Spotlighting Smart Sustainability

How has The Headland approached becoming a more responsible & sustainable business?

Veryan: The Headland has always focused on sustainability before it even became, I guess, ‘the thing to do’. We were a Green Tourism Gold award holder for many years, both the cottages and the hotel, and we've always been very focused on how we can reduce our impact.

However, until recently, whilst we were measuring our data, we hadn't actually ever been reporting or publicising it. Others were very vocal about being eco luxe and many other things, while we were quietly getting on with the job in hand, not for PR, but because we think it’s the right thing to do.

So, when we were looking to recruit a Sustainability Lead, everyone that I was interviewing was quite surprised by all the data that we have on our waste, water and electricity consumption. For over seven years we've been doing the data collection and the natural next step was to bring in someone who's really going to champion sustainability through our business. To make sure that we are being truly tested and measured. That’s Beth!

Beth: I joined The Headland in October 2024 and I was immediately impressed with what they were already doing. I came from London and wasn't really sure what to expect from a hotel in Cornwall, but they were already doing a ridiculous amount. I was really impressed.

And since I started, I've done a lot of work tackling waste and paper usage, while continuing some of the core initiatives like implementing LED lighting, checking for water leaks every single day etc.

Ultimately, it's so important that we're sustainable. Obviously, climate change is a more and more pressing issue, but because we're on the coast and we're on a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), it's even more prevalent when we're bringing in this many guests that we do what we can to reduce our impact.

Veryan: We've had a triple bottom line strategy for over a decade. As a family board, we have always strongly believed, that if you look after the team and your local community, that the business will look after itself. And I guess, ‘location, location, location’ is practically a strap line for us, so we've been very aware of our impact on our local environment for a very, very long time.

So, this focus on sustainability is nothing new for us, but I think having a dedicated sustainability lead has really helped us focus on ‘flipping the stones’ on those areas where we can still improve.

Can you share an example of how you're working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)?

Beth: Well, SDG 11 talks a lot about community and community work, which is very much at the heart of The Headland and something that we all feel very passionate about.

Veryan: Yes, absolutely. As a family, we've believed for a long time that a business the size of The Headland, considering the number of people that it employs, should be a business for good in our local community.

We have a fantastic opportunity to help support people to realise their potential, to grow, to be educated, to progress further than they might otherwise. We do a lot of work with local schools. I think I'm speaking in 27 different occasions between now and the end of the Easter term in schools across Cornwall, about hospitality careers and about how fab an apprenticeship in hospitality is!

A lot of the time, we're just trying to support local people into jobs that are sustainable, where they can develop and be trained, including those from areas of our community that have perhaps been ignored. Those with SEN (Special Educational Needs), older people, younger people, everyone. We have 243 team members here, aged between 14 and 86 and at the moment we’ve got a number of young people who have EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plan). We work very closely with various organisations, as well as local colleges, to provide supported internships and try to ensure that everyone who would like to gain work experience in hospitality has an opportunity to do so.

As a family, we strongly believe that it’s like a rising tide. We need to take everyone with us in our community, not just focus on ourselves. We're so integrated into our community and it’s really important we all work together.

To that end, I co-founded the Cornwall Hospitality Collective (CHC) last November. This is a coming together of hospitality businesses across Cornwall and food suppliers to raise the aspiration levels of Cornish young people and business owners, through training, development, awareness and networking. We've had some huge successes with that, in supporting each other. I think it's very difficult to be in business and not support each other, both now and in the future.

Does your beachfront location, on an SSSI, make sustainability even more important than for other 5-star hotels?

Beth: I think it's important for everybody, but yes I think it does make it more obvious and important for us. We're right by the sea. We need to be helping to educate our guests. We need to be thinking about the amount of plastic we're using and where our guests will be putting that plastic.

Veryan: We have a grade two listed building, which is, of course, a challenge. For example, we've got areas with single glazing, so we have extra thick curtains on those windows to try and stop the heat leaving. But, there’s elements which we just cannot change. However, we do everything we possibly can and still see significant results, such as reducing our electrical consumption by 11% year on year, even though we changed our main kitchen from being gas over to electric induction hubs. If we can do it, with an old building (125 years old this year!) then I’m sure others can too.

We’re getting better at sharing some of the things we're doing and hopefully that might help inspire someone else who perhaps starts to think, ‘we could do that too’. That’s the feedback I've had from various people; you do need to talk about it. Beth and I, we end up sending each other WhatsApp messages like ‘oh, have you seen this that someone else is doing’. It’s really important that we all share our wins, where it's worked, where we've had a positive impact. We’re not doing all this for PR. We need to share so that other people, who may also have a challenging building, can pick up some tips.

Beth: It’s about marginal gains. So, for example, we now recycle our old tea light and pillar candles. They get melted down into new candles. I posted about that on LinkedIn, and everyone was like, ‘oh my goodness, I can't believe you're doing this’. It's actually such a small thing and doesn't take an awful lot of effort, but that small step can have a massive impact.

