Sustainable London venue 15Hatfields has hosted the launch of Greengage’s new leadership group to tackle the hospitality industry’s most pressing sustainability issues.
The group, Platinum Inner Circle, comprises of representatives from the UK’s most sustainable venues, all of which have been accredited with ECOsmart Platinum – Greengage’s highest status of accreditation recognising sustainability.
The initiative, spearheaded by the sustainable travel specialists, aims to tackle some of the core sustainability issues faced by venues and accommodation providers through actionable and realistic guidance.
Representatives from 15Hatfields, Pan Pacific Hotel, Wyboston Lakes, Kia Oval, Church House Westminster, Oxford Brookes Venues, Woodhaven Space and Friends House will be sharing their collective experience and successes to support the sustainability journey of other businesses. Marketing and hospitality consultants Custard and Trident Hospitality were also in attendance to consider the most effective delivery of support to the industry.
At the event, the most pressing topics to address as an industry were identified as energy consumption amid the rising costs, and food waste. The issue of food waste was further broken down by the committee into several considerations including how to identify and measure the problem, how to set targets, get staff buy-in, portion size, smart menus and customer engagement. This will form the basis of a best practice guide circulated to venues and hotels. Additional topics will later include plastic, general waste and recycling, transport, carbon offsetting.
On instigating the group, Andrew Perolls, Greengage’s CEO said: “When we’ve got so many incredibly successful members that have made such positive strides in this industry, we felt it was important to gather this collective experience to positively influence others. Meeting four times a year at an accredited venue, we’ll focus on key sustainability related challenges and opportunities, with the aim of sharing best practice advice to others who need a helping hand.
“Overall, it was agreed that the fundamental stumbling blocks when it comes to making progress within businesses are cost, resource and education. These will remain our primary considerations when building the tools to help venues and hotels wherever they are on their journey.”
Host Joe Harris, 15Hatfields’ Client Services Manager said: “It was a pleasure to host and to be a part of the very first Platinum Inner Circle event. When it comes to sustainability, we feel very strongly that there is no such thing as competitors, so being able to share our own experiences and successes with other venues, as well as listening to their solutions, we hope to make a real difference in the wider industry.
“Sustainability continues to be a hot topic, but the real change comes with action, not conversation, and that is what this group is about.”
