‘It's about doing the right thing’: Why John Rastrick left a 20 year career in private equity to launch carbon accounting firm Flotilla

The idea for a company first took shape during the pandemic, when, during lockdown, Rastrick would take walks with two of his long-time friends, Mark Woodward, CEO of a software business, and expert marketeer Anthony Bagshaw, who had worked with businesses including the PostCode Lottery.

“During covid, the three of us were chatting and having a walk as you had to, and we all had this real passion for the environment, and all had quite a broad skill set,” says Rastrick.

“I had known them both for 30 odd years, and we have really well aligned values around building something purpose led but using our commercial mindset to do it in a way that works for businesses.

“From my side it was about helping businesses implement a purpose led agenda into their business plans so they can transition into being sustainable.”

After initial strategizing in 2019, 2020 would see the group launch Harrogate-based Flotilla, a carbon accounting firm aimed at supporting businesses to measure their carbon footprint and implement “high quality and robust net zero plants.”

Today the business holds a team of 15, including climate scientists, carbon accountants, net zero consultants, developers and accountants.

The firm has helped big name companies including Squire Patton Boggs, Wealthify and Clarion. Its main goal, however, is to help small to medium sized firms deliver big changes in their carbon footprint.

“We thought a lot about where the best market would be for us,” says Rastrick.

“There are some really big expensive consultants out there that will help large enterprises, but what was missing in our view was someone to do it for the SME market.

“We thought that it was a really underserved market, and that what was available wasn’t of the quality that leading firms would want. That's where we saw the gap, and that's the market we try to provide for.”

Creating a carbon accounting firm aimed at the SME market, however, was not without its risks, notes Rastrick.

“It's quite a gamble in a way,” he says, “SME businesses have so much on their plate at the moment with the cost-of-living crisis and not being able to find good quality staff after Brexit.

“But what we’ve actually found is that if we can simplify the process for them, and provide them with really good quality consultants that can help them deliver the action they want to take, businesses are really keen to take the step and do it.”

Flotilla has worked with the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds in order to develop its carbon modelling platform.

In June of last year, the firm also achieved B Corp certification, joining just over 1,000 businesses nationwide and 30 in the region, to achieve the status.

Achieving this status for Flotilla aligns with Rastrick’s belief that businesses have a leading role to play in the drive towards net zero, despite the slow implementation of policy from governments.

“This is a political hot potato,” he says, “there's an election around the corner, and waiting for government to motivate or incentivise people to become green is part of a solution, but it's a tanker that is going to be slow to turn in the docks.

“It's going to take leaders and entrepreneurs to do what they always do, which is talk with their feet, to make decisions and start the progress. That's where the big difference can be.

“And we're actually seeing a surprising level of appetite in doing that, coming from large asset managers to CEOs and entrepreneurs, but also from employees demanding it from their employers. The pressure to be a high quality society led business has never been higher.”

While change can be hard to implement from many businesses which are already facing outside pressures, Rastrick notes that those which do make changes early will see the biggest rewards

“Regulation is coming down the pipeline, and everyone is going to have to do this, but those that go early will show genuine thought leadership and take all the commercial benefits from it ahead of everyone else,” he says.

“Delivering to clients and employers on a day to day basis is hard enough in this environment, so finding the time to also do the right thing is not always easy in this current economic environment, but those that do will reap the biggest benefits.

“The best managers are seeing the problems, and working out how they can solve them in a way that works for them.”

For Rastrick, building a purpose led business was not only important in the near term, but also to inspire future generations. The results, he also notes, have been hugely positive.

“I'm very passionate about building a successful business, but also a business that is contributing to society, and the team are all very much aligned with that,” he says.

“It's also about doing the right thing. I’ve got two daughters, and at the start of this journey I was sitting there in the financial environment, and just thought that starting something that's purpose led, and also to showing that it's possible to set up your own business, sets a good example.

“I can now say I've never been happier than when I started doing this.”