Another great new article from thebestof Cheltenham's Local and Vocal Magazine...
The Green Revolution
Astute business visionaries or lentil swallowing, grow-your-own yoghurt, hippies? Arthur Hindmarch gives Local & Vocal his take on the decision to go green.
The Commercial Group seems a paradoxical name for a band of ecological revolutionaries. However, far from being banner-waving dissenters, siblings Arthur Hindmarch and Simone Mann and their partner Alastair Adams have turned their award-winning, independent business services and procurement firm, into the progressive “best practice” company model that aims to make a positive difference.
Born in Trinidad, schooled in England, and encouraged by their father, they formed the Commercial Group in 1990, and since then it has grown to become the largest, independently owned, business services company in the UK. Inside the company’s TARDIS-esque Cheltenham HQ, explorers will find a labyrinth of departments dedicated to office supplies, interiors, recruitment, print, and cutting edge IT virtual server/desktop solutions, that together generate an annual turnover with a pound sign and enough zeros to make an impressive Christmas paper-chain decoration.
The company’s ‘green’ credentials read like a copy of Environmentalist Weekly, yet the Managing Director is no Kaftan sporting bearded tree-hugger. Instead, visitors are confronted by a clean-cut debonair businessman that dispels the stereotyped preconceptions of an eco-warrior’s appearance.
The decision to go green was Sales Director Simone’s pioneering inspiration. Her visionary outlook put the company at the forefront of the movement before mass media exposure had a reporter babbling on about melting icecaps on every TV channel. Her forward thinking approach foresaw the advantages of gaining customers’ respect through responsible business practices – the only backward thing about Simone was her posture when winning a Commonwealth Games backstroke swimming gold
medal.
Environmental activism takes many shapes and the company’s major eco milestones include being the first in their field to go carbon neutral; reducing waste to landfill by over 90% by focusing on reduction and reuse policies; and installing a bio-diesel tank to fuel the entire fleet.
The bio-filling station can mix different types of processed waste oils to suit each van or car. It also serves as a fruit tea dispenser, producing each staff members’ favourite herbal infusion at the touch of a button. Well, maybe the tea thing is still in the development stage but soon...soon.
When asked about the irresponsible nature of some world producers, Arthur certainly doesn’t take the moral high ground like some environmentalists. There is none of the ‘I’ve planted more trees than you’ condescension some ‘Greenies’ are guilty of. Whilst accepting that countries like China and India are certainly responsible for belching vast quantities of pollutants into the atmosphere, he also comments that such countries have some catching-up to do when compared with the levels of environmental havoc caused by early industrialized nations like the UK and USA. Now is not a time for apportioning blame, it’s a time for raising awareness and tackling the situation on both a global and local level.
Local & Vocal would like to state that no plants or small furry animals were needlessly slaughtered in the writing of this article.
