What we do
Positive Planet is leading the charge to support companies and organisations to move from intent to positive impact; helping them to integrate sustainability into their business strategy. We help our clients to take advantage of the green revolution, future-proof their business models and meet the expectations of their stakeholders in this new age of responsible business.
Our mission
We help companies and organisations tackle their environmental impact and inspire others to act for a sustainable future.
Our story
01
Years of work down the drain
Our story begins with two experienced entrepreneurs and long-standing colleagues, Adam White and Stephen Henry in the middle of a management buyout, when out of the blue, the COVID pandemic changed the world. One signature away from completion and about to put our homes up as security, a strange turn of events made us rethink our plans and forced us to abandon the buyout we’d worked for almost three years to achieve. In hindsight, it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.
02
Where do we go
from here?
With our dreams in tatters and fast-facing unemployment, we worked like crazy to rework our original post-MBO strategy and came up with the initial concept for Positive Planet. Like many people, COVID had forced us to rethink our priorities and we wanted our new venture to be a purpose-driven business that was a force for positive change. If the COVID-19 pandemic was our wake-up call, protecting life from the negative impacts of climate change became our mission.
03
The start of a
green revolution
We launched Positive Planet with a belief that climate change presented a need for companies to future-proof their operations and most had little idea of how to get started or what to do. We also saw a green revolution starting that was presenting significant economic opportunities for those who successfully embedded sustainable working practices and felt that we were well placed to help companies benefit from this. Retainagroup joined us as our first client and we were up and running. By the winter of 2021, we were growing quickly, and we needed some help. Bryony joined us to support our growth efforts and was soon joined by others in our consulting team.
04
A year of fast but
painful growth
By 2022 it was clear that our mix of hands-on support and value for money was popular with clients, and we were growing quickly. We upgraded from hot desking to our first office, which became a home for our fast-growing team and we started to win some notable clients including BrewDog, Northedge, CP Hart, and FIDIC.
We also became the official Net Zero Partner of Aberdeen Football Club and helped them become a signatory of the UN Sports for Climate programme. It wasn’t all plain sailing, we had grown too fast and that had resulted in a slipping of standards for a small number of clients which we worked hard to address quickly.
05
Getting recognised
for our efforts
By the end of 2023, the team had grown to over 25 with 40% ethnic diversity and a predominantly female leadership team. We outgrew our original office so we’ve upsized again and we now have access to four on-site training suites which accommodate up to 20 people. We’re working with more than 500 organisations, covering most sectors and all continents. We’ve won some awards including the Federation of Small Business North West Start-Up of the Year and we became certified as a Carbon Literate Gold Organisation. Derwent Capital became an investor in May and will support our continued sustainable growth. We have invested heavily to improve our client experience with the launch of our client onboarding platform. The creation of our Client Success team ensures that every client is fully supported throughout your project.
06
2024 progress
As 2024 ends, we’re proud to celebrate the progress we’ve made this year. This summer, we launched Positive Planet Certified, our new accreditation replacing the Carbon Neutral Accreditation, to recognise responsible brands’ ongoing sustainability achievements. Our Sustainability Team has expanded our product offering to support a wider range of clients, with further developments planned for 2025. We also published our first Impact Report, showcasing our achievements and future plans, and are set to launch a Learning Management System in the New Year to deliver high-quality training to more clients.