Top 10 Highlights of 2022
We’re sharing some of the moments that made our year.
Below we’re looking back at our Top 10 Highlights, yes, there were many! We’ve narrowed it down, but if you’d like to read more then head over to our blog where we’ve been sharing what matters all year.
Ten | Leading by example
Business Leader invited CEO Sam Rowe to participate in a roundtable on Sustainability.
WeConnect International, the governing body awarding Women Business Enterprise status, invited Sam Rowe to do a talk on their International Day to corporate members and other WBEs on achieving international success as a SME.
WeConnect Europe also conducted and interview with Sam on balancing people, planet and profit.
Our Chairwoman Claire Menzies is a Fellow at the RSA and elected as Design Insider Ambassador.
Claire Menzies was invited to judge the newly launched Great British Business Heroes Awards.
Both our Chairwoman and CEO were named in Bristol’s most influential women by The Bristol Post.
Our Sustainability & Development Director, Hannah Jardine, was re-elected to the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) Board of Directors for another 2 years, responsible for driving sustainability and diversity in the events industry.
In addition, Hannah also Chairs ESSA’s Diversity & Inclusivity division.
Hannah Jardine, Sustainability & Development Director
Nine | We’ve had our Science Based Targets approved
We are proving our commitment to building a sustainable future, by letting the science dictate our course of action.
We are proud to have set a science-based target, positioning us as leaders in the low-carbon transition.
Our emissions reduction targets have been set through the Science Based Targets initiative, with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The targets covering greenhouse gas emissions from Ignition’s operations (scopes 1 and 2) are consistent with reductions required to keep warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement.
We are already carbon neutral for scopes 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and aim to be completely carbon neutral by 2030.
Eight | Our #IWD initiative reached 6,500+ people
As a women-owned business, we celebrated women’s achievements in support of creating a gender equal world.
Our International Women’s Day initiative reached 6,502 people across our social media platforms. The theme for 2022 was ‘Break the Bias’ – imagining a gender equal world.
Our guests’ comprised clients, entrepreneurs, politicians, governing bodies, artists, retailers, CEOs and academia.
Seven | Supporting the UN’s SDGs
As a women owned business, we’re supporting girls’ education in Africa through CAMFED. We help with school fees for their secondary education, and buy their sanitary wear and uniforms.
We’re also supporting The Cordillera Azul National Park project, located in Peru’s high forest between the Andes and the Amazon Basin. It supports 26 community based businesses, with 40% of jobs held by women.
The wide community driven programme is helping tens of thousands of local people gain access to basic services such as sanitation, healthcare and education.
This means the only SDGs we are not yet contributing to are 2 – Zero hunger, 7 – Affordable and clean energy, 11 – Sustainable cities and communities, and 14 – Life below water.
By 2030, we aim to support all of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Six | Growing our talented teams
We are busy growing our talented teams and welcomed several new staff members this year – from Account Directors and Project Managers, to Designers and Warehouse Operatives. We also welcomed back some familiar faces who worked with us before.
“Our studio is intended for designers from all different businesses. This approach creates greater opportunities for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and cross fertilisation across different sectors. We are ‘an ideas business’ – and must convert those thoughts into solutions.”
Five | A fruitful marketing year!
We’ve generated press aross the UK, USA, Europe & Asia - ranging from regional news to business news, and design, exhibitions & events trade press.
We won 3 awards, were finalists twice and awaiting 1 outcome.
We’ve grown our social media followers across all channels, ranging from 7% to 35%.
On average, we received 4,997 impressions per Linkedin post.
Four | Futureproofing Exhibitions
Our CEO Sam Rowe created a piece on Futureproofing exhibition design which appeared in two print and online features, covering physical, virtual and hybrid design, the metaverse and sustainability.
“What do we think the exhibitions and events of the future will be? Hybrid, meta, safe, clean, modular and green. Bring them on!”
Three | ISO Certifications
We are pleased to have passed all of our ISO audits again in 2022. ISO 9001 and 14001 were re-certification audits, which we passed with no non-conformances, so we are now re-certified for another 3 years, and ISO 20121 was a surveillance audit, which again we passed with no non-conformances!
ISO 20121 - Sustainable Event Management which we’ve held since 2012.
ISO 14001 - Environmental Management which we’ve held since 2010
ISO 9001 - Quality Management which we’ve held since 2014
Two | New client wins
We welcomed some significant new clients from the pharma, biotech and aesthetic beauty sectors to our books – through pitching, networking and word-of-mouth referrals.
We look forward to partnering with both our new and existing clients during 2023 to continue creating meaningful work together!
One | We became a #BCorp
B Corp Certification is awarded to businesses who are ‘leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.’
The founding principles of B Corp – that business can be a force for good – is also what drives us. Ignition was founded on the principle of balancing people and planet with profit, whilst delivering great creative work for our clients.
Conducting business sustainably and with purpose has always been part of our DNA, ensuring that the long-term perspective always wins out over short-term gain.
So we’re feeling really proud about becoming a B Corp and we’re most excited about what comes next. And integrity and transparency will always remain at the heart of everything we do.
We believe that together, we can make a difference!
Thank you for reading.
Season’s Greetings to all our readers and wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023!