The aim of this area of activity is to show that VisitBritain has its “house in order”, this entails reducing our environmental impact and raising awareness of sustainable issues amongst the team.

There are a number of activities that have been underway in the organisation for a number of years, such as recycling, employment of property management systems for effective usage of energy and offering free cycle loans and public transport season ticket loans (supporting more sustainable transport) to name a few.  Recent projects are detailed below:

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Technological development

VisitBritain identified an issue with a proportion of desktop computers being routinely left on overnight, a common problem in offices and a cause of considerable energy waste.  To combat this issue a simple but effective energy management software solution has been deployed to all PC’s (globally), the software automatically powers down machines not in use at the end of the working day. 

Taking VisitBritain’s lead, the Office of Government Commerce has since set up a framework contract making the same software available across the entire public sector.

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Working with suppliers

Quality in Tourism (QiT), the largest contractor (by value), who provide the quality assessors to carry out assessments on VisitBritain’s behalf has made significant efforts to reduce their environmental impact.  In the past year a number of actions of varying impact have been taken.

• As part of QiT’s move towards gaining ISO14001, the print department have made many changes to working practice, such as the use of email marketing and efforts made to use sustainable materials.
• The QiT website was re-launched in June 2007, assisting in reducing the number of printed material sent out by allowing participants to download copies of the standard which has interactive navigation.
• QiT also work with a printing company that is both FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the endorsement of forest Certification Schemes) registered.
• All paper used for printing is ECF (elemental chlorine free), all inks used are vegetable based, 100% recycled paper is used where possible and laminating standard covers no longer occurs. 

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Forum for the Future

VisitBritain is partnered with Forum for the Future, a sustainable development charity, which works in partnership with leading organisations in business and the public sector. Their vision is of business and communities thriving in a future that's environmentally sustainable and socially just.

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