A poultry business has hired Cranswick’s former head of compliance and sustainability to help it calculate its carbon footprint.

Garry Warhurst and Ben Lee, Soanes Poultry

L-R: Garry Warhurst from Warhurst Associates and Ben Lee, Soanes Poultry managing director.

Middleton-on-the-Wolds-based Soanes Poultry commissioned Garry Warhurst from Warhurst Associates to build a bespoke database to calculate the factory’s emissions.

Warhurst said: “After being approached by Soanes Poultry to develop a user friendly system for them to calculate their carbon footprint, I developed a database which works to Greenhouse Gas Protocols and covers Scope One, Two and Three emissions.

“I used my sustainability, governance and IT development skills to develop this system which automatically calculates the business’s carbon footprint and is a great tool for any small to medium business to keep track of their emissions.”

Soanes Poultry said that although it is not a Plc and has no legal obligation to measure its emissions, managing director Ben Lee wanted a baseline emissions figure against which to measure future savings.

Lee said: “We’re working hard to reduce our carbon emissions to safeguard the business for future generations of the Soanes family. Our sustainability initiatives include biomass boilers, solar and wind turbines on the farm, a heat recovery system and energy efficient refrigeration systems in the factory and an £850,000 investment in 1,648 solar panels to power the factory that will go live shortly.

“We look forward to seeing Garry’s baseline figure reduce as the impact of the solar array and other environmental initiatives kick in.”