Making pub retailing greener: A univerity / private sector partnership to build and share research informed action

The challenge of combating climate change requires absolute and significant reductions in CO2 emissions. A low carbon economy needs all businesses to improve their use of energy and to reduce waste. Everyone working in the hospitality industry has an impact on energy usage and waste. This Knowledge Exchange project will help to ensure that research based knowledge does more to support improved use of energy and reduced waste in the pub sector. It will do this by bringing together the complementary expertise of a private company - Robinsons Brewery - and the research team at the Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.

UK Pubs produce an estimated 873,800 tonnes of waste each year of which 173,000 tonnes is food waste. This waste costs the sector £357 million per annum. Energy used in catering accounts for between 4 and 6 per cent of operating profits. There is evidence that most hospitality businesses in the UK could reduce their energy consumption by 10-40 per cent. Reducing environmental impact may incur costs but also present opportunities for cost saving as well enhancing reputation in terms of environmental credentials. The project will update and develop our research with SMEs about environmental innovation and make it more specifically applicable to public houses. Mindful of the nature of pub tenancies, we will do this through the lens of a body of research in which Baines conceptualised the 'familial economic unit' of the micro-business as mediating economic action and beliefs.
The 10 month project is designed around four sequential but interdependent phases, followed by intensive engagement and impact generation, The phases are:
1. Inception, awareness raising, refinement of the project plan and impact generating strategy, and establishing an expert Impact Advisory Group
2. A focussed evidence review and the adaptation of a diagnostic tool - previously developed and used by the Centre for Enterprise in its work with small businesses - to provide an environmental dimension to the diagnosis
3. An on line consultative survey of Robinsons tenants (target 325) to ascertain levels of 'environmental literacy' and one-to- one consultation with purposively selected tenants receptive to the project objectives and willing to experiment and take on an active 'trail-blazer/ champion' role.
4. Developing a Community of Practice (CoP) for the exchange of learning and to foster a supportive network of practitioners. We will support the CoP through facilitated meetings in the form of 'lean green knowledge cafes' and social media.
5. This phase involves a range of activity to ensure maximum impact form the project. Details will be planned at the outset and refined as the project unfolds with significant input from the Impact Advisory Group. We will include a final roadshow for Robinson's staff and tenants, and a national launch event targeted to selected groups with the interest and capacity to implement change.

The project will create
A dedicated web-site containing a compendium of information and materials in attractive formats including an animated film
A set of accessible learning resources and diagnostics grounded in industry specific experience to support pub tenants and their staff with reduced waste, decreased consumption of energy, and cost saving.
A high profile launch event to showcase achievements and lessons learned. This will be carefully targeted to groups and individuals with the interest and capacity to make a difference.
An ongoing Community of Practice with a common interest in environmental responsibility in the pub sector: We believe this will be a particularly valuable legacy of the project as participants in its activities will become aware of the power of peer-to-peer learning and the very significant business benefits that it generates.

The ideas that underpin this proposal, and our approach to knowledge exchange and impact, are informed by our long-standing engagement with businesses concerned with both commercial success and environmental sustainability. The specific focus and activites proposed have been developed over a series of meetings between the university-based applicatants and the private sector partner Robinsons Brewery.

Who will benefit
Primary non-academic beneficiaries of the project will be Robinsons Ltd, their public house tenants (who are small businesses in their own right) and their staff, families and customers. William Robinson will draw upon his networks in the industry to ensure learning from the knowledge exchange is widely shared. As part of the first stage of the project in month 1, the partners will together develop an Impact Action Plan to share ideas with stakeholders (defined as individuals and groups with an interest in, or affected by the project) within the industry regionally and nationally, as well as policy makers and policy advisors cencerned with carbon reduction more generally. This plan will identify the best routes to communicate new ideas. Based on the knowldge and networks of team memebers in the university and Robinsons, we have produced a preliminary, indicative list of groups most likely most to benefit. These include:
The British Institute of Inn-keeping
The Council for Hospitality Management Education
Pub is the Hub (PiTH)
The BBPA Property Panel
The All Party Parliamentary Beer Group
The Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
ENWORKS
If the project is funded this list will be extended and refined with the support of an Impact Advisory Group chaired by Centre for Enterprise Deputy Director Dr Clare Scofield. This will ensure that the project reaches groups and individuals with the greatest capacity and interest to make a difference. In the longer term there is potential to benefit all communities and businesses affected by the activities of Public Houses.

How will they benefit?
The most direct, short term benefits will be within the commercial private sector. Pub tenanats will become more competitive through saving energy and cutting waste in ways that can be made to work in the contexts of their business and household constraints. They will be faciltated to support and encourage eachother. The project will also help build the capacity of Robinsons to be at the forefront of sustainable trading. By making a contribution to carbon reduction, it will ultimately benefit residents and communities across the region and the country. It will also help local and national government to meet carbon reduction targets.

Capacity building and skills
Collaboration between Robinsons and two university departments (the business school and the department of Food and Tourism Managment) will be key to the project's success in ensuring that outputs are as practice-relevant as possible. Two-way placements (business to university and university to business) will build the capacity of the business partner to access and utilise research evidence, and the capacity of the university-based team to bring diverse forms of knowledge to bear on the research process. This in turn will enable them to advance academic practice and theory with regard to knowledge exchange and impact.