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Making space data meaningful and accessible

Omanos Analytics is a company that is doing something that, most likely, most of us won’t have a clue about – they use satellite data about the planet (‘Earth observation data’, or simply ‘EO’) to understand changing conditions on land and sea. They work with communities and charities to help validate issues where environmental and social injustices have occurred.

They have, for example, used EO data to demonstrate the continued presence of oil spillages in the sea off the coast of Turkmenistan. The data and the interpretation that Celia and her team put together helped a non-governmental organisation lobby for improvements to the infrastructure in the area, aimed at helping reduce the environmental impact of the oil rigs and pipework. It’s an area that is difficult to reach and, for the local communities, almost impossible to prove any wrongdoing from the oil and gas companies, but the verifiable information from Omanos Analytics in conjunction with local testimonies makes a case that is impossible to refute.

Complementary co-founders

There are, of course, other companies that use EO data – indeed, the Scottish space sector is burgeoning - but Celia’s experience brings a unique angle to the data game. She spent much of her career prior to Omanos Analytics working as a humanitarian so she has really seen what community groups and NGOs are up against in hostile, high security environments. Her experience also means, of course, that she has a good network in the NGO world and is also thoroughly adept at translating information for a wide variety of audiences.

It’s a perfect fit for a company whose other co-founder, Steve Greenland, is a highly experienced space systems engineer who knew he wanted to use the reams of available EO data out there for environmentally and socially purposeful missions.

Celia and Steve decided to join forces after a pub conversation about the journalistic difficulties in telling stories from hard-to-work-in places. Steve realised he could use his skills to gather the data and Celia could utilise it to triangulate it with other sources and tell a story that others were struggling to.

Data and risk

COVID has, says Celia, made data a lot more real to a lot of people: we have been bombarded by statistics, graphs, numbers, and projected scenarios for the past 18 months. It means that more people are willing to engage with statistics and data in a way that they weren’t necessarily familiar with pre-COVID.

This familiarity with data is a positive, thinks Celia. It helps people to understand the value that data can bring to everyday lives and, when combined with clear interpretation, can clearly showcase the impact on people and place.

This interpretive data piece is critical for it allows the narrative of people and communities on the ground to be made real, rather than brushed aside or subsumed by numbers. By using multiple EO data sources in combination with people’s testimony means they can achieve an outcome that is meaningful ‘on the ground’.

Their work also demonstrates the risk involved when businesses ignore their environmental impact – causing environmental and social harm is expensive, and space data can both help companies mitigate these risks and help communities hold others to account. Omanos Analytics’ work is necessarily cross boundary and cross border, just like pollution spills, land grabs or oil spills may be, and EO data makes these much, much harder to ignore.

Celia and her team are passionate about their work and they’re already making quantifiable differences to people and planet. I’m excited to see what they get up to next.

Celia’s tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Capitalise on your experience

Celia and her co-founder have both built a business that really has capitalised on both of their experience. Together, they have found a niche where they can make a difference – and have found a niche where they can best add value to the space data sector.

2.Complementary experience is key

Celia’s story really demonstrates the value in collaborating with likeminded people who complement your experience. Her story also showcases that, in order to find that symbiosis, you need to reach out and speak to your network to see who could help.

3.Company structure isn’t everything

Being a purposeful business doesn’t necessarily mean being a social enterprise or a B Corps – it just means not losing sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing. Omanos Analytics doesn’t have any investors (yet); they have managed to build their business organically, and the clarity of mission enables them to be agile whilst remaining true to their environmental and social heart

4.Make use of what is already out there

Omanos Analytics make use of reams of freely available EO data that is collected by agencies such as the European Space Agency and NASA. Knowing where and how to look, how to analyse, how to interpret, and who to collaborate with is setting Omanos Analytics apart.

5. Have a name with meaning

‘Omanos’ is an Armenian word for ‘good purpose’, and that’s certainly what Celia and Steve are doing with space data.

A Truly Scottish Adventure

Paul has run Wilderness Scotland for the past 20 years and he has built something truly special: one of the UK’s most successful domestic tourism companies that has found its niche in offering bespoke and curated adventures for those that have a love for the great outdoors.

Ever fancied sea kayaking the west coast of Scotland? Or canoeing and sailing, perhaps? Maybe a week’s mountain biking across the best cross country routes Scotland has to offer is more your bag? And your bag! Wilderness Scotland will take care of that, curating not only your journey but looking after your stuff to let you enjoy the great outdoors.

On top of this tailored adventuring, Paul and his team are currently curating one of the most exciting developments I’ve seen in the Scottish business scene, a venture that will truly help them and their customers make informed decisions about their impact on the planet.

Carbon labelling

Wilderness Scotland is currently undergoing a comprehensive carbon foot-printing analysis that encompasses their internal and external operations. They are attempting to cover everything from their team’s commute to work (mostly by foot or bike), to their website hosting, through to the footprint of a night’s stay in every B&B and hotel that is on their suppliers list.

Not only will this data enable Wilderness Scotland to have a wealth of information about how to improve their carbon footprint, but it will also eventually enable their customers to see the carbon footprint of each holiday and package that Wilderness Scotland has to offer.

This is truly exciting. It will give the customer information that currently isn’t readily available and allow them to make decisions about their holiday choices that take into account their carbon footprint.

