Wates and Lloyds Banking Group competition seeks next generation of sustainability innovations

Wates and Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds) are launching a competition to find sustainability innovations that can help Lloyds tackle its hybrid working and travel emissions and enhance biodiversity.

Green tech innovators and providers of sustainable solutions are invited to showcase their products for the chance to be piloted with Lloyds before potentially being rolled out at scale.

The competition aims to support Lloyds’ ambitious goal to reach net zero carbon operations by 2030. It also reflects Wates’ ambition to be net zero by 2045.

This is the second time Lloyds and Wates have teamed up to seek sustainable solutions and emerging green technologies. Last year’s competition saw four products being piloted across the Lloyds estate.

This year’s competition builds on the businesses’ existing relationship, which includes a 10-year partnership with Wates Smartspace to refit and upgrade Lloyds’ spaces as it seeks to make its estate more sustainable.

For this new campaign, Lloyds is seeking products that will:

• accelerate progress to net zero operations and reduce waste from offices and sites across a building’s life cycle

• reduce home working emissions by supporting employees in reducing their domestic carbon footprint

• improve sustainable and low carbon modes of transport

• enhance biodiversity across its estate by protecting habitats and the natural environment.

The partnership is being delivered in collaboration with Wates Innovation Network (WIN) Portal. The WIN Portal launched in 2021 and is a first-of-its-kind network of market-leading sustainable technologies and services.

Dr Zainab Dangana, Head of Sustainability at Wates Group, said: “The built environment industry is currently responsible for around 25 per cent of UK carbon emissions, so if we’re going to achieve our goal of being net zero by 2045 we really need to pick up the pace. In these efforts, we must be proactive; we simply cannot sit and wait for the innovative solutions to fall into our laps. We need to work together to seek out the next generation of tech and services the UK has to offer, and by partnering with forward thinking organisations such as Lloyds we can generate far greater awareness from interested parties in this space.

“The crucial next step is to connect these sustainable solutions with Lloyds and other built environment customers, many of which need help to identify the best, most cost-effective services or products for their estates. Our work through the WIN Portal bridges this gap, which is vital to our collective journey towards carbon neutrality.”

Matteo Deidda, Senior Sustainability Manager at Lloyd’s, added: “Our commitment to reach net zero carbon operations by 2030 will require significant changes to our existing buildings, technology, and ways of working. Achieving this will require the development, adoption, and scaling of new and innovative technologies.

“We know a collaborative approach is crucial to meeting our own operational climate goals and we are delighted to be partnering with Wates again this year. We have had excellent successes with technologies piloted from last year’s competition and look forward to uncovering more innovative solutions with this year’s competition.”

Suppliers of innovative solutions can register their interest here. Shortlisted suppliers will be chosen to present their products to a panel of representatives from Wates and Lloyds.