Responsibility is one of our key values and we strive for this to be reflected in how Woolcool® operates as a business, from how we collaborate with our partners and colleagues to our innovative Circular Economy scheme, which enables customers to return their wool insulation to us for re-use.
As a company dedicated to sustainability, namely 100% real wool as insulation in temperature-controlled packaging, that sense of responsibility also naturally extends to championing ecological issues and sharing the scientific research we support into the benefits of all natural materials.
As the first UK packaging companies of its type to be granted B-Corp status – joining a global business network that places responsibility on the same level as profitability – we believe that commerce can commit to considering the impact of its decision making, while still being successful. Being good should and definitely can be good for business.
However, a responsible approach means looking beyond the business world and the bottom line to the local community in which we operate. After all, it’s the place we call home, where we raise our families and live our lives. Successful firms are often asked to provide support to charities, community groups and voluntary organisations, and we are proud to be part of a UK business sector that has a long tradition of charitable engagement. Each company has its own unique approach to community engagement. There is no right or wrong when it comes to engaging positively with those around you. Some major groups partner with big charities or embrace nationally-organised fund-raising events, using the benefit of their scale to boost involvement. Others adopt particular causes, often inspired by the experiences of team members. At Woolcool®, we often choose to support smaller local charities – caring and determined grassroot groups that struggle to find funding through the channels open to larger organisations. It’s an opportunity to lend our voice to champion their work and let them know they are valued. We also often choose to help local causes that support social mobility in our area or help improve the life opportunities of local youngsters. A great example is the TLC Tubz project, created by Staffordshire charity Ruff & Ruby, which distributed care and wellbeing packages for teenagers in Stoke on Trent throughout the coronavirus lockdown. We were moved by the project’s determination to help local young people, who may be struggling with family breakdowns or domestic violence in their home. Their care packages represented a practical act of kindness, which resonated with our own belief in a caring business ethos, whether that’s within our own team, with our partners, clients or customers. And that’s perhaps where another kind of responsibility lies – in not only how a company engages in community support but why it chooses to do so. Woolcool® is proud to be part of a business community that reaches out to support the community and charity not as a box-ticking gesture or an opportunity for marketing. It’s about supporting the community that also supports us, and nourishing those firmly planted roots that we have in the local area. Crucially, it’s about shining the spotlight on the volunteers and charities that need exposure as well as funding, celebrating what they do. It’s not about us – it’s about them, and using our reach to facilitate their brilliant work. Woolcool® was founded just over ten years ago, born out of a ‘eureka’ moment that recognised how sheep’s wool could be used to replace the manmade packaging insulation that is polluting our planet. We knew wool presented a more ecologically responsible alternative.
To turn that idea into reality, we have built a business that is recognised as a global leader in its field, while staying connected with these local roots. We aren’t perfect, and we don’t always get it right, however, we are always driving to continually improve both our Environmental and Social impact. Whether it’s the future of the planet or the welfare of our own community, that sense of responsibility is built into everything we do.
