“Now I’m in a position where I’m inundated with questions from other organisations wanting to follow in our footsteps. Scientists have shown that we are only a few years of inaction away from Earth’s tipping point to climate disaster. Winning this award shows that any SME can adapt within years and race to net zero when they put their hearts and minds to it.”
Resource Efficiency Advisor Rebecca Chedd, who has been supporting Crystal Doors in recent years, said: “Working with Crystal Doors towards their carbon neutral goal has been one of our biggest success stories. They’re without doubt one of the most ambitious companies I’ve come across, and we regularly point to them as an example of best practice in Greater Manchester.”