Bidvest Noonan Ireland

Ireland's leading provider of facilities services and solutions

Social Value

A Year of Green Achievements: An Update from Environmental Manager Keerthana Sreenivasan

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As 2023 draws to a close, we at Bidvest Noonan take pride in reflecting on our environmental accomplishments. One of our colleagues guiding our success in sustainability is our Environmental Manager, Keerthana Sreenivasan. This year, we’ve made significant strides in reducing our environmental footprint, aligning our operations with eco-friendly principles and more. Keerthana shares some updates below:


Embracing Green Energy:


“Our journey towards sustainability took a great leap forward as we transitioned our offices to green energy. They are now powered by renewable sources, mainly wind farms. Shifting to green energy is not just a utility change for us; it truly shows our commitment to being more sustainable, and going forward we can exactly pinpoint the where our green energy comes from.”


Excellence in Sustainability Reporting:


“Our efforts in transparent and responsible environmental reporting have been recognised with awards from Ecovadis and CDP. These accolades reflect our commitment to sustainable practices, especially in managing our supply chain for a greener planet. I was very proud of these achievements.”


Innovative Waste Management:


“Innovating in waste management, we’ve not only found ways to turn waste into energy but also embraced processes that significantly cut down our landfill use. I am quite excited about exploring creative recycling initiatives, like transforming old uniforms into new ones, marking a step forward in our circular economy efforts.”


Smart Water Management:


“We focussed a lot on water conservation and integrated Smart Flow technology, enabling us to monitor water usage and carbon emissions in real time. This, along with the implementation of yet another Comac InAqua machine at a customer site, has helped us manage our resources even better and supported our customers with their sustainability goals.”


Sustainable Procurement:


“Our procurement team has been pivotal in implementing a product classification system – green, amber, and red – to gauge environmental impact. This approach ensures that our operations stay environmentally conscious, striking a balance between ecological responsibility and maintaining quality and efficiency.”


Looking Ahead:


“As we look to the future, I am quite excited for what’s ahead. We are committed to science based targets and that has to be announced first by the business. Also we are actively setting new standards, pushing boundaries in innovation and continuous improvement. Our focus is clear: to lead in environmental stewardship and shape a sustainable future. 2024 is shaping up to be a year of further progress”.

Read our Employability Report

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Employment brings positive change for individuals, society, and businesses. It helps people grow personally, boosts their well-being, and strengthens communities. Employment also supports economic stability and drives progress in society. When individuals succeed, businesses grow too, fueled by a dedicated and skilled workforce. In essence, employment is a tide that raises all boats.

However, many people face significant barriers to finding work. Individuals with disabilities often encounter societal barriers, lack of support, and accessibility issues. Language barriers can hold back those from non-English-speaking backgrounds, limiting their opportunities. Refugees struggle to integrate into new societies and find work. Additionally, people affected by homelessness and deprivation often find it hard to gain stable employment due to a lack of resources and support.

At Bidvest Noonan, we believe that helping people improve their employability is one of the best ways to drive positive social change. We work very hard to make a difference in this area and are proud to have helped many thousands of people gain the benefits of employment.

To address these challenges, we provide support for individuals with disabilities through our partnerships with organisations like Rehab Enterprise. We have helped colleagues from diverse backgrounds improve their language skills, enhancing their career prospects. Collaborations with programmes such as EPIC and Employment4All offer essential job training and opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

We run programmes to support further education and boost our own people’s skills. Continuous learning and development benefit our people and helps us to deliver exceptional service to our clients.

At Bidvest Noonan, we are committed to creating opportunities and making a positive impact. To learn more about our initiatives and the difference we are making, we invite you to read our Employability Report. In this report, you’ll find information about our work in the following areas:

  • Employability Enablement, our initiatives to support refugees, individuals with disabilities, and people with other challenges.
  • Community Support, our work in areas such as the circular economy, veteran support, and the promotion of the Living Wage.
  • Investing in Our People, highlighting our dedication to employee growth, language support, and well-being.
  • Championing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, our strategies and initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion.

Bidvest-Noonan-Employability-Report-1Download

Bidvest Noonan achieves global sustainability accreditation

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Bidvest Noonan is pleased to announce we have been accredited by CDP for the actions we have taken in engaging with our suppliers on climate change.

CDP is a global environmental disclosure system that measures and manages how businesses engage with their suppliers, recognising best practices to reduce supply chain emissions. Our business has been awarded an A grade in Supplier Engagement, an A- in Scope 3 Emissions, and an overall grade of B, surpassing the global average rating of C.

