Net Zero Roundtable - Congleton Town Council

Congleton Business Net Zero Roundtable

In September 2023, the Town Council, together with Congleton Partnership and the East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, invited Congleton businesses to a conference at the Town Hall to share ideas and best practices about sustainability in business and commerce.

Several businesses, from large corporations to SMEs and not-for-profits, shared their own experiences. Four organisations – Siemens, Senior Aerospace Bird Bellows, Congleton Hydro & Solar and Weetwood Brewery gave presentations that you can find at the bottom of this page.

All the leaders in the room had sustainability objectives, and many had started on reducing waste, cutting down on travel or improving efficiencies in order to reduce their carbon footprint, but felt they would like to do more.

The conference was split into working groups that brainstormed and generated several potential ideas for future work. These will be prioritised and developed further in future workshops.

Business Net Zero ideas – September 2023

Communication:

Explanation of what this means in simple terms for businesses – checklist?
Where is Congleton on the net zero challenge – information to encourage participation
Green EV chargers using solar (like Bentley)
Facilitate the sharing of information on Electric Vehicle charging
Examples of money and energy saving
General way to suggest initiatives e.g. online
Ongoing sharing of ideas and best practice
Case study sharing – online / Green champions

Mentoring / Joining Forces:

Different solutions for different businesses – size and type
Financial support e.g. share a consultant – apply for grants?
Share details of the group including speciality – logistics, fundraising, digital…
Mentoring programme – experts to help other businesses e.g. AstraZeneca is mentoring East Cheshire Hospice
Sharing with other Town Councils e.g. sharing an expert between us
Shuttle buses/community, shared by businesses all in the same office building

Project ideas:

Toolkit for SMEs – can CTC provide this? Maybe develop it as a project working together?
Green Ambassadors’ Network?
Become a Business Improvement District – can get extra funding to invest in expertise – CTC to look into this.
Local Awards scheme – can we lead on this e.g. for shops – sustainability mark?
‘Sustainable Living in Congleton’ (SLIC) eLearning course CTC learn.congleton-tc.gov.uk
Business version of SLIC course needed
River Dane – an opportunity for a clean-up project
Food waste – education on the impact of this in terms of environmental and cost of living (>£300 per household per year). Biggest challenge quickest win/cooking courses
Congleton’s own e-commerce site – promoting local suppliers / local supplier database

Siemens Congleton: Journey to Net Zero (Paul Grattidge)

Download Siemens Journey to Net Zero

Bird Bellows’ Net Zero Strategy (David Armitage)

Download Senior Areospace Net Zero Presention

Congleton Hydro & Solar Team

Download Congleton Community Solar

Weetwood Brewery: Becoming Net Zero (Jon Hopkins)

Download Weetwood Brewery Achieving Net Zero