Considering sustainable giveaways is a visible way of showcasing your commitment to our planet and the people who call it home. Whether you are just starting out on your ESG journey or you have an established strategy in place, making considered decisions about what delegates take away as ‘swag’ is an effective and easy way to put your values front and centre of the experience and create positive sentiment towards your brand.

Spending time to really consider your audience, your purpose, and your values when you are choosing what to give away (or not to give away!) not only enhances brand reputation but also encourages ethical consumerism outside of your event and can help foster a deeper connection with clients and employees—who doesn’t want to do business with a company investing in what’s right rather than what is cheap?

Sustainable gifts can be a little more expensive, as they are typically made from eco-friendly or recyclable materials, using mindful production processes that minimise waste and pollution, but they are an investment worth making. Making a conscious, ethical decision will help to lower the company’s overall carbon footprint and by choosing biodegradable or recyclable products, businesses contribute to the reduction of landfill waste, driving a significant positive impact on the environment. The earth isn’t the only one to benefit, by protecting our planet you are supporting future generations, the ones who will take your business forward, to have the opportunity to thrive.

Offering sustainable gifts can also boost employee morale. Employees are increasingly aware of global challenges like climate change, and working for a company that takes sustainability seriously can increase job satisfaction and loyalty. By participating in environmentally friendly initiatives such as giving and receiving sustainable gifts, employees feel a sense of pride and are more engaged with the company’s mission and values—which in turn will help you retain and attract the best people to your business.

We’re always looking for new ways to inject the feel-good factor into events, and we’ve found that by investing in high-quality, sustainable gifts (rather than boring, plastic, disposable gifts that people expect), you can surprise and delight your attendees, give them something useful and lasting to take home and share, and can translate into positive PR and sentiment for your brand, especially if you deliver something innovative and creative to catch people’s attention.

How do we do this in practice?

Charitable donations in lieu of or alongside giveaways

Is another pen or a keyring going to add value to your delegate’s experience? Your event gifts don’t just have to be physical, a donation to a charity on behalf of your delegates or an option to add a gift to a chosen cause at ticket purchase makes people feel like they are part of something bigger and gives you a reason to talk about organisations that you care about. Use your event to support or sponsor underrepresented groups that have a connection to your sector – you could even invite a member of the charity to come along and be part of the event so they can tell people about their mission. Your delegates will go away with a deeper understanding of your brand values while feeling good about the part they have played in helping a good cause.

Consider gift life-cycles  

Everyone loves a high-quality gift and, the great thing is, when you invest in something that has longevity, that’s better for the environment too. Rather than splashing out on a branded water bottle that is cheaply made and unlikely to be used, why not make a mindful investment in a Chilly’s bottle instead? Your delegates go away with something high-quality and likely to last while you stop more plastic going to landfills while you’re at it. Win-win!

Shop Local

When you are looking at where to purchase your gifts, shop local! Choosing where to spend your cash is a direct way of investing in your local economy and spotlighting interesting companies that your attendees might not have heard of. As a proud North East company, BeaconHouse Events has partnered with lots of local businesses including Big River Bakery, For the Love of the North, Marlish Water, and Fenwick to provide goodies made right here in the region. Shopping local embeds you in the local culture, and gives delegates from outside the region a way of taking home a memento of their visit too.

Tree-mendous give-aways

Everyone wants to feel like they are doing their bit, so why not consider planting a tree for every event ticket? Each person has a tangible way of seeing their impact, and gives them something to share post-event too. Follow up the event with a graphic they can share on social media, or a map of where their tree is located to bring the campaign to life in a relevant way.

At BeaconHouse Events we put consideration and thought into every part of the design planning process – including what delegates take away with them at the end of the day. We’re big believers in investing in the attendee experience to create meaningful connections and memories, and not giving away ‘swag’ for the sake of it. Being strategic and creative with your gifting, and keeping sustainability at the heart of your planning not only protects our planet, it creates a great story, sharable moment, and lasting impact too.

We’d love to hear from you about what you could gain from events in a meaningful and fun way next year. To speak to our team contact info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk or call 0191 691 3456.

 

So, what have we been up to recently?

Purpose x Action

Our commitment to sustainability is based on recognised environmental, social, and governance principles. We’ve turned these principles into tangible actions both inside the business and out in the world through the events that we deliver. These actions include everything from making sure that we are making sustainable choices for catering on site, measuring and ethically offsetting our carbon by partnering with organisations in our local community and creating supplier networks where we can share best practices and learn from each other.

 

Embracing Transparency

In 2017, we partnered with Planet Mark, a pioneering global organisation that empowers businesses to operate sustainably. Through their carbon footprint certification program, we’ve gained valuable insights into our environmental impact and this initial step over seven years ago put us on the path to becoming a truly sustainable event management company. We don’t believe in operating in a silo and by evaluating and sharing data with our supply chain and the wider event industry, we know we can continue to make consistent and measurable change as a sector.