This recognition is the result of the significant work done by our environmental and procurement teams to promote a greener future. Our recent commitment to reducing plastic waste across our business has led us to decrease our single-use plastic consumption by 95%. We have also moved to reduce the size of our packaging when ordering.

Commenting on our achievement, Bidvest Noonan Environmental Manager, Keerthana Sreenivasan, said:

“We are delighted to have been accredited by CDP, achieving ‘Management’ level status. This achievement highlights the coordinated action we are taking with our supply chain to deliver a greener world.

Our procurement teams and I have held regular meetings with our suppliers to ensure that the products we use and the way we source them are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

I am thrilled at the progress we have made, and receiving this accreditation is a testament to our work to date, but we are not stopping here. We look forward to continuing our engagement with our suppliers and enhancing our overall climate change actions.”

Making a positive impact on the way we think about employability

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This is Darren Mitchell, Gerry Draper, and Brian Hearne, three people who are making a positive impact on the way we think about employability.

Darren is our Head of Infrastructure and Networks here at Bidvest Noonan. On a recent visit to Rehab Recycle, our IT WEEE recycling partner, Darren saw an opportunity to support Rehab Enterprises – an organisation that strives to provide employment for disabled or disadvantaged people in Ireland.

Darren wanted to support Rehab’s objective of enabling people to access the job market through training, coaching, and work experience. Darren offered some work experience at Bidvest Noonan’s IT team for a member of their programme.

This is where Gerry comes in. Gerry is an Account Manager at Rehab, and was instrumental in finding the right person looking for some experience in IT. He worked closely with Darren to find the right match, and they selected Brian Hearne.

Brian was the first person to take part in this initiative here at Bidvest Noonan and what a difference he has made! Under Darren’s mentorship, Brian got an opportunity to gain new skills and experience in his favourite topic – IT. Throughout his time at Bidvest Noonan, Brian made some positive contributions to important projects underway by the team.

Darren commented:

“I am delighted to have had the opportunity to mentor and guide Brian. He provided well needed support for the IT team and his enthusiasm and dedication to the role was exceptional. I have no doubt he has the skills and knowhow to make a difference for any employer. I look forward to meeting him again.”

As part of the initiative, Darren worked on and identified IT training programmes that will further Brian’s skills for the future.

Bidvest Noonan Scoops Inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Award

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Bidvest Noonan team receiving Diversity award on stage

Bidvest Noonan, a market-leading provider of facilities services that employs over 27,000 people across the UK and Ireland, has been named the inaugural winner of the Diversity & Inclusion in Security award at the 2022 ISIA Awards. The award was introduced this year by the Irish Security Industry Association to recognise companies in the private security industry that excel in creating an inclusive culture that encourages diversity in the workplace.

The win comes at a time when the value and importance of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace is in sharp focus across many sectors. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion programmes seek to ensure that people are treated equally, valued and made to feel welcome regardless of their gender, ethnicity, faith, age, sexual orientation, or other differences.

In recent years, Bidvest Noonan has announced a number of investments and initiatives to improve its performance in the area of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. In 2021, the business launched an ED&I Council with the aim of developing a more diverse workforce and a more inclusive workplace. Since its inception the council has overseen a number of new initiatives including campaigns to encourage more women to join the security industry. This year, the company was recognised by Investors in Diversity and Diversity Mark for its work to embed Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) across the organisation. 

Commenting on the win, ED&I Chairperson for Ireland, Marina Goncalves said: “I’m delighted that our work in the area of ED&I was recognised at this year’s ISIA Awards. We believe supporting equality, diversity and inclusion is a moral imperative, and we know that respecting and valuing our differences makes us a stronger and more innovative business.

We want all our people to feel welcomed, valued and able to achieve their potential at Bidvest Noonan.”

Environmental, Social and Governance Director John King added:

“We are very proud of the impact our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion programmes are having, and we continuously search for new ways to make a difference. For example, we recently began collaborating with organisations across the UK and Ireland, such as Business in the Community, to help marginalised and disadvantaged groups gain employment and access opportunities for education. This approach is bringing new talent into our business and providing people with the opportunity to have a successful and rewarding career.”

Changing the way we think about plastic

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Plastic pollution has become one of the most important environmental concerns in recent years with production increasing at such a rate that it is becoming impossible to cope.

Single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year and can persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

That is why we have decided to remove single-use plastics from our business. Reducing our use of premixed, ready-to-use cleaning chemicals is a key initiative to achieve this.

We estimate this change will enable us to remove 95% of our plastic chemical containers and remove c80,000 single-use plastic bottles per year. The following video explains why we are taking this important step: