Case study
How Business Stream is making a positive difference for people and planet
Carbon credits
Large Business
Utilities
Business Stream is a naturally different water company—one that goes the extra mile to support people and the planet. As one of the UK’s largest water retailers, with a team of around 300, they provide services to over 300,000 business customers, including billing, water efficiency, and wastewater management.
At a glance
649+
4
2+
About Business Stream
Business Stream’s driving vision is to make a positive difference to its customers, its people, the environment, and local communities. Since launching this vision over five years ago, the company has introduced over 35 sustainability-focused initiatives and earned a Gold rating from EcoVadis, the world’s largest sustainability assessment platform.
Location
UK
Company size
300+ employees
Industry
Utilities
Use case
Calculated Carbon Footprint, Set goals to reduce business emissions, Funded climate action
Services used
Carbon Avoidance Credits (renewables, nature-based, community-based), Wildflowers, Wetlands and Wildlife
The issue
Since launching its vision in 2019, Business Stream has been committed to reducing carbon emissions, cutting waste, and empowering employees to make environmentally responsible choices.
The first step was understanding and measuring the company’s carbon footprint before setting clear short- and long-term targets. At the heart of this strategy is a bold ambition to reach net-zero by 2030—excluding supply chain emissions, for which targets are currently being developed.
They’ve been making real progress against their goals. In April 2021, Business Stream pledged to cut its carbon footprint by 20% within 12 months using 2018-19 as a baseline —a target they exceeded. Building on this success, they set another 20% reduction goal in April 2022, and smashed it with a 50% reduction between April 2022 and April 2023. The momentum continues, with fresh targets in place for the year ahead, covering Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions.
To reach these goals—verified externally each year—the team tackled their biggest sources of emissions head-on. Key measures included:
Replacing air conditioning units with energy-efficient models
Upgrading their fleet to low-emission vehicles
Launching a climate-conscious travel policy
Switching to a green electricity tariff
They also introduced an educational programme to help employees make more sustainable choices and recently relocated to a more energy-efficient Head Office to drive further environmental savings.
The challenges
Business Stream has made huge strides in reducing its own emissions—but the team isn’t stopping there. They’re also looking beyond their own impact by finding ways to help customers and suppliers operate more sustainably.
For customers, this means offering practical solutions to save water and cut waste. They’ve installed automatic meter readers to help businesses track their water use and spot leaks early, provided free water-saving devices and resources, and even created an online water efficiency shop. On top of that, they were a key supporter in launching an exciting partnership with Business in the Community to deliver a Climate Action for Business programme—offering expert-led workshops and one-to-one mentoring for small businesses looking to develop carbon reduction plans.
When it comes to suppliers, Business Stream is just as committed. They’ve set clear environmental standards, introduced sustainability-focused questions into their tender process, and are developing a mentoring programme to support small businesses at the start of their responsible business journeys. By working with like-minded partners, they’re making sure sustainability runs through every part of their operations.
The solution
Business Stream was already making great progress on its sustainability journey when they teamed up with Ecologi in October 2023. This partnership has given them the chance to make an even bigger impact—funding environmental projects and supporting their carbon removal efforts as they work towards net-zero. They were particularly drawn to Ecologi’s transparency and commitment to only backing projects that meet the highest environmental standards.
As part of this collaboration, Business Stream recently launched its Naturally Care Tariff in partnership with Ecologi. This initiative helps regenerate UK woodlands and combat biodiversity loss, complementing their wider investment in nature-based rewilding projects—restoring peatlands, heathlands, woodlands, and wildflower meadows.
Protecting and restoring natural habitats plays a crucial role in both biodiversity and carbon storage, so it’s fantastic to see Business Stream empowering customers to make a real difference. By redirecting tariff discounts to support rewilding and habitat restoration, they’re helping to bring the UK’s landscapes back to life.
Beyond improving local ecosystems, this initiative sets an inspiring example for the utilities sector—showing how businesses can make reforestation and nature restoration a meaningful part of their sustainability efforts.
The results
Since October 2023, Business Stream has avoided over 649 tonnes of CO2e—the equivalent of 498 long-haul flights.
The challenge of tackling climate change has given the business a true sense of purpose, along with the opportunity to drive meaningful change both within and beyond its operations. It’s taken vision, dedication, and resilience, but the rewards have been huge—not just in being part of the climate solution, but also in building strong, lasting relationships with customers and suppliers who share their values.
“The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing us all and it’s really important to us as a responsible business that we take a proactive approach to limiting our environmental impact. Our focus is on reducing our emissions and we’ve already made significant strides in doing so. We’re excited to have partnered with Ecologi and are looking forward to tracking the impact of these projects.”
Jo Dow, Chief Executive of Business Stream
