• Swindon & Wiltshire ESG
• Monday June 23 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Business leaders urged not to bow to pressure over ESG

Business leaders in Wiltshire have been urged not to bow to pressure from right wing politicians at home and abroad over Environmental, Social, and Governance frameworks and the drive towards net zero.

The plea came from Good Energy founder Juliet Davenport, who was giving the keynote speech at the first Wiltshire Climate Summit on Friday.

On the hottest day of the year so far, businesses large and small gathered in a stiflingly hot council chamber at County Hall to hear about the work local companies are doing around sustainability and achieving net zero.

The summit heard from representatives of some of Wiltshire’s leading sustainable businesses.

The discussion was opened by Juliet Davenport, who founded Chippenham-based renewable energy supplier Good Energy and was the company’s CEO between 1999 and 2021. She is now a commissioner for the Crown Estate.

She warned of an ‘ESG backlash’ – a drive by companies, under political pressure from right wing politicians, to row back on their commitments to Environmental Social and Governance frameworks and net zero commitments.

“In the first quarter of 2025, ESG funds saw record outflows of $6.8 billion globally,” she said. “The United States has recorded its 10th quarter of reduced ESG investments, while the first outflows are being recorded in Europe, with ESG investments slowing down.”

She said that political pressure questioning the move to clean energy and net zero was among the causes, but argued “This is a cultural backlash, not a business one.”

She said that focus on ESG commitments could actually reduce costs and improve profitability for Wiltshire businesses.

“ESG exposes hidden risks and opportunities,” she said. “For example, investment in cutting energy use will lead to future lower costs.”

She also posited: “companies with a strong social purpose attract and retain quality employees.”

“Firms with strong ESG commitments saw 9.7 per cent higher revenue growth and 84 per cent said ESG helped to attract capital,” she said.

“It’s a business enabler above and beyond simple reporting.”

The summit also heard from apetito, the food manufacturer for the health and social care sectors, about the moves it had made towards reducing its carbon footprint – from filling all available roof space at its Trowbridge manufacturing plant with solar panels, to electrifying the fleet that delivers its Wiltshire Farm Foods meals to the homes of elderly people, and introducing the world’s first closed loop recycling system for meal trays.

The summit heard that the firm has “one of the strongest net zero targets of any company in the UK.”

Sustainability director Lee Sheppard revealed an innovative tactic used by Wiltshire Farm Foods to get its elderly customers to eat less red meat. “Beef makes up five per cent of our ingredients, but 37 per cent of our carbon footprint,” said Lee. And Wiltshire Farm Foods’ customers – average age 83 – love their red meat.

To persuade customers away from red meat meals, the company is trialling a new menu, which prioritises chicken and fish, putting white meat meals on the front cover and in prominent positions on its menu cards. And customers seem to be responding positively to the trial, with white meat orders up, and red meat orders down.

Rob Stringer, commercial director of Plastic Engineering Solutions in Melksham, admitted that “plastic is not the best news story for environmentalism,” but told how the company was designing products with end of life in mind – how easily they could be recycled once they had been used.

He also revealed the company was exploring innovative materials – like making ice cream spoons out of seaweed.

The summit also heard from Amy Thomson, head of climate risk at Swindon-headquartered Nationwide, on the building society’s project to decarbonise its branches and data centres, and how the 239 homes it is building at Oakfield in Swindon will be off-gas, powered by solar and warmed by heat pumps, and EPC-A rated.

Gavin Lindsay, environmental manager at Chippenham-based Siemens, explained how the firm was leading the decarbonisation of the railway network by electrifying lines and installing batteries to trains where line electrification was not feasible, and from host summit Wiltshire Council, which is decarbonising its estate of 140 buildings which range from offices and leisure centres to farms, depots, and a 19th century windmill.

Its Five Rivers leisure centre is now carbon neutral, following the installation of solar panels on the roof and solar canopies above car parking spaces.

Across its estate, the council has spent £13 million – which included a £5 million government grant – and is saving £1 million a year in energy costs, with 18 buildings decarbonised.

“The payback is shorter than forecast because of rising costs on the energy market,” said facilities and asset management tech lead Rob Scorgie.

And as the thermometer nudged 30 degrees a rhetorical question by business owner and environmental campaigner Bill Lambert, co-chairman of Wiltshire Climate Alliance, resonated with many delegates.

“Imagine heatwaves that are five degrees hotter and last twice as long. How will your business cope?” he asked.