Impact, together.

Run responsibly, understand your impacts and keep improving.

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Put responsibility for your social and environmental goals into someone's role and your regular management discussions.

• Define and publish the positive environmental contribution you want your business to make.

• Routinely consider people, communities and the environment when making significant business decisions.

• Reduce unnecessary energy use, consumption and waste, setting sustainability goals and reviewing progress each year.

• Measure your carbon emissions and make a plan to reduce on a path to net zero.

• Switch to renewable electricity or improve energy efficiency.

• Look at the environmental and social impacts of your major suppliers and purchasing decisions, record this and see where you can make improvements

• Talk to your staff about what the business is trying to improve and invite their ideas.

• Share what you are doing, including what you are still working on.

Create good jobs, invest in people and help grow Sussex talent

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Pay the Real Living Wage.

• Ask staff what would make your organisation a better place to work and act on what you hear.

• Develop a policy to support staff wellbeing with staff involvement.

• Review recruitment and progression to identify unnecessary barriers. Prioritise local recruitment whenever possible.

• Offer an apprenticeship, traineeship or other entry route for a young person from the local area.

• Provide meaningful work experience, placements, workplace visits or careers activities for local young people.

• Mentor a young person interested in your sector.

• Connect with local schools, colleges and universities around skills and future employment.

• Think about the skills and people your business will need in future and help develop the local talent pipeline.

• Gather diversity, equity and inclusion data in your workplace and take action to address under-representation.

Buy locally, strengthen Sussex supply chains and help money and opportunity stay in the region

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Buy locally where practical, particularly from Sussex SMEs and independent businesses.

• Include local businesses when seeking quotes or tendering for work.

• Review your major suppliers and identify opportunities to shorten supply chains and avoid risk of human rights abuses. 

• Routinely ask questions about your suppliers’ sustainability practices.

• Buy from social enterprises, B Corps and other purpose-led businesses where possible.

• Use local venues, caterers, producers and suppliers for meetings and events.

• Collaborate with neighbouring businesses and share suppliers, resources or expertise where you can.

• Help smaller local businesses access opportunities within your supply chain.

• Pay small suppliers promptly and fairly.

• Share opportunities, contracts and vacancies through local business networks.

• Encourage your own suppliers and customers to buy locally where practical.

Be a good neighbour and contribute skills, time, space and resources to the place where you do business

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Routinely give staff paid time to volunteer in their local community.

• Make meeting space, equipment or other business resources available to local groups.

• Attend and amplify events on the Sussex Bay community page.

• Consider how decisions about your premises, operations and opening hours affect your neighbours.

• Help make the area around your business healthier, greener, safer or more welcoming.

• Work with other local businesses to tackle something that matters in your shared community.

• Attend and amplify Sussex Bay Alliance events and networks.

Use resources wisely and help nature recover across Sussex Bay

The Sussex Bay Business Charter supports the priorities of the East Sussex & Brighton and Hove and West Sussex Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the Sussex Bay Blueprint for Seascape Recovery. 

Small changes across thousands of businesses can make a difference, alongside direct support for larger nature recovery projects.

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Contribute to citizen science that supports Sussex Bay’s goals 

• Measure water use and identify opportunities to use less.

• Commit to a Responsible Use of AI policy, which recognises the environmental impact of using AI and only does so when there is good reason to do so.

• Think about what leaves your premises through drains and reduce pollutants, oils, chemicals and harmful cleaning products entering the water system.

• Reduce single-use plastics and unnecessary packaging.

• Reduce waste and introduce reuse, repair or circular purchasing where appropriate.

• Take part in regular beach cleans.

• Create more space for nature around your premises and consider biodiversity when making decisions about land, buildings and development.

• Learn about and amplify the seascape restoration priorities of Sussex Bay.

Volunteer, fundraise, collaborate and take part in the recovery of Sussex Bay

Choose one or more actions you will take:

• Give staff paid time to volunteer on a Sussex Bay project.

• Give 1% of your revenue or profit to directly fund Sussex Bay’s work. 

• Fundraise for Sussex Bay’s work through a sponsored event.

• Make a corporate donation or sponsor a specific piece of work.

• Offer professional expertise pro bono, such as marketing, finance, HR, legal, design, data, digital or evaluation to Sussex Bay or its projects.

• Lend equipment, meeting space or other practical resources to Sussex Bay.

• Attend the Sussex Bay Charity Hackathon to help a Sussex Bay partner organisation or charity solve a specific business challenge.

• Bring your customers, suppliers or business network into a Sussex Bay activity.

• Develop a circular recycling product with fishing waste. 

• Co-create an event with Sussex Bay.

• Share Sussex Bay's work and stories through your own communications.

• Attend Sussex Bay events and meet businesses and organisations working across the Bay. 

• Join one of the other Sussex Bay networks such as the Education or Creative networks.