Electric Taxi firm triumphs at 2014 Cornwall Sustainability Awards
Electric vehicle company crowned overall winner at 2013 Cornwall Sustainability Awards
A pioneering St Austell-based taxi firm boasting a fleet of electric cabs has been crowned overall winner at the 2014 Cornwall Sustainability Awards.
C&C Taxis picked up the winner of winners award at the ceremony held on Thursday, December 4 winning the Resource Efficiency category.
Around 200 guests packed the Headland Hotel in Newquay to celebrate the awards 12th anniversary and the work businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are doing to improve their sustainability.
Senior Environment Officer, Veryan Jones, from Cornwall Council, said: “The judges were unanimous in their decision of awarding the overall winner to C&C Taxis.
“Being the first cab operator in the country to invest in a 100 per cent pure electric vehicle, they have set a nationwide sustainable standard, and one that the C&C team should be very proud of.
“The UK taxi industry is normally a very gas guzzling trade, but C&C taxis determination to work with the environment has enabled them to rack up nearly 40,000 environmentally friendly fares and add an additional five electric cars to their fleet.
“We would like to say congratulations to all the businesses that entered, were shortlisted and won.
“Many of these winners set an excellent example for sustainability and we will continue to showcase them nationally.”
Event Organiser, Gitty Ankers MBE, from the Environment Agency said: “This year we have been very impressed by the standard of entries from the businesses and organisations in Cornwall who have shown us that they take their commitment to sustainability and the environment very seriously.”
Truro-based Spiezia Organics was named Best small Managed Company, while Natural Generation from Perranporth collected the award for Best Medium Managed Company.
Red Hotels took home the award for Best Large Managed Business, and The Sustainable Food Economy award went to Whole Again Communities in Penzance.
The Innovation: Tomorrow’s Contribution to Sustainability award was collected by MI Generation from Redruth.
Community Power Cooperative won the Sustainable Energy award whilst St-Ives-based architects Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole picked up Sustainable Built Environment award.
St Austell-based Henry Orchard from Henry Orchard & Sons Ltd and Lorraine Turnbull from Killibury Smallholdings in Wadebridge were both named Best Individual.
There was also a themed award for Connecting with Nature, which went to Bosinver in St Austell.
During the ceremony the guests and competitors heard from leading sustainability advisor Tony Juniper and Munish Datta, the man behind the strategy and delivery of M&S’s sustainability programme Plan A.
The awards are run jointly by the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council.
For more information on the Awards please visit archive.cornwallsustainabilityawards.org
Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2014 results in full:
Best Managed Small Company
Winner: Spiezia Organics (Truro)
Highly Commended: Bosinver (St Austell)
Best Managed Medium Company
Winner: Natural Generation (Perranporth)
Highly Commended: Bosence Farm (Hayle)
Best Managed Large Company
Winner: Red Hotels (Mawgan Porth)
Highly Commended: Ward Williams (Truro)
Best Individual
Winner: Henry Orchard, Henry Orchard & Sons Ltd (St Austell)
Winner: Lorraine Turnbull, Killibury Smallholdings (Wadebridge)
Innovation: Tomorrow’s Contribution to Sustainability
Winner: MI Generation (Redruth)
Highly Commended: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (Redruth)
Resource Efficiency
Winner: C&C Taxis (St Austell)
Highly Commended: Cormac (Bodmin)
Sustainable Food Economy
Winner: Whole Again Communities (Penzance)
Highly Commended: Eden Project (St Austell)
Sustainable Built Environment
Winner: Poynton Bradbury Wynter (St Ives)
Highly Commended: Emma & Dennis Wiehahn (Pelynt)
Sustainable Energy
Winner: Community Power Cooperative
Highly Commended: Natural Generation
Theme – connecting with nature
Winner: Bosinver (St Austell)
Highly Commended: Naturally Learning (St Austell)
Overall Winner – sponsored by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership
Winner: C&C Taxis (St Austell)
