Green business in the Broads can save you money

Green business can save you money! That is the message from Broads Tourism which is holding a free seminar on Tuesday March 1 to tell you how to do it. 'Greening the Broads - and boosting your business’ is to be held at The Waterside, Rollesby, from 10am -3.30pm as part of Broads Tourism’s campaign to drive up quality standards in the Broads. The Broads has the largest cluster of accredited green businesses in the Eastern Region and some of the most successful will be at the workshop to explain the benefits and criteria for going green. Andrea Nicholas, managing director and founder of Green Business UK, the non profit-making company which runs the Green Tourism Business Scheme, will explain the nuts, bolts and benefits of GTBS which is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK. Around a dozen Broads business have joined the Green Tourism Business Scheme and three of them have gained the coveted Gold award. One of these is speaker Louise Rout, manager of the Fairhaven Woodland and Water Gardens at South Walsham who says she has saved £400 on the annual water bills alone. “The scheme has given us some brilliant ideas for installing green technology and helped us think outside the box,” says Louise. “It gave us the confidence to make these changes and the comfort of being connected to other businesses who have been through the scheme. It is a fantastic toolkit and resource and it saves money in lots of ways.” Hire boat company Norfolk Broads Direct Ltd is preparing for its first Green Tourism Business Scheme assessment. Director, Barbara Greasley, who is  acting chairman of Broads Tourism, said she thought long and hard before signing up to the scheme and decided it “made perfect business sense.” “As we already had many initiatives in place such as low wash hulls on many of our hire cruisers, it really did make sense to apply for a green accreditation. As well as the marketing benefits of having a green accreditation, we have also saved money on our energy usage. Simply checking the time clocks in our holiday homes has seen our usage decrease. “The GBTS team has been very helpful and supportive. Our advisory visit was very useful, the GTBS website is a great source of information and the team is always at the end of the telephone to offer advice.” The seminar is financed by European Regional Development funding through the STEP (Sustainable Tourism in Estuary Parks) programme. Any business in and around the Broads is welcome.

To book a place contact Rachael Evitt at rachael.evitt@broads-authority.gov.uk or telephone 01603 756002. For more information on GTBS: http://www.green-business.co.uk/