Cumbrian businesspeople putting values and the planet first

Starting a sustainable business: having core values and navigating the sustainability space  

During a recent research project exploring the experiences of sustainable business owners across Cumbria, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to some remarkable people whose passion, determination and drive is enabling them and their businesses to make a positive difference to the world. They are local pioneers who are going against the grain of business-as-usual and putting their values and the future of the planet and people to the fore. The core set of values underpinning their businesses drives what they do and how they do it. They are also thoroughly engaged in navigating the often-complex sustainability landscape, learning from mistakes, and being resilient to the many challenges that being sustainable throws up, not least ensuring the business makes a profit.  

“it’s about creating something special and putting our team, our customers, and our suppliers first” (Claire and Gareth McKeever, Pure Lakes)  

“it’s about challenging other people’s ways of thinking” (Nina Matsunaga and James Ratcliffe, Black Bull, Sedbergh)  

“it’s about understanding the circle of life and doing something positive for society” (Gina Pennington, Pennington’s Tea and Coffee, Kendal) 

“it’s about creating resilience within the community” (Chris Rowley, Waste into Wellbeing and Kendal People’s Café, Kendal) 

What are the opportunities for new sustainable businesses in Cumbria? 

There are opportunities to both build on the good work already happening across Cumbria as well as to bring in new ideas and innovations. As Nina Matsunaga said: “Cumbria has a strong farming community as well as many people and businesses interested in keeping traditions and traditional crafts alive, there is an opportunity for new businesses to work with those communities and build on the good work they are doing”. Chris Rowley added:  “There is much opportunity for both new businesses and new social enterprises as we respond to the inevitable challenges of moving away from fossil fuels. As we do so we all need to ensure that we create communities in which everyone can thrive and live healthy and productive lives.” 

There are different, and overlapping, approaches that a new business can take to being sustainable and reducing negative impacts and creating positive value for people and the planet. I’ve captured three possible approaches below, but these are by no means exhaustive: 

Offer a product (or service) that is already on the market but produce and/or supply that product in a more sustainable way that focuses on using local traditions and crafts, fewer natural resources, reduces waste, and uses ethical or locally availably supply chains.  

To have a central ethos upon which your business is based. For example, Nina Matsunaga and James Ratcliffe who own the Black Bull hotel in Sedbergh have a ‘nose to tail’ philosophy which entails buying and using well-reared whole animals, which then influences what they offer on their menu. Alternatively, an increasing number of businesses are focusing on specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (see below). 

To focus on a circular business model, which takes waste from local businesses (or individuals) and creates something of value for a different customer sector. There are many examples of for-profit businesses in this area (see for example the Ellen MacArthur foundation web site below). A local inspirational example from the social enterprise sector is Waste into Wellbeing based in Kendal, which takes ‘waste’ in the form of excess food from local food retailers and turns this into both nourishing meals on a pay-what-you-can basis via Kendal People’s Café, as well as using it to stock a community larder.  

There is a great opportunity for new pioneering business owners to make a mark within Cumbria, whether they wish to set up a for-profit business that challenges current ways of doing business and delivering value to customers, or if they wish to set up a social enterprise that looks to create community resilience to address the effects of local environmental and/or social problems similar to organizations such as Waste into Wellbeing. As the group of pioneering sustainable business owners grows locally, it will be great to put Cumbria firmly on the map for sustainability.  

To begin you need to understand what core values will underpin your business, and what value you will offer to your customers whether they are other businesses, individual customers, or your local community. More and more businesses and consumers are demanding that their suppliers demonstrate a positive contribution to the world’s social and environmental challenges. For ideas and inspiration for a new business or local enterprise it’s always a good idea to see what others are doing both within Cumbria and further afield. Remember that starting a sustainable business is about learning as you go along, building a good network of support, sharing ideas with like-minded business owners, and knowing that despite the hard work you are creating something special that will make a positive difference to the world. 

For examples and inspiration for new and innovative circular economy businesses, explore the Ellen MacArthur foundation web site:
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/. For a more comprehensive overview of ‘sustainability’ maybe also think about which UN Sustainable Development Goals you might want to focus on, see: https://sdgs.un.org/goals