Mark Batchelor at Markman OTW

02/06/2025

An enjoyable trip to Manchester to view SUEZ flagship site, a major recyling reuse hub 'Renew' (Recycle for Greater Manchester) located in a huge warehouse. The household items that can be salvaged for reuse, which have been deposited at the recycling centres across the city, are collected then refurbished and resold through the the city's dedicated Renew outlets or online via platforms such as eBay and Shopify. The items range from furniture, electrical goods, through to bicycles, toys, bric-a-brac, and textiles. Funds raised are donated to the Mayor's charity to tackle homelessness in Greater Manchester.

16/10/2024

An eventful week topped by the CIM event hosted by Henley Business School. Thought provoking insights and conversations between the 100+ attendees. A very enjoyable day, and nice to catch up with some familar faces and meet many more new marketing colleagues within the CIM community.

Last week, we hosted our Resilient Marketing: Driving business performance and long-term success event at Henley Business School.

It’s been great to hear your feedback and see your photos from the day. Here’s a collage of some of the photography we’ve seen from our attendees 📸

Thank you again to everyone who joined us and contributed to the insightful discussions.

Visit the link in the comments section to find out more about upcoming CIM events and how you can get involved 🔗

15/06/2024

Great to see Luston Wetland getting the recognition it deserves -

Judges praise the wetlands scheme in Luston, Herefordshire, for being "innovative thinking".

13/06/2024

The Winners of the UK's annual Local Government LGC Awards 2024 - including the Luston Wetlands (Herefordshire Council).

The LGC announcement stated:

'The judges were thrilled to announce Herefordshire Council's Luston Wetland project as the undeniable winner, recognising it as a groundbreaking initiative that tackles the critical issue of nutrient pollution and its subsequent economic repercussions.

With a strong focus on improving water levels, contributing to Net Zero, enhancing biodiversity, and fostering economic growth, the project has achieved promising early results in improving water quality and unlocking new housing in order to drive economic growth. By actively engaging with a diverse network of partners to influence government policies, Herefordshire's solutions are paving the way for positive change on a larger scale.

The judges noted the project was already being held up as a national exemplar and were impressed it was delivering against a range of strategic outcomes.'

I am very pleased to have made a contribution and help secure c£2M central government (DLUHC) funding to support the wetlands development programme and rollout -

Great Yarmouth BC has been named LGC Council of the Year at a ceremony that celebrated the very best...

13/06/2024

Fabulous news this morning! - To see the Luston Wetland project I worked on and help launch over the past year win the Environmental Services award at the UK's Local Government (LGC) Awards last night.
The team at Herefordshire deserve the national recognition and will spur them onwards, as they roll out the wetlands development programme funded by the £2M we secured from central Government (DLUHC).

15/03/2024

Proud to be involved in helping to secure the UK Government investment that will drive the wetland development programme in Herefordshire.

Pleased to see the momentum and commitment of the environment and planning teams working on the Luston Wetland project over the past year has secured £1.9M Government funding to support further wetland development, allowing further housebuilding. The Return on Investment is beginning to shine through from the effort, passion, and professionalism of everyone involved in the environment and planning teams within Herefordshire Council and their partners, demonstrating sustainable outcomes that are creating societal, environmental and community benefits. https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/news/article/1716/progress-continues-on-nutrient-mitigation

Progress continues on nutrient mitigation

11/03/2024

Twitter (k/a X) nudged me over the weekend. Reminded me I joined the social media platform 15 years ago. Prompted me to pause for thought on the impact Twitter has had on me, my profession, and wider society -

Over the weekend, social media platform ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) reminded me that I joined its platform 15 years ago. It prompted me to ponder and run through the impact Twitter has had on m…

01/12/2023

For the full blog post about the Luston Wetland and a link to the case study I developed with the team to accompany the video.

COP28 commences today in Dubai (1st December 2023) where representatives of states, business, industries, and campaigning organisations congregate under the United Nations umbrella, to urge, debate…

30/11/2023

This year I’ve been fortunate enough to participate and work with teams dedicated to addressing issues of climate change, driving sustainable business approaches, and implementing pioneering world leading solutions that deliver tangible results and positive change.

One such project I am very proud to be a part of is addressing the issue of ‘nutrient-neutrality’ that has affected the rate of housebuilding in the UK (and in other countries across Europe) alongside the cleanliness of rivers, and their pollution by phosphates. Working with teams responsible for planning and natural environment in Herefordshire Council, I witnessed first-hand how expertise was mobilised over recent years to bring together leading ecologists, environmental scientists, engineering and consulting firms to find a solution to offset and reduce phosphates that pollute watercourses and rivers within the Wye Catchment in Herefordshire.

The genius of the Luston Wetland project being that this helps lift the restrictions on housebuilding within Herefordshire, and allows for a moderated, monitored managing of nutrient-neutrality over the next century, while enhancing the ecosystems in the vicinity and cleansing the wastewater of phosphates before being released into the watercourses and rivers in the Wye Catchment.

Check out this short video which shows some great aerial drone footage of how it was constructed and explains what it does.
https://youtu.be/RWPFmDuV688?si=0ctuDiykv2eYPyKq

In 2019, the Council received news that the River Lugg Special Area of Conservation (SAC) sub-catchment of the River Wye could be negatively impacted by high...

17/05/2023

The hard hat is back on, as I view the final stages of wetland creation - for removing phosphates in wastewater before returning into the streams and rivers. Building sustainable solutions sometimes involves dirt and diggers.