In an industry where ‘greenwashing‘ is all too common, the Challenge provides a platform for structured, third-party assessment of our operations, reporting based on our sustainability performance and a rating in eight key areas.

We’re pleased to have come out with an impressive average of 90.5% through the eight areas of assessment, with two areas achieving 100%. With the average of all participants’ assessments 74.5%, we’re proud to be batting considerably above our size!

The graph below from the Assessment Report highlights our score in each of the eight assessment areas compared with other assessment average scores;

Obviously we’ve still got 9.5% to go, so we’re currently working through the opportunities the Assessment Report has highlighted, and looking to improve our rating when we are assessed mid-2010!

To read the full Executive Summary of our Assessment Report, please download here.

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The Wellington commercial cleaning company, FocusServices has been selected as a finalist in the 2009 Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Awards for the central and southern region.

With an impressive client list including some of the capital’s most prestigious office tenants such as NZX, Clemenger BBDO, The Treasury and Jeff Gray BMW, FocusServices provides a full cleaning service that is designed to leave a low environmental impact.

Founder and director corporate accounts, Joss Jenner-Leuthart says FocusServices uses biodegradable products such as rubbish bags, bin liners and cleaning products and waterless microfiber cloths as part of its overall waste management strategy.

It is currently trialling a new bucketless mopping system that reduces water consumption by 80 per cent when compared to traditional systems and offers an online portal for client communication that does away with the traditional cleaner’s book.

Jenner-Leuthart says the real achievement in terms of the recent SBN announcement is being considered a leader in sustainable business practices by the judging panel.

“We see ourselves as the new face of an age-old industry and are excited about making the finals as it provides further creditability to our work in operating a sustainable business.

“In this industry, like many others, the notion of ‘greenwashing’ is a constant issue as companies attempt to re-invent themselves to attract environmentally and socially aware customers. However, you can’t just slap the word ‘green’ or ‘eco’ to the side of your cars and think that does it,” he says.

Jenner-Leuthart says he’s built the company from the ground up based on principles of sustainability and corporate responsibility, and is proud of its achievements.

“From our low-emission vehicles, our community involvement and support of the Wellington City Mission, right through to our significantly higher-than-industry average employee wage rates and working conditions, we’ve taken a holistic approach to sustainability in all aspects of our operations.”

The company has ambitions to be the country’s first certified carbon neutral cleaning company, and with the assistance of carbon offset provider ‘Offset the Rest’, is working to reduce, measure and offset any remaining emissions. Progress reports are updated regularly on the company blog – www.focusservices.co.nz/blog

Ends

For further information please contact:

Georgina Bond
Consultant
Wright Communications
(09) 366 2456
0275 444 716
georgina@wrightcommunications.co.nz

As a company with a strong commitment to sustainable business practices, it’s great to be recognised as a real leader in our field and further cements our reputation as a leading provider of cleaner, greener, better commercial cleaning solutions in the Wellington region.

We also extend our congratulations to other Wellington finalists: Kiwibank (Emerging, Large Business), Ideas Shop (Emerging, SME), Formway (Design & Innovation), Celcius Coffee (Trailblazer, SME), Energy for Industry (Trailblazer, Large Business) and Wellington Zoo (Non-profit).

The Sustainable Business Network Awards are in their fourth year in the central region, with past winners including Resene, NZX, and the Meridian Energy Building. Regional winners will be announced on 24 September, who then go onto the National Awards in Auckland on 12 November.

For further information please contact:

In searching for a key charity to support, we looked for an organisation that worked in the same communities that we operate and shared similar people and community-based values as ours. Right from the outset we saw a fabulous synergy between our company and the Mission for Families programme, which provides free assistance to empower struggling young families improve their own lives and the lives of their children.

Our regular financial contribution specifically goes toward the Mission for Families programme, which has two key objectives in providing assistance to families in trouble;

1. Initial relief provided in the form of food, clothing, bedding and assistance finding somewhere suitable to live; and
2. Through an appropriate mix of mentoring, advocacy, counselling, and education, the family can be helped out of trouble and risk onto independent and safe living, and ultimately a better quality of life.

“Our company operates with a labour force that have often come from, or are part of communities and families that struggle with everyday life. While we strive to provide a fair, equitable and supportive working environment for our employees, we’re excited about being able to assist making a difference in the wider community.”

“The Wellington City Mission was delighted to be approached by FocusServices about their desire to support our Mission for Families programme. Regular financial contributions from FocusServices will enable the Mission to continue to provide support for families who are often facing economic and social stress, alcohol and drug dependency and domestic violence.

Our supporters are people who identify with our ideals and are as passionate as we are about making a difference in the community. We look forward to a long and happy relationship with our new friends at FocusServices!”

For further information on the programme, see the Wellington City Mission website.

Carbon Neutral Certification offers a transparent process that forms a solid and credible platform on which to build and embed our environmental policies.

We know consumers are becoming more and more conscious of our environment and our impact on it, leading to an expectation that businesses will be environmentally responsible. As New Zealanders become more aware of the issues they are making informed decisions and choosing products and services that promote the sustainability of our environment and encourage a low carbon economy.

We are choosing to follow the Offset the Rest carbon neutral certification process as it is a rigorous process that adheres to the highest international standards; and gives our customers the security that they are supporting a company that has taken full responsibility for its carbon footprint, and therefore its impact on the environment.

Offset the Rest’s Carbon Neutral Certification is achieved by following a three step process:

1. Carbon Footprint Measurement

Measurement is undertaken in accordance with the highest international standards available; the GHG Protocol for corporate accounting and reporting, and ISO 14064-1.

