Customer story
Briggs Equipment Ltd
“During the procurement process, although price is important, we need to take carbon into account too.”
Briggs Equipment UK Ltd has the largest range of materials handling and specialist equipment in the UK. They have a stated commitment to the environment and have an ongoing development of their infrastructure platforms to support this sustainability commitment.
The organisation joined the Net Zero Nation Accelerator programme after being invited by Jakki Ireland at Forth Ports, who they are a supplier to. The team at Briggs were keen to join a cohort as they were impressed by the idea of a community which brings everyone together for a Net Zero purpose.
As a co-founder of Net Zero Nation, notch is the carbon accounting provider of the programme and we spoke with Robert Craig, Operations Director (Scotland) about his experience of the Accelerator so far.
How are you finding being part of the Net Zero Nation programme?
“The Net Zero Nation programme is quite unique. It’s a proper cohort where everyone helps each other and gives each other advice. We are all not necessarily from the same industries, but we have similar goals for Net Zero. For instance, we can share ideas on how we deal with similar issues such as waste and we can adopt it some of the solutions that the group have tried.
We have got to know Gavin Tweedie and the team at Net Zero Nation. We like the way it is structured and there are different events that we can attend. It’s constantly evolving and it’s a real community and there are lots of networking opportunities too. I think it’s really clever.
What do you think of notch?
When we looked at the notch software we were shown all the different graphs, charts and information and we thought it looked pretty impressive. David Hawes, from Net Zero Nation has helped us collect and input the data as being part of an international company it can be complex.
Where do you see the future for Net Zero?
I think procurement has to play a big part as although prices are important, we need to take carbon into account too. I mean why buy a machine from Belgium if I can get it from a couple of miles down the road?
I think Net Zero is similar to Health and Safety. For many companies getting Health and Safety implemented as a core part of the business too 10 years. Net Zero is a similar journey but we don’t want it to take 10 years, we want to do it much quicker than that. As a business we need to keep up with technology and provide our customers with products that they need to fulfil their own Net Zero responsibilities moving away from fossil based fuel products, onto electric and possibly hydrogen.
People ask all the time “What is the benefit of driving Net Zero?” and I say that you benefit because you are doing the right thing. It isn’t governments that are driving Net Zero, it is businesses, and I think it’s really important that we are on that journey. We have to put the wheels in motion for whoever is going to follow us, because if we don’t act now, whoever comes in the future will have a job to catch up.
What advice would you give someone starting out on a Net Zero journey?
“Take any assistance that is available. I think some people find Net Zero difficult, such as the carbon accounting piece, if they do it on their own, but there is lots of great expert advice out there to use.
The cohorts are growing, and these communities are helping to bring everyone along with them.”
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