Veryan: That's part of the reason for trying to set up the Hospitality Collective in Cornwall, was that hospitality businesses weren't really talking to each other. And if we can talk and we can share best practice, and we can connect our HR managers, connect our sustainability leads and all work together, all improve together to the greater benefit of our local environment.

Beth: Absolutely. Even speaking to the other POB Hotels and their respective sustainability managers and sustainability leads helps as well. Everyone shares what they're doing so that we can work together and everyone can improve.

How important do you think sustainability is to The Headland's guests (and 5-star hotel guests in general)?

Veryan: I think there’s a growing awareness that people don't want to leave a negative impact on the community and the environment that they are choosing to spend their precious pounds on. And I think there’s an expectation that we’re operating responsibly; our guests would be horrified if we weren't working in a more sustainable way.

The idea that luxury and sustainability are opposite ends of a spectrum is incorrect in my opinion. You can still come and have a stay in a luxury hotel and dine with us, but we don't have half a passion fruit floating around in the top of our Martinis, just because they look pretty. Our food is still luxurious, but it's pretty much all sourced in Cornwall and we have very low wastage.

Beth: I would say the idea of luxury, is changing. It used to be about the quantity of what you were receiving, and now it's much more about the quality. I don't think that takes anything away from the luxury.

Veryan: Exactly. The Cornish grown tomatoes in the summer are spectacular. And the fact that we get them from Newquay Orchard, about a mile away and that they’re grown by young people with SEN and disabilities, means that as a guest, you’re getting the best possible produce while also significantly supporting the local community around the hotel.

I think that could well be considered luxury to people - the fact that they’re spending their money and doing good with it as well.

Another great example is breakfast. Luxury used to be thought of as a groaning, hot hotel buffet where you could go along and eat as much as you’d like. Now that's pivoted an A La Carte breakfast that has been perfectly crafted and delivered to your table. You can still have what you want, but without significant food waste. This change in approach has reduced our waste significantly since we introduced it in 2021. Luxury is now more about individual crafting, not mass consumption.

Beth: And our guests do care. We survey them post-stay and ask them if they are interested in more sustainable methods of us operating and around 70% of our guests are interested in what else we can do to become a more responsible business.

Veryan: Of course, a lot of our guests are already very interested in ‘blue health’; walking, surfing, bringing their dog, getting back to nature etc. Many choose us because of the beautiful views, the environment and the experiences. If we aren't all working together as a community to reduce plastic pollution, to reduce our environmental impact, they won't get to experience it in such a beautiful way.

So, there’s absolutely expectancy that we’re operating responsibly, but a lot of our guests are also very invested in trying to support our initiatives.

How much does your team value sustainability and local community involvement?

Veryan: Well, we have senior managers who have joined us, purely because of what we do in our local community and their desire to be a part of that. They want to have a job where they could do good, which is quite interesting. I think 10 years ago, you wouldn't have had people openly stating that on their applications.

Beth: I think everyone has an idea about what sustainability is. Perhaps they’ve been taught certain things in school and college about climate change. What I think what we're doing quite well here is helping to teach people about how sustainability is relevant to them specifically as well as their local communities. Through making sustainability more relatable, it’s helping to make everyone become more passionate about it.

Veryan: Our latest team survey showed that 86% of our team strongly believe or believe that we as a team really value sustainability in everything we do. This percentage continues to grow which would suggest that people are really beginning to value it with us, and the part they must play in it.

It’s a team effort at the end of the day. It’s not one director and one sustainability lead and a couple of heads of departments. That's where Beth has been so brilliant, as our Sustainability Lead, in a dedicated role. In busy hospitality businesses, that dedicated role gives the bandwidth and the ability to be able to create a culture of sustainability. When it's a dual role, I think it can be very challenging.

Finally, with a 125-year heritage behind you, what's next on the horizon for The Headland regarding sustainability?

Veryan: Well I feel that one massive advantage we have as a family owned, independent business, is that we truly can look toward the next generation, not just the next 12 months. We don't have external stakeholders to satisfy. So it’s about determining what’s the right thing for our building, for our operation, for our team, for our local environment. A lot of the decisions we make around our sustainability strategy will be what is right for the long-term future, not just the quick wins. It's more what we are going to be doing in 25 to 30 years time, not just in the next 12 months.

Beth: Absolutely. I think it's incremental improvements but then maintaining those gains. Our next big focus will be our Earth Check, silver audit, hopefully in May. And we have our lobster initiative! That's the next thing that we're excited to communicate to our guests. They’ll be able to hang a door hanger to opt out of a service, and in return for the money we save, we will donate it to the National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow, who will release a baby lobster. That's in line with SDG 14, which is life underwater. So that's a really exciting one and something that's just really personal to Cornwall and where we are.

Veryan: We like to experiment but it always comes down to the data! Poor Beth, I'm like, what's the data? Give me a one pager! We've got some quite big things coming up this summer that we're hoping to implement. And those have been ideas that have come from the team that Beth has really helped to shape and strategise. We look forward to sharing these across our social media channels soon!

Discover more about 125 years of The Headland at www.headlandhotel.co.uk

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