LONDON, — A business park, a printing company, and a hospice are among the companies that have been honored by the British Queen for their outstanding achievements in sustainable development.
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise were announced to mark the Queen’s birthday, with 123 companies winning awards. Of these, 62 were for successes in international trade, 51 for innovation, and 10 for sustainable development. The winners are now entitled to display the Queen's Awards emblem on their letter headings, products and in advertising for five years.
The ten sustainable development winners had to prove that their achievements through invention or management of resources have contributed to a substantial improvement in business performance and commercial success over a number of years.
Communications provider BT Group was recognized for its comprehensive program of sustainable development. "Our environment program has achieved £600 million savings over 10 years and it is now leading to new revenue opportunities, such as an internet-based environmental management system," said BT's head of sustainable development Chris Tuppen. The company’s sustainable development policies have evolved from pollution prevention and risk management, through to gaining the bottom line financial benefits, to finally gaining new customers through its environmental expertise, Tuppen said.
As well as saving money through resource efficiency -- with energy, transport costs and waste minimization -- BT is also able to demonstrate its environmental credentials when bidding for new contracts.
The company has also gained ISO 14001 certification, and is now actively selling online environmental management systems, in partnership with software firm Entropy. Customers include a number of government organizations that have large, geographically separated operations, which are particularly attracted to the service because there is no need for specialist networking capability, said Tuppen.
The other winners are:
- The Beacon Press, in East Sussex, for the development of environmental procedures
- Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects, in Bath, for sustainable architecture and environmental research and innovation
- Greenham Common Community Trust, for its sustainable business park, which has been managed with broad environmental, social and economic considerations at the core of the planning and implementation process
- J&G Environmental, in Dorset, for its reprographic waste collection service
- Rockware Glass Limited, in West Yorkshire, for sustainability in glass packaging production through recycling, technology and educational program
- Seabait Limited, Northumberland, for the use of culture worms as bait and animal feeds
- Seaview Hotel & Restaurant on the Isle of Wight
- St. Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, for excellence in the management of hospice care leading to major improvements, using social, economic and environmental issues
- Uniqema, Cleveland, for Emkarate, a range of synthetic refrigeration lubricants
The awards are made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an advisory committee, including the head of the civil service, the permanent secretaries at the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Environment, and the chairman of the Engineering Council.
