Southern Enterprise Awards 2021

83 | Southern Enterprise Awards 2021 When CSR experts Louise McCabe and Tara Luckman joined forces less than two years ago, little did they know what challenges they were about to face. Armed with a mission to provide sensible, achievable, affordable CSR solutions that make a difference in the fashion and textiles industry, the pair founded Flourish CSR. Over recent decades the issues surrounding climate change have featured more and more prominently in the media. Whilst many of us are lucky enough to have never felt the impacts of climate change directly, we are all too aware of those who are less fortunate. Calls for urgent action and the need for a circular economy to ensure a sustainable future are gaining in both volume and momentum. One area that has gained focus in recent years is the impact of fashion and textiles on the environment. Initiatives such as reducing textile waste, recycling materials and increasing the durability of products, are now on the agenda of many businesses in the industry. But, if you don’t have sustainability expertise in-house, how do you go about navigating these complex issues and communicating them to your colleagues and customers? Bridging the sustainability gap is Flourish CSR, a responsible business consultancy. Its team of industry-leading CSR experts work with clients worldwide to reduce the environmental and social impacts of the fashion and textiles sector. With bases in both Bath and London, Flourish CSR specialises in NGO-led collaborative sustainability initiatives. Best Emerging Responsible Business Consultancy - Europe The company also works with individual brands and retailers, helping define strategies to reduce the impacts of their businesses. Co-Founder Louise McCabe tells us, “We help companies see the wood for the trees. Sometimes the volume of issues to address is overwhelming. You need someone to help identify what’s essential to do right now, and what will take time to get right. We’ve had years of experience working in global fashion businesses. We know how hard it is to make sustainable changes while you’re doing an all-consuming day job.” As well as sustainability, Flourish CSR also helps their clients ensure that people are a priority. From ensuring that human rights are prioritised in supply chains to progressing diversity and inclusion programmes, Flourish CSR helps businesses turn challenges into opportunities. It also advises on impactful community engagement. Team building, stakeholder relationships, volunteer programmes and charity work are all within its realm. Co-Founders and Directors Louise McCabe and Tara Luckman both have a background in corporate CSR. They met whilst working for online fashion giant ASOS. Louise led the ‘Fashion with Integrity’ strategy, whilst Tara oversaw the ‘Product Sustainability’ strategy. The duo launched Flourish CSR in December 2019, right at the beginning of the global pandemic. Tara tells us, “It could have all gone very badly. But we have literally grown and flourished during this time. Fortunately, we were engaged right at the beginning to work on some brilliant cross-industry initiatives, WRAP’s Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, Textiles 2030 and Danish Circular Pact, plus the Organic Cotton Accelerator. This gave us the start we needed to build our profile in the industry, and a brilliant opportunity to develop our textiles knowledge further to extend our business into Europe and beyond.” As brands and retailers step up their CSR work and look for a more strategic approach, Flourish CSR expertise is in demand across a wide range of organisations. Famous luxury brands, household names from the high street and global e-commerce companies such as Bath-based Lovehoney, all count amongst its clients. One of the company’s newest clients is The Microfibre Consortium. Flourish CSR has helped the consortium develop and launch The Microfibre 2030 Commitment. This is a new global collaboration of brands, retailers and textiles experts who are working towards zero impact from microfibres to sea, air and land by 2030. Contact: Louise McCabe and Tara Luckman Web Address: www.flourishcsr.co.uk Aug21700