At Edwards Commercial Cleaning, we’ve always wanted to grow responsibly. But understanding exactly where our environmental impact sat, what we should prioritise and how we could measure our progress required expertise.
That’s where Tamma Carel and Imvelo came in.
Understanding Where We Started
Our relationship with Tamma began when Managing Director Paul Edwards attended a Towards Net Zero business programme, where Tamma delivered sessions around carbon management, Net Zero and responsible environmental marketing.
Following the programme, Paul asked Tamma to support Edwards through one-to-one mentoring.
His initial goal was simply to understand our carbon footprint.
As Tamma explains:
‘I always say that before you can improve something, you need to understand where you’re starting from.’
Working with our team, Tamma helped us establish a process for collecting data and measuring our first carbon footprint.
And that data gave us something incredibly valuable… a starting point!
Finding Where We Could Make A Difference
For a commercial cleaning business, our environmental impact extends far beyond the walls of our head office.
Our teams operate across client sites throughout the North East and Yorkshire. We use cleaning products every day. Our people travel. And the products we use eventually have to go somewhere.
Working with Imvelo helped us look at the whole picture.
Single-use plastics and disposable cleaning materials emerged as one area where we could make meaningful changes. Transport was another.
Rather than trying to change everything at once, we could focus our attention where the data told us it mattered.
One of the biggest changes has been reviewing the products and resources we use to deliver our cleaning services.
As Tamma puts it:
‘Whatever you buy, you pay for twice. You pay to buy it, and then you pay to throw it away as a business.’
Moving towards concentrates and refillable cleaning solutions has helped us reduce the number of containers we use and the amount of plastic waste we generate.
We've also continued to review transport across the business, gradually introducing hybrid and electric vehicles where they are practical and suitable for our operational requirements.
None of these changes happened overnight. But together, they are making a measurable difference.
From Measurement To Progress
We don't measure our carbon footprint simply to produce a report.
Each year, we repeat the process with Imvelo so we can understand what has changed, where progress has been made and where we need to focus next.
Our latest Carbon Report recorded a 15.2% year-on-year reduction in gross carbon emissions.
For Tamma, the result reflects something bigger than one individual initiative.
‘It’s a very significant reduction and it shows how much effort the team is actually putting into it.’
That last point is particularly important to us. Because sustainability at Edwards isn't the responsibility of one person.
Changing a product or process is relatively straightforward. Changing behaviour takes more work.
Our cleaning operatives take enormous pride in the job they do. If we introduce a different product, it still has to deliver the standard of cleaning our clients expect. It also needs to work for the people using it every day.
Tamma describes the changes we’ve made as a ‘triple bottom line win’.
Good for people. Good for the planet. Good for profit.
That approach has helped sustainability become part of the wider culture at Edwards, from our management team through to the cleaners working across our client sites.
What Comes Next?
Our ambition is to achieve Net Zero by 2030 but sustainability doesn't have a finish line.
As the larger reductions become harder to achieve, our focus will increasingly turn to the smaller, incremental improvements that continue moving us in the right direction.
Transport remains an important area. So does the way we purchase and use resources. We’re also increasingly conscious of sharing what we've learned.
Many of the world-class businesses we support have their own sustainability and Net Zero ambitions. Our environmental impact doesn't exist in isolation from theirs. The more businesses measure, share, challenge one another and make better decisions together, the greater the impact we can have.
We’re incredibly grateful to Tamma and Imvelo for continuing to challenge and support us on that journey. There is still plenty more to do. But with every measurement, every change and every small step forward, we're continuing to grow responsibly.
Read more about Imvelo in our case study.
