Go Green - Case Study - The Furniture Discount Centre

Going Green from the Get-Go

Only a month after opening its doors for business, The Furniture Discount Centre was paid a visit by Bill Walter, the Greening Business Officer from southlondon.biz, which led directly to a saving of hundreds of pounds. Now the greening initiative is a regular item on the agenda of the Rose Hill Trading Association.

The Furniture Discount Centre is a furniture retailer located on Wrythe Lane near St. Helier’s Hospital in Rose Hill, Sutton, selling quality home furniture at very affordable prices. Due to the nature of their business, they generated large quantities of waste paper and cardboard generated by stock deliveries. Until the visit from Bill, the company had been dutifully taking all their cardboard waste to the local tip and paying handsomely for the privilege. “We were spending a lot of money every time we took our waste to the tip,” said Store Manager, David Walker. “Bill investigated and then introduced us to the recycling plant at Beddington Lane where we have been taking all our waste ever since and it costs us absolutely nothing, while at the same time allows us to go green. Over the year, this one recommendation alone has saved us hundreds of pounds.”

Together with other businesses in the Wrythe Lane parade, such as Café Nilli another Go Green business, an application has been made for a grant to purchase a baler for common use among this newly formed association. “The collective approach will benefit us all,” said David, “as no one business can afford nor justify the purchase of a baler by themselves, whereas together, and with the help of the grant, we stand to be able to reduce our waste by up to 95% with the use of a baler.”

“Bill has worked wonders for us”, added David , “and being in with us shortly after we started up has really set us on the right path from the beginning, both from a green point of view and from the cost savings we’ve made because of his input.”

The cost savings don’t stop there. Further recommendations Bill made in the tailored Action Plan for the business included a target reduction of 20% of energy consumption and 50% of paper consumption; the installation of constant temperature urns to replace kettles; the installation of sensors and timers for lighting and appliances to be turned on/off at predetermined times; a reduction in water consumption of 15% by fitting flush taps, sensors and timers, and ‘hippos’ into the toilet cisterns.

“Bill has worked with us regularly over the last year since we took up the Go Green service,” said David, “monitoring us and providing us with lists and lists of green suppliers of everything from stationery to light bulbs. The service has been absolutely fantastic for us as a business and I would wholly recommend any business to have an assessment done by a GBO – you will end up saving much more than the £10 nominal fee the service costs to take up.”

The service is available to businesses in the five London boroughs of Merton, Kingston, Sutton, Croydon and Wandsworth, focusing on businesses that have not sought support from publicly funded business agencies in the past. Businesses like The Furniture Discount Centre can apply for small grants to help them implement appropriate solutions.

For more information on the ‘Go Green’ programme please contact Helen Clark Bell at southlondon.biz on 0208 947 0055, email gogreen@southlondon.biz