On the same day Tesco announces monster profits, they have played down any threat that may be caused as a result of the flight ban across Northern Europe because of their early adoption of green strategies. Tesco pride itself on having only one percent of their UK goods arrive by air, owing to an internal policy set up in 2008. In an exclusive interview with MeetTheBossTV, Tesco’s Global Technology and Architecture Director, Mike Yorwerth, reveals the secrets behind supermarket success in 2010.
“It all started with Sir Terry Leahy,” Yorwerth explains. “He sat down with 500 people and said, ‘I want to talk to you about climate change,’ and we all went, ‘Okay’.” What followed was the restructuring of Tesco’s green IT strategies, which has in turn led to soaring profits of GBP£3.4 billion and countless incarnations of Tesco – from Metro stores, to Express stores, to the Fresh and Easy brand – popping up across the world’s high streets. However, such growth has not led to a greater carbon footprint from the retailer, as Tesco has gone to huge lengths to reduce its emissions by 50 percent (on target by 2020).
"Tesco will be carbon neutral by 2050,” Mike confidently told MeetTheBossTV. But does it take yearly profits of GBP£3.4billion to achieve carbon neutrality, or can smaller businesses follow the example of the UK’s favourite supermarket?
“Going green is more about the attitude, and that’s where we [Tesco] started.” Mike offers. “For example, before this our Information Technology backbone was terribly inefficient; primarily because the IT department had no real understanding of its energy use, so if you start by talking about that, and people get their heads around it and actively reduce consumptions, there’s a massive savings opportunity.”
Carbon neutrality appears to be a detailed and meticulous method then, but one that all businesses can achieve. Mike believes it is wholly necessary process, and with the retail giant once again announcing huge profits, we are hard pushed to disagree.
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