How Yorkshire’s firms can improve their sustainability measures - Steve Harris

Data from the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer revealed that in March, 25 per cent of Yorkshire businesses intended to invest in means to becoming more environmentally friendly, including decarbonising operations and offering sustainable solutions to customers.

And wider Business Barometer data from across the whole quarter showed that businesses recognise investing in sustainability is not only the right thing to do in order to create a positive environmental impact but is now an essential target area for growth.

It’s great to see that so many businesses are eager to take steps to improve their environmental impact. But it can sometimes be tricky to know where to start and many firms are left wondering how they can reach their sustainability goals.

This claim was supported by research from Lloyds Bank’s recent Net Zero Monitor, which revealed that although 87 per cent of SMEs across Yorkshire consider sustainability to be important for their business, only 57 per cent are currently measuring their emissions and have a plan in place to meet net zero.

For businesses to make progress with their sustainability plans, they need to engage with their workforce to make sure everyone is engaged, knowledgeable on the subject matter and working towards the same common goal.

One way to support this is to offer specialist training for staff, as this can help to shift the wider cultural attitude across the organisation. And all departments and colleagues should be responsible for their own sustainability targets focused on their job area. It’s also really helpful to pull together feedback from various departments to assess what initiatives have worked and what haven’t, to inform a future approach.

Coordinated efforts across a business can also make it possible to reduce waste sent to landfill, which is another important step towards net zero. Businesses can make strides to achieving this goal by investing in reusables or focusing on reducing their energy emissions.

Making sure that all strands of the business are involved and staying connected on sustainability efforts and positive results is key long-term to change.

Evaluating your business's supply chain is another way to reduce your overall carbon footprint.

Ensuring all suppliers, from postage and packaging to printer ink suppliers, share the same values in sustainability will benefit businesses too.

Yorkshire is blessed with a whole host of firms who put sustainability at their heart, and engaging with these like-minded companies can help to guarantee sustainability being prioritised along the supply chain in turn boosting your own sustainability credentials.

Steve Harris is regional director for Yorkshire at Lloyds Bank.