The Victoria Inn is a sustainability champion because they have shown commitment to running a sustainable business. They have shown that they are actively involved in energy reduction, waste reduction, sustainable procurement, as well as pushing for customer and team engagement to being sustainable.

Mark Holden has been a long time BII Ambassador, operating three pubs in Cornwall. He is an expert in his field, setting the bar incredibly high within his pubs surrounding sustainability, but also team development. Mark is passionate about good practice within the industry and believes the small steps add up to the big wins.

After the pandemic, Mark re-evaluated his business around how he can become more efficient, reach out into different networks and use new technology to better business operation. Since then, he has installed 46 solar panels with solar edge monitoring, providing EV charging units for customers, replaced all lighting with LED bulbs, increased cellar technology with cooling out-pipes, CQDS system as well as increased cellar insulation.

All this merely scratches the surface  of Mark’s eco-friendly journey. Food, water and energy waste management techniques have been implemented, along with energy usage week by week comparison reports for his team members. Becoming sustainable isn’t a one-man job, and Mark has made sure to include his team and customers where possible. Whether that be with team meetings, or encouraging customers to use eco-napkins, bamboo straws or providing a variety of vegan menu options.

The success of Mark’s sustainability journey has seen him invited  to No. 10 for the Net Zero Campaign, along with listing him in the first ever green pub guide. He is all about creating business models for breweries and landlords to replicate to help make becoming green an easy transition.

Mark shares that “we are driven to operate a more sustainable and eco-friendly operation, not just for ourselves but for the generations behind us.”