For Hampshire SMEs looking to win new business, or those forming part of a larger supply chain, taking a simple health check of your environmental commitments and practices now could help avoid problems later.
Increasingly, businesses are being asked not only to demonstrate their own environmental efforts, but also to provide information and contractual commitments that support the wider ESG objectives of their customers. This means that even smaller businesses may find themselves required to provide information, evidence and contractual commitments as part of a customer's procurement process.
Key Questions to Ask
- Can we evidence what we already do? Are our environmental policies, initiatives and achievements clearly documented, with supporting evidence available where required?
- Do we understand customer expectations? Have we reviewed the environmental requirements of the organisations we want to work with, including any obligations that may be passed down through the supply chain?
- Can we back up our claims? Are any environmental statements we make accurate, proportionate and supported by evidence?
- Do our suppliers support our commitments? If we are making commitments to customers, are we confident that our own suppliers can provide the information, assurances or performance standards needed to support those commitments?
- Do we know what we are signing up to? Have we considered the legal and commercial impact of environmental obligations, reporting requirements and warranties before entering into a contract?
Businesses do not need a perfect environmental strategy to secure new work. What matters is understanding what can be demonstrated today, what remains a future ambition and what commitments can realistically be delivered. Equally, businesses should understand how their own environmental obligations align with those of customers and suppliers throughout the supply chain.
Don't Let Environmental Commitments Become a Business Risk
Environmental considerations are becoming an increasingly important part of procurement and commercial relationships. Businesses that understand and prepare for these requirements are often better placed to secure new opportunities, whether dealing directly with customers or supporting larger organisations within their supply chain.
However, there is an important balance between meeting customer expectations and making commitments that go beyond what a business can reasonably achieve. Environmental obligations are often passed down through contractual arrangements, meaning that businesses can find themselves responsible for requirements driven by organisations much further up the supply chain.
For Hampshire SMEs, the priority should be to understand what customers expect, demonstrate genuine progress with appropriate evidence and ensure that any contractual commitments are clear, realistic and capable of being delivered in practice.
How Lamb Brooks can help
At Lamb Brooks, our Commercial team can help businesses understand how environmental requirements translate into contractual obligations and identify and manage the associated legal and commercial risks.
Whether you are entering into a new supplier agreement, negotiating customer terms, responding to procurement requirements or considering the implications of environmental commitments, we can help ensure that the obligations you accept are clear, proportionate and achievable.
Contact Lamb Brooks on 01256 844 888 or email enquiries@lambbrooks.com to speak to our Commercial team.