And, more excitingly to me, it provides a roadmap for how existing companies can put in the legwork to understand their own carbon footprint and therefore really make a difference towards reducing it. After all, if you don’t have the data, you can’t truly make an informed decision.

Climate tensions

Out in nature, Paul says, you see the effects of climate change at first hand. But part of what he sees as a problem with climate change and people understanding the impact – especially in the UK - is that these impacts aren’t often obvious to people at all, partly because most people aren’t in nature day-to-day and partly because we are not experiencing climate change impacts as rapidly and severely as other areas across the world.

He has travelled and worked extensively across the globe, spending time in ecosystems that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The Alps and other extreme mountainous areas are one such place, where glaciers are very obviously in retreat.

You may think that one obvious solution would be curtail tourism. But Paul totally disagrees. Carbon emissions from the tourism sector contribute to between 5-8% of all man made emissions and is set to increase by 2030. Tourism is a bigger polluter than the construction industry – but the sector is also the world’s biggest employer, and when done well, tourism offers the opportunity to bring people closer to the environment and enhance their awareness of our impact.

There is a tension here, says Paul, where saying a hard ‘no’ to any kind of tourism for carbon emissions reasons would undermine the great work the sector does to redistribute wealth, alleviate poverty, create employment and help protect some of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet.

He is certainly leading the way in demonstrating in real terms how the tourism industry can become much more sustainable, helping people understand and appreciate wilderness, and how tourism can be done both sensitively to the environment and without compromising on quality.

Paul’s Top Tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Embrace mistakes

In their attempts to scale the business some years ago, the management team spent considerable efforts in developing their offering in overseas territories. If they could offer great wilderness experiences in Scotland, why not in East Africa? Well… because all the market research showed it as a highly saturated market. They spent a lot of time, effort, and resources on the expansion but ultimately realised that they started the company because they had a love for Scotland and its habitats, and that working domestically meant they had control over the quality, delivery, design and operations of the business. Instead, they went full force to attracting customers from overseas to Scotland, and this now makes up 80% of their business.

2. Appreciate the skill and experience of your team

His team all love the outdoors and are not only passionate about nature, they’re exceedingly knowledgeable too. Their customers love this about Wilderness Scotland: it is key to why they have so many rave reviews, repeat business, and personal recommendations.

3. Always look for how to improve your business

The carbon audit is just one example of how Wilderness Scotland is continually pushing their business to improve. There is a rolling process of review, with feedback from staff and customers, to ensure that their offering is always top notch. They define their business as about ‘climate, community, and conservation’, and this informs the ways in which they can continually improve.

4. Climate inspiration, not education

First and foremost, Wilderness Scotland is about great holidays. Their customers say they appreciate the overwhelming feeling of appreciation with their connection to nature on holidays with Paul and his team. The primary driver for their customers isn’t because Wilderness Scotland is a sustainable tourism business, it’s because they offer outstanding customer service. But their company’s environmental DNA means they are able to inspire people about nature, rather than resort to lecturing.

5. Business can be painful, but it is hugely rewarding

Most of Wilderness Scotland’s business is from overseas customers and understandably the pandemic has caused severe disruption. Managing their team’s transition through this period has been one of the most difficult things Paul has done in his career. Now that travel is opening up, the recovery in his business is strong and looking very promising. Paul is confident they can recover their business and, I think, they may indeed benefit from the increased awareness about the importance of nature in combating climate change.

Dr Drummond has had a remarkable – and remarkably varied – career. For twenty years, as a Charted Engineer, he’s been at the forefront of subsea technology and innovation based in the UK’s oil and gas hub, Aberdeen. Yet for the past ten years, he’s worn an additional hat, that of tourism developer in rural Aberdeenshire. And it’s this that now takes his full attention, as the developer of the UK’s first fully off-grid luxury bothies.

The Cairngorm Bothies and Cairngorm Lodges, on the Craigmyle Estate in Aberdeenshire, offer visitors the chance to enjoy rural Scotland at its best – mountainous, forested, and utterly beautiful.

A love of 100-year-old Scots Pine forest has, quite literally, powered his latest venture into eco-tourism. The bothies, and the tourism they promote, are absolutely in line with the surrounding forest. ‘Everything we do has to be in sympathy with the environment,’ he says, and its this passion for the forest, combined with his engineering experience and deep pragmatic approach, that has driven forward the development of the Cairngorm Bothy business.

Sustainability as pragmatism

Speaking to Gordon is a lesson in pragmatism. His driver for developing these bothies wasn’t, as some may assume, about developing innovative sustainable tourism but rather because on the estate he runs they had surplus timber by-product and needed a market for it.

With a ready supply of timber, he knew he could have the power to provide heat, hot water, and radiators for a tourism venture and do so with as minimal overheads as possible.

From that starting point, he had an idea. And he also knew who his customer was – him.

Know your customer

Gordon is a family guy who loves the outdoors. If he goes on holiday in the UK, he wants to bike and hike and bring his dog; he wants adventure but he doesn’t want to slum it.

He’s developed the business to fit exactly that profile, and he sees a new generation coming through – younger, environmentally conscious and all about adventure and ‘the experience’.

This consumer demands a net zero product and he says it’s no longer possible to do a long term project without taking into account the environmental factors. Being off grid, and yet luxurious, is at the core of the appeal to his customers and it shows: the bothies are booked up all year.

