Sledge has welcomed a new project manager and appointed two internal ‘Sustainability Champions’ as it ramps up its commitment to becoming a more sustainable business.

Sophie Bowtell has joined the agency as project manager from the British Pharmacological Society, bringing more than seven years’ experience to the role. She will be responsible for planning and ensuring the smooth delivery of a varied range of corporate, consumer, government and non-profit experiences.

These include an ongoing partnership with Sage. Sledge supported on the organisation’s brand launch earlier this year and is now producing a series of permanent podcast studios in Sage offices throughout the globe, commencing with London and Newcastle.

Sledge has built up a reputation as a business that takes sustainability seriously and won the Best Sustainable Solution Award at this year’s micebook V Awards for its work on The Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, an initiative from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of the COP26 Presidency.

The team is continuing the partnership this year and will be supporting BEIS on their FACT Dialogue activity at COP27 in Egypt this November. The agency has further solidified this commitment, joining the industry’s action-driven network isla earlier this year.

It has subsequently established a formalised sustainability vision, six goals – which are tied to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and a corresponding roadmap that outlines the steps it is currently taking to achieve them.

Two Sustainability Champions, Elaine Byrne, project director, and Becca Shanks, producer have been appointed to ensure ongoing action and education both within the agency, and among its clients.

Sarah Yeats, managing director, Sledge said: “Creating work with purpose is a core value of ours here at Sledge. It’s one that our people embody, and we seek out talent with similar values. I’m therefore thrilled to welcome Sophie to the agency and have her join us on our journey to delivering not only a superior quality end-product, but a more sustainable one too.

“Partnering with clients such as FACT Dialogue and We Are Family Foundation (WAFF), combined with the innate passion of our team, means we are naturally strong believers in the idea that sustainability is a responsibility that we must all take on. As an industry it’s important we re-consider how we’ve always done things and treat sustainability not simply as a nice to have tick box exercise, but a must have. We are therefore committing to reducing our own impact and supporting our clients so that they can deliver more sustainable events.”

Sledge is taking part in our inaugural Ventures in Liverpool next month, which has sustainability at its heart and is focused around the theme of ReBuilding Better. Find out more and register here