Sustainability Spotlight: Whatley Manor

Leading the sustainable operations is passionate hotelier and General Manager Sue Williams who drives her team to champion change and focus on constantly evolving the business to promote best practice environmental and social sustainability, working towards an ambitious goal Scope 1 & 2 Net Zero by 2028.

The hotel has a dedicated Green Team – made up of employees across the hotel who come together to share ideas and examples of where certain operations can be ‘greener’. Energy, waste and water indicators are closely monitored by sustainability officer, Kate Church, and the Green Team is then updated at their quarterly meetings.

In a short space of time, since Sue joined the team in 2016 Whatley Manor has transformed the way it operates. The business focuses on its long-term goals to advance sustainability and support regenerative tourism, demonstrating that hotels can still provide a luxury experience without excessive consumption. Some of the remarkable key goals that they have achieved include removing single use plastics from guest rooms, educating the team to reduce, reuse and recycle, and rethinking waste management, utilities and supplier relationships. These efforts have already been recognised, Whatley has been awarded Bronze accreditation by Earth Check and received industry sustainability awards from the Cateys, Condè Nast Johansens, and Good Spa Awards, and in 2021, Whatley was amongst the first 23 UK properties to be awarded a Green Michelin Star recognising sustainable gastronomy.

And Whatley Manor is not stopping there. To achieve Net Zero emissions for energy use by 2028, the hotel is working with its team, suppliers and guests to improve procedures and fully integrate environmental best practices into the day-to-day operations. Among the practices introduced to de-carbonise the operations include:
 

• Conducting a full supply chain review and sourcing responsibly
• Helping educate and build awareness amongst the team, suppliers and guests
• Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and embrace the circular economy model
• Being energy efficient
• Measuring and being transparent
• Engaging and sharing knowledge with the local and industry community