Can a business be profitable and sustainable or is the pursuit of profit and being green mutually exclusive? Midas Pattern Company Ltd have the answers to those questions as they are a hugely successful and profitable global precision polyurethane moulding company who have achieved  Carbon Net Zero status. Midas’ green credentials have also been recognised at the highest level as they have been honoured with the King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development.

This prestigious accolade has been bestowed on just 148 companies in the UK this year, and Midas is part of a select group of organisations – just fifteen – that have been recognised for their achievements in the sustainable development category.

The King’s Award for Enterprise recognises and celebrates business excellence across the UK. Winners are chosen because they have demonstrated outstanding success and promoted the opportunity to prove an inspiration to others. His Majesty the King personally approves the recipients.

Midas has been recognised for their highly respected #MidasGreenInitiative which has seen them make significant investments to become a Carbon Neutral company in just eighteen months. They instigated the #MidasGreenInitiative on 18th April 2019 and by June 2020 Midas had become ‘Process Carbon Neutral’. In January 2021 Midas formed a long-term business partnership with The Forest of Marston Vale which enabled them to become fully ‘Carbon Net Zero’ - confirmed through an audit by The Carbon Trust giving them PAS 2060 Scope 1,2 & 3 accreditation. This was followed in August 2021 with accreditation to ISO 14001:2015 by NQA Certification Ltd and a second successful audit to ‘Carbon Net Zero - PAS 2060 Scope 1,2 & 3’ in March 2022.

The #MidasGreenInitiative was born out of managing director Alan Rance Prof MICME watching a David Attenborough documentary on the climate crisis facing us all. Many of us watched and were saddened, shocked, even scared by the facts presented, including Alan, but he was also motivated to act. Being the MD of a manufacturing company he understood that his business was a contributor to the climate crisis, with significant carbon emissions. Alan decided that reducing Midas’ carbon emissions would not be enough because he wanted to truly embrace environmentalism and ensure that he, and his company, were doing all they could to contribute to saving our planet.

As a result, carbon neutrality became the centre of company culture at Midas and what followed was a doubling in turnover, growth in employee numbers and premises expansion as they have been recognised as a company that not only possesses world-leading technicality and competence, but is also an organisation that people want to work for, and do business with. Being green has become a competitive advantage for Midas.

Midas want to share their story to encourage other companies, from all sectors, to follow the green path to increased profitability. You can watch Alan’s presentation on the Midas journey to Carbon Net Zero, which was remotely presented to the World Foundry Summit in New York in May 2022 – Alan was invited to attend, but chose to present remotely as he doesn’t fly anymore due to the carbon emissions from air travel.

 

From the Forest of Marston Vale’s perspective, our partnership with Midas is the gold standard for corporate partnerships. Both the Charity and Midas benefit from the partnership. The financial support delivered by Midas is significant, but beyond the £’s there’s a genuine desire to help the Charity thrive in every way possible, demonstrated by these words from Alan, “‘I speak on behalf of the whole Midas team when I say we are truly humbled to have been awarded The King’s Award for Enterprise – Sustainable Development – 2023, but I know that our success would be hollow without the fabulous partnership we share with the Forest of Marston Vale. Our ‘Carbon Net Zero’ status is only legitimate because of the tree planting programme and PIU (Pending Issuance Units) ownership made possible by you. We could have won the award without you, but it’s because of you that it has true value and is ‘tree hugger auditable’ – Thank you Forest of Marston Vale from us all’’

So coming back to the original question – can you be green and profitable? Yes, you most certainly can, and in fact being genuinely committed to environmentalism can actually make your business more profitable and successful. Just be more Midas!

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Trees make better business

Drop me an email if you’re interested in talking more about becoming a corporate Friend of the Forest. Email: [email protected]