Practical Environmental Management Plus

Groundwork is offering local businesses the opportunity to attend a new training course designed to help businesses implement environmental management within their organisation. The Practical Environmental Management Plus (PEM+) course is certified by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and is sponsored by Barclays.

The need for local businesses to address environmental issues has never been greater. Environmental performance is increasingly becoming a key factor when tendering to many public sector bodies and also larger companies who require suppliers to meet strict environmental guidelines. With rising prices it is vital that businesses today take responsibility for their impact on the environment, by reducing resource use. An Environmental Management System (EMS) can be a useful tool to ensure that these pressures and overall environmental impacts are monitored and managed in a structured and controlled way. Many companies can find the prospect of a certified EMS daunting and lack the skills to help with implementation.

PEM+ addresses this by providing theoretical and practical training so companies can tackle the burden in bite sized chunks. The six-day course will be spread over six months meaning that lessons learnt from each session can be implemented within the organisation. As well as allowing the company to develop an individual portfolio of work, the individual will increase their skills.

Richard Walsh, Policy, Theme and Business Manager for Groundwork UK, pioneered PEM+ together with Barclays and CIWEM stated: “PEM+ has been specifically designed to help small and medium sized businesses reap the benefits of taking environmental improvement seriously. These include gaining a competitive and PR edge and lowered risk of financial penalties to improved efficiency and cost savings.”

The course will be delivered by experienced members of Groundwork’s Environmental Business Services (EBS) team as well as various guest speakers. Practical assistance will be given to help businesses consider the environment in their business operations, improve resource efficiency, cut costs, boost profitability and improve staff skills and competence. PEM+ has been designed to be suitable for staff from all levels of an organisation and as the course is certified, attendees will gain a valuable qualification.

PEM+ begins on 2 November at Groundwork Oldham amp; Rochdale’s site in Oldham. The course cost includes five days of training, exam fees, one day’s on-site consultancy support to help the organisation implement environmental improvements, and membership to CIWEM. The cost of the package is currently £995 +VAT, but local discounts are available. Please contact Victoria Handforth on 0161 624 1444 for further information or to book your place.