Sam Galbraith's attendance at the ceremony shows the Scottish Executive's commitment to demonstrate that good environmental practice is good business practice. Thanks go to Louise Batchelor of the BBC and to Iain McMillan of the CBI for sitting on the judging panel with me and giving their valuable time and knowledge to this Initiative. First for Food Service's Dundonald depot supplies the Ministry of Defence, serving Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and North Wales. They have a 150,000 cubic foot cold store and a fleet of vehicles of various sizes up to 44 tonnes. The site is ISO14001 accredited.
Staff receive environmental training on arrival and regularly thereafter.
Initiatives created at Dundonald are used elsewhere in the company. Energy efficient driving has made enough savings in two years would allow a car to drive round the world 21 times. All cardboard, aluminium, plastic cups, printer cartridges and office equipment is recycled as are. There is car pooling and sponsorship of a local river bank. Staff are enthusiastic about environmental issues and have adopted a system which gives every action in the depot a detailed itinerary to completion - avoiding mistakes and minimising wasted effort and resources.