Following the final successful audit in November 2023, we have received the ISO 20121 certification for sustainable meetings and events.  

As part of our ongoing strategy to achieve best-practice levels of efficiency and performance, we first started working towards the standard in March 2022 by making travel, meetings and events more sustainable.  

Alongside the day-to-day event management, all members of the Events Team underwent ‘Sustainable Events’ training, increased regulatory compliance and better risk management. The company also updated their marketing material to include green symbols and compliance logos recognised by customers.  

Roles and responsibilities for staff, contractors and suppliers, were redefined according to this standard, improving event planning and delivery for the future.  

More importantly, they’ve established a culture in events by “reducing, re-using and recycling” so all Event Managers mitigate, ameliorate, and eliminate any negative impacts from events on the environment. It is also supporting the reporting of sustainability outcomes, which supports their customers’ goals and subsequently enables us to create better events in the future.  

“It has been an amazing team effort to achieve this international standard. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the events team throughout this certification process. It’s been great to be able to use my events, ISO and sustainability experience to help achieve this important certification and support customers’ environmental targets and goals,” said Julie Evans, Standards and Assurance Manager.  

“The work towards this standard has influenced our overall ways of working to continue delivering more memorable events that maximise performance and energy efficiency, while minimising the impact on the environment and local communities.” 

The agency has incorporated ISO 20121 into their existing Integrated Management System for 9001, 14001, 27001 and 22301, demonstrating their commitment to quality, environmental management, information security management and business continuity.  

“As more businesses look to work with responsible suppliers and tenders request evidence of sustainable practices, we believe working towards this standard will give customers confidence in our event operations. This certification represents another business standard for us to specialise in, alongside the quality service standards we have already achieved,” said Kirsty Given, Director of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability.