With its main office in Canterbury, Greenfriars sustainability consultants specialise in advising on sustainable management, environmental assessment and auditing.

Its founder Dr Rufus Howard created the consultancy after 20 years working across the UK and internationally for major government and private sector clients. Rufus is a Chartered Environmentalist and Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), holding degrees in biodiversity, law and management. Rufus provides foresight and direction to strategic advisory boards at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), the Advanced Research and Innovation in Environmental Science (ARIES), NERC Doctoral Training Programme, and the Kent Nature Partnership.

1. Why is Greenfriars keen to work with Pink in particular?

Sustainability is a global issue, but it starts with individual actions, and is based on local adaptation and resilience. Based in Kent, we recognise the importance of Produced in Kent members to achieve a sustainable future for local communities and wildlife in Kent.

1. Pink members are faced with many challenges post-Covid: few physical meeting opportunities with customers and buyers, lost B2B trade, threats of further lockdowns, a potential hard Brexit – how important is it to be operationally sustainable in this volatile economic climate?

Sustainability is about being adaptive and resilient to change whilst maintaining ethical standards. Sustainable businesses and organisations are more competitive in challenging external environments because they manage their operations, stakeholder and customer relationships in a sustainable and ethical manner. Sustainable organisations have a long-term competitive advantage over less sustainable operators.

1. What positives have come out of the Covid crisis that you feel our members, with your support, can build on going forward?

A positive can be taken from the current crisis if an organisation takes the opportunity to take stock of their operations and business plans, and then look to restructure them in a sustainable manner to aid recovery and secure long term sustainable growth that is both adaptive and resilient to change.