Introduction
J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC (hereafter ‘J Smart’) is a leading property developer and construction company in Scotland’s Central Belt with a blended portfolio of industrial properties and office spaces. Their construction activities range from building J Smart’s property portfolio to residential properties for sale and for housing association partners. Although J Smart is a UK-listed company, it is a family-run business with an ambitious team that realises the importance and value of transitioning to improving their Net Zero and sustainable business practices.
Beginnings
Building on Beyond Green’s extensive experience of working with the Scottish Construction sector since 2008 through our work with Castle Group Scotland, GHI Contracts Ltd, George Leslie Ltd, and Zero Waste Scotland, the team was well positioned to support J Smart.
The Beyond Green team was introduced to J Smart by its long-term collaborative partner – Anderson Strathern LLP – in the autumn of 2022. We have been working with Anderson Strathern, pre-pandemic, on their Net Zero strategy, and so it was natural for them to introduce us to the team at J Smart.
From the initial meetings with Jane and Lynsey (Head of Commercial Development and Head of Human Resources respectively), the importance which J Smart and Beyond Green place on building open and long-term relationships was clear; and as 2022 came to a close, we set the foundations for our work in 2023.
Now
The focus of our work together for 2023 was to develop J Smart’s first Sustainability Strategy and to prepare J Smart for listing requirements for Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). No small feat for a small team. We often think of a listed company, a PLC, as a large multinational, such as Galliford Try or Balfour Beaty, and overlook that some listed companies can be, in effect, an SME with limited capacity and resources for transformational projects. So where did we start?
It was clear from Paul’s conversation with Jane and Lynsey that we needed to bring people together to understand what sustainability is, introduce possible frameworks to think about it, and show everyone that they can make a positive impact for a better world. Before we got bogged down in the world of TCFD!
Sustainability Workshop
2023 kicks off with a session at J Smart’s Links Place office complex on a beautiful sunny morning, just off Leith Links in Edinburgh. After an initial introduction of core concepts of sustainability, circular economy and Net Zero, we took a deep dive into the UN Sustainable Development Goals – we find this a useful framework to understand the breadth and depth of sustainability. Working in small groups, the 15 members of J Smart’s team, including the Joint Managing Directors and Chairman, explored the SDGs that are important to the business now and what will become important by 2030. The image below shows the final priority goals and supporting goals selected by the group.
Alternative description: The Priority Goals are 3 – Good Health and Well-being, 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, and 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production. The Supporting Goals are 4 – Quality Education, 5 – Gender Equality, 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and 17 – Partnerships for the Goals.
For these goals, the team then considered the actions they are already taking to contribute to the overall objective of each goal, and then the actions they could take in the next few years to strengthen their contribution. This workshop formed the basis of J Smart’s Sustainability Strategy which was then developed further by working through the requirements of TCFD.
TCFD Work Packages
The requirements for TCFD – Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures are founded on four pillars: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management and Metrics and Targets. Across these pillars are 11 recommendations that help an organisation focus on the financial impacts of climate change on their current and future business activities. To understand the implications of climate change upon a business required a thorough assessment of J Smart’s key stakeholders (People, Tenants/Home buyers, Partners), key partners in their supply chain, and key assets and materials which could be impacted by physical and transitional risks of climate change, as well as any opportunities it may present.
To break down this momentous task, Beyond Green devised 11 work packages within an overall project briefing document to help the 9-member project team at J Smart methodically assess the underlying impacts of climate change on business. The outcome of this will eventually inform both the sustainability strategy and the TCFD requirements. One of the overarching work packages was to develop J Smart’s first comprehensive GHG Emissions Statement. With many interrelated aspects to the work, it was necessary to develop a collaborative way of working both internally and with the Beyond Green team.
Collaborative Working – Miro Mindmap Merry-go-rounds
A project of this complexity with contributions from several team members at J Smart and Beyond Green requires effective technologies to help us all work together in person and virtually. The J Smart team were introduced to a number of new collaborative tools, such as online whiteboards – Miro – and Microsoft Teams. With expertise from Beyond Green’s Associate Director, Lisa, Beyond Green designed a guided whiteboard for each work package that allowed Paul (BG Founder and Director) to facilitate discussions, visualise discussion points and map out the big picture plans, in particular for the preparation of the TCFD requirements.
