Our sustainability Journey

Author: Grace Willcocks

Burbeck is an ethical and sustainable business that prides itself on the steps that it has already taken to be environmentally conscious. Fundamentally we believe that the concept of home staging is in itself sustainable; the company has always actively promoted the care and creative reuse of existing materials to produce a broad variety of results. As a business, we stand against the culture of 'disposable single use products' and invest in restoration to ensure that we minimise waste.

As a family run business at heart, we like to work with suppliers who share the same ethos as ourselves, sourcing the best quality products on the market, produced in an ethical way. Where we are able, we support UK manufacturing and small businesses; we believe in ‘paying it forward.’

Some of our existing initiatives have included:

• Reusing all packaging – mattress bags, bubble wrap, blankets, cardboard boxes, plastic crates.

• Investing time and money in lovingly restoring any damaged items to extend their life span and reduce waste.

• All our bespoke upholstery is made in the UK to reduce its carbon footprint.

• Where possible, we order products from UK suppliers to both to minimise the carbon footprint and reduce the length of supply chains.

• Providing a staff electric car for staff to use for site visits.

• As part of a process that is both creative and sustainable, we regularly buy pieces from antique fairs and restore them for use.

As part of the next step on our sustainability journey,  we are also currently working towards our ISO environmental accreditation 140001 and remain committed to working towards carbon neutrality.
  

Community

• Burbeck supports local businesses and is a member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

•   As founding members of the Home Staging Association, our founders have participated in many initiatives supporting new businesses entering the sector.

• The next generation: We regularly hire new design grads and those still in education as interns to support their journey into interior design.

•  Where pieces are no longer suitable for client use, we have donated them to local charities. We also donated furniture to the Nightingale Hospital in London last year during the peak of the covid crisis.

• We use local artists such as Croft, Quintessa and Imogen Oates a Richmond based Artist to source ethical pieces and support local creatives.