Pioneering, eco-friendly Scottish entrepreneurs achieve prestigious global recognition - with one in running for The Earthshot Prize

Entrepreneurs north of the Border secure major global accolades for eco-friendly innovation.

Pupils from Earlston High School, and Perth and Dollar academies, taking part in Powering Futures training. Picture: Jamie Simpson.

Two pioneering Scottish businesses have secured prestigious recognition of their efforts in fostering sustainability.

Falkirk-based social enterprise Powering Futures has been nominated for The Earthshot Prize, a £1 million global environmental award founded by Prince William, Prince of Wales with the sum bestowed on five winners each year for their contributions towards environmentalism

The Scottish start-up, which says it aims to by 2030 unite a million young people and the industries that will employ them, is one of only 1,000 accepted nominations globally, was put forward by Zero Waste Scotland, and is now in the running for a shortlist of 150 potential winners. The venture says it brings Scottish businesses into Scottish education, making sure that school-leavers have a grounding in the skills that they will need to enter, excel in, and change the world of work.

Staff at Powering Futures. Picture: Phil Sanderson.

Its co-founders David Reid and Jen Tempany said: “This is a massive vote of confidence in our ground-breaking sustainability education programme. We are incredibly excited to be on this journey, and our fingers are crossed that we can go all the way to a date with the Prince and Princess of Wales and a game-changing million-pound boost.”

Separately, a Troon-headquartered supply-chain firm that has taken part in Sir Tom Hunter’s Scale Up Scotland 2.0 programme has been honoured for its innovative offering helping customers lower their carbon emissions.

CCL Logistics & Technology says it is the first UK logistics services group to be accredited by the Smart Freight Centre, an international non-profit organisation focused on reducing the environmental impact of global freight transport.

The Scottish scale-up has been selected for its work helping customers measure, manage, and minimise “Scope 3” carbon emissions (all indirect emissions that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, and usually the lion’s share of its carbon footprint) via its Greener Routes innovation.

From left: Callum Bastock and John Murray of CCL Logistics & Technology. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

CCL’s transport management system myCCL calculates such emissions, with its technology platform having been developed at the company’s Innovation Centre in Bellshill.

Callum Bastock, chief executive and founder of CCL, said: “Historically, emissions data has been extremely difficult to calculate due to the variety of modes of transport, distance travelled, and consignment weights. However, now that myCCL automatically calculates the Scope 3 emissions for our customers, it’s much easier for them to understand the environmental impact each shipment has on their overall footprint.

“We support customers to reduce costs and grow, and sustainability is now absolutely front and centre of our offering. Companies realise how crucial it is to tackle Scope 3 emissions to meet climate change targets, and we will continue to invest in Greener Routes and our overall sustainability credentials.”

The firm has also inked a bolt-on, UK-based acquisition (after outlining appetite for deals) that brings industry talent and further sea freight expertise into the business. CCL – one of the first cohort of companies invited onto the Scale Up Scotland 2.0 programme in 2022 – in May of this year hired John Murray as its first head of sustainability, and the following month it announced that it had increased revenue by more than a fifth in 2022 to £35.6m. It also at the time said it had a £45m total in its sights with a longer-term goal of £100m.