Although Miro boards were an effective tool when J Smart was guided by Beyond Green, it became challenging without expert facilitation. Quickly adapting to the requirements, the Miro export functionality enabled us to reconfigure the detail into an excel spreadsheet; and with added guidance the J Smart team was comfortable to progress independently. J Smart recognise the value of Miro, and wish to invest in more training to use the tool effectively for construction project planning. The use of Teams enabled our collective work to be shared and worked on simultaneously, which was particularly valuable for the data gathering, analysis and carbon accounting.
Digital Data Discipline
Carbon Accounting requires a lot of data! And often requires new data sources and data sets, or gathering data in a manner that supports dynamic analysis and interrogation. For example, energy data across the J Smart group was previously collected through several separate spreadsheets that required a lot of manual manipulation to calculate kWh and carbon emissions for a range of energy sources. We designed and built an energy database which streamlined data gathering, analysis and carbon calculations. A database with lots of controls, such as defined dropdown lists and lookup tables, using existing datasets, meaning that data discipline was embedded in the process.
With 2023 being J Smart’s first year of preparing a comprehensive carbon footprint for Scope 1, 2 and 3, and with the tight reporting timelines following the company’s accounting year end, we decided to prepare a 6-month carbon statement to test the methodology, identify data sources and understand the data cleansing needed. With a lot of data gathering work by the J Smart procurement team for materials and sub-contractors, by the property team for leased assets and by the HR team for travel, we could prepare for the year end.
Bringing it all together
After many months of hard work, the sustainability strategy document was taking shape and the richness and insights of the information gathered helped J Smart understand and analyse climate related risks and opportunities for the first-time. From this analysis, the board could identify seven strategic objectives to focus on over the next few years; objectives that also aim to reduce the emissions.
The extensive carbon inventory prepared and quantified over 6 months created a clear audit trail for Beyond Green and J Smart to prepare a transparent, comprehensive and reliable Greenhouse Gas Emissions statement for the TCFD report, along with clear explanations about the specific methodologies and their limitations. Although the GHG Corporate Accounting Protocol provides clear guidance and overall methodologies, the challenges arise at the coalface where detailed methodologies and assumptions will constantly develop to overcome the limitations discovered in the first few years.
Nevertheless, the achievement of J Smart and Beyond Green’s collaboration and hard work put us in a great position to build on in the future.
Future
Over the last year, the J Smart Sustainability Committee, led by the Chairman and heavily supported by the Head of Commercial Development and Head of Human Resources, have engaged the wider team to lead the key work packages to prepare their fully comprehensive report on TCFD requirements. The company’s dedication, hard work and ambition are impressive and with our guidance, they work pragmatically to overcome the challenges. As a team, we have grown a lot, developed new knowledge and skills and embraced new ways of working collaboratively. All this has strengthened the foundations and added key building blocks for us to progress in 2024.
J Smart with the support of Beyond Green are now planning the 2024 TCFD (which will be incorporated under the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS) going forward) and GHG Emissions reporting progress; identifying how to streamline data collection and analysis; looking at opportunities to utilise software and technologies to drive forward digital transformation; and evaluating how we can further develop team collaboration, and the skills required. In addition, 2024 will see J Smart develop its first Net Zero Roadmap to evidence how it will achieve Science Based Targets for 2030.
Within 12 months, the team has significantly shifted its focus towards sustainability, which has overwhelming support from the wider organisation, and engaged with its key stakeholders in developing J Smart’s sustainability strategy; David, Jane and Lynsey are now ready to lead the team on the next stage of the journey.
Testimonial
It was obvious from our initial meeting with Paul Adderley at Beyond Green that they would be fantastic partners for our Sustainability journey. We were filled with confidence due to their knowledge, extensive experience and proven track record. Full of optimism and enthusiasm, Paul and his team accepted the challenges presented to them and provided invaluable, pragmatic and sensible advice at every step of the process. From an almost standing start with tight timescales, and with great participation from our Home Team, we have produced a sustainability strategy which will form the basis of our commitment to reducing our emissions and enhancing our sustainable working practices. Paul also provided very helpful technical guidance for our TCFD reporting commitments, working very closely with our team to advise and guide. We look forward to building a long term partnership with Paul and his team at Beyond Green.”
David Smart, Chairman and Joint Managing Director, J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC
Looking for more real business examples of our work? You can find our other case studies here.