Member Article

Environmental Sense is Business Sense, Speakers Say

Compliance with environmental legislation lies at the heart of business development and companies ignore it at their own risk, two key speakers at this year’s Eco Fair say.

The speakers, both from innovative West Yorkshire companies, praised the Eco Fair, held by West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and now in its seventh year, as a key event to help delegates learn about a wide range of environmental issues which can help their businesses adopt successful strategies and boost profitability.

This summer’s Eco Fair, the largest business-to-business environmental event in the north of England, is on June 15 at the Centenary Pavilion, Elland Road, Leeds, between 8.30am and 4pm and is expected to host hundreds of business delegates with places still available. Attendance is free of charge.

UK managing director of global chemicals company, Christeyns, Bradford, Nick Garthwaite, will speak in the Energy and Carbon seminar zone and environmental manager at healthcare equipment supplier, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Birkenshaw, Roy Smith, will speak on the importance of environmental tendering in winning public sector contracts in the Policy and Regulation seminar zone. This will be a joint session with Enterprise Europe Network.

Nick Garthwaite, who is also vice-president of Bradford Chamber, says: “The Eco Fair is an excellent initiative which we are pleased to be supporting. Environmental requirements, and the commercial potential they offer, are constantly evolving and the event is a first-rate way of learning about practical issues from the experience of local businesses.

“By challenging ourselves to do better, taking external advice and harnessing staff ideas, we have invested in a new mixing plant. Combining these together has helped produce better quality products with lower energy consumption through applying the latest technology. This has improved our environmental credentials as well as boosting our cost base.”

Roy Smith says: “Before we achieved the environmental standard ISO 14001, we had not won tenders on the basis of our commitment to environmental management but green issues have become far more important to our existing and prospective customers so this has become a more important part of our business development.

“Whereas the points awarded for environmental matters when tendering for NHS contracts used to be worth four or five points, in a recent tender this section was worth 35 points. As a result, we have made a lot of environmental improvements to our vehicle fleet, energy, water and waste management. No business in today’s markets can afford to ignore environmental issues.”

Other seminars zones will cover topics including energy and carbon, people and property, the circular economy and policy and regulation.More than 35 expert speakers will cover topics including case study presentations from Agfa Graphics, Finning UK, Hammerson, Heathrow Airport, Fresh-pak chilled foods, Carillion and technical seminars from IEMA, Leeds University Business School, The Environment Agency, Leeds City Council and the Carbon Trust.

Eco Fair is supported by main sponsor Provident Financial and also by IEMA and Pennine Pneumatic Services.

Exhibition space starts at £650 + VAT and can be booked at www.eco-fair.co.uk or by calling 01274 206660. Anyone interested in attending as a delegate to find out how their organisation can reduce costs and environmental impacts, can also register on the website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Clarke Communications .