Waterhouse Design Limited: Business that sees the wood for the trees takes on ambitious environmenta
10/03/2008
Increasingly small businesses want to demonstrate their environmental credentials but few can claim to have done so on the scale of Chamber member Waterhouse Design Limited; 15 acres in all! The graphic design business has taken corporate social responsibility a stage further than most by planting thousands of trees on its Fancott-based site and developing a fishing lake that’s attracting an astonishing variety of wildlife.
Owners Mark Burley and Norma Congreve, Chamber members for eight years, say the catalyst for the project was work they undertook with local councils to increase recycling rates across Bedfordshire and beyond.
'Helping to reinforce the recycling message made us aware of the need to do something constructive within our own business' explains Mark.
Already committed users of recycled paper and experienced recyclers and composters, Mark and Norma decided to explore other ways in which they could 'redress the balance.'
The result: an ambitious project to create a new woodland on their 21-acre site. With their own funds and a grant from the Woodland Trust, the pair have planted 5,785 trees, all broadleaved native species. Although they won't see the woodland mature in their lifetime, some of the trees have already reached 25ft and the area is proving a magnet for wildlife with sparrowhawks, merlins, kestrels, red kites, deer and badgers among its new residents.
As if that wasn't ambitious enough, Norma and Mark addressed the lack of natural wetlands in Bedfordshire by creating their own lake, fed by naturally occurring springs, which has created a habitat supporting warblers, three types of woodpecker, insects, ducks and geese, not to mention the anglers who take advantage of the peaceful surroundings and well stocked lake.
Mark and Norma admit to being 'obsessive' about environmental issues, growing their own vegetables, using chipped timber waste from their own trees to keep down weeds in their flower beds and insisting that the things they buy have fair trade credentials. But as well as being committed environmentalists and first-class custodians of the land, Mark and Norma are business people who are convinced they have a cast-iron business case for caring about their environment:
'If we feel at ease in our surroundings and with our consciences, then hopefully our clients will feel the same' says Mark.
