esg

ESG AT WORK

Our workspaces have been designed with environmental, social and governance values to the fore.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Embodied carbon

  • Each of our buildings was pre-existing and not in use – so we have added only minimally to the embodied carbon.
  • Our refurbs desks and partitions were made by local tradesmen, on site
  • We make extensive use of local timber and compressed recycled paper in partitions
  • We have more open plan than office, believing it a more efficient shared use of services
  • All our executive seating and high-end furniture come from corporate liquidations (i.e. minimized carbon footprint)

Operational carbon

  • The very concept of working near home, gives our local communities measurable carbon emissions reduction, via vastly reduced commutes.
  • We are ride-in friendly with bike racks and showers.
  • At three of our offices we installed PV solar panels during lockdown.
  • We use motion sensing light bulbs where suitable
  • We do not heat all areas to a ‘highest common’ temp pref – we have some warm areas and let people choose.

SOCIAL

The fundamental aim of our hubs is to bring isolated working people into a space where they share a lot more than service costs. The mental wellbeing benefits are immediately apparent in the fact that once people come in from home to try a hub, few go back to WFH.

At NWJ, we have particular focus on inclusivity. People new to our communities, either arriving for the first time from other countries, or returning, are often particularly isolated. Working at NWJ helps them make contacts – at many social levels. They get to meet people who have been on the same journey of integration and they also get to meet people from the community who can help them with contacts in education, sport, culture and many other arenas.

GOVERNANCE

We hold ourselves to the following ethical guidelines and empower the local coordinator in each centre to make decisions in particular cases:

  • Choose local tradespeople and suppliers where there is a choice
  • Collaborate with organizations that are working towards the shared goals of regeneration of regional towns –
  • Chambers of Commerce, Local Enterprise Offices, EI, business clubs, remote recruiters and others.
  • Facilitate desk space and mentoring where possible, to start-ups.
  • Provide support and venue space to organisations involved in community mental health, elder engagement or immigrant services.

SUSTAINABILITY

We are a business, of course, and in order to keep providing the service to members we have to become financially self-sustaining. We believe that an ESG conscious approach, with the focus on resource conservation, has the added benefit of allowing us to keep our prices affordable, without jeopardizing our path to sustainability.