Gordon’s approach to his hobby-job-turned-full-time-thriving-enterprise is very much one that offers lessons for off-grid living and a sustainable future. The Bothies are totally self-sustainable, with onsite water treatment, a solar farm, and wood-burning stoves, enabling integrated heating and cooking facilities that are all renewably powered from the most local of sources.

He’s done the whole development very much with two things in mind: being sensitive to the local environment and with a luxurious experience at the heart. Sustainability, he thinks, absolutely does not equate to ‘roughing it’.

The development of his Cairngorm Bothies business has clearly from Gordon’s experience as an engineer and his knack for spotting innovation. He also had a clear-headed belief that he knew he could build something extraordinary. The bothy foundations, for example, aren’t like regular foundations – rather than destroy the forest floor and disturb the soil, and therefore release carbon, the bothies rest on special screws designed for minimal invasiveness and impact.

Gordon clearly has a flair not only for spotting an opportunity but also for pulling together individually unique engineering solutions for a complete sustainable offering.

Gordon’s Top Tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Know your customer

Gordon has seen his customer change and he is fully embracing the new generation of adventure-seeking eco-conscious customer. His location helps him capitalise on this: the bothies are close to some of the best adventure tourism in Europe, and by making his bothies as sustainable as possible he knows he can attract business.

2. Maximise what you have already

Gordon is a master at capitalising on opportunity. He knew he had an incredible location that he could utilise and that he had a readymade source of logs… combine that with his engineering know how, his passion for the forest, and desire to build something beautiful and you’ve got an incredible eco-tourism business!

3. Be prepared to compromise

Making a viable business out of off grid and eco-conscious living sometimes requires compromise: whilst Gordon has worked hard to create an offer that is as low-impact and environmentally conscious as possible, there are hurdles that need to be overcome. This has become more apparently in the post-pandemic world, with hygiene procedures necessarily meaning a compromise on eco-friendly cleaning procedures. However, these hurdles present opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop the next generation of planet friendly solutions.

4. Reinvention is key – but don’t ignore the risks

Gordon has very successfully reinvented himself from subsea oil & gas man to eco-tourism entrepreneur. He sees huge value in the skills that Scotland’s oil & gas community have that could be redeployed for new tech in an energy transition, but be cautious: reskilling and readapting to facilitate an energy transition will not happen overnight, and there is risk that too much urgency could cause major safety issues. Go head on to push for the reinvention but don’t ignore the risks.

5. Everybody should be playing a part in climate change mitigation

We are no longer a generation of extreme consumerism. There is a growing consciousness of our impact on the environment and every business needs to embrace this changed world.

Alison has one of the most powerful ‘founder stories’ I’ve ever encountered (and there are a lot of incredible ones out there!). As part of her undergraduate studies in Economics at the University of Edinburgh, she worked in Kenya with a charity and was involved in research about girls’ sexual health. She rapidly realised that the situation for many young women and girls was dire: in exchange for sanitary towels and other products that they couldn’t afford, the girls were being coerced into sex work by men in the community. The charity did not have the bandwidth to even begin to understand the reality of what was happening.

Alison knew she had to find a way to help.

She began thinking about developing a reusable sanitary towel at an affordable rate. She found she could do this, but didn’t think the business model – manufacturing and working only in Kenya – was sustainable, and moreover production wasn’t cheap enough to enable the most impoverished women and girls to have access to the pads.

So, with global mission in mind, she set about working with her friend and business partner Mhairi on delivering a reusable pad for the UK market, whilst developing a business model that could support low income women and girls to be entrepreneurial and have access to quality, reusable period products.

To meet the needs of the UK market, the reusable pads needed to be thin, practical, and made of sustainable material. It’s fair to say it has been a journey of discovery – manufacturing and product development can be costly and tricky.

The team have worked out a balance between look – feel – price – sustainability that they, and their customers, are happy with. They manufacture in Lithuania with a factory that has a great track record in environmental sustainability and fair working practices. Everything they do, at every stage, can be certified and verified. Floco have had to work hard and ask difficult questions from their potential supply chain to ensure they can trust who they’re working with, and develop a product they are confident delivers for their customers’ needs and their own environmental expectation.

The business model subsidises the cost of the pads for low income communities in southern and eastern Africa. A South African manufacturer produces reusable pads for these markets, again without compromising on quality or expectation. Local female entrepreneurs sell the pads at the subsidised price, ensuring that women and girls living in poverty can afford a pad that will last years, and providing an income for the local distributors.

Alison and her co-founder have had incredible success with awards and support for their endeavours: everything from Scottish Enterprise’s Unlocking Ambition award through to Innovate UK funding.

It’s not hard to see why they’ve gained such traction and support in such a short space of time. Floco is paving the way for purposeful entrepreneurs to have impact without compromising on their business savvy.

Alison’s tips for a Net Zero Leader:

1. Challenge yourself beyond the usual metrics

Floco have a social purpose at their heart. They want understand where their greatest environmental impact is and how to reduce their carbon footprint. They are going beyond the usual carbon metrics to include social and environmental impact. But doing the research by themselves to get to a net zero target can be difficult and overwhelming, so…

2. Ask for help, but know when to say ‘no’

Floco is a small team and Alison and her co-founder, Mhairi, know when to ask for help and have learned how to ask the right people with the right skills. Their experience over the past five years in developing the brand, company, and product has brought them into contact with a wide array of people who have offered their help and services. Grateful as they are for these offers of assistance, they have learned that this may divert attention to their core goals or risk exposing the company to a direction of travel the two co-founders have not wanted to go down. Just because someone is more experienced than you doesn’t mean they’re right.

