SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
SPONSORED BY PORTSMOUTH WATER WINNER: PORTSMOUTH INTERNATIONAL PORT
IT WAS a double honour for Portsmouth International
Port as it won the Sustainable Business of the Year and International Business of the Year categories.
Portsmouth International Port is the statutory harbour authority and port operator for all commercial shipping trading through Portsmouth Harbour. It provides commercial pilotage services, port facilities and border controls to facilitate trade.
It is the largest and most successful municipal port in the UK, generating a profit that supports council services. The port is embracing carbon reductions in all areas of its business. The judges were particularly impressed by the way in which this philosophy has been embraced throughout the organisation.
It has put a lot of time and effort into reducing its environmental impact, from LED lights to seawater flushing loos, right up to large solar projects covering its roof, installing air quality sensors and ensuring its shore-side waste facilities are well accounted for. The port has already made great strides towards using less energy, and has more plans to come.
It was a double celebration for the port as it was also named International Business of the Year. The port has more destinations to Europe than any other UK port and when compared to ports in its sector, it is the third largest ferry port in the UK. It connects mainly to France, Spain, Channel Islands, West Africa, Caribbean on trade, however it has a growing number of cruise destinations including the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Germany and North America. Roughly 40 per cent of the port’s trade is exports.
Mike Sellers, port director, said: ‘It’s been good to win two awards and is the second year running we’ve won Sustainable Business of the Year.
‘That reflects a lot of the green ambitions we’ve got at the port. We’re well on our way to being net carbon zero by 2030. We’ve got a lot of initiatives on the go and are looking at things like shore power. We have the ambition to be the first zero emission port.
‘It’s been the perfect storm with Brexit and the EU transition so this award reflects the commitment and work that staff have put in.
‘Sustainable investment has always been there but we are looking at how to maximise it.’
Highly commended in the International category was Innovative Physics, a world-renowned research and development company specialising in evolving technologies including sensor technology, artificial intelligence and pattern recognition.
A LUXURY patisserie business that opened its first physical shop was award the Small Business of the Year title.
The Pastry Corner opened a shop in Southsea at the end of 2020 after it saw a downward shift in sales and profit margins from its event-based business.
As weddings and other catering events were either cancelled or postponed, owner Alexandra Bishop spent March away from the kitchen, and refocused her energy on business development. She joined the business resilience program with Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, where they developed a more diverse business plan.
The business diversified to include patisseries, afternoon teas and other items that could be enjoyed at home and it rebranded and moved the business from an industrial unit to a shop.
Alexandra said: ‘It was incredible to win. I was amazed I was even shortlisted.
‘It’s been a whirlwind year with Covid which meant we had to shut down. But we decided to change and invest a lot of money and adapt. It has paid off.’
Highly commended was Ruby Funerals, an all female owned funeral directors in Gosport.