Founded by Kate Ploughman in 2007, Kate’s Kitchen is a catering company providing food to a wide range of clients, ranging from local to national businesses, individual events, weddings and the workplace. For over 17 years Kate’s Kitchen have been buying local, organic produce when possible, using in-season ingredients for their meals, supporting the local area and promoting sustainability.
Kate’s Kitchen have always ensured that their operations are socially and environmentally conscious, with many actions already taken to ensure high staff welfare and energy efficiency. With the support available, their main priorities were to save money on energy bills and reduce carbon emissions within their building.
They had previously relied on old and draughty single-glazed windows which lost a lot of heat in the office while also increasing gas consumption. Kate said that being able to achieve a warm working environment improving staff comfort was a big motivation, particularly throughout the winter.
Over £1,800 annual savings on energy bills 
Around a 20% reduction in electricity use 
3 tCO2e annual reduction in carbon emissions 
Having put in place a low carbon commute to work policy and cycle to work scheme, and by installing two electric vehicle charging points, the business has already demonstrated their commitment to environmental sustainability.
Kate also mentioned the potential to install ceiling insulation to reduce heat loss further, as well as fitting occupancy sensors in the storage room area to reduce electricity consumption. Kate’s Kitchen are keen to inspire other businesses to follow the same steps and make carbon saving improvements to their business operations and buildings.
CO2e savings calculated using BEIS Conversion Factors 2017. Energy costs calculated from BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections 2018, using 2020 retail prices. West of England Green Business Grants 2019-2023 is funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund and the West of England Combined Authority’s Recovery Fund.