3. Trust, story, and ethics

Floco’s customers use their products because they’re great products and because of the purposeful nature of the company. The company’s growth is based on this trust, on the story of the co-founders, and on the ethical nature of how they conduct their business. The storytelling isn’t hollow or greenwashing – they can demonstrate their meaning and impact at every angle.

Trusting in the very DNA of the company has also meant the team has not worked with people – whether potential investors or manufacturers – because it would go against everything they stand for.

4. Don’t be scared to rebrand

Arriving at the Floco brand wasn’t as straightforward as deciding, ‘Ah! That’s the name!’. There were a few previous iterations of the brand and company name but none of them felt right. After some investment, the co-founders were able to work with a respected branding company who helped them work through how to convey the message of the company into a brand identity they felt matched their ethos, product, and ambition.

5. Timeline your targets

Alison is a big proponent of writing a plan and working out how to reach big targets. It helps her to vision where she wants to take the company but also helps to take notice of small, incremental changes in the business that may be all-too-easily brushed over if not written down.

Averting an environmental disaster to creating a buoyant business

On the first day of lockdown in 2020, Ally Mitchell was working as a commercial diver on the salvage of the MV Kaami. The vessel had run aground off the north west coast of Skye and her cargo was a LOT of shredded plastic and waste material. Finding himself essentially swimming in a hold of plastic bits that were threatening a part of Scotland that is close to his heart, his thought process went from: ‘This is a potential environmental disaster’ to ‘I’m going do something about this, ASAP’.

Thankfully, Ally is a man who has oodles of gumption and, rather than leave his action-oriented thoughts behind with the cargo, he took home some of the plastic, bought himself a small plastic mould equipment, and set about working out how to melt, mould, and create something useful from the waste.

Trial and error

The product he ended up making was a plant pot, largely because he, his wife, and his children had been spending time growing tomatoes during lockdown and he realised that the pot shape was relatively replicable from his home manufacturing hub (aka the shed).

He also knew that there is a massive surplus of polypropylene ropes and nets from the fishing and diving industries. One site he worked on produced a tonne of polyprop rope a week that went to landfill, and evidence of synthetic fibres and ropes threating the existence of our marine life is overwhelming. Ally had a plentiful source material that he could use to make things from and every reason to remove as much as possible from harming our environment.

After trial and error at home, he was producing flowerpots that were robust and beautiful. The pots are hues of turquoise and green because he meticulously colour sorts the fishing nets and ropes when he collects them. If he didn’t do this, his products would end up a multitude of muddy colours that wouldn’t have the aesthetic sensibility he desired.

Life in the plastic lane

The meticulous sorting that he does of the source material is one of the reasons recycling plastic isn’t as straightforward as we would all like: it’s laborious work and not only needs to be sorted by type of plastic and by colour, but also any metal (e.g. metal rings on a net) must be removed, otherwise it will damage the machinery that processes it.

His pots, and the story that goes into making them, are quickly gathering quite the clientele. He’s gone from selling his first prototypes at Leith Market to winning Sustainable Product of the Year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and, what’s more, he’s recently signing a deal with Bloom & Wild, the UK’s largest online florists – all in the space of 18 months.

So, if you’re looking for a Christmas present, then check out his website. You too can be a little part of a business that is paving the way in sustainable circularity, and proving that recycling notoriously difficult plastic waste is not only possible but beautiful too.

Ally’s Top Tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Circular transition means ripping up the Business 101 Handbook

His approach demonstrates some of the hurdles that face a transition to a circular economy. This includes issues around collecting and sorting waste material, a lack of sustainable options for transportation at scale, and scaling plastics recycling with moulding companies are used to using virgin plastic as their feedstock.

Moreover, he’s had to adopt an unusual business model to meet his vision: he’s part waste collector and sorter, and part product creator and vendor. The bits in the middle (plastic processing and then moulding) he outsources.

2. Collaboration for circularity

The plastics manufacturer is much more used to working with virgin plastic and using recycled polypropylene rope created some difficulties in production. Ally is great at visioneering and showing people that there is another way to do things – it helps that he’s extremely practical so can work out alternatives himself – and he’s also great at brining together people that can work together to achieve a goal. For example, as well as encouraging the plastics manufacturer to do things a little differently, Ally is also extending his network for his supply material too, with close collaboration with Harbour Masters such as Quentin Dimmer at Dunbar to help collect the material.

3. Risk & validation

Ally initially began selling his flowerpots in Leith Market. It was a low-risk market entry strategy and very much a proof of concept. It allowed him to engage directly with customers to get their feedback and demonstrated that the product looked beautiful, made a great gift, and that his story was authentic and meaningful.

The next leap for Ocean Plastic Pots was instigated by his wife: she really wanted to go to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and thought the product would be a great fit for the audience there. She took a risk and paid for their show entry on their credit card… and they ended up winning the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product Of The Year 2021, propelling them to greater heights than they ever expected for this stage of the business.

4. Personality & storytelling

Ally’s personal story – experienced commercial diver who was inspired to create the business because of an environmental problem – creates investment. Ocean Plastic Pots also use the power of storytelling in their physical pots as each one is sold with a piece of the original source plastic material, so the customer can see exactly where their pot came from and how they have helped the environment by purchasing a pot. It’s a win-win.

