ExCeL London Ranked 44th in Britain

• 22nd May 2009

The 60 Best Green Companies in Britain are revealed in the second Sunday Times Green List published with The Sunday Times this Sunday, May 24. Forster, a London-based marketing, public relations and design agency, tops the Green List, a definitive guide to businesses with the most radically improved environmental performances.

Uniquely, the Best Green Companies survey takes account of the views of employees - who get to rate their organisation's green credentials - as well as assessing the environmental performance, policies and practices of businesses. Forster beat a host of other companies, big and small with varying environmental impacts, to lift the title of Britain's greenest company at an awards ceremony held in London's Covent Garden on May 20.

The Sunday Times, working with environmental consultants, Bureau Veritas and market research group, Munro Global, devised the methodology for the competition.

When it comes to being green, the international exhibition and conference centre, which hosts events from trade fairs to major conferences such as the G20 London Summit, puts on a pretty good show itself. Since 2007, ExCeL in London's Docklands has been home to the UK's largest commercial wormery, which it uses to recycle food waste from its kitchens. Processed through a macerator into a pulp, the food is fed to 300,000 earthworms capable of eating at least twice their body weight every day, and they convert it into nutrient-rich soil. An onsite recycling facility also ensures nothing else goes to waste that doesn't have to.

Last year ExCeL London achieved a recycling rate of 78% with the help of its sustainability policy, which includes encouraging organisers to use recyclable carpets or paint the hall floors. Carpets that are used are donated to the local authority, Newham council, to be distributed to families who would benefit from them. ExCeL is now looking to extend the scheme to other boroughs as well.

Last year gas consumption fell by more than 50% and electricity usage was down nearly 40%. ExCeL's carbon footprint is also getting smaller. Between 2006-8, its CO2 emissions dropped by 3,937 tons, equivalent to a fully laden supertanker sailing from Singapore to Lisbon.

Water meters have also been installed and the company's 162 staff receive regular information on green issues through a newsletter, e-mails, noticeboards and posters.

There are facilities for those who want to cycle or walk to work (78%) and James Mark, the services director, is open to suggestions for eco improvements (88%, a top 20 score). Staff are encouraged to take part in the company's community programme (83%, a score bettered by just seven other firms) and the organisation supports local suppliers and businesses (79%). ExCeL is working towards gaining BS8901 accreditation, the British standard for sustainable event management.

Companies competed to win one of five competitions:

• Big and mid-sized companies (with 250 or more employees) with high environmental impact
• Big and mid-sized companies with medium environmental impact
• Big and mid-sized companies with low environmental impact
  
• Small companies (with between 50 and 249 employees) with high and medium environmental impacts
• Small companies with low environmental impact

Richard Caseby, managing editor of The Sunday Times, said: "The 60 companies in this survey are all pioneers - enterprising, enlightened and fizzing with new ideas. All have a common sense of purpose about their corporate social responsibility.

"There may be plenty of environmental awards but this is the first that has both a robust methodology to measure environmental performance and a survey of each company's staff to find out whether the green sheen is more than skin-deep."

Sarah Davidson, technical director of Bureau Veritas, said "By running the competition for a second year we have been able to compare year on year performance for returning entrants as well as including new questions to explore topical environmental issues.

"It has been great to see the number of entrants increase in 2009, and the overall standard of entrants to be higher. The survey approach allows us to evaluate the level of employee engagement in environmental programmes, and this too has increased in 2009, despite the pressure on corporate environmental programmes as organisations economise."

Will Ullstein, director of innovation at Munro Global said: "Our survey is unique; we are the only awards programme that seeks detailed company information and the views of employees and incorporates all data into the assessment. 

"To get on the Green List a company must not only deliver on environmental performance but instill a culture within the business that ensures employees are doing their part as well."

IF USING THIS INFORMATION PLEASE CREDIT THE SUNDAY TIMES

For further information, or to arrange an interview please contact Gemma Parkhouse, ExCeL London on 020 7069 4739
For more details on The Sunday Times Green List 2009
contact Mary Fulton on 07702 421167 or
Richard Caseby on 020 7782 5646

Notes for editors

Using a methodology devised by The Sunday Times in collaboration with Bureau Veritas, the international firm of environmental consultants, and Munro Global, the leading market research company, The Best Green Companies had to score well in two separate surveys to make the top 60 firms included in The Sunday Times Green List.

The employer survey covered environmental management policies, environmental training and internal consultation, energy consumption, waste production and recycling. This accounted for 70% of the final ranking.

The employee survey ranked companies on 52 statements on the company's green practices, which staff rated on a seven-point scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". The statements ranged from "my organisation always does what is best for the environment" and "my boss encourages me to think about energy saving" to "my organisation always goes for the cheapest, rather than the most environmentally friendly option" and "my workplace is too warm when the weather is cold".

Results reported for individual questions in the employee survey represent the percentage of the maximum possible score on each question and are expressed as the "green score". Employees completing the staff survey responded to each of 52 statements using the seven-point scale. Their scores were averaged and turned into percentages of the maximum score. For example, if a company gets a 67% green score on the statement "My boss encourages me to think about energy saving" this means that its overall mark is 67% of the maximum possible score that it could have had, if all of its staff had indicated that they strongly agreed with the statement. Employee responses to these statements accounted for 30% of the final ranking.

The survey is a benchmark for environmental excellence against which companies can measure their own performance year-on-year and that of other businesses operating in their commercial field or at a similar level of environmental impact.

In all, 98 companies registered for the competition.

The competition attracted businesses large and small, ranging from supermarket giant Tesco with 185,000 staff on the payroll to Wiles Greenworld, an office supplies company, with 50 staff members.

The final 60 Best Green Companies were made up of 12 big companies (with 5,000 or more employees), 23 mid-sized firms (with 250 to 4,999 employees) and 25 small enterprises (with between 50 and 249 employees). There were 16 companies with high, 27 with medium and 17 with low environmental impacts.

Bureau Veritas UK & Ireland is a service company specialising in environment, quality, health, safety and social responsibility. Operating throughout a national network of regional offices and laboratories, Bureau Veritas employs 1,700 employees and provides services through five operational divisions: Oil & Gas; Inspection & Verification; Health, Safety & Environmental; Building & Infrastructure and Certification.

Globally, Bureau Veritas has a network of 850 offices and 33,000 specialists in 140 countries with 2007 revenues of €2.067 billion.

Munro Global was formed in June 2006.  It aims to become a recognised centre of excellence in the provision of research-focused marketing services solutions. See www.munroglobal.net