As part of our Sustainability Champion launch, we crowned all our Licensee of the Year Award finalists as inaugural champions of the award. Joe Buckley and Flo Pearce were our 2023 Licensee of the Year winners and one of the first six to become BII Sustainability Champions.
Joe and Flo own The Tollemache Arms, known locally as The Tolly, in Harrington, Northampton. Described as the perfect country pub, they have been going above and beyond to make sure their business is as sustainable as possible.
Since re-opening after the pandemic lockdowns and with the arrival of the cost-of-living crisis, the pair’s focus has changed dramatically to make key changes in their business. First steps: managing energy waste to help combat against rising energy bills – using LED bulbs, building further cellar insulation, reviewing their heating systems and putting timers on lights and bar fridges.
They didn’t stop there! By creating connections with local farmers and allotment growers, they source food locally while also providing growers with beer and food tokens in exchange for surplus vegetables.
Their pub garden is full of well thought-out green schemes: a community compost area where anyone can help themselves, a herb wall for menu items, bee and insect hotels dotted around the gardens, and the planting of apple and pear trees using grants from a Government funded charity.
Joe and Flo cover all bases across their business to be as sustainable as possible, and they make sure to educate their staff members to do the same, whether that be through lift shares or a cycle to work scheme, all of which are incentivised.
We are so proud to have our Licensee of the Year 2023 winner be so conscious about their environmental impact and how they can help not only their business but the local community too.
You can visit The Tollemache Arms website here