5. ‘Just do it’ mentality

Ally is a very practical guy, and he’s also very determined. He has had a remarkable start to his entrepreneurial venture - there wasn’t so much an ideation process as a bold determination to do something about a massive problem – and he’s everything from making moulds at home and cooling red hot plastic under his kitchen tap to using his knowledge from diving to find the most efficient way to remove all the metal from discarded fishing nets, he’s just had a pure ‘just gotta do it’ mentality.

Wave power, but not as we know it

We all know that the ocean is mighty powerful, but harnessing that power at scale has eluded the smartest of minds to date. Ash Penley certainly has a smart mind and she also has a product that is doing something quite remarkable with wave energy.

In essence, ZOEX is decentralising wave power and harnessing it for off grid purposes at sea.

The core technology that ZOEX is developing is the ActiveFenderTM, an innovative product that uses already-existing marine structures and turns them into clean energy devices. This is a very different approach to the typical wave energy design: ZOEX isn’t advocating for totally new infrastructure to generate energy, but rather is making use of things like offshore wind platforms, breakwaters and aquaculture fish farms. The ActiveFenderTM attaches to these structures and generates clean energy to power whatever is needed at that location, for example barges that dispenses food at an aquaculture fish farm.

Career Pivot

Ash has come from a career in the oil and gas sector, so she is no stranger to managing complex technical teams and projects. Successful as she was, she realised that her skills could be adapted to a different sector.

She is also a very keen diver and has a passion for the ocean and the environment; there was a tension in her previous life that she couldn’t ignore, and she knew she had to find an alternative path that aligned with her desire for a greener future. A collaboration with her now co-founder, an experienced wave energy innovator, was where she channelled her passions for a new career.

Scotland is, she says, the right place for sustainable businesses. There is a collaborative atmosphere, support for green innovators and it has the experience in the oil and gas sector that can generate great transferability for net zero solutions.

Know your customer

The ZOEX team have done extensive market research to really understand what their customer wants and focused on six key things: (i) clean power, (ii) cost-effective and broadly comparative in cost to a diesel generator, (iii) easy to install, (iv) low maintenance, (v) robust, adaptable for storms and transportation at sea, and (vi) scalable to meet different power demands. They have adapted and developed their technology to meet these needs and have confidence in the product that they can scale effectively over the next few years.

Their early adopter customers are actively looking for solutions to help them achieve their net zero targets now. ZOEX’s solution is coming on the market just at the right time.

Ash’s Top Tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Have a vision

Ash has had years of experience in the oil and gas sector and knew that she could convert this expertise to the renewables sector. She had a vision to create a likeminded team that could drive forward on innovative renewables solutions and she knew she had the skills to attract financial support. She is clear about what she wants to create and that clarity translates persuasively to her audience.

2. And a plan

Ash and her team have completed the conceptual design and feasibility for their product, and have assembled a world class consortium of development partners. They are now seeking partners and investment to support the first pre commercial demonstration projects. Testing and commercialisation will take ZOEX Power to 2024, and then the focus shifts to sales. By 2030, the goal is to be assisting 50% of the aquaculture industry in their goals to reach net zero by virtue of adopting ZOEX’s technology.

3. Know your target market

There are many uses for ZOEX’s technology but the team have been laser focused on identifying their initial target market. The aquaculture industry has a need for power in off-grid locations and they have a goal to become less reliant on fossil fuels (i.e. diesel generators). ZOEX have product market fit and they’re located in the right geographical location (Scotland, where there is a big aquaculture industry) to make the right connections.

4. Work with complementary people

Tech development usually needs a team to see it from concept to viable product. Ash has built a great team that have very complementary skills so ZOEX can undertake the technological development, understand their customers’ requirements (e.g. how they use power and what their operations and maintenance requirements are), and how to build funding and sales momentum.

5. Be brave

Ash originally from Turkey, was living in the US for an expat assignment and moved back to Scotland in pursuit of her goals. She’s had an incredibly successful career but knew she had more to give than working for a large corporate. She inspires others without knowing she is doing it, simply by virtue of doing what she’s doing. And she’s proudly representing woman in innovation in a male dominated energy sector.

No more plastic waste

The global bottled water market is worth an estimated $350bn. That’s a lot of money… and it’s also a lot of plastic, the vast majority of which isn’t recycled.

The environmental impact of plastic bottle waste is something most of us are well aware, but changing habits is hard to do. There have been numerous campaigns to champion alternatives to bottled water, notably from utilities companies advocating the virtues of tap water. Scott Dickson was motivated to use tap water by seeing the detrimental impact of plastic bottle waste, but he didn’t like the taste. He tried different ways of treating the tap water so it tasted better but couldn’t find a sustainable alternative. So he decided he’d make one himself.

Tastes good, feels good

The Phox Water filter was inspired by the need to reduce plastic but also by his love of filtered water. Most countertop filtration systems rely on plastic cartridges which, when used up, are tossed in the bin. This, to Scott, is disgraceful and disingenuous – how is it possible to say you’re a company that is promoting a reduction in plastic bottles if you are simultaneously creating heaps of plastic waste?

Scott’s sense of outrage about greenwashing, and his personal drive to create a product and a brand that has its mission front and centre and embedded in its DNA, is what lies behind Phox Water. The Phox Water product has evolved from his initial minimum viable product to his V2 version, which rather than the wasteful plastic cartridges uses an ingenious system with no plastic waste.

