Month: May 2022

Scottish Widows doubles divestment from firms posing ESG risk to £3bn

Stuart Mitchell

Scottish Widows has announced another £1.5 billion worth of divestments in a major new update to its exclusions policy, which contains a flagship commitment to divest from tobacco firms. Scottish Widows – which looks after around £190bn of savings and investments for over six million customers in the UK – will not invest in any company deriving more than 10% of its revenue from tobacco. This 10% threshold means that all tobacco manufacturers and major distributors are excluded, without hampering investments in companies from other industries that may derive a…

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Fighting climate change through food and drink: hospitality and brewing industries unite to cut carbon by launching new Carbon Calculator and Toolkit

Stuart Mitchell

Following the publication in November last year of the industry’s roadmap to net zero, the Zero Carbon Forum has launched the Hospitality & Brewing Carbon Calculator and Toolkit (see links reference below) developed in collaboration with UKHospitality, BBPA, and powered by Sky. The toolkit enables hospitality operators and brewers to calculate their carbon footprint and identify achievable key actions to reduce emissions. To support the accuracy of footprint calculations and easy-to-use actions, operators can choose from the groupings of pubs, hotels, restaurants, QSR, brewers, contract catering, nightclubs  and visitor attractions…

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Change is brewing: How one business saved 50,000 beers from being wasted in just one year

Stuart Mitchell

Over 50,000 beers have been saved from wastage with savings of over £75,000 being passed onto customers thanks to a new innovative business model developed by ‘The Green Bottle Shop’ in London. The Green Bottle Shop, that partners with over 30 British breweries including Siren Craft Brew, Thornbridge Brewery and London Beer Factory, buying surplus beers at discounted prices to then pass on to its customers, is today celebrating one year since its launch in April 2021. The UK throws away over 40 million pints a year on average and during the pandemic, many…

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Unilever announces new global principles for food marketing to children

Stuart Mitchell

Unilever will stop marketing food and beverages to children under the age of 16 years old, across both traditional media and social media. Currently, in most countries in the world, the food and beverage industry restricts marketing to children under 13 years old. Unilever’s enhanced principles, which are industry-leading, include: Not targeting children under 16 years old with any marketing or social media communications. Not collecting or storing data on children under 16. Not using influencers, celebrities or social media stars who are under the age of 16 or primarily…

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The sustainability squeeze: Almost half of Brits can’t afford to be more sustainable

Stuart Mitchell

New research from Bazaarvoice’s Influenster community reveals the current struggle UK consumers have with balancing the rising cost of living with their desire to shop sustainably. Given the choice, 44% would ditch fast fashion and switch to more sustainable clothing options, but they simply can’t afford the difference in cost. Eco sustainability vs financial sustainability Despite two thirds of consumers recognising the negative impact fast fashion companies have on the planet (66%), the higher price point (62%) and general availability of more sustainable and eco-friendly product alternatives (42%) have become…

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