2025 a year driving responsible growth
- Clare Bridson
- Jan 4
- 11 min read
We are proud to share our 2025 Impact Review, highlighting how we’ve supported organisations and leaders to grow responsibly, boost sales pipelines, strengthen resilience, and build trusted brands, powered by engaged teams and a clear, structured approach to sustainable business development.
In a world where stakeholders increasingly expect credible ESG credentials and real action, our work in 2025 focused on helping organisations embed responsible growth at the heart of their business - going beyond compliance to create lasting value.
We produced over 100 hours of training materials on responsible business and sustainability, helped create business benefit calculators, ran business growth & networking events involving small groups of 15 up to 5000 people, delivered responsible growth and business resilience training across Scotland with participants reporting an uplift in confidence and the capability to scale the growth of their organisations in more responsible ways.
A summary of our impact work
120 organisations educated & supported with Responsible Growth initiatives
91% of participants reported increased confidence in sustainability leadership
1000 hours of fractional responsible growth & precision BD services
Organised and led responsible growth events for groups from 15 - 5000 people
8 strategic partnerships
3 SME enablement programmes created
8 Responsible Growth workshops delivered across Scotland
Central to our work in 2025 has been the Responsible Growth & Business Resilience programmes we designed to educate and empower leaders and teams to see success not just in financial terms, but in their broader impact on people, planet, and prosperity. The courses emphasise integrating responsible practices into everyday decision‑making, from strategy and operations to innovation, business development and stakeholder engagement.
Using responsible growth principles, we created a framework and set of tools that helps leaders align values with strategy, unlocking opportunities, building trust, and strengthening their growth pipeline.
"A great opportunity to learn about how to manage projects & business growth in a sustainable way… very interesting and definitely makes you look at your systems from a new perspective. Would highly recommend taking any training opportunities with Ray Black & Gavin Tweedie at Think Partnership Ltd" Toni Anderson, HSQE & Finance, Hoddam Quarry and Concrete Products
Showcasing Scotland’s Sustainable Businesses
Our first project took place in January when Ray and I took the plunge and organised the first sustainability zone at Scotlands Trade Fair and Specialty Food and Drink show at the SEC in Glasgow. Held over 3 days with hundreds of companies exhibiting and 5000 attendees, it was a great opportunity to highlight the inspirational work being taken by businesses across Scotland. A proud example of collaborative impact, showcasing sustainability stories, innovations, and community partnerships from local businesses and educators.
“We were delighted to partner up with Think Partnership this year. We had been considering for a while how to incorporate sustainability into the show in a meaningful way and with Think we have found a way to help both exhibitors and buyers consider how they can create their own sustainable growth pathways by providing useful help and support to them. There is lots more to do and we look forward to developing these ideas in future years.“ Mark Saunders, Show Director, Scotland’s Trade Fairs
We were joined in the Sustainability zone by Taste of Arran, The Secret Garden Distillery, Amy Britton, Earthself Community Interest Company - Emiel's Food Forest, Dumfries and Galloway College, Powering Futures and Smurfit Westrock who kindly sponsored the zone.
We created the zone to encourage people to consider embedding sustainable practices in their buying decisions and business operations. A lot of enthusiastic debate and laughs over the 3 days.
Taste of Arran served samples of delicious ice cream, and our favourite - blue cheese on oat cakes with a delightful chutney. Alastair Dobson showcased his Energy monitoring system, provided by another Ayrshire based company, Booth Welsh, helping Alastair keep a real-time view on his energy usage, emissions and performance of his Solar renewable energy.
"Every day is a school day - Talking with the companies and visitors to the Sustainability Zone, we had many discussions about our individual businesses, personal ambitions and what sustainability meant within that context. I was also delighted to have the chance to discuss needs of customers who were attending the show and whether sustainability was a major factor for them." Alastair Dobson, MD Taste of Arran
Embedding CMI-accredited sustainable leadership
Working alongside partners & organisations including the Chartered Management Institute, Dumfries & Galloway college, New College Lanarkshire and the We Love Lanarkshire membership we placed significant effort in training and capability building which spanned 120 organisations. The training programs and workshops ran through the year helping businesses internalise sustainability beyond compliance, including sessions on driving sustainability in construction supply chains, circular economy thinking, and practical Net Zero planning.
