The team at Feritech are celebrating after being chosen as the winners of the Sustainability Award in the South West Final of the FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards for 2023.
These awards are the largest scheme of their kind in the UK and the South West winners were announced at a gala event on Wednesday 1st March 2023, held at the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare.
The awards were judged by an independent panel of business leaders. For the Sustainability Award businesses had to highlight their sustainability achievements and showcase how they are helping to drive wider progress in the green economy.
When planning their new Innovation Centre near Falmouth, Feritech took a radical approach to environmental sustainability. The £3m purpose-built facility was opened by HRH The Duke of Kent and has some special features:
- The site harvests its own water, from boreholes that Feritech has drilled.
- It has a state of the art solar roof, combined with on-site power storage, and uses air source heating for the offices.
- Feritech has planted 3,000 trees, to help blend with the rural location and promote biodiversity.
- A pond captures the surface run-off from the site, creating a heat store and providing new wildlife habitats.
- Rather than metal fences, Feritech planted 5,500 hawthorn bushes, making a natural, maintenance-free barrier.
- The building is designed so that there is no light pollution or noise pollution.
Commenting on the awards, Feritech Managing Director, Rob Ferris, said:
“This is fabulous recognition for all the hard work our team has put into planning and building our new Innovation Centre. We set out to prove that advanced manufacturing could work in harmony with the natural environment, and it is great to have this endorsement from independent business experts.”
Feritech will now go on to represent the South West in the national final of these awards.
