SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE MARCH 2024

As hospitality businesses face rising expenses across the board, can sustainable practices help them to cut costs?

Star Pubs & Bars is installing water saving technology on taps and urinals in the toilets at its 160 Just Add Talent managed operators pubs in a new partnership with phs Group that demonstrates how good sustainability practices can cut costs for pubs. Special tap fittings are reducing water used in hand washing by 72%, whilst infra-red technology that flushes urinals based on their usage - rather than by continually running water - is slashing water use by 85%. Trials at Star pubs show that the resulting decrease in water usage will cut annual water bills at a typical managed pub by £451 for every urinal and on average, £140 for taps in customer toilets. 

Star’s washroom services package with phs Group is also reducing landfill waste from nappies and sanitary products at its managed operator pubs. Under the programme, phs Group provides, empties and cleans the nappy and sanitary bins. It then diverts 96.7% of the waste away from landfill into energy recovery facilities across the country where it is converted into energy, powering homes, industries, and even schools.

Says Star Pubs & Bars’ Head of Pub Services Mark MacDonald: “The water saving measures we’re using are not only good for the environment but are helping pubs cut their costs after a sustained period of high inflation. The reduction in water charges offsets the expense of a really good washroom service, which in turns means one less job for licensees at a time when wage bills are rising, and staff recruitment is challenging. 

“We’re continually looking for new ways to make our pubs more sustainable. Our approach is to test new measures in our managed pubs - where we pay the energy and water bills – to ensure they work in a real-life situation before offering them to our leased and tenanted estate.

“We’ve now used our buying power to secure a 50% discount on phs Group’s washroom services for our leased and tenanted pubs through our MyStar Discounts buying club.”

Adds Liam Greenall, Head of Strategic Business Development, from phs Group: “One of the biggest ways we can support our customers is through giving them peace of mind that the products and services we provide will make a tangible difference to their sustainability objectives. Through these solutions, power, water and waste can be drastically reduced. This has a positive impact on operational costs – especially when applied across the entire washroom. We are also developing a tool where customers can easily access their carbon and financial savings, which can be easily imported into any necessary data reporting – saving vast amounts of administrative time for teams on the ground whilst demonstrating a sustainable supply chain.”