2. Carbon Footprint Management

This fundamental step in the process involves the documentation of emissions and the identification of reduction initiatives. Offset the Rest is assisting us to develop a carbon management strategy and set emission reduction initiatives and targets that fit the profile of our company.

3. Offsetting of Unavoidable Emissions

Offsetting is achieved through the purchase of carbon credits and is the final step in becoming certified carbon neutral. Offset the Rest provide Gold Standard carbon credits, considered the world’s premium carbon credit for the voluntary market. Gold Standard carbon credits focus on renewable energy and therefore promote a low carbon economy.

Very soon you’ll be able to track our progress to achieving our number one sustainability goal through a new section of our website, so watch this space!

Bernie has been with us since December 2008, working as key member of our busy night service team. She brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to her role in the company, including seven years as a Supervisor with another commercial cleaning company where she was primarily responsible for multi-level office buildings.

Based from our Ngauranga Operations Depot, Bernie will be coordinating our service teams daily operations and site Quality Assurance programmes, as well as managing staff training and development.

Situated on Wellington’s picturesque Taranaki Wharf, the building was originally built in 1907 as the head office of timber and building merchants C&A Odlin. The building was extensively redeveloped and restored in 2005 by Willis Bond & Co with Athfield Architects and now sits proudly as a landmark Wellington building and the home of the country’s stock exchange.

NZX has a strong commitment to sustainable business practices, is an active member of the Sustainable Business Network, and in 2008 won the award for ‘Emerging - Large & Corporate Business’ at the Central Regional Sustainable Business Awards.

Spread over three floors of the iconic Clemenger BBDO House on Kent Terrace, the building was originally designed and built as the New City Hotel in 1939 on the site of John Plimmer’s original City Hotel. The building still maintains a number of original features and stands as an example of ’streamlined’ art deco design.

“We are really excited to be working with Clemenger Wellington as a valued client. The company has a rich and proud history of achievements in Wellington, and also share a commitment to sustainable business practices.” said Director Corporate Accounts, Joss Jenner-Leuthart.

Other new clients in June included IT consultants TechTonics Group, web design firm Signify and property investors KAJOLE Group.

For quite a while now we’ve been fairly choosy when it comes to our process for any external printing that we undertake - such as stationery, promotional material, etc. Recently some of our clients have asked us about our sustainable printing guidelines and so we thought we’d publish them:

• The inks used are vegetable based, contain less than 1% mineral oils and are made from renewal sources;
• Where possible digital printing with toner based inks is utilised to avoid the unnecessary creation of metal plates and their associated chemicals;
• The paper stocks are sourced from well-managed sustainable forests and processed at mills certified ISO in environmental management;
• Where possible paper stocks contain at least 50% post consumer waste (recycled from being used before);
• The waste generated by the design and print process is managed and disposed of using sustainable processes;
• The print company understands and has a strong commitment to business sustainability and their role in the ’sustainable supply chain’.

We often use Wellington owned and operated print company, Service Printers for our printing requirements as they are not only committed to this process (and like us, members of the Sustainable Business Network), but are fantastic to deal with and have the same attention to detail we do!

Click on the image below to see our latest brand marketing card - printed, of course, according to our ’sustainable printing’ guidelines!

Marguerite joins Focus from a range of customer service and organisational positions, including recently at property managers, Jones Lang LaSalle/EDS.

In her role as Service Delivery Manager, Marguerite will coordinate and oversee our daily operational activities and work alongside our service teams to ensure flawless delivery of our services every day. She will also be working on further developing and managing our FocusExceed customer service programme and individual site quality assurance programmes.

At Focus we continue to invest strongly in acquiring and maintaining a team of dedicated, service-focused staff in all parts of our company. Outstanding service delivery is something we’ve always been strongly committed to, and this appointment is another sign of our investment and commitment in this area.

While the challenge is a fantastic way to assess a company’s sustainability performance, the process also provides each participant with a comprehensive, third-party, sustainability assessment and ‘Improvement Report’.

The key elements covered by the challenge assessment and reporting are:

• Commitment
• Future-thinking
• Resources
• Staff
• Operations
• Products & Services
• Relationships
• Communications

We’re always looking for ways to do business better and see our participation in the challenge as a great way to have an independent assessment of our current practices, and some discussion on ways we can improve even more.

As a company we’re all about sustainable business practices - and we always have been. While company vehicles are chosen for environmental-friendliness, we obviously have no control over the vehicles our staff drive or how they get to work each day - but we do encourage them to consider environmentally friendly options such as public transport where possible.

During a small piece of internal research this week it was really pleasing to find out that almost all our staff are now traveling to work either on public transport or car-pooling! By our calculations that’s quite a few cars off the road even with our small team.

The underlying message from the survey report was really nothing new - SMEs, the backbone of our business community, are continuing to struggle to understand the concept of sustainability in business.

However what was great to see was the ratio of those surveyed who are doing something about it, rather than admitting defeat to the big ‘S’ word;

• 14% of those surveyed are doing nothing at all about sustainability in their business
• 5% are fully committed to sustainability and are undertaking initiatives such as carbon offsetting
• 81% are actively doing something - from research to implementation of new practices

What’s great to see is the vast majority of SMEs taking an interest in incorporating sustainable business practices into their organisation. It does leave a fairly significant and unanswered question as a result this research though - who is going to help educate SMEs further on the immense benefits of sustainable business practices and work with them to implement them?

With the Government recently delivering a harsh blow to the idea of further growing and fostering sustainable business practice by axing its own sustainable procurement policies, it falls into the hands of committed and hard working business groups such as the Sustainable Business Network and NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development. So good on those companies that take the time to belong and contribute to these groups!

Let’s remember sustainable business practice is a journey, not an answer. All on board…

Posted by: Joss Jenner-Leuthart

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