IMS Consulting's sustainable headquarters in St Nicholas House
	Graham Watson, MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, speaking at a recent Sustainable Business Breakfast session
	Press coverage for the South West Childrens Heart Circle, organised by IMS Consulting

IMS and Sustainability

IMS Consulting is committed to ensuring that its activities are performed in the most sustainable way possible. The information below outlines some of our sustainable actions:

The Environmental Aspect of Sustainability

IMS Consulting believes that every organisation should work hard to minimise the environmental impact of its operations. For this reason, IMS has chosen to be headquartered in one of Bristol’s most sustainable office buildings. St Nicholas House is situated a few metres from the original crossing point of the River Avon, Bristol Bridge. A complete refurbishment of the building in 2008 included the addition of grey water recycling, solar water heating, PIR lighting systems and extensive use of recycled building products. In addition to this, the IMS team utilises public transport wherever possible; when travelling to and from work and when travelling on behalf of the company.

The Economic Aspect of Sustainability

Sustainability overlaps with economics through the social and ecological consequences of economic activity. With this in mind, IMS Consulting runs a monthly event in Bristol called the Sustainable Business Breakfast. The aim is to further the debate around sustainability best practice in business and to provide a space where sustainable business relationships can be formed. By encouraging Bristol’s business leaders to come to a free lecture and networking session, IMS hopes to develop a network of organisations whose transactions are truly sustainable –  minimising the consequences of commercial activity.

Click here to visit the IMS Sustainable Business Breakfast Website and find out more.

The Social Aspect of Sustainability

IMS believes that every company should use its skills and resources to positively impact the communities it works within.

Our organisation is one of the main supporters of the South West Children’s Heart Circle, a Bristol-based charity for children with congenital heart problems. One of the Trustees explains the charity’s work: 

“The South West Children's Heart Circle was registered as a Charity in 1974, originally as Bristol Heart Circle, but as the Bristol unit is a Regional Centre of Excellence, now we draw cases from all over the South West, from Cornwall to Gloucester and South Wales to Swindon. Most of the work is elective surgery (i.e. planned), but often you will see parents wandering around in the night clothes they had on when an emergency strikes, with no money or a change of clothes, having come up from, say, Cornwall in an ambulance with their very sick child.

“We exist to support the cardiac unit at Bristol Royal Children's Hospital, in terms not only of helping provide equipment, which is not within the NHS budget, but also to provide support for families whose misfortune it is to find themselves requiring the services of the Ward. We have a static caravan at Brean Down for the use of patients and their families. It gets well used. The fact that it is so close to the hospital is important. We also provide financial help to those who may need it."

IMS has contributed to the work of the charity in various ways:

Fundraising: Including Graham Sprigg’s participation in the Marathon des Sable. The successful completion of this 250km Saharan desert race lead to IMS being able to contribute to the purchase of a state of the art VO2 machine, which will help doctors assess and treat sick children across the region.   

Website development: IMS worked closely with the charity to build, populate and manage a web portal that is helping to raise awareness of the issues surrounding child cardiac problems.

Marketing support: IMS helps promote the charity within the media, in order to ensure that donations continue to come in for the vital work they undertake. An example of this publicity is the recent article in the Bristol Evening Post.
 
To find out more about the South West Children’s Heart Circle, or to make a donation, please visit: http://www.heartcircle.org/