Focus on what matters with a free sustainability materiality assessment

We're showing small-medium sized businesses the sustainability initiatives they should be focused on by benchmarking their performance against industry competitors, highlighting the actions that will drive the biggest ROI and analysing the gap between where they are and their targets.

Why do a free sustainability materiality assessment?

During the session with our advisor we'll benchmark what you've done on sustainability to date and compare against businesses like yours
Our advisor will identify the areas that require the most attention e.g. Energy, Employee welfare etc. and the initiatives that will drive the biggest ROI
We'll pull this together for you into an action plan, aligned to industry/global targets e.g. UN SDGs and any specific goals your business has e.g. B Corp, Net Zero.

And of course, the sessions are completely free!

Our expert-powered Sustainability Operating System for small-medium sized companies

Whether you don’t know where to start, or you’ve already begun your journey, Contingent gives you:

The confidence and support to get started & take action

Your own dedicated expert ‘Sustainability Advisor’ to guide, coach and motivate your team
A library of practical action guides for each initiative you are working on, so you know what to do and actually how to do it!
Your advisor will do a gap analysis to understand what you’ve done so far and what to prioritise. Your timeline is up to you, flexing on the level of resource you have available

A plan that make sense for your business

Set goals with your advisor, aligned to business ROI, science based targets and industry expectations
Collaborate more effectively by allocating tasks to members of the team, inviting them to individual initiatives e.g. setting a carbon baseline or creating new policies
Track all Sustainability progress in one place with a clear picture on how your actions impact the standards you are working on e.g. Net Zero, B Corp etc

The best way to tell your story to savvy customers

Show customers you are serious about sustainability and exceed their expectations
Forget unverified statements/pledges on your website that heighten greenwashing risk. Share a verified Sustainability plan that demonstrates real impact and inspires customer confidence
Socialise your success internally with team members, executives and the board - automated, marketing-ready reports

Sustainability FAQs

What does Sustainability mean for small and medium sized businesses?

For SMEs, it's about limiting the negative impact the business has on the environment, community, or society as a whole. This usually means addressing two main categories: Environmental and Social. This is often packaged up into a handy acronym, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). The 'G' is about ensuring the relevant structures exist so that the business conducts itself transparently and ethically, and is accountable to its stakeholders.
What are the benefits of sustainability for small-medium sized businesses?
There are a lot. But it's important for businesses with less time/resource to identify the sustainability initiatives that will actually help them deliver these benefits and achieve a real ROI. Benefits include:
- Differentiate and gain a competitive advantage to win more business
- Open the door to go after more sophisticated customers
- Future-proof the business and ensure sustainable growth early on
- Enhance the value of the business and win funding
- Attract and retain the best talent
- Increase cost savings - e.g. lowering carbon typically reduces the cost
What is sustainable marketing?
Sustainability can be a great lever for SMEs to appeal to a growing, sustainability conscious audience, if applied correctly. Essentially it's about promoting environmentally and socially responsible products, practices, and brand values. Your business doesn't have to rooted in sustainability, you just have to be making sustainable choices e.g. sourcing locally, cycle to work schemes, using sustainable packaging etc. You're probably doing some of this stuff already and Contingent can help you package this up and share it with customers, whilst avoiding any risk of greenwashing.
What does sustainability accounting mean?
It's about measuring and reporting your business's environmental and social impact. The important point here is that customers, investors and regulators (increasingly so), want visibility on your sustainability performance. Vague, unverified website pages won't cut it any more. It's about showing a concrete plan, actions and results you can back up. We can help here