Embedding sustainable leadership ensures future leaders have the mindset and skills to align growth with climate goals, equity, and stakeholder expectations. This not only strengthens the organisation’s future readiness but also builds trust, attracts talent, and secures competitive advantage in an increasingly values-driven market. Long-standing client, Booth Welsh enrolled a team onto the CMI Sustainable Leadership program from various functions in the business to help truly embed sustainable practices across the organisation.
“As a Quantity Surveyor at Booth Welsh, the CMI leadership course has sharpened how I think about sustainability from ‘nice to have’ to part of cost, risk, and quality. We still have work to do but embedding these habits in our daytoday choices is how we’ll stay competitive, resilient, and proud of the projects we deliver.” Kim Mulhern, Quantity Surveyor
“The CMI leadership course has broadened my perspective on how sustainability influences engineering strategy, team leadership, and project outcomes. It highlighted the responsibility leaders have to balance technical excellence with long-term sustainability, helping to drive more informed, resilient, and future-focused decisions across Booth Welsh as a business.” Michael Naismith, Mechanical Engineer
“Being part of this initiative has made me realise the overall impact Sustainability and circular economies have on the wider business. This issue affects every aspect of Booth Welsh including how we design, manufacture, source materials, and operate daily. Gaining this understanding should future proof the business making us more competitive and transparent for future clients.” Bruce Thomson, Lead Instrument Engineer
“Being in the CMI cohort for sustainable leadership has resonated with me as it has connected my day to day work with the bigger picture of sustainability and ethical growth at Booth Welsh. I think it’s a great opportunity to help shape the future of how we deliver projects and interact with our supply chain. For me personally, culture has always been at the centre of how we operate, giving us the freedom and opportunity to work on sustainability initiatives like these that are important to the business. I hope that this type of work will show the benefit of working collaboratively and actively on sustainability, showing that it can be tangible and not something to “just get around to when we have the time”. Andrew Britton, Head of Technology & Digitalisation
Helping Power the Next Generation Workforce
We were pleased to continue supporting social enterprise Powering Futures. Making incredible impact on the lives of young people. Since launching in 2020, Powering Futures has worked with more than 5,000 young people and engaged with over 180 Scottish businesses developing the skills needed in the workforce of the future. Increasing their influence on the company’s of today and tomorrow’s sustainable business growth.
In March, 1300 senior students gathered from schools across the country. At our client, Booth Welsh’s offices in Irvine, they hosted senior school students from across Ayrshire. The pinnacle moment following 30 weeks in the making - a journey that started with a Powering Futures challenge ending with confident young people, standing in front of industry professionals, ready to share their ideas. No final exam, no one day in May - just real learning, real skills, and real impact. At SCQF Level 6, this qualification is equivalent to a Higher, but instead of sitting an exam, these pupils have worked in teams, tackled complex problems, and developed sustainable solutions all while building the meta-skills that industry needs.
Championing Responsible Growth
A theme throughout this year has been moving beyond theory to practical action helping organisations create Sustainable Business benefit calculators, credible responsible growth and Net Zero roadmaps, measure emissions, embed ESG and circular economy thinking into strategy. We were pleased to partner with Ailsa Forklifts who kindly agreed to host the Responsible Growth Champions courses at their premises in East Kilbride and an interesting application of their Lithium battery powered forklifts to host the visual equipment!
Lift off for Champion Training Session 4 at Ailsa Forklifts in East Kilbride
A hearty welcome from MD of Ailsa Forklifts, Brendan Cairns
"Over the past sixteen weeks, we explored what responsible growth really means... growing commercially while acting responsibly toward people, communities, and the planet. The key lessons? Face challenges with responsibility, use sustainable practices to reduce risk, and build trust through consistent actions. Thank you to Think Partnership and all who joined us on this journey.” Brendan Cairns, MD at Ailsa X Forklift Trucks, East Kilbride
"I was delighted to be involved with the course . It gave me a great in-depth understanding what responsible and sustainable growth involves. I now have a clear understanding of the work we have already done, where we are at present and where we wish to get to . The path is clear , thank you guys" David McCutcheon, Advisor, Bullet Express
"By embracing Responsible Business Practices, we reduce risks, inspire trust, and unlock innovation that drives long-term growth. Every choice we make, how we source, produce, and deliver shapes the world we leave behind. Together, we must build a future where businesses thrive in lasting harmony with the environment and society, ensuring resilience and prosperity for generations to come." Graeme Gilchrist, Quality Manager, Cairnhill Structures
"To me, adopting Responsible Business Practices is about creating a positive legacy and adding lasting value, not only for our Business, but for society and our planet" Leigh Dempsey, Sustainability & Innovation, George Leslie
Building Business Advantage & Brand Differentiation
During the training sessions and workshops, participants agreed that a credible growth strategy backed by clear evidence and outcomes builds trust with clients and prospects, attracts talent, and can improve access to investment and lending terms. The shared view was that people increasingly want to work with, partner with, and invest in organisations that are part of the solution, not contributors to the problem.
