Customer story
Lochcarron
“The businesses that care about their carbon output are the businesses that are growing.”
Introduction
Lochcarron, a weaving manufacturer based in the Scottish Borders, is the world’s leading manufacturer of Tartan. They primarily use natural wool fibres and stock over 500 tartans which they supply all over the world. Their customers range in size from small companies to some of the world’s biggest fashion houses including Burberry and Chanel. They joined the Net Zero Nation Accelerator, powered by notch, to report their carbon and develop a Net Zero strategy for the company.
We spoke with Steve Jones, Financial Controller and Anna Hinnigan, Senior Operations Manager about their experience so far and what their plans for the future are.
Why carbon accounting?
“There are several motivations for focusing on our Net Zero plans for the business. We absolutely believe this is the right thing to do and leaders in the business are really engaged with it and we want to lead in this area. We have also been guided by our customer requests to provide carbon information as they want their supply chain to be fully transparent about their carbon emissions. We have a local workforce that are also engaged with the environment and hold us accountable in our climate actions.
“We have also noticed that applicants are looking at our green credentials and are actively choosing companies with a strong sustainable goals to work for.”
Why notch?
“We started using the notch software as part of the Net Zero Nation Accelerator programme. We like that there are a standard set of inputs for Scopes 1 & 2 which targets correct data sets and allows you to track against the baseline. As this quantitative data is accurate, it easily lets you target some bigger wins, such as changing our electricity to a green tariff which immediately has a benefit to our carbon numbers. The data helps us quantify and target actions, highlighting opportunities and quick wins – e.g reducing plastic within the organisation has been quite a holistic process. We are really pleased that we can report a reduction in our Scope 1 & 2 emissions.
“The intensity metrics are a useful feature as it lets you easily see carbon as a percentage of production which is coming down, even though our overall carbon is going up. The businesses that care about their carbon output are the businesses that are growing.”
“There’s a big benefit to the software being intuitive enough for SMEs but to have the sophistication to be able to drill down into specific areas. The dashboard is also good to share with the workforce.”
“Simplicity of use of the software is key. We don’t employ a Sustainability Manager so nobody has a specific skill set to do this, but we find that anyone can use it and input the data. That’s where the expert support is key – to support our input but also to verify how we can use this information in our marketing.”
What are your next steps?
“Even through the official Scottish Government targets for Net Zero have been downgraded, this won’t affect what we, and many other businesses in Scotland, are doing as we have a desire to do the right thing. In Scotland you are closer to nature, often as part of small communities that use the outdoor space a lot more.”
“Although the data is currently hard to get, we want to be able to measure the effect of using British wool in our manufacturing process. We believe it will be more sustainable, but we want to be able to record the data to prove that.”
What advice would you give to companies beginning their Net Zero journey?
“We can understand that there may be hesitancy in getting started but it is definitely worth it. It can save you money – we can demonstrate energy savings, but there are other benefits that are not entirely quantifiable, such as demonstrating to our customers what we are doing and that we care, and it that will generate orders.”
“Collecting and inputting data may seem initially complicated, but the software and the expert help is on hand. Start with using the information that you have and don’t worry about the parts that you don’t.”
“Also, get your top team on it. Everyone in the company needs to be bought into becoming a sustainable company. Just like Health & Safety was a few years ago, Carbon Reporting will become mandatory, so get on the front foot and get the expert help now before it becomes a problem. If you try and do anything as a small business in a hurry you won’t do it properly.”
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