07 Mar WWA Queen’s Award for Enterprise Official Presentation
To a full house of business leaders from Cornwall and across the UK, WWA’s Andy Snapes proudly accepted our coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of our work within the area of sustainable development. At a celebratory event held at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro, on Friday 3rd March, Andy was officially presented with a crackle-effect fishbowl-shaped vase and hand-written scroll by the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall in receipt of the prestigious award.
In his acceptance speech, Andy highlighted the grave challenges we all face in respect of climate change and focused in particular on the urgent need for change within the construction sector – which is currently responsible for approximately 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK.
A major coup for WWA and Cornwall, the event’s keynote speaker was the pre-eminent sustainable development champion and one of the founders of the global sustainability movement, John Elkington. John, whose organization was the first to achieve B Corp certification in the UK, captured the audience with an impassioned talk about the need to take responsibility now so that we can build resilience to actively transition to a future where choices around sustainability become the default position rather than an option.
After a short break for lunch, an invited panel joined John Elkington on stage for a lively discussion around a series of questions addressing how big CO2 reductions can be achieved, how we need to come together to drive change, the Triple Bottom line and moving to action to meet the challenges we face. Panel members were Pierre Wassenaar, Chair at Stride Treglown; Gaynor Coley, former Managing Director of the Eden Project and Chair of the Board at The Wave; Phil Mason, Strategic Director for Sustainable Growth and Development at Cornwall Council; Caroline Lassen, Global Head of Project, Programme and Construction Management at Mace Consult; and James Beckly, Managing Partner at WWA.
The panel discussion was chaired by Chris Hines MBE, Former Sustainability Director at the Eden Project and Co-founder of Surfers Against Sewage, who also hosted an audience Q&A.
Speaking after the event, Emma Osmundsen, Chief Executive of Sixty Bricks, said: “I have based my entire career in the public sector on the Triple Line Principles curated by John Elkington – it paved the way to me pioneering the passivhaus standard in the UK and to see him as your keynote speaker today shows just how embedded your sustainable values are to your business – for that I applaud you.”
Mayor of Truro, Steven Webb, also expressed his view of the positive feeling in the room. He said: “I think it’s actually really exciting to see a business that comes out of Cornwall with just so many ideas and opportunities and to win an award like this and to take it over the next five years and beyond. There’s so much work to be done but so much optimism that we can do it, and I think Ward Williams Associates are on the button, they’re ready to get the job done.”
