5 tips to building a successful sustainable business
The Union Project has spent the past nine years improving its eco credentials. Here’s what it learnt.
The Union Project's Max Shaw's tips for sustainability success:
Be consistent and sustainable throughout your entire business.
Get the basics right before you scale.
Pick your environmental priorities. For example, people and provenance.
Engage and collaborate with your community to find solutions.
Be patient. Finding sustainability solutions takes time.
Does sustainability come at a cost? For high-street and online fashion retailer The Union Project, the answer was ‘yes’, but the company felt that, whatever the financial price, it couldn’t afford to ignore the environmental impact of the business.
“There are massive cost implications [of driving sustainability measures],” Max Shaw, co-founder of the successful clothing retailer says: “But our stance was – and is – that if you’re in business then you’ve got a responsibility to limit your impact on the planet.”
Whether it’s the brand’s decision to use paper bags that cost 24p per bag (a whopping 12 times that of plastic bags) or to use recyclable postage labels that cost six times as much as standard glue labels, The Union Project has never baulked.
Launching a purpose-led business
Shaw, a languages graduate, and his friend Chris Capewell, who studied music, founded the Cheltenham-based clothing store in 2013, when they were both 23.
“We were frustrated with what was on offer and wanted to scour the marketplace and offer a timeless capsule wardrobe, with the best white T‑shirt and the best grey hoodie. We knew that if someone spent £45 on a T-shirt rather than £8 it’s better for person and planet,” says Shaw.
For Shaw and Capewell, the aim is that by the time that someone visits The Union Project, the hard work of shopping has been done for them, and customers are picking from a choice of heavily curated, good-quality, fairly made products. “We want to offer an easy shopping experience selling better-made products that aren’t garishly branded,” Shaw explains.
"We want to offer an easy experience selling better-made products."
The business has grown from a 30-metre shop in 2013, which they fitted out for £6,500 and funded with the help a government business start-up loan, to a business that employs 20 people and ships worldwide.
The Union Project offers up these tips on sustainability:
Tip 1: Be consistently sustainable through your business
Sustainability runs through every facet of The Union Project. “It’s not just about product or recycling, but ‘who do you use to store your files online?’ ‘Do you use reusable energy for your fuel?’ ‘Who do you bank with?’ We rent property so are pressuring our landlord to engage in renewable energy and will present him with a cost-effective quote for solar panels,” Shaw says.
Tip 2: Tackle sustainability before scaling.
“This is our chance to drill down so we can scale at comfort,” he goes on to explain. “We want to put things in place now so we can grow with that option rather than becoming a multinational company and then try to claw things back [at a later stage].”
Tip 3: Finding sustainability solutions can take time
One of The Union Project’s biggest successes was moving to 100-per-cent at-home compostable packaging in 2021, but it didn’t happen overnight.
"It took a year to ensure everything we were claiming actually happened."
“It took nearly a year to source the right materials and ensure everything we were claiming actually happened,” Shaw says. “We made sure we had input from independent voices; we went to the standards body to research [potential suppliers’] approaches and understand how and why the material compositions were as outlined. We pushed our potential suppliers to the limit of their knowledge.”
It was a confronting process, says Shaw. “It can feel as though you’re questioning a business’ integrity… but once we get past that we often find we forge great relationships, owing to the fact we’re equally as passionate about providing an honest service and cutting through the greenwash.”
Tip 4: Pick your sustainability priorities
Some of the biggest clothing brands that The Union Project stocks include Parra, Aries, and Patagonia.
The company evaluates brands for sustainability, examining everything from the founder’s motives to the way employees are treated and where the fabric comes from. Plus, The Union Project has created a corporate social responsibility (CSR) questionnaire that they request every potential supplier complete.
Having said that, Shaw says that The Union Project focuses on people, provenance, and purpose rather than fabric certifications, “because there’s no overarching regulator and some certifications may appear to offer more assurance than they do in reality”. Smaller start-ups can also struggle to achieve certification at first.
Certifications that Shaw does recommend include the Fair Trade Certified sewn label, the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTs) and the Organic Cotton Standard. “We [also] have good faith in The Fair Wear Foundation, and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, or WRAP.”
Tip 5: Engage and collaborate
“I can’t recommend enough getting engaged in your local community –you’ll be amazed at just how much is already being done by some inspiring people,” says Shaw, who has worked with a range of experts to help measure The Union Project’s carbon footprint.
"You’ll be amazed at how much is already being done by some inspiring people."
As a small business, he believes pooling resources with other brands and experts can be invaluable – and points to the example set by Patagonia, which shared the details of how to produce its natural rubber Yulex with all the big wetsuit brands.
The future includes creating a circular economy for everything that passes through The Union Project’s hands says Shaw. “We’re fiercely proud – and certain – that what we sell is fit-for-purpose and will stand the test of time. We want to cement that so people who shop with us can have items repaired or recycled, so, we’re fitting a repair station in-store in April to offer this service.”
And he believes Clearpay offers a good – and sustainable – option for customers. “As a business owner I’m very familiar with the peaks and troughs of spending and I know how important spreading costs over bigger payments is for people, when done responsibly.”
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