Can sustainability actually make your business more profitable?

For many business leaders, sustainability is still seen as a cost. Something that's expensive, difficult to measure and only worth doing because regulations say you have to.

Emily Coon believes that's completely wrong.

As Sustainability Manager at St Austell Brewery, Emily has helped transform sustainability from a compliance exercise into a commercial advantage. In this episode of The Business Takeaway Podcast, she explains why sustainability isn't just about protecting the planet—it's about building stronger, more resilient businesses that grow for decades.

From reducing waste and improving operational efficiency to strengthening supply chains and driving long-term profitability, Emily shares how sustainability can become a genuine competitive advantage for any organisation.

One simple operational change alone saved the business more than £60,000 every year.

Whether you're a business owner, CEO, founder, operations leader or simply interested in building a better business, this episode is packed with practical lessons that go far beyond sustainability.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why sustainability should be viewed as a commercial strategy, not a cost

• How sustainability improves profitability and business resilience

• Building a sustainability strategy that people actually buy into

• Why culture beats policy every time

• The leadership question every CEO should ask

• How one simple change saved over £60,000 a year

• Working with suppliers to create lasting impact

• Why every employee should become a sustainability leader

• Creating business strategies that still work 20 years from now

• Why sustainability needs a complete rebrand

Key Takeaways

✔ Sustainability is one of the biggest drivers of operational efficiency.

✔ Businesses don't need perfect data before taking action.

✔ Long-term thinking creates stronger businesses.

✔ Culture creates sustainable change—not policies.

✔ The companies that adapt fastest will outperform those that don't.

Timecodes

00:00 Introduction

01:13 What does a Sustainability Manager actually do?

02:23 Building sustainability into a 175-year-old business

06:02 Why culture beats policy

08:37 Creating a sustainability strategy from scratch

10:17 Working with suppliers to reduce emissions

12:50 Does sustainability actually make money?

14:28 The £60,000 lesson from putting waste in the right bins

16:55 Setting business KPIs that actually work

20:35 What customers really think about sustainability

23:39 Climate change becomes personal

26:12 Creating change across 2,000 employees

29:30 Why sustainability needs a rebrand

35:13 Where should every business start?

39:09 The leadership question every CEO should ask

43:12 What governments are getting wrong

47:43 Emily's biggest achievement

48:58 Quick Fire Questions

Links

St Austell Brewery

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