National Lobster Hatchery is going green

The National Lobster Hatchery, the social enterprise dedicated to promoting the responsible management of coastal marine resources, has been announced as Cornwall Business Week's competition winner. The charity will receive a free consultation with Envision, the South West's government subsidised environmental support organisation, as well as a behind the scenes tour of the Eden Project's waste neutral programme.  IT company, Piran Technologies was selected as the runner up.

The aim of the consultation is not only to lower the companies' carbon footprint but also to bring about long term financial savings and sustainability. Envision will be reviewing the National Lobster Hatchery's waste, water, transport, energy and building to establish where carbon savings can be made which in turn will lead to a long term reduction in financial spend.

Justin Olosunde & Damian Poyzer of Envision explain:
Working with a marine business presents many different challenges. Normally we focus on the location of the building, which are often found close to dockyards or harbours and therefore at a high risk of water pollution and the challenges presented by climate change including rises in sea levels. In addition for the Lobster Hatchery it is expected to be focussed on reducing energy demand of the pump and compressor systems and realising the full potential of links between the great work that is being done by the hatchery and the wider sustainable development agenda with particular respect to educational and research aspects.

Dom Boothroyd, General Manager, National Lobster Hatchery added:
"We are delighted that through our Envision consultation we are going to be introducing more sustainable working practices. As a business committed to preserving marine life, it makes sense that we should address and reduce the impact our business operations have on the environment, by minimising our carbon footprint.

"We are really looking forward to witnessing first hand the Eden Project's waste neutral programme, and hope this may provide us with some food for thought when we look to implement greener measures ourselves."

Pat Hudson, Sustainability Officer, from the Eden Project's Waste Neutral Programme went onto say:
"We hope that the tour of Eden's waste neutral programme will provide both the National Lobster Hatchery and Piran Technologies with practical solutions and ideas to manage their own waste. Eden is a working example of what is possible and how there is no need to generate huge amounts of waste which are both costly to the environment as well as the business."

The competition was run as part of Cornwall Business Week, hosted by Cornwall Pure Business, the county's inward investment team and sponsored by Vickery Holman, Property Consultants.

Greg Oldrieve, Managing Director, of Vickery Holman concludes:
"We are so pleased that The National Lobster Hatchery will be benefiting from this consultation from Envision. Understanding and taking steps to becoming a more sustainable business benefits the environment as well as the company's bottom line.

Lucy Thom, Inward Investment Manager, Cornwall Pure Business concluded:
"We hope that activity throughout Cornwall Business Week has gone some way to drawing attention to how simple it is for businesses to become more sustainable. It would be great if those businesses who participated in the Cornwall Business Week Day of Action have continued to adopt energy saving measures for the long term. Cornwall's businesses have a key role to play in the county's ambition to secure its position as the UK's 'green peninsula'.

As runner up, Piran Technologies will also be receiving a behind the scenes tour of the Eden Project's Waste Neutral Programme.

For further information on going green or to view the key recommendations from the Envision audits please go to  - www.cornwallbusinessweek.co.uk