Scott is constantly innovating and determined not to rest on his laurels. He’s now pushing for a fully circular water filter where there is no waste at all. He’s designed out all plastic packaging with the exception of the main body of the filter, which is a glass and robust plastic hybrid, meaning it lasts for years and can be recycled at the end of the product life. Marketing has been guerrilla style and has been dominated by social media and highly successful crowdfunding campaigns. Scott is an extremely likeable, energetic person and his energy is infectious – it is easy to see how people want to work with him and how his personal passion has fuelled a brand that people buy into.

Keep it local

Manufacturing takes place in Scotland as he always wanted to have a low carbon product and promote skills and jobs locally. When his markets grow internationally he will look at manufacturing closer to these customers so that the carbon footprint of the company is kept to a minimum.

With his drive and mission-focused passion, I’m sure it won’t be long before Phox Water is a globally recognised brand - for all the right reasons.

Scott’s tips for a Net Zero Leader:

1. Be your own boss

Scott just doesn’t like to work for other people! It’s as simple as that. He loves the freedom of doing what he wants to do and he constantly sees how things can be improved upon and just… done better. For him, for his customers, and for the planet. That’s exactly what he’s doing with Phox Water.

2. Listen to what makes you feel good

Listening to his physical needs was a driver for Phox Water’s creation: having acid reflux meant that Scott was looking at tap water alternatives. He had heard that filtered alkaline water can change the pH and help with acid reflux. It helped him, but he couldn’t find a product that wasn’t wasteful and affordable.

Being aware of his, and his team’s, mental health creates a great workplace: Scott very naturally bring a happiness and enjoyment to those around him and he is conscious to bring positivity to the wider team. Every month, his colleague Ishbel puts together a collection of customer reviews so the team can read through the positive feedback. He finds this one of the most gratifying moments of his work life and helps motivate the Phox team.

3. Graft, listen to your customers, and more graft

An initial crowdfunding campaign in 2019 was hugely successful: they had over £100,000 of pre-orders in a matter of weeks. Scott has really learned the intricacies of reaching out to people via social media and how to run successful ad campaigns. This is now done in-house, learning by trial and error, listening to feedback, and working hard to improve the next iteration. Social media has been Phox’s main avenue for sales to date and it’s what has led them to have a physical presence in John Lewis and Selfridges – the retailers saw the Phox Water product online and loved it so much they wanted it in store.

4. Mission critical

Scott and his team have learned how to maximise their impact on social media through advertising and know that being authentic is critical to gaining interest and sales. The intention with Phox water filters from the beginning was always about reducing plastic. Making this a reality and demonstrating this to their audience showcases their authenticity. For Scott – and for his customers – brand, mission and product must always align.

5. All about the solution

Scott doesn’t want to be a consumer product manufacturer just for the sake of it. To do so is contrary to everything he’s built with Phox. He is solutions-driven and he wants the Phox brand to be well known for the quality of their products and the solutions these products bring to their customers.

Lockdown was a tough time for most of us. For Sean Kerr and Steve McQueen, lockdown proved pivotal. It crystallised what they had long thought: that poverty was increasing, reliance on food banks rising, and the availability of good quality fresh food for those in crisis pretty much nil.

The duo didn’t begin their business in lockdown, however. The seeds were sown four years earlier, when they decided they both wanted to grow vegetables to help support a local food bank. They searched around for a space to do this and, after discussions with the local council, they were granted a temporary site license to use a disused site within the walled gardens on the grounds of the Kinniel Estate.

From humble beginnings, the pair have created a bountiful and beautiful space in the walled garden. Lockdown spurred them to grow bigger and think wider. They have gone from one ramshackle polytunnel to seven sturdy ones, each packed to the rafters with raised beds containing everything from tomatoes and potatoes to aubergines and celery.

The fresh produce is donated to local food banks. This is highly unusual: food banks are reliant on donations that tend to be tinned goods and/or highly processed foods with a very long shelf life and high carbon footprint. A House Of Lords report in 2020 notes that low income families in the UK have “little or no choice” about diet, are forced to eat cheap unhealthy food or may go without anything at all. So, growing and donating fresh, quality produce locally for the local community is, remarkably, a revolutionary move from Sean and Steve.

But that’s not all they do. They are in the process of creating a highly sustainable business from waste produce on the Kinneil Estate. Using surplus and discarded wood from the forest management, they are creating biochar. Biochar looks like charcoal but it is produced in a low or no oxygen environment and it has remarkable properties.

If you mix it into feed, it will increase the performance of egg-laying hens. If you mix it with cement, it can drastically reduce its carbon footprint. Mix it in your soil and it will reduce the amount of water you need to grow your crops and will increase yield. If you use it in wastewater treatment, you can recover phosphorous and other important nutrients that are detrimental to the environment but wonderful if harnessed in the right way for agricultural purposes.

It has been hailed as something of a miracle product but scaling it and getting it to market are the next hurdles the duo face.

STS is set up as a social enterprise; they are 100% asset locked, and this legal set up means they have an assured way of maximising profit for the benefit of the local communities they serve with their fresh produce. It also means that they have no shareholders and can’t raise finance in the ‘standard’ way.

Thankfully, Scotland is a great place to be for social enterprises. The duo have received £190k investment from First Port to help them scale the biochar business. They really are the definition of a purposeful business with a determination to develop innovative products and never lose sight of why they started working together in the first place. They won’t thank me for saying it, but they really are truly inspirational.

