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The Royal Armouries and New Dock Hall have been Leeds’ premier Conference, Exhibition & Events venue for over 20 years. Great location, exceptional public transport links and on-site parking are tiny pieces of this overall story. Its ongoing pursuit of excellence in sustainable practices from loving local food suppliers to great strides in waste reduction – the Royal Armouries Conference & Events team are working diligently towards reducing its carbon footprint end-end throughout its business operation.
ESG practices throughout
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) has been central to Royal Armouries Conference & Events operations for a number of years both locally and globally. The team recognise that protecting the environment is essential for the future and has adopted an event checklist that increases awareness of sustainability amongst the team, providers, customers and local community.
Royal Armouries Conference & Events team is proud of its efforts in this space which have been recognised with Silver accreditations from Green Tourism and Greengage Solutions and its works closely with these organisations to make sure that it continues the journey to improve its carbon footprint on the planet. The team also encourages clients, customers and suppliers to follow its efforts and endeavours.
Nose to Tail, Farm to Fork – it’s all in the delicious detail
There’s no better place to see these principles in practice than in the kitchens. The Royal Armouries catering team has been extolling the virtues of nose-to-tail, farm-to-fork, local and seasonal produce for quite some time. The Group is always looking ahead at food trends and themes and embedding and encouraging sustainable practices.
Its kitchen team, led by award-winning Executive Chef, John Brodie (Brit Awards 2017, West Minster Abbey, Royal Windsor Horse Show) are constantly on the lookout for sustainable food options without impacting on flavour, taste or quality. To say the kitchen team take it seriously is something of an understatement and John’s views and expertise are called upon across the group for his legendary food pairings and award-winning, wholesome menus.
Food for Thoughts
John has been instrumental in the design, development and delivery of Mindful Menus. Working with registered nutritionist Luxey Dayanandan, they’ve developed a nutrient-dense menu with a low Glycaemic index that stimulates the brain and reduces that post-lunch slump. Delicious, tasty and nutritious, delegates bounce into afternoon sessions, thanks to their ‘brain-food’ menus, created with the planet front-of-mind.
Good food relies on great, fresh ingredients and they form the basis of all our delicious meals. John and his team, work tirelessly to create delicious, seasonal, locally sourced dishes from ramen bowls and exquisite finger buffets to 3-course dinners to grace the glitziest of award ceremonies.
Waste not Want not
It’s not just on the plate where the sustainability principles are in action though. The team has taken positive action to remove waste, cost and surplus from its whole process. Wherever possible, the kitchen employs energy efficient catering equipment. It reduces food waste by only purchasing what’s needed, and sources seasonal and local produce wherever and whenever possible.
It’s really important to the Royal Armouries team that they pay attention to food miles, not only does that mean that they’re working with local suppliers which is great for the local economy, but it also means it has complete visibility of the origin and route to market of the produce used in the kitchens.
Seafood only comes from certified sustainable sources. All of the coffee and tea are Fairtrade and it uses One Water mineral water, where all of the profits go into funding better access to clean water in Africa.
They’ve also worked hard to reduce waste across the operation and eliminate single-use plastic -including straws, cups and bottles - and reusable and recyclable aluminium cans have replaced plastic bottles. In fact, it reuses and recycles wherever possible and actively encourages the team and its customers to do the same.
The clean team use only biodegradable cleaning products which are kinder for the planet and all tissues and paper towels in the rest rooms are made from recycled paper, where you’ll also find smart taps to reduce water consumption. Gone is excess packaging so milk is served in jugs and containers, removing thousands of single-use plastic containers from the operation.
A recent £1.25m refurbishment which saw the introduction of many sustainable, natural materials, textures and a warm neutral palette, also saw the introduction of environmentally friendly fittings, furnishings and installations. This also included the introduction of LED and motion-sensitive lighting across all buildings. To stay on track, it monitors its water and energy use and is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to continue to improve.
Greener Alternatives to Gettings There
Royal Armouries Conference & Events encourages green travel and the team has access to free and secure cycle racks. Leeds has great transport links so it’s convenient for customers to make good use of public transport as both venues are a mere ten-minute walk from the train station and bus networks, the little yellow river taxi is even closer!
It’s the start of the ESG journey, not the destination but it remains an integral part of the business going forward and they will be working with their customers to help them on their own ESG journey too.
To chat to a member of the team about carbon-friendly conference & events contact: venuehire@armouries.org.uk
Call: 0113 220 1990
