Hi, my name is Victoria and I am Venue Sales and Events Planner for BMA House.
We are an award-winning events venue in Bloomsbury (near Euston and Kings Cross) and we put sustainability at the heart of everything we do.
I have been at BMA House for just over two years, and since joining I have had an active role in all things ‘green’. I have previously worked at other London venues and events agencies, and I studied Events Management at University.
Sustainability is something I feel passionate about and I work closely with our CSER team at the BMA to ensure that everything we are doing in the venue is as ‘green’ as it can possibly be, and its my job to encourage and inform other teams and staff members to do their bit of the planet.
We have won a number of prestigious awards such as ‘Greenest Venue’, ‘Most Sustainable Venue’ and ‘Gold’ Green Tourism Award. We have an entirely plant-based menu and packages, energy-saving and recycling systems in place, we have reduced our delegate carbon footprint by 70% and achieved zero landfill status.
I am constantly searching for new ways to improve the venue and reduce our environmental impact further. AMA.
I’ll be here to answer your questions live on 2020-09-08T15:00:00Z → 2020-09-08T16:00:00Z.
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Hi Victoria,
Tell us about the difference working at BMA House, compared to the other venues that you have worked at, in terms of the approach to being sustainable
Hey Legacy Team! It’s my pleasure - thank you for having me on today!
One of the things that drew me to BMA House in the first place was their sustainability ethos. As soon as I joined BMA House I looked into ways I could work on the venue’s sustainable initiatives and the first thing I did was become a ‘Green Ambassador’. This means I act as a representative for the venue in the wider BMA, and attend meetings alongside other ‘Green Ambassadors’ and the BMA’s CSER Team. These meetings mean we can all share knowledge and ideas, and collectively come up with new initiatives to improve the overall organisation and building, along with the venue.
Since then I have been proactive in other areas, such as hosting sustainable events at the venue (e.g. Global Good Awards) and worked on a completely plant-based menu and DDR package!
Some of the things we do that make us a sustainable venue include:
- Working with our supplier chain including CH&CO to ensure their practices are in line with our sustainability values
- We have waste and recycling facilities all around the venue to ensure staff and guests to do their bit. Any waste (food and recycling) is taken away by PaperRound and made into bio fuel and other products such as water bottles and notepads!
- Plastic usage has been reduced drastically where possible e.g. plastic bottles replaced with glass, reusable cups have replaced disposable, no plastic take away containers etc
- Zero waste to landfill status
- Sustainable champion from the venues team (me) to inform and train staff on initiatives and practices
- Prestigious Gold Green Tourism Award
- LED lighting throughout the building on sensors to reduce unnecessary usage
- Temperature controlled centrally in the building and set to eco 19 degrees as standard
- Water reduced toilet flushes
- Working with different industry associations e.g local Council and MIA to share knowledge
- Carbon balancing
- Clean air walking route to the venue from Kings Cross Station
- Plant based menus and packages
- Sustainable quarterly events - collaborating and sharing knowledge on how to be more sustainable
- Smart Flipcharts (no paper)
- Eco audit
Hope that helps! Any more questions or info let me know and I will happily provide
All our produce is sourced locally and our menus are changed seasonally ensuring the carbon footprint is kept as low as possible, so just by choosing BMA House the catering options are considered!
I have also created a whole plant-based menu, along with a plant-based DDR package called the ‘Well-Grounded Package’ which includes some exciting and unique catering options made with no dairy or meat! We have priced this slightly lower than our usual DDR (£75.00 plus vat per person) and we have had nothing but positive feedback from clients who have enjoyed the food and found it to be a great talking point with their guests!
If you do not think you are ready to go fully plant-based, then consider more vegetarian options in your catering, and if you decide you need meat on your menu then opt for chicken or fish as research has shown these have a lower environmental impact than other meats such as beef and pork.
Thanks for your question, with all of our suppliers we would ask if possible for them to limit the packaging being brought into the building and that they make a conscious effort in their own practices to have a minimal impact on the environment. Examples of this would be sourcing locally and seasonally, using sustainable and recyclable packaging and minimising floral wastage!
We are currently reviewing our suppliers list so if your practices are sustainable feel free to send us some more info about what you can offer! I see you have followed us on instagram, or you can email us on events@bma.org.uk
In terms of future projects for BMA House, obviously COVID has had a impact on the work we can do in terms of planning for sustainability. At the moment we are looking at sustainable and COVID - friendly boxed lunch offerings and how we can try and make our hospitality offerings as green as possible given the current climate.
We have an initiative that we were working on pre-COVID where we collect crisp packets (not currently recycled) and they are taken to a dedicated facility and made into furniture! We are always working on our suppliers list and ensuring that they adhere to our sustainability values and constantly updating small practices throughout the building to improve where possible!
