Shared purpose: We're working with The Conduit to bring together green decision makers
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We're joining forces with The Conduit, becoming part of a global community for changemakers that convenes business leaders, innovators and purpose-driven thinkers to catalyse meaningful solutions that will shape a just, prosperous and sustainable future.
For more than 30 years, we have been at the forefront of the UK's transition to renewable energy, from building some of the country's earliest windmills turbines to pushing for smarter, fairer energy infrastructure. This partnership is a natural next step: a chance to put three decades of clean energy expertise directly in front of the decision-makers who are shaping the future of British industry.
The Conduit connects a community of hundreds of senior leaders who have demonstrated impact, insight, influence, and integrity in their fields. Through the partnership, we will collaborate on two signature events, the first of which took place in July. These events will focus on sectors where the opportunity to decarbonise is significant, but where cost, infrastructure and know-how remain real barriers.
The ambition is straightforward: to use this platform not just to talk about the challenges facing energy-intensive industries, but to actively convene the people who can solve them.
First event roundup: accelerating sustainability in British manufacturing
The partnership kicked off with an event bringing together sustainability leaders from across British industry to discuss how manufacturing can move faster on decarbonisation and circularity. The panel featured Chris Organ, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ecotricity Business; Cora Purdy, Sustainability Manager at SURI; Emma Lindsay, Sustainability Manager at Red Bull; and Tom Parrott, Head of Sustainability & Insight at Sky, moderated by Mehrad Jaberansari, Director of Strategic Engagement at The Conduit.
Energy costs framed much of the discussion. Chris Organ highlighted that with UK industrial energy prices among the highest in the world, and 30–50% of energy costs tied up in distribution, taxes and levies, on-site generation is one of the clearest levers manufacturers have, with solar now paying back in 3-5 years. With £70 billion earmarked for grid upgrades by 2030, the case for businesses generating their own power, rather than waiting on national infrastructure, is only getting stronger.
A second thread was how organisations share their sustainability journeys... warts and all. From Sky's use of recycled steel in its Osterley innovation centre to SURI's efforts to build take-back schemes for its toothbrush heads, panellists agreed that progress depends on being transparent about what's working, what isn't, and where the real barriers lie, particularly around greenwashing and the risk of communicating too cautiously.
Circular manufacturing was the third major theme. Panellists shared examples ranging from turning decommissioned windmill blades into fencing and bus shelters, to recycling toothbrush heads into park benches, to the growing but underused market for recycled steel. A recurring point was that recyclers and manufacturers need to be brought into product design conversations far earlier. The panellists added that stronger regulatory or fiscal incentives are needed to make recycled materials the obvious commercial choice, not just the ethical one.
Attendees then broke into small groups to reflect on what had resonated, before putting their own questions to the panel, covering everything from investment cases for circular infrastructure to the role of peer-to-peer collaboration between competitors in accelerating change.
It was a strong start to the partnership, and a clear signal of the appetite across British industry for practical, collaborative routes to decarbonisation. Watch this space for details of the next event in the series.
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