At Manchester Central, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. It’s not just about protecting the natural environment, it’s about our social, economic, and cultural impacts too.
Here’s an overview of our sustainability plans and activities:
Our Strategy
Manchester Central's sustainability strategy, ‘Our Central Future’, has four overarching principles: Our People, Our Environment, Our Community, and Our Business. The strategic objectives that sit within these principals are achieved through training, collaboration and innovation with our employees, customers, suppliers and contractors.
Our Business
As a business we seek to engage and commit to local, national and worldwide initiatives, and have signed the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, to demonstrate this commitment. We’re currently working on our carbon management plan and net zero strategy, which is looking at reducing our carbon footprint, and the options to offset and potentially offer carbon neutral events in the near future.
We also strive to innovate and implement sustainable solutions for our stakeholders. Our Sustainability Steering Group is made up of representatives from across the business, to ensure we’re innovating in all areas. Over recent years we have installed electric vehicle charging points, smart metres for energy monitoring and LED lighting and passive infrared sensors to reduce electricity usage.
We are also the host site for the Civic Quarter Heat Network, generating low carbon heat and power for the city.
Our Environment
At Manchester Central we promote a culture of environmental responsibility. To help protect our natural environment, we aim to reduce our impact wherever possible. For example, we have our very own waste management centre that allows us to segregate our waste on-site and divert all waste from landfill. We use anaerobic digestion for all our kitchen waste, we have replaced all single-use plastics with plastic-free alternatives, and we have digitised business processes and systems to reduce the amount of paper used. We also source locally where possible to reduce our food miles, and we are now accredited by the Vegan and Vegetarian Society, offering plenty of plant-based options!
Our Community
Community in Manchester is important. That’s why we actively encourage our employees to make a positive contribution by engaging and supporting local causes, via schemes such as Make a Difference Days, charity of the year fundraising, and donating leftover packaged foods to local charities.
Our People
Our people are our most valuable asset; therefore, we provide a safe and inspiring place to work, enabling employees to make a positive contribution to the sustainable growth of the business. We are a Real Living Wage employer, we offer apprenticeships schemes and supported placements, whilst promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. We also encourage staff to utilise our Cycle to Work scheme and offer public transport loan schemes.
Our Research
We realise sustainability is a growing concern for all event businesses, so we’ve conducted some research, in collaboration with MASH Media, to understand the industry’s perception of sustainability, and how different organisations are adapting and committing to the sustainability movement, the challenges faced by our industry, and the success stories we can all take inspiration from.
The Team
Lauren Hudson is Manchester Centrals Sustainability and Safety Advisor. Lauren works within the Facilities Management Team, working across the business and with all departments, to ensure sustainability is embedded into every area of the business, and also chairs the Sustainability Steering Group.
Read about our sustainability strategy and initiatives
Download the Shaping a Sustainable Future whitepaper