October has been full on with events that fall directly into Blue Patch’s area of interest, from flood preparedness to streamlining carbon auditing for micro and SMEs, enabling them to meet demands from their customers, especially if they form part of a supply chain as sub-contractors for a larger company or organisation.
Decorex, Olympia
Blue Patch was at Decorex (Oct 12-15th). We were very happy to host members: Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, Ava Innes and Flooring By Nature. The event was highly successful for all. We held a coffee meet up at Decorex too and interior designers Jennifer from Titmas Interiors and Jo and Allison from Yellow Interiors joined Blue Patch members for a cuppa. We will continue to hold ‘meet-ups’ at other events because everyone gets a little isolated and informal networking is a productive way to enjoy good company and explore new partnerships!
Positive Shopping digital launches
Really we just need a few pictures here as a taster. Just click and enjoy our first bumper digital edition. This marks the start of a new era for Positive Shopping. In this first edition we invited interviews from interior designers!
In the next edition …..wait and see which sectors and topics we’ll explore.
Flood Action Week 2025
The Environment Agency’s annual ‘Flood Action Week‘ took place on 13-19 October.
Blue Patch Patron Watertight International, work closely with the peoples’ flood champion Mary Long-Dhonau, affectionately known as ‘Flood Mary’ and the Environment Agency too.
The week was marked by the launch of the Floodmobile mark 2, which you can see below. Parked outside the Houses of Parliament, both MPs and the public were welcomed to step inside to learn how simple solutions can save homes and livelihoods too.
Packed with information the Floodmobile will tour the UK with Mary on board showing people how to build flood preparedness and resilience into their lives – before disaster strikes. Mary has also produced a directory of resources.
Do sign up for flood alerts via the Environment Agency and the Met Office – they have an app too. Here is the Government’s advice for a personal flood plan.
Kelly Ostler-Coyle, Director of Corporate Affairs at Flood Re said: ‘This Flood Action Week, we’re urging everyone to check their flood risk – and then take action to prepare for it.
New research commissioned by Flood Re, shows that simple property-level resilience measures could save the UK hundreds of millions of pounds every year.
But beyond the financial cost, the emotional toll of flooding can be devastating and long-lasting. That’s why it’s so important to understand your personal flood risk and take steps to protect yourself, your home, and your family.’
Public urged to get flood ready as Environment Agency launches Flood Action Week. Press release 2025
Breakfast with Bankers for Net Zero hosted by OakNorth
Blue Patch is a member of the Bankers For Net Zero task force. The task force is working together to simplify the way SMEs report their carbon emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. On October 15th another task force member Oaknorth, who specialise in supporting entrepreneurs, hosted a breakfast. Hannah Cool, COO at B4NZ, gave a great presentation and the conversation with the SMEs in attendance provided fantastic feedback and ideas.
Climate Change is beyond politics
Climate change is not going away, even if the ‘political temperature is cooling’ in certain quarters. Businesses are attuned to risk and the pragmatic response is universal – net zero matters to business.
Census for net zero
This view was clearly on display at the launch of the first UK net zero business census. Hosted by Green peer, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle on October 21st at the House of Lords, Westminster.
Taking the pulse of the nation by running a census, Planet Mark in partnership with UK SME Climate Hub and Sage, have done an amazing job! All are members of the B4NZ task force which is fast becoming a critical coalition for net zero action – as Andrew from Planet Mark said, nature won’t care if we audit our carbon or not – but future generations sure will.
With a double positive, Hannah Gilbert, Director of Sustainability from the British Business Bank announced the launch of a second census ‘SMEs and Net Zero’ to look at smaller business attitudes and requirements. Two important pieces of work to guide organisations such as Blue Patch to collaborate and support smaller enterprises and connect them to resources, education and suppliers.
Would you like to join Blue Patch? Explore membership of our sustainability-minded business community and the resources and networking we offer.