Sean and Steve’s Top Tips for a Net Zero Business Leader:

1. Always be true to yourself

STS was founded on the principle of providing great quality, freshly grown veg to those who would otherwise never be able to afford it. There are many other ways Steve and Sean could make their bountiful polytunnels profitable – they could, for example, sell their veg at food markets and donate the profits to food banks – but this goes against why they started doing what they’re doing in the first place.

They are uncompromising on this: everybody deserves to be treated in a dignified way, and to have the health benefits of fresh veg. They’ve turned down collaborative offers because people aren’t truly aligned to this founding principle.

2. Be prepared to go to lengths you didn’t expect initially

The polytunnels have been the victims of vandalism that has threatened the very existence of their efforts. In order to protect their vision and investments, Steve and Sean have gone to extraordinary lengths, including sleeping overnight in the grounds to ward off trespassers. Short of turning the site into Fort Knox – and thereby excluding the very community they seek to work with – they felt this was the only way to safeguard its future.

3. Passion breeds passion

Sean and Steve have a distinct energy. They are always doing, always outside working, always enthusing. You cannot help but be brought along with them. They have clear convictions and a zeal for doing the right thing. It means they have been able to build a remarkably verdant space in a very run down corner of Bo’ness and have attracted support from universities, researchers, and social enterprise investors, as well as now working with five food banks in their local area.

4. Never underestimate the power of simply asking the question

The kiln they use to create the biochar was gifted to them after they initiated discussions with an organisation who didn’t have the time or resources to manage it. It is the basis of their business model, but they wouldn’t have acquired the kiln without dedicated searches and reaching out to people to see what was out there.

5. Keep learning

Sean and Steve have not come from horticultural beginnings nor do they have a bioscience backgrounds. But they have thrown themselves in wholeheartedly to learning by doing, and learning from experts in the biochar space that can help them navigate a route to market. They are not scared of a challenge… in fact, I think they relish it.

The Alliance

Scotland’s International Development Alliance (simply known as ‘the Alliance’) brings together a wide array of organisations that are united by a commitment to a fairer world, free from poverty injustice and environmental threats. Typically, this has been seen as the proviso of charities and NGOs, but increasingly there is interest from businesses in understanding their impact and in enacting purposeful business models. The Alliance’s new CEO, Frances Guy, is determined to capitalise on this interest.

Frances has had a singularly impressive career: as a diplomat, she represented the UK Government as Ambassador to Yemen and Lebanon, she was the UN Women’s Representative in Iraq, and most recently was based in Jordan as gender team leader in the United Nations Development Programme regional office.

2021 saw Frances return home to Scotland and a new role heading up the Alliance. It comes at an important time for Frances and for the organisation: COP26 is an opportunity to showcase the incredible work of the Alliance’s members, to build support for their future work, and to capitalise on Frances’ experience in the international policy and diplomatic arenas to advance the profile of the Alliance and to make a positive step-change for climate change mitigation.

Climate change beyond our borders

For Frances, it is simply not possible to talk about climate change without, at the very least, acknowledging the impact our actions have on others beyond our border. The international development community is highly attuned to these impacts but, she argues, so should the business community.

There is power in recognising that our path to prosperity has created, and continues to create, a lot of carbon emissions. We cannot continue down that path, nor can others in countries far from Scotland. Rather, we need to find a way to help others to prosperity whilst not having the same carbon impact that we have had. To do so means changing our behaviour but it also means developing, implementing, and scaling new technology – which is both exciting and necessitates some serious cross-learning.

For example, mobile phone transmitters across Africa have typically been powered by diesel generators. There is now a commitment from the telecoms giants that within the next five years these transmitters will be powered entirely by renewable energy. This is a very short-term commitment. It is also a highly unusual one in part because this is a short-term, unilateral commitment from multiple countries and companies, and in part because some telecoms companies are looking at how to implement this commitment in a more innovative way.

Rather than simply install new renewable energy sources just for the phone transmitters, the telecoms companies are working in conjunction with development organisations, like the United Nations development programme but also local charities to link up micro-grid electricity to power local villages as well as transmitters and, as part of a commitment to gender equality, to work with groups of women to manage the micro-grids to guarantee the supply.

Inspirational collaborations

Such partnerships are truly transformative. This way of working demonstrates how innovative technology works at scale, and is also an example of how, imaginative implementation strategies can help reduce inequalities, secure livelihoods, and transform communities.

Leadership, to Frances, is about inspiration: we can and should feed off others’ inspiration and learn from most diverse areas of the world. This is the future; after all, if we don’t deal with climate change, we lose our planet, and the businesses that adapt the quickest are going to thrive.

The Alliance is keen to engage with the business community and welcome new members. So, if you’re looking to make a positive impact in low income communities, and help enact a fairer future, then the Alliance’s door is yours to knock on.

Frances’ top tips for net zero leaders:

1. Commit to cross-learning

Learn from others. Learn from those in different communities, different sectors, different countries and different businesses to you. Don’t assume that we know it all – innovation abounds in places that we may not expect it to.

2. Innovate in your technology and in your implementation approach

Developing new, green technology is amazing. How you install and manage that technology for long term sustainability can also be amazing. The example from the telecoms companies shows just how positive a difference it is possible to make when working in partnership with others and having a commitment to communities.

