ESG is an interesting concept for small/medium businesses. ESG is generally viewed as a territory for large enterprises to navigate to fulfill the obligations of shareholders and board members in terms of regulatory commitments. As an SME, we often have limited resources in terms of finances, people, and expertise to dedicate to ESG initiatives however, does it need to be that complicated? We don't think so! The ethos of ESG is really quite simple and even as an SME there are so many things that you can do to implement this in the work environment.

Here are some of the things that we do and that really work for us:

• It sounds obvious but making sure you reduce your energy usage as much as possible is super important, although challenging for a machining business. Things we do to improve energy efficiency include, motion sensor lighting in communal areas, up-to-date efficient machinery, and switching off lights when not in use (obvious really!)
• This took a bit more looking in to but we decided to replace our cleaning processes on the shop floor from using disposal paper towel to reusable cloths which as washed and returned.
• We take an active interest in supporting community events in our local area whether it is through sponsorship, charitable donations, or volunteering time. The immediate benefit is to the cause or community that we support but there are also benefits for us as a business. Internally our employees know that we genuinely care about good causes and externally this is also seen by our customers and local communities. Win, win really!
• As a business we take our systems and processes super seriously and are constantly reviewing them for improvement and efficiencies.
• Industry standards accreditations are important to us, but not as a plaque on the wall. No, they are important so that we know that not only are our processes of a high standard but that the documentation and transparency to support them are spot on too.
• And we love an audit. Strange I know, but it keeps us on our toes and makes sure that standards are always maintained. Our clients are large enterprises, for whom these policies are critical within their own businesses. More and more these clients are looking at their supply chain to reflect their own policies, regardless of business size.

I guess the main point of this post is to show that ESG and the SME can work. I am sure that other businesses like us are doing similar kinds of things whilst thinking ESG isn't for them but breaking it down to its ethos shows that they are already on the ESG journey. As an SME we are proud of taking these strides forward and will continue to do so.

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