 

Building a Purpose-Led Strategy

We recognised that to do this with impact we needed a clear roadmap; a plan of action that would help us reach and celebrate milestones along the way. To develop our strategy we collaborated with the brilliant Katrina Appleyard of ISN. Her expertise in ESG strategy helped us align our business with a clear purpose and a commitment to environmental responsibility and she has continued to support us as we begin to bring each step of the plan to life.

 

Stop, collaborate, and listen: Working together for a greener future

We know that by working in partnership with clients, supply chain partners, venues, and other event management teams we can achieve so much more than doing it alone. Collaboration is the key to achieving true, lasting sustainability in the event industry. No one is doing sustainability perfectly and by actively engaging with our supply chain, promoting responsible practices, and encouraging participation in initiatives like trace and Planet Mark we can navigate the journey together and keep each other accountable along the way. This collaborative spirit fosters a collective shift towards a more sustainable future for events as a whole – which is what we all want.

 

Giving back to our community

Creating a more sustainable event sector is just one of the priorities in our ESG plan, but our commitment extends far beyond that. We thought long and hard about how we can serve our local community in a really meaningful way, and we have chosen to support a range of local initiatives that align with our chosen sustainable development goals. This includes supporting the nature-based programme at Groundwork North East and Cumbria whose team work tirelessly to enhance the natural environment, a cause close to our hearts.

 

Championing future generations with The Children’s Foundation

Alongside our commitments to a greener future, we also know that we have a responsibility to the future generations of the North East. That’s why we have chosen to partner with The Children’s Foundation to support their vital work supporting vulnerable children and young people in our local area to have the best start possible. Over the last year, we have volunteered at their allotment project which offers programmes for children not in full-time education, and supported the charity’s mental health workshops in schools, both of which we feel are taking important steps towards empowering and uplifting families in our region.

 

It’s a journey, not a destination

We understand that sustainability is an ongoing journey, not a one-time exercise and that’s why we are actively tracking our progress, celebrating our achievements, and learning from challenges along the way. We embrace a data-driven approach, using tools like carbon tracking from ‘trace’ to measure our impact and make continuous improvements. We recognise the importance of human values and taking action, even when data might be incomplete or we don’t feel like it is perfect.

Over the coming years, we are committed to combining strategic planning, impactful partnerships, and ethical planning so we can become a proud voice and leader in sustainable event management in the UK, and globally. We would love for you to come along on this journey with us, together let’s create events that leave a lasting positive impact on our planet and communities.

To speak to the team about our plans and how you can build sustainable events into your strategy, get in touch at info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

Over the past year businesses in Hoults Yard have been taking part in The Good Business Meet Up, a joint initiative between BeaconHouse Events, Opencast, and HyHubs to drive change for the local community through positive conversations and consistent, considered projects in the local area, including sharing learning on becoming more carbon responsible or sustainable travel. But this group isn’t just about having good conversations. It’s about making things happen. In April 2024 over 30 people from Hoults Yard business community came together to litter pick around the local area, together picking up more than 50kg of waste and filling 20 bin bags in just an hour and this is just one in a series of initiatives being actioned from the meetups. Rather than discussing what could happen, the task force will be out and about in the community through a series of planned initiatives to demonstrate that small, consistent actions really can equate to big change.

Business including Opencast, Swarm, GSS Architecture, Steel River Consultants, Tandem Property Asset Management, Acropolis, Red Engineering and Ingram AV have all been rolling up their sleeves to champion what being a good business means here in the North East and Sarah Thackray, co-founder of BeaconHouse Events thinks this could be the start of something really impactful for the region.

Speaking about the Good Business Meet Up, which is currently held once a quarter, Sarah said, “While this has started as a way for businesses in Hoults Yard to come together to support each other to make positive change, in the future I would love for this to expand to include representatives from across the whole of the region so we can share and learn from each other and expand the reach of what we can achieve. The conversations that we have are really positive and focus on how to be a purposeful business; this isn’t about shaming businesses who aren’t doing things perfectly, it is about having action-focused conversations and celebrating and learning from those individuals and organisations who are doing what they can to become more sustainable and give back to the communities that we operate in.

“Future initiatives we are planning include a volunteer day showcase that will bring charities and community groups into the yard to let businesses who call HyHubs their home, know about the projects operating locally and how they can get involved on a voluntary basis. Here in Byker, we are surrounded by non-profit groups who are doing amazing things and this would be a way to match-make those organisations with businesses who align with their mission.”

While some members of The Good Business Meet Up are certified B Corps, the group is keen to help all business leaders discover what the best path is for them when it comes to exploring what being a purpose driven, responsible business means to them.

