Celebrating 100 years of Sir David Attenborough 🌍
For generations, he’s helped the world see the beauty, fragility, and importance of the natural world, and why protecting it matters.
His storytelling has inspired millions to think differently about our planet and the role we all play in shaping its future.
A small nod of appreciation to someone whose work continues to drive awareness and action across the world.
Last week, some of our team attended the The Workplace Event, where the @official_bicsc hosted the Cleaning Innovation Hub.
A big thank you to BICSc for having us, it was great to be part of it.
Our Senior Account Manager, Millie Hocking, and Partnerships Executive, Roxanna Francombe, delivered a keynote on “The importance of becoming a sustainable supplier in the cleaning industry”. Millie also joined a panel alongside others working to move the sector forward.
Across the sessions and conversations, a few themes kept coming up.
More organisations are starting, even if they don’t have everything figured out yet, which is a positive shift.
Data is still a challenge. Inconsistencies, supply chain gaps and fragmented systems are making things harder than they need to be, particularly in facilities management.
What stood out most, though, was the openness around collaboration. It’s a competitive space, but more people are willing to share what’s working, and that’s where real progress is starting to happen.
👋 Meet our new starters
Over the past few months, we’ve welcomed some brilliant new talent to the Planet Mark team, across Sales, Certification, and our Senior Leadership teams.
Each person brings their own experience and perspective to help us support businesses make more sustainable choices every day.
Here’s what they had to say about why they joined Planet Mark:
🗣️ I joined Planet Mark to build the next generation of solutions that support our Members on their carbon reduction journey. – Tom Hazeldine, Senior Product Director
🗣️ I joined Planet Mark to empower companies, no matter their sustainability maturity, to jumpstart their journey to net zero. – Gabriel Ware, Sustainability Consultant
🗣️ Sustainability is only going to become more important for everyone - and I want to be on the right side of this. Planet Mark is perfectly positioned to lead on this transition. – Adam Shaw, Sales Director
Big welcome to the team 💚
#WorkCulture #NewBeginnings
Last week, our Partnerships team attended the BFA ESG Forum, hosted by the British Furniture Association and Blum UK, with the session led by Richard Naylor.
The session focused on how sustainability is showing up across the furniture sector, including legal compliance, consumer expectations, talent, acquisition and supply chain resilience.
A big part of the day was ESG pain mapping, which involved understanding where organisations are feeling the most pressure and the obstacles preventing progress.
James Shorey, our Partnerships Manager, also spoke, sharing how these challenges are showing up in practice through the BFA ESG Roadmap.
What stood out was that most businesses are willing, but often overwhelmed, under-resourced, or misaligned in implementing their sustainability plans.
That gap between intent and action is something we see consistently, and it’s where having a clear structure makes all the difference.
Sustainability doesn’t stop at carbon 🌍
Our #EarthDay Lunch & Learn brought together Amanda Bronkhorst (JUST ONE Tree), Magda Pieta (Cool Earth) and Jonathan Withey (naturethrive), hosted by our Partnerships Executive Roxanna Francombe, and sparked some really valuable discussion.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us.
This year’s Earth Day theme, #OurPowerOurPlanet, centres on people and collective action, something that came through clearly in the conversation.
What was clear is that nature, climate and people aren’t separate conversations. Real progress depends on putting people at the centre of nature recovery.
Whether it’s Indigenous communities protecting rainforests, or businesses rethinking how land is used, the impact is already happening.
One point kept coming up:
It’s no longer just about reducing impact, but asking what we’re actively doing to restore it.
Lots to take forward as we continue supporting our Members to think more holistically about sustainability.
We recently ventured to Anthropy UK UK at @edenprojectcornwall to join over 2000 leaders from different sectors to meet, challenge and conceive of our role in moving things forward.
It felt like a full-circle moment; almost 13 years ago, Planet Mark was launched at Eden and to be back there, hosted by Andy Jasper, CEO of Eden Project, surrounded by nature and community, reminded us to focus on what matters.
