At Northern Energy, we believe that being a responsible business means looking beyond the day-to-day and considering the impact we have on the world around us. Whether it’s supporting our customers, investing in our people or helping protect the environment for future generations, we’re committed to doing the right thing and continuously improving the way we work.
That’s why we're proud to announce the launch of our new Green Team and the introduction of our first Environmental Policy, making an important milestone in our sustainability journey.
Earlier this year, our Managing Director, Stuart Illingworth, invited colleagues across the business to volunteer for a dedicated team focused on driving environmental awareness and identifying opportunities to reduce Northern Energy’s environmental impact.
We're delighted that Simon Armitage, Chloe Mellors and Robert Kirby have stepped forward to take on this important role. Together, they are helping to shape our environmental ambitions and create a more structured approach to sustainability across the business.
Partnering with Investors in the Environment
To support us on this journey, Northern Energy is working towards accreditation with Investors in the Environment (iiE), a nationally recognised sustainability accreditation scheme that helps organisations of all sizes improve their environmental performance.
iiE provides a practical framework for measuring environmental impact, setting achievable goals and delivering meaningful improvements over time. Rather than expecting businesses to have all the answers from day one, the scheme encourages continuous progress, helping organisations build confidence, track results and embed sustainability into everyday operations.
The accreditation framework guides businesses through a series of achievable steps, helping them understand where they are today while providing a clear roadmap for future improvement. It focuses on practical actions and measurable outcomes, ensuring environmental commitments translate into real-world results.
For Northern Energy, iiE offers the opportunity to establish robust environmental management practices, benchmark our performance and ensure we continue moving forwards in a structured and transparent way. Just as importantly, it will help us engage colleagues across the business and encourage everyone to play a part in reducing our environmental impact.
Building the foundations for a greener future
Since coming together, the Green Team has already made excellent progress.
The team has held its first kick-off meeting with iiE, established the requirements for accreditation and started work on developing Northern Energy’s environmental baseline. This will allow us to better understand and monitor key areas such as energy consumption, emissions and waste while measuring the impact of any improvements we make along the way.
The Green Team has also developed Northern Energy’s first Environmental Policy, which sets out our commitments and ambitions as we work towards a more sustainable future.
Creating this policy is an important first step. It not only outlines our environmental objectives but also establishes a framework for continual improvement. By measuring our current performance and setting clear goals, we can make informed decisions about where to focus our efforts and where we can make the biggest difference.
While this marks the beginning of a formal sustainability programme, environmental responsibility is nothing new to Northern Energy. Across the business, we already take many practical steps to minimise our environmental impact, from reducing waste and improving efficiency to encouraging more sustainable ways of working.
The Green Team’s role is to build on these existing efforts, helping to turn good intentions into meaningful action and ensuring environmental considerations become an increasingly important part of everyday decision-making.
Every improvement counts
One of the key principles behind the Green Team is that sustainability isn’t about finding a single solution. Instead, it’s about making ongoing improvements, whether large or small.
Some initiatives may be straightforward, such as reducing paper usage, conserving water or improving energy efficiency across our sites. Others may be more ambitious, including exploring opportunities to generate renewable energy and further reduce our carbon footprint.
No single improvement will transform our environmental performance overnight, but collectively they can have a significant impact.
By establishing a baseline, setting measurable objectives and monitoring progress over time, we’ll be able to identify what works well, build on our successes and continually look for new opportunities to improve.
Importantly, this journey isn’t just about processes and policies. It’s about people. Sustainability works best when everyone is engaged, which is why raising awareness across the business forms a key part of the Green Team’s work. Every colleague has an opportunity to contribute ideas, adopt more sustainable practices and help Northern Energy make a positive difference.
A message from our Managing Director
Stuart Illingworth, Managing Director, said:
‘At Northern Energy, we've always believed that doing the right thing extends beyond the service we provide to our customers. Launching our Green Team and introducing our Environmental Policy demonstrates our commitment to understanding and reducing our environmental impact in a meaningful way.
As an independent, family-run business, we’ve always taken a long-term view. The decisions we make today have an impact on future generations, which is why sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of how we operate. We’re at the beginning of this journey, but every positive change, no matter how small, can make a difference.
I’d like to thank Simon, Chloe and Robert for their enthusiasm and hard work in helping us take these first important steps. Together we’ll continue to look for ways to reduce our impact and deliver a better tomorrow.’
Delivering a Better Tomorrow
Our Environmental Policy outlines a number of commitments, including reducing energy consumption, minimising waste, preventing pollution, promoting sustainable purchasing and increasing environmental awareness across the business.
Achieving these goals will be a collective effort, supported by our management team, our Green Team and colleagues throughout Northern Energy. By working together, we can continue to make meaningful improvements and ensure sustainability becomes an increasingly important part of how we operate as a business.
As we progress through the Investors in the Environment accreditation process, we’ll be sharing updates on our journey, the initiatives we’re introducing and the progress we’re making. While we’re still at the beginning of this process, we’re excited about the opportunities ahead and the positive impact it can have on our business, our customers, our communities and the environment.
Click here to read our full Environmental Policy.