Manchester Central’s chief executive, Angie Robinson discusses her venue’s sustainability journey.
Q. Where are you on the sustainability journey?
A. Manchester Central was the first UK venue, not involved with the London 2012 Olympics, to achieve the global sustainability certification ISO20121. We exchanged a lot of information with Old Trafford, which achieved the standard due to its Olympic involvement, but we also made a considerable investment in both our people and our infrastructure because, increasingly, it’s what our customers demand.
Q. How did you first get started?
A. We started with a sustainability audit in December 2012 and worked with the not-for-profit organisation Positive Impact to implement cultural and business change across the venue. We had a member of the Positive Impact team ensconced within our business to get us started but we see this very much as a journey that is ongoing.
Q. What changes have been made to your business?
A. Visible changes include implementing paper-less meeting strategies, more energy efficient lighting, installing electric vehicle charging points, better recycling, focusing on locally grown produce and a local supply chain. We’ve even grown a herb garden on the roof.
Q. What has been the impact of these changes?
A. Reducing our energy consumption by 20% has resulted in huge savings across the business so it’s definitely worth the investment. We’ve also had fantastic buy-in from staff and everyone now has sustainability as part of their job description. Our waste management programme has resulted in a 100% reduction and, as a result of our efforts, we were recently awarded Visit England’s Gold Award for Business Tourism.
Q. What’s next?
A. We want to share our passion and knowledge and educate others that if we can do it here in a former Victorian railway station, you can do it anywhere. There’s a real business, social and economic impact to setting off on this journey of sustainability and we want to encourage, not only our supply chain, but the whole industry to get onboard.
Q. Finally, what advice would you offer to anyone wanting to begin their sustainability journey?
A. Firstly, consider your objectives and seek out the resources and specialist help available. Everyone who has set out on this journey is only too happy to share the experience and collaborate for a more sustainable industry. Just doing one thing differently is a start and it’s a no-brainer for improving your business. I’d recommend speaking with Positive Impact. They have a huge amount of resource and advice available to get you started or take you all the way to achieve ISO20121.