A Spotlight On Sustainability: Introducing Simon Drury

As part of B Corp month, we check in with Simon Drury, the SIS Pitches Sustainability manager. Simon’s role, often a rarity in the structure of a sports surface business, plays a key role in driving the sustainability efforts of SIS Pitches across manufacturing, innovation, people and procurement.

Simon Drury joined SIS Pitches in early 2024 after a diverse career in agriculture, leisure and heavy industry. His interest in the environment started at a young age, from being sent home from school at five for bringing in a snake, to volunteering in bird ringing at the age of 13.

With a HND and a degree in Land Management, Simon went on to work in conservation and land management before progressing to Head of Environment and Energy at Center Parcs.

Upon joining, Simon set out several key objectives:

• Maintain and improve our status as a B Corporation.
• Establish SIS Pitches as a leader in sustainable innovation and providing solutions to the environmental challenges the industry faces.
• To strengthen our position in the market as the go-to organisation for sustainable sports surface solutions.
• Develop internal roadmaps and external partnerships that drive our innovation teams to unlock key breakthroughs in sustainable products and services.

One of the initial challenges was reporting and consolidating data such as energy and fuel usage, carbon footprint, recycling and environmental impact across multiple locations of the business.

Due to rapid business growth, the primary focus is always on delivering high-quality surfaces and services. Simon’s role has enabled the company to take a more structured approach to data collection and analysis, improving reporting, track savings and identify areas for reducing the carbon footprint. This has allowed our team to continue delivering exceptional solutions for our customers, while Simon drives a sustainability strategy into all areas of the business.

A significant industry-wide challenge is that there are limited recycling options available for synthetic turf. A large part of Simon’s current work is in securing additional routes and expanded capacity to recycling, not just for SIS Pitches, but the industry as a whole. As well as this, developing alternative strategies to ensure responsible sourcing and supply chain management.

The past year has been spent identifying strengths and gaps, setting the foundation for continuous improvement in our sustainability practices.

A major step forward has been the establishment of our B Corp steering group, bringing together key colleagues from different business locations around the world to devise and implement our initiatives. There has been a clear increase in internal discussions around B Corp and sustainability, with more employees looking to learn more on the subject and to integrate sustainable practices into daily operations.

After conducting our first Pulse Survey under Simon’s lead, we plan to conduct them annually, and a more structured charitable giving strategy has led to better employee engagement and provided actionable insights. Leadership have encouraged open discussions, encouraging employees to ask questions and contribute ideas on company direction and sustainability improvements.

• Renewable Energy: Switching machinery to fully electric where possible and generating our own energy.
• Air Quality Monitoring: Testing systems for rollout across the business to ensure a safe working environment.
• Product Environmental Impact Assessment: Evaluating the sustainability of different surfaces to provide customers with more informed choices.
• Operational Efficiency Improvements: Over £600,000 invested in factory upgrades, including waste reduction initiatives, LED lighting, and energy-efficient machinery.
• Tree Planting: Last year, in partnership with fellow B Corp TreeApp, we planted 4,510 trees, taking our total up to 10,222. We will continue to plant over 500 trees per month.
• Community Engagement: Expansion of charitable giving initiatives, including employee volunteering opportunities, such as a recent career event presentation by Head of SIS Plus, Hayley Wilson.

Looking ahead, the focus is on embedding sustainability deeper into company culture, ensuring that all departments understand SIS Pitches’ B Corp commitments and how they relate to their work.

Simon aims to continue playing a role in key business decisions, ensuring sustainability is factored into procurement, equipment investment, and supply chain management. The long-term goal is to integrate sustainability so seamlessly into operations that it becomes self-sustaining and part of everyday business processes, allowing more time to be spent on implementation and innovation.