3. Engage with policy

Did you know that Scotland is a member of the ‘Under2 Coalition’? This is a group of state and regional governments that are committed to keeping global temperature rises well within 2°C. And have you ever heard of the UN Global Compact? It’s a voluntary initiative from the UN that over 12,000 CEOs committed to sustainability. Familiarising yourself with policies and initiatives like this can help inform you and push for greater change.

4. Capitalise on opportunities

It is a massive challenge to reduce our emissions but to do so we must be optimistic and all commit to changing our individual and organisational ways. We all need to analyse our impact: go beyond what you think is just necessary to reduce your emissions There are a lot of resources available to help analyse your impact and there are also a lot of organisations that could be a great partnership to help you develop alternative ways of doing business.

5. Listen to stories of climate change

The Alliance has brought together an online photo exhibition to tell the stories of people on the front line of climate change and what this really means for them. Listening to these stories demonstrates that what we do in the more developed world affects people everywhere. If you need to see a reason why you should be make the shift to a net zero business, https://facingthecrisis.scot/ is a good place to start.

From farm to agritech

John Ferguson is, I'm sure he won’t mind me saying, not your usual entrepreneur. He didn’t have a burning aspiration to be a mogul aged 15, nor did he envision himself as a CEO. Rather, as an agricultural student in his early 20s, he assumed he would end up managing a Scottish farm.

His journey as an agriculturalist has, however, led him to developing one of the world’s most sustainable insulation products for domestic and industrial usage, and it was a journey that began in Africa.

As part of his MSc in Tropical Agricultural Development, John travelled to Tanzania where, amongst other things, he was training farmers to help cope with climate change. 5,000 miles away from home, he learned a lot.

For example: sisal is a highly sustainable crop, it is particularly drought resistant, and is an excellent cash crop for farmers to opt for in areas that are particularly susceptible to climate change.

The global market for sisal disappeared in the 1960s with the advent of polypropylene (ropes and sacks a prime example). The market has recently started to show signs of growth again, but small-scale farmers still do not have any way of accessing international markets. John thought that if he could generate a market for the sisal, he would be supporting farmers that would otherwise struggle to cultivate crops that are more sensitive to an increasingly capricious environment.

Finding a market

John found himself with a raw product and a determination to build an ethical business with a positive environmental and social impact… but no final product to market.

He came back to Scotland and undertook a rigorous product and materials testing process, where he realised the remarkable strength and insulating properties of sisal. He also learned of the huge carbon footprint of the construction industry and the push from those involved in the built environment to find low carbon products.

Scotland has a goal to be carbon neutral within 25 years and to reach this a sizable portion of current housing stock needs to be retrofitted with better insulation. Old housing, such as tenements, are notoriously difficult to heat, contributing to carbon emissions and also to fuel poverty, and there are various efforts underway to improve this.

With a market keen for innovative, low carbon products, John focused on insulation with his sisal material. On its own, the sisal provides superb temperature moderating capacities, with great insulating properties without the classic ‘sweatbox’ effect of plastic insulation. But it’s also very tough to cut, too tough to make insulation blocks. So John sought to find an additional, sustainable material to mix with the sisal to help with its functionality.

Circular economy

With help from Zero Waste Scotland, John discovered a readily available supply of off-cuts from the tweed trade, and when blended with the sisal, the result is a highly insulating brick that can be manufactured at scale, using sustainable and circular economy materials, with as close to a net zero footprint as its possible to get.

John is now in the process of scaling up production and has had great feedback from early adopters of his insulation. His path to entrepreneurship may not be a conventional one, but then again, maybe that’s exactly what is needed to generate successful, sustainable, and ethical businesses fit for the 21st century and beyond.

John’s tips for a Net Zero Leader:

1. Local doesn’t always mean best for the environment

The sisal is grown in Tanzania, where it is also brushed and baled. The sisal bales are then shipped to the UK. When baled, the shipping container is absolutely packed to the rafters, meaning no dead space and maximising the ‘bang for your buck’ carbon footprint-wise. Sisaltech avoid road transport wherever possible because of the high carbon footprint. If they were growing an equivalent product in the UK, John estimates the carbon footprint would be much higher just because of road transport costs across the country.

2. Look to your supply chain

John works closely with the farming community in Tanzania to ensure fair prices and an ethical supply chain. He’s cultivated not only hardy crops but also hardy relationships. He’s also gone to some lengths to source sustainable alternatives to plastic binders for the insulation product, meaning Sisaltech’s final product contains no plastic materials at all.

3. Ethical business must be about people and planet

Sisaltech’s business model means the team are constantly pushing for the lowest carbon footprint option for whatever it is they are doing. Their model also means they look after the farmers that grow the sisal. John keeps in contact with the farmers throughout the year and knows that, even in the toughest conditions, his farmers are still guaranteed an income as the sisal won’t succumb to the drought conditions.

4. Build your team with skills that complement yours

John knows what he’s good at - and what he’s not so good at. He’s made a point of bringing people on board who have the skills that he either doesn't have and that allow him to grow the business. This enables his team to focus on their key skills, maximising their effectiveness but also their job enjoyment too.

5. Get to a minimum viable product and grow from there

John managed to get to a minimum viable product that he could showcase and demonstrate the potential of the sisal material the company was developing. The MVP has been the springboard for growing the business and enabling construction companies to see the great use value of Sisaltech.

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