Businesses

As a business in Greater Manchester your actions can make a big difference. By making a few small changes to become greener you will be helping to create a clean, carbon neutral, climate resilient city-region with a thriving natural environment and circular, zero-waste economy.

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We all need to play our part to achieve an urgent and significant reduction in carbon emissions. As a business there’s lots of actions you can take to become greener. Not only will you be helping to protect the environment by reducing your carbon emissions, but you could reduce your running cots too.

Five year plan for businesses

As a business in Greater Manchester your actions can make a big difference. By making a few small changes to become greener you will be helping to create a clean, carbon neutral, climate resilient city-region with a thriving natural environment and circular, zero-waste economy.

Take a look at how your business can help.

50% of all journeys to be made by bike, foot or using public transport by 2040,
To plant 3 million trees in Greater Manchester by 2035
Restore 50-75% of our peatland
100%. BY 2035 all cars to have zero emissions.
550 onshore wind turbines to be installed by 2050.
100% of all buses to have zero emissions by 2035.
By 2025, 10% reduction in heating and cooling demand from existing commercial and public buildings
38% reduction in industrial emission by 2025
Achieve a recycling rate of 65% by 2035.
Business and commercial premises to have a total of 5.5 square kilometres of solar panels on rooftops or in ground-mounted installations. That’s the size of 770 football pitches.
A 4.5 times increase in current biomass energy delivering around 4 terawatt hours per year. That’s enough energy to power 100 LED bulbs for 1 million years.
60% of homes and business using low carbon heating like heat pumps and solar energy.
Using renewable energy in how you heat your workplace
Keeping your workplace warm
Moving to more sustainable and circular business models
Using sustainable types of travel
Looking after our natural environment
Being ready for future climate change impacts

Bee Net Zero

Get the help you need to cut the carbon footprint of your business. Making it cleaner, greener and more profitable. Bee Net Zero takes a collaborative approach to helping businesses on their journey to becoming net zero. Bringing together networks, organisations and support programmes from across Greater Manchester.

Start your journey today

Discover more…

Greater Manchester Business Growth Report 2021

A report into Greater Manchester’s business ecosystem designed to help SMEs and business owners as they continue to adapt, highlighting some of the key trends seen over the last 12 months and offering learnings.

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Net Zero: what it is and why it matters to you
‘Net zero’ is the new buzzword in the fight against climate change. Kevin Lambert explains what net zero means, where it came from and why all businesses need to sit up and take notice. 
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Business Growth Hub: Standing up for domestic retrofit suppliers in Greater Manchester

Tolu Omideyi explains how the Hub’s Green Technologies and Services advisors are helping local suppliers get fair access to domestic retrofit opportunities in Greater Manchester.

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Journey to Net Zero Brochure

Get ready for the net zero transition by making your business cleaner, greener and more profitable.

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Green Growth

Business Growth Hub supports businesses at all stages of their growth journey with our broad range of services. Their resource efficiency and green technologies and services teams help businesses reduce operating costs and thrive in the green technologies and services sector.

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Business Climate Hub

Businesses of all sizes around the UK are committing to do their bit to cut carbon emissions and protect the planet. The UK government has partnered with business owners and respected climate groups to help you join them today.

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Race to Zero

Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors including companies, cities, regions, financial and educational institutions to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world in time.

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Green Technologies and Services

Helping businesses to thrive in the green technologies and services sector. With fully-funded support, a virtual Low Carbon Network and tailored resources. Explore the solutions that will make your business better

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Business Growth Hub: Resource Efficiency

Boost profitability, reduce operating costs, save money. More than a thousand companies in Greater Manchester have already benefitted from cash savings and increased profitability through these specialist support services.

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Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

Explore resources

Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

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