Supplier Sustainability Award

Claims Consortium Group organise annual awards to recognise their top-performing network partners. They aim to acknowledge their partners’ contributions on several fronts; one of the most important of these being sustainability and the environment. We were very happy to have our submission shortlisted for the Supplier Sustainability Award.

Claims Consortium Group has always had a focus on the environment and sustainability, and this is one of the many reasons we are delighted to be partners. Moreover, they also share our love for the community and support local charities with regular events. Staff are given three additional days off a year to use for meaningful causes.

To be considered for the award, we had to demonstrate our commitment to reduce our carbon emissions, detail the exemplary actions of our staff both inside and outside the workplace and show how we use innovative solutions.

We were delighted to attend an amazing Christmas Party during which we received the Supplier Sustainability Award.

How did we demonstrate that we deserve this award?

1. We have an active plan to reduce our carbon impact.

We measure the success of our sustainability efforts on our ability to implement the waste hierarchy.

We place an important emphasis on sustainability by implementing initiatives with a focus on:

• Renewable energy – we have installed solar panels at both our headquarters and warehousing sites;
• Car-sharing;
• The use of sustainable transportation where possible.

2. We use our solutions and innovative technologies to reduce pollution.

We have diverted hundreds of thousands of tonnes of soil and subsoils from landfills and millions of tonnes of CO2 each year due to our environmental initiatives including recycling, and multiple others including the use of our innovative planet-friendly technologies (LockedIn® and Eraginate®).

We have invested almost £2,000,000 in R&D in the last 5 years with the projects we have implemented to ensure we are always on the leading edge in sustainable solutions for our clients.

3. Our team contribute positively to impact the environment.

We embed sustainability in our culture by making our team aware of environmental issues and the importance of sustainability. We always support and recognise employees’ contributions.

We not only raise awareness of the environmental issues faced in our sites but also our everyday office life. We have monthly campaigns, bulletin boards, internal workshops, and training days to help us reach our objectives and targets.

We support our team’s sustainability efforts by:

• Providing office recycling station;
• Encouraging car sharing;
• Cycle to Work Scheme incentives;
• Providing bicycle storage.

4. Our team contribute positively to impact the community.

Charity

Along with our commitment to developing a sustainable business, we foster community sustainability. We founded Ashes to Gold with a vision to ‘rebuild, restore, and transform lives’. We donate 10% of ATG Group’s profit to Ashes to Gold. Our core aim is to provide purposeful activities to individuals who want to increase their confidence, motivation, and self-belief while learning new skills. Through the charity’s projects, we offer support to people in need.

Oasis is a project that supports people who are having health issues. Anyone who feels isolated is welcome to meet the charity staff for a chat and a cuppa. Moreover, through this project, Ashes to Gold offers counselling and one-to-one support by providing plans to help people achieve their goals and be able to live independently.

Restore is a workshop that offers activities and training for individuals who have mental or physical disabilities, or for those who are long-term unemployed.

The Grow project focuses on inspiring people to get physically active and produce their food. Participants are gardening and spending time in nature which have been proven to help increase physical, mental and social well-being.

Our bakery was founded in 2016 as a social enterprise. It supports people with mental and physical disabilities through catering. We offer a variety of courses from cooking healthy food on a budget to understanding the importance of a healthy diet.

Encouraging Involvement in the Local Community

We offer staff opportunities outside their usual work to do quarterly litter picks to keep their local areas tidy. Moreover, we support our local community by painting schools, and we plant trees to help combat climate change.

5. The unique and adventurous project that demonstrates our core values – Highland Spring

Highland Spring natural source water is carefully drawn from protected land from the Ochil Hills in Scotland. The company is committed to providing healthy hydration in an environmentally sustainable way.

With a high volume of lorry movements in and out of the site each year, the business recognised that by delivering their products across the UK via rail, rather than road, they could significantly reduce their carbon emissions.  We established the ground conditions for Highland Springs to enable the construction of a freight train station thus moving thousands of trucks off the road each year.

Our core values are:

Vision – thinking outside the box and knowing what is possible.

An early plan was to excavate around 25,000m³ of soft, marsh soils and take these to a facility for disposal – replace the 25,000m³ with imported aggregate and then import another 25,000m³. This was not a viable solution from both a financial and sustainability perspective.

Innovation – we offer tailored solutions to environmental and waste challenges.

We came up with a custom-made plan that resulted in 38,871 tonnes of material being diverted away from landfills and removed 5,300 lorry movements during the construction phase of the project by stabilising the soil on-site.

Authenticity – we are true to our own values and keep our promises.

We demonstrated that we could come up with a custom-made and planet-friendly solution. For 20 weeks we carried out an in-situ ground stabilisation programme, significantly reducing the amount of offsite disposal.

“Yes, can do” Approach – we have a positive mindset and embrace challenges.

We embraced the challenge, came up with a sustainable plan and successfully created a solid base for the freight terminal without removing materials from the site, using our cutting-edge technology and in-house expertise.

Compassion – Compassion helps drive our success.

We are delighted to have been part of a project that reduced pollution. This facility will remove the need for 8,000 lorry movements per year, reducing their emissions by 3,200 tonnes. This is the equivalent of 2,588 return flights from London to Los Angeles.

6. Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development

ATG Group’s core values were recognised when we received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. The Queen’s Award commended us for:

• Leading the way in sustainability in our sector;
• Our commercial results and efforts to reduce our company’s impact on the environment;
• The way we foster community sustainability through Ashes to Gold;
• The exemplary social outreach programmes addressing mental health and disabilities.