There has been a lot of talk in the media about CSR but, is it just that, TALK. Do businesses take it seriously? Is it just a tick box exercise?
At Custodian Data Centres our CSR is something that we are passionate about. Truly caring about our environmental impact and doing everything possible to reduce our footprint – from innovative evaporative cooling technology to renewable energy sources. It has always been at the forefront of what Custodian stands for. But it’s more than just our environmental impact, taking care of our staff and customers is pivotal to how we operate. Our customers have always been at the heart of our business and we strive to ensure we exceed their requirements for both now and for the future.
Many businesses claim a bold CSR policy, but at Custodian it has been at the core of our business since its inception. Thinking forward to how we can be truly responsible for how we operate. An approach that is shared by the our whole of our team. It doesn’t have to be huge expensive changes, or grand gestures, sometimes it’s simply about listening, understanding and questioning how can we do better.
How do we address CSR in the business?
We address CSR in several ways. Fundamentally we ensure that CSR remains at the core of our wider business strategy. It’s the fundamental pillar on how we approach all aspects of the business.
We have a clear CSR policy both internally and externally that ensures we are all clear on what it means to our business. Reviewed on a bi-annual basis, it keeps us all accountable and ensures that we are striving to achieve our ambitious goals.
The COVID 19 pandemic is a clear example of putting your CSR policies and company culture to the test. We understood the importance of our role as a data centre to keep critical infrastructure running faultlessly to ensure key services that rely on us like the NHS keep running, but, we had to do this whilst balancing the welfare of our staff and suppliers. Fortunately for us our Business Continuity Plan incorporated a virus outbreak response so we were able to act quickly. We have learned from this Pandemic and questioned what could we do better and we have adapted our strategy moving forward.
Questioning and striving to do better is key to a successful CSR strategy and it should be something as a business to be proud.
What will Custodian’s CSR future look like?
We have 2 key areas that we are focusing on as we move into 2021.
Our responsibility to the Environment.
We will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in regards to a truly ‘green’ data centre. The introduction of more advanced cooling and a focus on reducing PUE to as close to 1.0 as possible. This will include:
- On-going research into Hydrogen power
- Introduction of new more energy efficient equipment
- Use of 100% Renewable energy
- Equipment recycling
Our responsibility to our local community.
We are currently looking at ways that we can work with local education centres to support the next generation of technical talent through educational talks, apprenticeship schemes and using our YouTube channel to provide educational development materials in line with core syllabus requirements.
We look forward to updating you on how we progress over the coming months and are truly excited about how we can make a difference.
Rowland Kinch is CEO, Custodian Data Centres.