Introducing Our Awards Sponsors – (2 of 2)

Excitement is building as businesses of all sizes are taking the opportunity to take part in Surrey’s first sustainable business awards – CREST21 – with the deadline for entries 5 March fast approaching.
This week we’re following on from last week’s introduction to the first three award category sponsors with an introduction to the other award sponsors. Their support is what promises to establish CREST21 as one of Surrey’s most prestigious business awards event, which will be streamed live from the WWF in Woking on the 20 May.
Free to enter CREST21 Business Awards are being presented by the Woking News & Mail in association with the University of Surrey’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability and supported by headline sponsor Surrey County Council.

Kier Highways – Sustainability Impact Award & Going Circular Award

Kier logo

Kier Highways, one of the UK’s leading construction and infrastructure services company, is proud to sponsor the Crest 21 Sustainability Impact Award.

In giving its support, Kier says we are committed to developing sustainable communities through our policies, strategies and investment in community skills, infrastructure and local and economic development in Surrey. We deliver this through the partnerships we work within, the commitment and dedication of our people and our local supply chains.

As sponsor for the Sustainability Impact Award, James Birch, Managing Director for Kier Highways Local Authority Business says: “Sustainability is embedded into the way we work at Kier; our practices support sustainable materials, energy, water, biodiversity, skills and social impact. We are delighted to embrace and promote organisations who share our passion and commitment for sustainable communities.”

Kier Highways are also proud to sponsor the CREST21 Sustainable Business Awards category for the Going Circular Award.

In welcoming the value of the award Kier says we are committed to reducing the impact on the environment and communities wherever we operate; that includes challenging the way we use natural resources, and implementing solutions that create less waste, generate less carbon and make better use of materials.

Bernard Hodgkinson, General Manager, Kier Highways says: “With so much of what we use today being seen as “one use” or “throw away”, it’s great to see an initiative in Surrey that is recognising efforts that will reduce our consumption of precious resources, and help to support and sustain the local and wider economy.”

Kier Highways works on projects of all sizes, complexities, including work in education, health, housing, highways, aviation, rail and power, it also has a growing footprint in infrastructure services, delivering both capital projects as well as maintenance of infrastructure assets.

A London Stock Exchange listed company with a network of over 60 UK offices, it has a turnover in of £4.5bn. It sees its aims to deliver economic and social infrastructure as vital to the growth of the UK.

University of Surrey, Centre for Environment and Sustainability – Co-sponsor for Resilience in Crisis Award

Surrey University Centre for sustainability

The University of Surrey Centre for Environment and Sustainability (CES) is an internationally-acclaimed centre of excellence on sustainable development that has worked in close partnership with the Woking News & Mail to establish the CREST21 Sustainable Business Awards.

In the light of the many challenges that the awards have faced alongside those experienced by businesses and organisations of all description through the coronavirus pandemic it was the main motivator in establishing a totally new award Resilience in Crisis.

Ian Christie of CES said: “This new award is very welcome in the second year of the pandemic. It’s right to recognise the importance of agility and resilience in business in the face of a crisis. Enterprises that can help us recover in green and socially positive ways are vital to us all. It will be great to make this award to a Woking area business and we look forward to seeing the entries.”

CES was established by Professor Roland Clift in 1992 and today continues to have a major influence on the development of industrial ecology, systems analysis for sustainability and on policy-makers and civil society in meeting the challenges in living sustainably and well.

The impact of its research and teaching is enhanced by its close partnership with diverse businesses and industry on sustainable innovation and implementation issues in practice.

As a result of its wide ranging experience underlines the value of the prize that CREST21 is offering to winners thanks to the CES. Each category winner will receive a bespoke CES consultation package to help them tackle their sustainability challenges.

Woking News & Mail – Co-sponsor for Resilience in Crisis Award

Woking News Logo

The widely respected News & Mail title has covered the area for over 100 years and today remains Woking’s only dedicated newspaper. It has built a long-standing commitment to corporate social responsibility from the FSC approved paper it uses for its weekly print publication to the support it gives to promote sustainable business practices and initiatives throughout the community to protect the environment.

Together with its own business commitment to sustainability, the News & Mail, and its insight into the initiatives in the local business community to protect the environment, it was a simple step to realise the need for a way of recognising their work.

Aware of the renown of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey as an internationally acclaimed centre of excellence for sustainable development, the newspaper approached the CES team two years ago with a proposal to work together to create Surrey’s first sustainable business awards.

The rest is history – although not quite because of course the awards, in common with the rest of the world has had to overcome the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic. Due to take place in November as a live event at the WWF UK head office in Woking, the awards were postponed until May when they will be live streamed as a hybrid event from the WWF. This new post-COVID style of event will see a reduction in carbon emissions as a result of the new concept and has even greater relevance to the awards’ mission.

News & Mail Managing Director, Terry Tidbury says: “CREST21 Sustainable Business Awards is one of the most exciting projects the News & Mail has initiated and we feel honoured to be co-sponsoring the Resilience in Crisis Award with the University. We’re a business ourselves so we know just how challenging the last year has been and we believe that CREST21 and this award in particular have a role to play in building and inspiring morale in the local economy.”

The Surrey CREST21 Business Awards have been founded by the Woking News & Mail, in association with the University of Surrey’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability and supported by headline sponsor Surrey County Council.

The event will be live streamed from the WWF’s Living Planet Centre, Woking, in May 2021. It will be open to entries from Monday 1 February 2021 through its website https://crestawardssurrey.co.uk/awards/.