Woodland Grange achieves re-certification for world-leading ‘green’ standard

Woodland Grange has been re-certified to the world’s most stringent environmental standard - ISO 14001. The standard is designed to help businesses minimise how their operations and processes negatively affect the environment and the re-certification demonstrates that the conference centre is continually improving in the way it operates.

“We were originally awarded ISO 14001 in 2008,” says John Turpin, the Group Operations Manager for EEF Venues, “and we have two service visits a year to check that we are operating to the required standards. Every three years, a full assessment is undertaken and re-certification is only awarded if we can show that we are progressing our environmentally friendly processes and practices. I am delighted that we’ve achieved this.”

ISO 14001 is a framework that helps organisations develop and improve their own environmental management system (EMS) and therefore, meet their environmental goals and objectives. It can be applied to any type of business, but it is rare to find a conference centre that has achieved it.
“First and foremost, ISO 14001 helps us to reduce our environmental impact,” says John, “but our EMS also improves our efficiency and allows us to comply more easily with legislative requirements.”

The continual improvement process ensures that more and more areas of the business, and more activities and processes are covered and managed by the EMS.
While a conference centre certainly doesn’t pose the same risk to the environment as a large factory or production plant for example, any steps taken by a business to reduce the impact it makes on the planet is surely a good thing.

For further information about Woodland Grange visit www.cceonline.co.uk or call 0845 230 1414.