The Chief Executive Officer of Ibstock plc has been recognised for championing sustainability at this year’s East Midlands Leaders Awards (EMLA).
The EMLA category of Green Leader recognises regional business figures who are committed to being a ‘force for good’ and use their position to respond positively to climate change and environmental issues. Joe Hudson was rewarded for his demonstration of leadership on the green agenda as well as his encouragement of positive change within Ibstock’s supply chain and the wider construction industry.
Having worked for the leading building products manufacturer since 2018, Joe Hudson has taken Ibstock on a journey towards greater sustainability, ensuring it evolves responsibly. Judges noted Mr Hudson’s role in driving change at Ibstock and the contribution this makes to minimising the environmental impacts of the construction sector as a whole. The award also recognises the many steps he has taken to build a sustainable future for the business.
Under Joe Hudson’s leadership as CEO of the FTSE250 listed Ibstock business, the company has benefited from a significant investment programme. This has resulted in the successful delivery of several significant decarbonisation projects. These projects have led to production efficiencies and the adoption of new technologies that will accelerate Ibstock’s path to Net Zero.
With Mr Hudson at the helm, Ibstock achieved its Sustainability Roadmap to 2025 ahead of time. As such, the company published its ESG 2030 Strategy in 2022, which has defined a new era of responsible business and serves as an important accelerator in speeding up the pace of positive change. Over the last 5 years, the company has been widely credited for its commitment to raising the bar for sustainable performance across its sector. As such, Ibstock can claim several ‘industry firsts’ and transformational investment projects including:
- Setting of ambitious carbon reduction targets of 40% by 2030 and net zero operations by 2040
- First building products manufacturer in the UK to introduce on-site solar power
- First building products manufacturer to procure 100% of electricity from renewable sources
- Investment of over £115m to construct state-of-the-art factories, one of which is an important pathfinder project on Ibstock’s path to net zero.
Under Joe’s leadership, Ibstock is now widely credited as leading the way in sustainability within the construction products industry.
Emily Landsborough, Head of ESG at Ibstock PLC, commented:
“We are all absolutely delighted about this award win for our CEO Joe Hudson. The East Midlands Leaders Award for ‘Green Leader’ is all about strong leadership and the ways in which businesses can act as a ‘force for good’ – this resonates precisely with the way Joe leads Ibstock. Although Joe would be the first to say that this award would not be possible without the wider Ibstock team we all know – and recognise – the enormous role he has played on an individual basis. He has worked so hard to lead different groups of people and inspire others to share his vision for a more sustainable, decarbonised future.
“I know that Joe would want to make a particular mention of our long serving Group Sustainability Manager Michael McGowan who retires, after 47 years in the industry, at the end of this week. Michael has pushed relentlessly and worked tirelessly on the green agenda finally finding, with Joe’s leadership, that the business can move quickly to make the changes we need to make positive, transformational change to address climate change. Leadership comes from many places, and we have been lucky at Ibstock to have both Michael and Joe banging the drum!”
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