Leeds headquartered sustainability consultancy Tunley Environmental is reporting a record financial year with annual turnover surpassing £1million for the first time, reaching £1.55million for 2023-24.

The company, founded by 36-year-old entrepreneur Dr Will Beer in 2017, achieved growth of more than 200 per cent for the year, its third successive year of turnover growth in excess of 50 per cent.

Key to the success has been Tunley’s expertise in working with maritime and ports clients looking to monitor and reduce their emissions, this sector accounting for more than a third of turnover, though growth has also been seen across other sectors.

Working on an increasing number of projects has also enabled Tunley to bolster its headcount from 10 to 17 in just 12 months.

Dr Beer said that the growth is due to Tunley Environmental’s ability to provide a comprehensive service for clients looking to both benchmark their emissions output and work in a more sustainable manner.

“We have seen unprecedented growth across multiple sectors, with our consultants working across pharma, EV manufacturing, industrial procurement, and construction and architecture in addition to ports and maritime in the past year,” he said.

“Those we work with are looking to benchmark their emissions, work more sustainably and also, where possible, tap into any available funding and yet do this while maintaining a profitable business, often against a harsh economic climate.”

More than half of the turnover for 2023-24 was achieved outside the UK, testament to Tunley’s growing global reputation and ability to prepare clients for grant rounds in their locality.

“Our team incorporates many PHD level environmental scientists, and they work with clients to fully understand their business and current carbon output,” Dr Beer said. “From this, we can create a benchmark assessment and a plan for reducing emissions that can be presented with complete confidence. The rigour of the work stands up to robust scrutiny, including that of grant applications.”

One such example has been Tunley’s biggest ever single deal to produce a net zero carbon emissions strategy by 2040 for Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority in Michigan. Dr Beer said huge work was undertaken on the project in 2023 with Tunley working with multiple businesses at the port to produce a baseline emissions inventory. An initial challenge, Dr Beer reveals, was in “getting everyone together and forming collaborative relationships to build trust.”

A plan could then be implemented, looking at emissions from different aspects of port operations, including shipping, goods handling and trucking, then creating a timeline of targets for each.

“Detroit Wayne County has been a fascinating and challenging example of our work and is indicative of our ability to take on complex projects,” Dr Beer says.

“We are seeing increasing demand from ports to create a plan for greater sustainability, especially with huge funding opportunities on the horizon. In the United States, ports can benefit from $3billion funding through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ‘Clean Ports Program’ while the EU, UK and APAC also have an increasing focus on cutting maritime emissions.

“Funding windows are often short, so it is essential to have a plan in place. We are getting an increasing number of calls asking us to come and assess current outputs and help create that plan.”

Construction is also a buoyant market for Tunley and accounts for around 20 per cent of turnover, driven in part by its thought leadership in advising how the industry can cut the emissions created through the manufacture of materials.

“Although a very different industry to maritime, many of the challenges are the same as there are external pressures to hit sustainability targets including environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria,” said Dr Beer. “But there is also often funding available which we can help clients secure cutting the cost of projects and helping the environment.

”There is further a growing realisation that more sustainable building leads to lower maintenance and energy costs creating better investment opportunities for developers.”

Dr Beer said 2024 is starting strongly with the company targeting revenues of £2.8million for the next financial year.

He said artificial intelligence is set to play a key role in the future operations of the business, streamlining activity.

“As a relatively new company, we thrive by being innovative harnessing the power of tech alongside the expertise of our team of scientists,” Dr Beer says.

“The knowledge and insight of our team cannot be replicated, but A.I. will enable us to crunch project data far faster passing on more detailed reports and sustainability recommendations to clients.

“The past year was hugely exciting but we feel we are only just getting started.”