Supporting We Love Lanarkshire
We were delighted to support We Love Lanarkshire this year helping build connections, bring local businesses together, and encouraging the people of Lanarkshire to Think, Shop and Support Local.
"A huge thank you to our incredible guest speakers from Ness Gallagher solicitors, Fighting For Freedom, and Think Partnership Ltd for sharing their insights at todays business event." Bob Wotherspoon, Founder, We Love Lanarkshire
We attended several events sharing responsible growth insights with over 70 businesses.
Promoting Nature Positive Business
Becoming Nature Positive is a global goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 so that by the end of the decade, we have more thriving nature than we do today.
During the session, participants examined the nature-positive strategies that will help reverse the 73% of nature loss that has occurred since the 1970s. The teams learned that a Nature Positive Business doesn’t just reduce its environmental harm
- it goes further by restoring and regenerating nature as part of its core strategy.
Taking part in a woodland restoration project
It was a real pleasure for our team to join forces with long-term client Booth Welsh in supporting local farmer, Bryce Cunnningham of Mossgiel farm helping with a woodland restoration program ensuring that wildlife, habitats, and natural systems are not just surviving, but starting to recover and flourish.
"On the farm we’ve got a real ambition to boost biodiversity. A big part of that is tree planting, and last year we planted thousands of trees across the place. Then Storm Éowyn hit in January and battered a good number of those fresh saplings. Sadly, some just didn’t recover. On top of that, we had damaged tree covers and stakes needing cleared away. It’s a job that should’ve been done in the summer, but like most farms, the to-do list never ends and we didn’t quite get round to it."
"The Booth Welsh team supported with the guys from Think Partnership offered to help us out. First we needed to inspect the ground, work out roughly how many trees we’d lost, and clear up the mess left behind. Last week was our chance to get everyone together and crack on.
Safe to say there was plenty of mud, plenty of laughs, and a few hilarious moments along the way. But more than that, it was a reminder of what community in farming and local business is meant to look like - people seeing a gap, rolling their sleeves up, and helping each other move forward.
Massive thanks to the Booth Welsh crew for stepping in. We’ll get those trees replaced, and we’ll keep pushing biodiversity on the farm - even when the weather tries its best to knock us sideways." - Farmer Bryce, Mossgiel Farm
Carbon Reduction Plan
As a responsible business growth specialist, Think Partnership recognise the importance of making a lasting commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially to support the wider global ambitions of limiting global temperature increase and planetary impacts.
Our Net Zero Committment
The Carbon Reduction Plan communicates our Carbon emission reduction ambitions, in line with the UN Race to zero campaign aimed at rallying leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery. The pledge objectives include:
Pledge: reach net zero greenhouse gases as soon as possible,
Plan: disclose how 2030 carbon targets will be met
Progress: take action to meet targets covering scopes 1,2 and 3
Publish: publicly report greenhouse gas emissions & progress against target each year
Persuade: be an advocate actively supporting climate policies at a regional and national level encouraging other organisations to also enact this pledge
Over One Million tonnes of emissions measured in the last decade
The Think Partnership team has over a decade’s experience in preparing and verifying carbon accounts and ESG reports and has helped over 200 companies to produce credible and verified carbon plans over the last decade bringing over 1 million tonnes of emissions under management.
Carbon Reduction Plan
Think Partnership’s policy and strategy for sourcing and procurement revolve around the locality of resources which are being purchased as lower carbon miles and higher social impact are associated with these actions. For example, In terms of food and drink for events, locality is one of several factors to consider as waste reduction may be mitigated through careful resource management. The Sustainabiliy Zone at Scotlands Food and Drink show at the SEC in Glasgow in January 2025 was created using fully circular principles, materials were repurposed before and after the event. Through applying the ten (10) R’s of circularity; rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle, remanufacture, recover, refurbish, and repair, Think Partnership aim to limit their environmental impact while making a local economic contribution in the areas where events take place.
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