Editorial Will Parsons
What a night!
"A leader is one
who knows the way,
goes the way, and
shows the way."
—John Maxwell
Another year and another record-breaker
for the Sustainability Leaders Awards as
the 2013 winners were called to the stage
to collect their hard-won trophies last
week.
A massive congratulations to all of you!
The majority of this issue of SB is given
over to profiling the winners in each of
our 15 categories, and I can think of no
better way to end 2013 than in recognising
the genuine leadership that is happening
in businesses across sector, across size,
across the UK.
Our categories cover the best in the field
from energy management to stakeholder
engagement, waste and resource
management to sustainability reporting.
This year was the eighth year the awards
have run, and the scheme has gone from
strength to strength in that time. In fact,
the event was the biggest of any year
since the scheme began. The entry level
(and calibre) hit an all-time high and
we welcomed a sell-out crowd to the
Grand Connaught rooms to celebrate
the winners.
Year on year, the increase in entry
numbers and quality is testament to the
fact that sustainability is increasingly fully
embedded into day-to-day operations and,
rather than an isolated, bolt-on function,
is informing strategy and impacting on
both the bottom and the top lines of the
businesses doing it well.
I did my thank yous on the night but
once again I'd like to extend my personal
thanks to all our sponsors and judges,
without whom, this event would not be
possible.
But really the thank yous belong to
the winners, and the finalists, and all the
entrants of the scheme. The breadth and
depth of the activity that they entered is
genuinely staggering.
And, the innovation and leadership
shown by this year's winners is the perfect
proof of the benefits this kind of business
mind-shift can create, as well as acting as an
example to those that perhaps aren't as far
along the road. This isn't just about being
a more responsible business it's about
being a more efficient business, a more
profitable business and a more robust
business going forward. Ultimately, it's
about doing business better, and that,
ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of a
genuine Sustainability Leader.
