Customer story
Bloom Procurement
” We intend to incorporate Net Zero reporting into our overall data strategy to prioritise and feature emissions data as a critical component of our sustainability efforts”.
Introduction
Bloom Procurement Services are the public sector’s go-to solution for professional services and notch have worked with the team there for the last 3 years, through our partners at Net Zero International. They have just launched their 2024 Net Zero Progress Report.
We were delighted to catch up with Ben Stevenson, Chief of Staff and Head of Sustainability and Sarah MacNab, Head of Social Value to talk about their achievements to date and their plans for the future.
Ben:
“My role is Chief of Staff and Head of Sustainability and Sarah’s work is focused on the social value element, and I work with her to integrate that into a wider ESG and Sustainability goal. At Bloom we have always been focused on social value but the increasing importance in sustainability meant that we have decided to build one holistic strategy that incorporates everything rather than a fragmented approach. As an organisation we source professional service suppliers for the public sector, with well over 500 clients and over 5,500 accredited suppliers. We manage an end-to-end service – from the bid and tender process, to managing payment milestones through to project completion. We focus on driving value for money, putting savings back into the public purse, but also really promoting the social, economic and environmental benefits that come with our interactions as a business.”
Sarah:
“As Head of Social Value, we have a very large programme that we are committed to, to deliver social value in all aspects of everything we do – with our people, clients and suppliers. We work with our supply chain to ensure that we get the best value for every project that we put through our framework to make sure that we are getting the best social value impact withing the communities where the projects are being delivered.”
How do you find using notch?
“We have been using notch for 3 years now and working with David Hawes from Net Zero International. We intend to incorporate Net Zero reporting into our overall data strategy to prioritise and feature emissions data as a critical component of our sustainability efforts.
We upload the data every month and we use present it at our Board meetings, in our social media posts, at team updates and use it in our annual report. We also use it when talking to our clients and our suppliers. It’s very useful to have the data to hand and to be able to showcase it in reports.”
What are your future priorities?
“One if the biggest challenges we have is to promote engagement and understanding of our Net Zero goals. The executive team and the Board are very engaged, so we are working very hard to communicate throughout the organisation. For example, we ran an online Net Zero session with David Hawes recently and it was one of our highest turnouts.
We are looking into our Scope 3 emissions in more detail too. We are also getting lots of questions around what we are doing and how we are doing it so we want to help our own supply chain help their clients move forward with their Net Zero journeys as well.
“There is a huge amount of activity that is happening and is planned for this year and beyond. It is very exciting and good for us to be involved in.”
Tell us about your annual report and what are your Net Zero objectives:
“We have just released our 2024 Net Zero progress report. We have set our short-, medium- and long-term goals for the rest of this year and beyond, but we have also taken the opportunity to celebrate what we have achieved so far. Last year we implemented some phenomenal things, including electric vehicles and renewable energy, which were led by us, but it was a whole business effort.
We have set out the following objectives for the business in our Net Zero Progress report based around the following 8 key pillars:
- Travel and Commuting – promote low-carbon and active travel options for commuter colleagues and encourage carbon-conscious business travel, supported by improved business-wide visibility of emissions data and travel governance.
- Working from Home – encourage the adoption of energy-saving measures for company equipment used at home, whilst raising awareness of how our team can reduce their overall home energy consumption and costs.
- Energy use – We will investigate ways to integrate zero-carbon energy sources into our Gateshead office and take steps to reduce our overall energy consumption.
- Waste and Water – we will promote the reuse and recycling of waste and equipment to limit what we send to landfills and implement measures to control or recycle the water used in our office.
- People Engagement – we will inspire our people to consciously support our Net Zero journey and achieve our 2045 target.
- Suppliers and Purchasing – partner with our suppliers to educate, raise awareness and encourage action in the fight against climate change. We will also ensure sustainability and Net Zero are central to any purchases made.
- Financial Backing – develop strategies to embed emissions reduction into financial decisions and investments and fund future carbon offsetting of residual emissions.
- Governance – we will provide open and transparent reporting inside and outside our business, promoting accessibility and visibility. We will continually seek to improve the efficiency and quality of our data collection and adhere to all legislation and guidance.
What would be your advice to another company? ”
“The main thing that we would urge is to get engagement from people throughout the whole business from the beginning. You need everyone to see the value of the journey and get onboard with it.”
5,500
Accredited suppliers
Monthly
Data uploads now fundamental part of our commitment
↓ 12.3%
tonnes/c02e per employee
Net Zero 2024
Progress report just released
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