Zero Carbon Discussion board: ‘The judges’ choice validated our distinctive mannequin’

Zero Carbon Discussion board was named Consultancy of the 12 months on the UK Inexperienced Enterprise Awards 2025. Right here, the corporate’s Nicola Evans displays on its award win final 12 months, its plans for 2026, and affords tricks to these getting into the awards this 12 months.

The UK Inexperienced Enterprise Awards are again for 2026 and at the moment are open for entries – try all the main points on the entry course of, venue, and awards ceremony right here.

1. What was it prefer to win on the UK Inexperienced Enterprise Awards 2025? 

Profitable Consultancy of the 12 months was a proud second for our entire group. The judges’ choice validated our distinctive mannequin – bringing the {industry} collectively below our non-profit, the Zero Carbon Discussion board, to drive collaborative change and dealing to help every firm’s particular person wants with Zero Carbon Companies. It recognises the influence we’re delivering at scale, whether or not that is serving to operators save £5m on vitality initiatives alone or working in collaboration with over 70 operators to construct sector resilience. For us, the award marked a milestone in displaying that sensible, data-led local weather motion is feasible and commercially important. 

2. What was your favorite reminiscence from the awards evening? 

The standout second was listening to our identify introduced and turning to see the response of our group. The room was stuffed with organisations doing unbelievable issues, and being recognised amongst them was energising. Profitable the award for Greatest Sustainability Consultancy of the 12 months, throughout all industries, was the icing on the cake. Speaking to different finalists and listening to what’s occurring throughout the inexperienced financial system reminded us how highly effective collaboration might be. The environment had an actual sense of optimism – the main focus was on options, not challenges. 

3. What high ideas would you give anybody seeking to enter the 2026 UK Inexperienced Enterprise Awards? 

We began by sitting down with the group and actually listening – asking the proper questions that uncover what’s working nicely and the place the actual progress is being made. I would advocate spend time with the individuals closest to the element to know the influence of their work and the challenges they’ve overcome. From there, pull collectively the tales, proof and outcomes that greatest replicate the organisation’s achievements and the way they align with the award standards. 

4. How has successful influenced your future initiatives or objectives? 

Profitable has given us actual momentum. It is opened new conversations with operators and companions who need confirmed, sensible help to scale back emissions, lower prices and to work throughout the sector and provide chain. It is reaffirmed our dedication to scaling our influence, notably by way of our DESNZ-funded work serving to over 600 SMEs, which is already offering smaller operators with entry to instruments and information they’ve by no means had earlier than. The award has additionally strengthened our resolve to push tougher on Scope 3 reductions, provider engagement, and constructing resilience throughout the provision chain. It is inspired us to maintain elevating the bar within the sources, insights, and collaborative initiatives we ship. 

5. What’s occurred over the past 12 months for your online business? 

We have strengthened our emissions information instruments, we’re embedding AI into our database to offer fast, correct and tailor-made help to our shoppers, we have expanded our working teams, and we proceed to provide sensible steerage to help the sector by way of rising vitality prices, tightening regulation, and growing local weather danger.  

We’ve got saved our shoppers over £5m on vitality effectivity initiatives. decreasing their vitality emissions by 52 per cent (proving that sustainability and industrial success go hand in hand). We secured DESNZ funding to assist over 600 SMEs measure, perceive, and lower their carbon emissions – unlocking value financial savings and constructing long-term resilience.   

5 years in the past, we revealed a roadmap for the hospitality and brewing sector and we’re about to launch our 5 12 months Evaluation displaying the achievements, challenges and subsequent steps the {industry} must take to succeed in its internet zero targets. 

6. What are your inexperienced priorities for 2026? 

In 2026, our inexperienced priorities centre on driving effectivity, strengthening resilience, and serving to operators construct stronger, future-focused manufacturers. 

We’ll be focusing closely on provider engagement and decreasing Scope 3 emissions throughout our membership. That features increasing our work on extra correct emissions components so operators get the precision they should lower carbon and prices with confidence. Higher information means faster choices, smarter interventions, and sooner progress.

We’re prioritising sensible help that helps companies keep aggressive as excessive climate and provide chain pressures develop. This implies defending yields, enhancing high quality, and supporting operators to future-proof their operations, serving to groups adapt early quite than reply late. 

We’ll proceed to champion industry-wide collaboration so members can share perception, scale back duplication, and scale influence. A part of that is guaranteeing SMEs have entry to the identical instruments and help as bigger operators, serving to them display credible local weather motion to clients, traders and companions. 

2026 is about deeper collaboration, higher information and greater influence, all in service of a stronger, extra sustainable and commercially profitable sector. 

7. What side of the inexperienced financial system are you most enthusiastic about? 

I am most excited in regards to the shift from long-term ambition to instant, commercially related motion. Operators at the moment are capable of see exactly the place their emissions come from and what the monetary influence of decreasing them can be. Information instruments, smarter emissions components, and provide chain collaboration are making it potential to sort out Scope 3 emissions in methods the sector could not have imagined a number of years in the past. There’s a rising recognition that local weather motion goes hand in hand with enterprise success – it is about resilience, high quality, value discount, and defending the long-term viability of the {industry}. 

8. What would your inexperienced superpower be? 

If I might select a inexperienced superpower, it could be the flexibility to assist each enterprise chief immediately see the connection between a thriving pure world and industrial success. The whole lot we have to run a profitable enterprise is secured with a wholesome pure system but that connection is usually invisible within the day-to-day pressures of working an operation. My excellent superpower would make that hyperlink plain: displaying, in a single second, how defending nature helps yields, resilience, high quality, provide chains, buyer expertise, and finally the underside line. If everybody might see that clearly, the shift from short-term fixes to long-term, nature-positive motion would occur in a single day.