A practical one-day workshop for senior leadership teams

Many SMEs are now being asked to provide evidence of their approach to Net Zero, carbon reduction, sustainability, supply chain responsibility and environmental performance.

For some organisations, this is being driven by legislation. For many SMEs, the pressure is coming more directly from customers, clients, tender requirements, supply chain questionnaires, framework agreements, investors, insurers and larger organisations looking to reduce emissions across their value chain.

This one-day workshop is designed to help SME senior leadership teams understand what Net Zero and wider sustainability mean for their organisation, identify the key risks and opportunities, and develop a clear direction of travel.

This is not a course where we write the strategy for you.

Instead, the day is structured as a guided and facilitated workshop, helping your leadership team make informed decisions and shape a practical strategy that reflects your business, your customers, your data, your priorities and your capacity to act.

Who is it for?

This workshop is aimed at SME senior leadership teams, directors, business owners and managers who need to make decisions about sustainability, Net Zero, carbon reduction and customer requirements.

It is particularly useful for organisations that:

• Are being asked for carbon reduction plans, sustainability policies or Net Zero commitments

• Need to respond to tender, procurement or supply chain questionnaires

• Want to understand Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions in practical terms

• Are unsure what data they already have, what is missing and what is needed

• Want to develop a realistic sustainability strategy without overcomplicating the process

• Need leadership alignment before investing time, money or resource into sustainability actions

What the day covers

The workshop introduces the key concepts SMEs need to understand, including:

• What Net Zero means in a business context

• The difference between carbon reduction, carbon neutrality and Net Zero

• Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions

• Why supply chain emissions matter

• What larger customers and clients are increasingly asking from SMEs

• Common tender and procurement expectations

• Wider sustainability issues, including waste, energy, transport, purchasing, resource efficiency, climate risk and stakeholder expectations

• How to identify what is material to your organisation

• How to turn information into a practical strategy and action plan

A facilitated strategy-building process

Throughout the day, the senior leadership team will take part in structured breakout activities to explore:

• The key sustainability issues affecting the business

• Current customer and client requirements

• Existing policies, processes and commitments

• Available data, including energy, fuel, transport, waste, water, purchasing and supply chain information

• Data gaps and areas of uncertainty

• Operational risks and opportunities

• Quick wins and longer-term improvement projects

• Roles, responsibilities and governance

• How sustainability links to commercial priorities, tenders and future growth

The aim is to move from general awareness to practical decision-making.

By the end of the workshop, the leadership team should have the foundations of an overarching Net Zero and sustainability strategy, including agreed priorities, key areas for action, immediate next steps and a clearer understanding of what evidence will be needed.

Expected outputs from the day

At the end of the workshop, your organisation should have:

• A clearer understanding of what Net Zero and sustainability mean for your business

• A leadership-level view of customer, client and supply chain expectations

• An initial map of key sustainability risks, opportunities and priority areas

• A review of available data and known data gaps

• Agreement on the main themes to include in your sustainability strategy

• A draft structure for your Net Zero and sustainability approach

• A practical action plan identifying next steps, responsibilities and timescales

Why this approach works

Many SMEs struggle with sustainability because the subject can quickly become too technical, too broad or too disconnected from day-to-day business decisions.

This workshop keeps the focus on what matters:

• What are customers asking for?

• What does the business need to understand?

• What data is already available?

• Where are the gaps?

• What can be improved?

• What decisions need to be made?

• What is realistic for the organisation?

The session is designed to be practical, interactive and decision-focused. It gives senior leaders the knowledge and structure they need to move forward with confidence.

Suitable for in-house delivery

The workshop can be delivered in-house for individual organisations, allowing the content and breakout discussions to focus directly on your business, sector, customers, supply chain and operational activities.

It is suitable for SMEs at the beginning of their Net Zero journey, as well as those that have already started but need to bring their leadership team together around a clearer and more joined-up strategy.

Workshop outcome

The outcome is not a generic sustainability statement.

The outcome is a leadership-informed, business-relevant direction of travel that can be developed into a practical Net Zero and sustainability strategy.