Founded in 1948, The Forshaw Group is a well-established business working in the property restoration sector. The company works closely with insurance companies and loss adjusters to renovate commercial and residential property damaged by fire or flood.
The Forshaw Group took part in The Good Small Business Programme Pilot. The purpose of the pilot was to establish a programme for small and medium-sized businesses in Liverpool City Region to help them better understand what it takes to be a ‘good business’.
Liam Hanlon, CEO at The Forshaw Group said, “The opportunity to join the pilot came at a great time for us as a company. Like most companies we had, and continue, to look at how we can become more sustainable and contribute to the UK’s overall Net Zero target, so this seemed like a great starting point for us to then build on and develop our sustainability strategy moving forward.”
The programme took the business through a full audit from supply chain to day-to-day operations, allowing it to understand where the business can adapt its current processes to decarbonise and eventually become carbon neutral. The audit scored The Forshaw Group highly in terms of having strong sustainable strategies in place and identified key areas where the business could develop and improve.
Liam commented, “The audit was really useful in consolidating what the business is currently doing to reduce its carbon footprint and areas for improvement – it’s given us key areas of focus that we can build on and develop.
“For example, we have 150+ vehicles which are being transitioned to electric and hybrid vehicles. In addition, the business has a scheme where 90% of our general waste goes to recycling to be reused. The business also has both an ISO 14001 and an ISO 9001 accreditation reinforcing our environmental quality and standards alongside our general business standards.”
Speaking around the future of the business, Liam said, “The results of the programme have put the business in a great position when it comes to looking for future investment.
“In addition, in terms of acquiring new talent, we recognise the importance of sustainability to both the environment and future employees, so we expect our processes will set us apart to businesses in the industry. Taking a more holistic view to sustainability, we have also implemented an urban farm in the offices and a well-being programme for all employees.”
Garth Dallas, from Dallas Consulting who led on The Good Small Business Programme Pilot said, “The Forshaw Group were a great business to work with on the programme. We have identified areas for improvement, but the business itself was already implementing some forward-thinking technologies and processes around sustainability. We’re looking forward to seeing how the business changes over the coming years and contributes to setting a standard for the industry.”
About The Good Small Business Programme Pilot:
This pilot programme was a partnership project between The Good Business Festival and Growth Platform to look how SMEs in Liverpool City Region can better understand what it takes to be a ‘Good Business’ and to adapt to these principles in their own business and in doing so contribute to the economic objective of inclusive growth through Building Back Better.
The pilot phase has now ended, and a programme of activity will be announced in 2022 based on key findings. Sign up to The Good Business Festival for forthcoming announcements.
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