Sussex Florist Meets Prime Minister For Small Businesses Campaign 'Go Green'

Wednesday, 2 June 2021 09:58

By Iona Stewart-Richardson @IslandIona

Pulborough florist, Claire Denman, met Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an exclusive Downing Street reception last Friday (28 May) as part of the Government’s drive to encourage small businesses to ‘go green’.

Claire, the owner of The Flower Shop on Lower Street, Pulborough, West Sussex attended No10 with local MP and Climate Champion, Andrew Griffith, to launch the ‘Together for Our Planet’ campaign, aimed at giving small businesses the tools and advice they need to cut carbon emissions.

Andrew was appointed by the PM to be the Government’s Net Zero Business Champion and he is helping to spearhead the drive to encourage businesses to sign up to carbon neutral targets.

Example actions taken by Claire’s company include switching to an electric delivery van, reducing air miles by ‘buying British’ wherever possible and using biodegradable materials.

To date, over 40 of the UK’s FTSE 100 companies have signed up to the United Nation’s Race to Zero campaign, with more expected to join before the UK’s climate conference ‘COP26’ in November. However, climate action is not just for big companies, and there are many simple and practical actions which any small businesses can take to do their part, such as turning idle machinery off ‘standby’ during non-work hours, or switching to sustainable suppliers. Small and medium business owners can visit www.businessclimatehub.org for easy steps for them to start their own Net Zero journey.

Claire said:

"I was delighted to visit Downing Street with Andrew and to meet the Prime Minister. It was a fantastic opportunity to represent West Sussex and my whole team at The Flower Shop in Pulborough. Boris was intrigued by the bio-degradable florist’s oasis I showed him, and very upbeat about the leadership and contributions that small businesses can deliver to preserve our environment.”

Andrew added:

“It was brilliant to see Claire in Downing Street to show how Sussex’s small businesses are leading the way on green initiatives. We are all each other’s keeper on climate and our wonderful small business community is part of the solution not part of the problem.”