A theme that stood out over the course of the event was ‘resilience’. Not just as a big-picture concept, but how it’s built through communities, and the role businesses play in supporting the people and places around them.
This is something we see every day across our membership - businesses creating long-term value not just within their own operations, but in the communities they’re part of. It’s also where we’re continuing to focus our support.
Our Managing Director, Avital Johanan joined a panel alongside Fiona Howarth from Octopus Electric Vehicles, Charles Sainsbury, our sustainability partner at Eden Project, and Jane Davidson who chairs the Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group. The panel explored whether businesses could reach net zero at zero cost. Whilst the question sounded like a challenge, the sentiment was wildly positive and uplifting.
The conversation established that a focus on collaboration, transparency, and partnership was key to encouraging progress. Businesses are part of communities - sharing learnings ensures everyone can become resilient.
When @regularcleaning put its net zero plan in place, it aligned the business toward this new goal.
As CEO Chris Goad puts it:
“Having a really clear net zero strategy reflects the responsibility we believe businesses like ours should take. It has brought our teams together around a shared goal and shaped the decisions we’ve made.”
Today that strategy looks like:
• A fully electric fleet
• Zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions at its Service Support Centre (market-based method)
• A Planet Mark Net Zero Committed Business aligned to a 1.5°C pathway
This strategy influences how they win work, collaborate with partners and plan for the future.
Full case study in our bio.
🎥 Behind the scenes with @bloominghaus
As the only floral design studio certified by both Planet Mark and B Corp, Blooming Haus is building a clear picture of what responsible floristry can look like, from understanding the composition of their footprint to making more informed decisions across the business.
Together with our founder, Steve Malkin, we spent the day with the team to understand how and why they’re approaching things differently.
Alongside partners like com:post and Recorra, Blooming Haus is also working on better ways to manage waste and materials.
Stay tuned for the video case study.
Last week we had our #Q1 Strategy Day.
We took some time to look back on Q1, what we’ve delivered, how things are tracking against our pillars and OKRs, and where we’re seeing progress across the business. It’s always a good reminder that you can’t change what you don’t measure, and having that visibility helps us focus on what actually needs to move.
We also stepped back to sense-check our direction and make sure we’re aligned on where we’re heading, before getting into what Q2 needs to look like in practice, where we focus and where we need to push further.
One of the key sessions focused on improving our Member experience, with teams coming together to share ideas and challenges. Because real progress only happens when everyone’s part of it.
Really good to get everyone together, talk things through, and move forward with more clarity.
Last week, some of our team attended, and spoke at, our Partner @heartacadtrust ’s Supplier Summit.
The focus was clear: suppliers play a big role in helping schools deliver better outcomes, not just operationally, but environmentally and socially too.
We spoke about how schools can better understand and reduce their carbon footprint, and how suppliers contribute to that in practice.
It was great to see how engaged everyone was, and how much work is already underway across the group.
Last week, our founding Partner, the @edenprojectcornwall , celebrated their 25th birthday 🎉
From a former clay pit in Cornwall to a to a pioneering ecological destination, that’s welcomed over 25 million visitors, it’s been quite a journey. Along the way, they’ve reached more than a million young people through education and brought communities together across the UK. Their work continues to show what’s possible when we choose to restore, regenerate, and reconnect with nature.
We’re proud to celebrate this milestone and the impact they’ve made, and look forward to what the next 25 years will bring 🌱
£1 plants 1 tree.
That simple idea sits behind @just_one_tree , who we’re pleased to welcome as a Planet Mark Solution Partner.
JUST ONE Tree is a non-profit helping individuals, schools and businesses take direct action to tackle climate change and grow biodiversity.
Their projects restore forests in areas affected by deforestation, from Kenya and Madagascar to Nepal and Brazil, working with local communities who grow, plant and care for native trees over time.
Alongside planting trees, they also bring environmental education into classrooms, helping young people understand the role nature plays in protecting our future.
As a Planet Mark Solution Partner, JUST ONE Tree gives our members another way to support nature restoration alongside their wider sustainability work.
#NatureRestoration #ClimateAction #Sustainability