Sarah continued, “There is no ‘perfect’ way to do ESG (Environmental, Societal and Governance) and it is important to have really honest conversations with each other about what has worked and what hasn’t, that’s certainly something that has benefited me and the team at BeaconHouse Events. Having a community where you can ask questions without fear or judgment, team up to make things happen, and understand what sustainability means in practice is a really powerful thing and I’m excited to see where it takes us.”

Dan Pearson, Executive Delivery Manager at Opencast, said: “It’s been fantastic to see how an idea that Sarah and I had last year has transformed into a growing community, where local companies are coming together to discuss our shared ESG goals and challenges.

“Opencast prides itself on being a purpose-driven business that exists to make life better through the power of people and technology. Social expectations of what businesses should be doing have changed with employees and investors expecting much more – so groups like ours play an important part of how, by getting together, we can do more to make a positive impact.

I am excited about the future for our group as we evolve and continue to collaborate, share best practices, and provide guidance to address issues collectively.”

Louise White, marketing manager at HyHubs said, “At HyHubs, we’re actively taking steps to ensure we’re a good business in every sense. Through initiatives like The Good Business Meet Up, we’re not just talking the talk, we’re walking the walk. It’s amazing to collaborate with other HyHubs-based businesses, seeing the community come together to plan and work towards positive impacts. Whether it’s a litter pick or a community project, we’re rolling up our sleeves and making things happen.

HyHubs residents and businesses from across Hoults Yard are invited to take part in the Good Business Meet-Ups that take place quarterly at Hoults Yard. For more information on the next meet-up and for wider North East England purpose driven meet ups email sarah@beaconhouse-events.co.uk

As an office of foodies, we know that the catering options are a corner stone of any event, but the amount of meat consumed was having a major impact on how sustainable our events could be. So we got our heads together and came up with a simple solution – what would happen if you had to opt-in for a meat option, rather than opt out?

BeaconHouse Events co-founded the TechNExt Festival, delivered in partnership with Dynamo North East and Sunderland Software City, and the week-long event took place in June 2023. As part of the event the team created the ‘Good Festival Ambition’ in order to curate an experience that put quality, inclusivity, diversity, accessibility and sustainability front of mind. As part of this ambition, the catering throughout the week was designed to reduce our carbon emissions by encouraging people to make conscious choices about what they were consuming. That meant that all buffet options at the Main Stage event and Festival Party were meat-free and the menu for the 120 guests at the conference dinner was vegetarian by default, with delegates having to request the meat option if that was their preference. The result was 55% of the attendees at the dinner choosing the meat-free options, as opposed to the average of only 10% that we would see at a usual event, greatly reducing our carbon footprint across the week.

The climate impact of meat is enormous – roughly equivalent to all the driving and flying of every car, truck and plane in the world and when forests are destroyed to produce industrial meat, billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. This one simple change allowed us to do better for our planet during the week-long festival while still providing a delicious dinner for the guests to enjoy.

Under 5% of people in the UK are vegetarian but there has been a dramatic rise in the amount of people attempting to cut down on the amount of meat that they consume, either for health or environmental reasons. That means that as an industry we have to adapt. And the issue is coming into mainstream consciousness more and more, over the last year we have seen the news that Oxford Council have banned meat from their menus at corporate events, with Cambridge, Exeter and Norwich Councils following suit and Cambridge University Darwin’s College served a fully vegan menu for their ball this June.

But the key to creating impact isn’t simply switching to a veggie or vegan menu, the trick is to communicate the importance of why. Going meat-free was just one element of our ‘Good Festival’ ambition and ‘for good’ was a core value that ran through everything throughout the week. That meant a focus on quality, inclusivity, diversity, accessibility, and sustainability, all of which we communicated the impact of to our delegates in the lead up to the festival.

It is our job as a responsible employer and business to forge the path of what is possible and to collaborate with other organisations, both in and outside of the event sector, to learn from, and inspire, each other. We are seeing an increased demand for environmental reporting from our clients and are proud to be early adopters of TRACE, a digital carbon measurement platform to help the event industry reach Net Zero. TRACE helps us to gather data on our carbon impact at each event, which in turn gives us the ability to work with clients to benchmark and track success alongside their ESG strategy.

This small step is part of our wider goal to reduce our carbon emissions by 5% year on year, with the key ambition to become and remain a carbon responsible business, looking at carbon neutrality, alongside supply chain engagement, research into sustainably sourcing materials, digital solutions to limit single-use print and staff training to upskill the team on the future of events both in-person and online

There is still relatively low adoption for sustainable change across the sector, but with consistent and considered steps we can make real change together. To speak to one of our team about how you can put sustainability at the centre of your next event call on 0191 691 3456 or email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk