Testimonials
Fenwick
Fenwick uses very few consultants - our philosophy is to do things in house wherever we can. However, Fenwick's Directors made an exception for these regulations because ecoVeritas can do this work at significantly lower cost than ourselves. ecoVeritas has a six year working relationship with our company and importantly have a full understanding of the retail sector. As Company Secretary of Fenwick I have responsibility to ensure we comply with these regulations and ecoVeritas’ management of the group has given me increased confidence that we are. It has reduced our costs by 65%, and also freed up my time to tackle other priorities.
Jill Anders, Company Secretary, Fenwick
Fortnum and Mason
Since joining REPRA I have been delighted to be able to hand over the calculation of our packaging waste obligation to ecoVeritas, so that I can focus my time and energy on more core issues. The costs of their service represent excellent value for money, and the accuracy of our packaging waste calculation has improved significantly. In addition, as a member of a club of seven major department stores, there are opportunities to discuss significant issues of mutual interest such as carbon footprinting and waste management.
David Woodroof, Logistics Manager, Fortnum and Mason
Harrods
As Central Procurement Manager of Harrods, keeping costs down is a key part of my job. Working with other department stores has allowed Harrods to keep our costs low, certainly well below what we could have achieved if our own staff did this work. In addition, Harrods have found that the rigour of ecoVeritas’methodology has significantly improved our confidence in the accuracy of our calculation. It's reassuring to know that we are fully complying with the regulations.
Asif Shafi, Head of Purchasing, Harrods
Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols became a member of REPRA in 2006, and we have been very happy with the service provided by ecoVeritas. We have the confidence of knowing that our packaging waste obligation is being calculated to a high level of accuracy (with a sample size which increases every year) and at a very reasonable cost. I also appreciate the forum that REPRA provides for discussion of relevant topics with other members. I would recommend that other similar retailers consider joining REPRA, so that they too could enjoy these benefits, and also further widen the pool of experience at REPRA discussion forums.
Mark Knight, Office Services Manager, Harvey Nichols
House of Fraser
House of Fraser's packaging obligation calculation costs decreased by 60% when REPRA was formed in 2003. It has proved to be more efficient in terms of resources, especially staff time, than in previous years. We would like to encourage other department stores to join the group. Ultimately, this means that a greater proportion of what we all spend goes on recycling rather than administration.
Bernadette Winney, Commercials & Development, House of Fraser
John Lewis
Our intention in initiating this group was to collectively reduce the costs and the staff requirements for both ourselves and our suppliers in delivering compliance to the Packaging Waste Regulations. Before REPRA, each department store member would have written separately to its suppliers to request packaging weight data, and used one of a variety of several different computer models to estimate their packaging obligation. By joining together, and employing a single consultancy, we have all reduced our costs significantly.
ecoVeritas offer economies of scale by, for example, sending a single data request to each supplier on behalf of all members. Such savings have allowed us to greatly increase our supplier sample size. As a result, we have even greater confidence that our calculation is 'as accurate as reasonably possible', as required by law. Our suppliers have also greatly benefited from this simplification. The establishment of REPRA means member retailers use a consistent methodology, sharing data whenever appropriate, in a manner that fully respects the need for confidentiality.
Moira Clark, Assistant Project Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, John Lewis
Selfridges
In 2004, Selfridges decided to contract out the calculation of our packaging waste obligation, in order to reduce the burden on our own staff. Of the companies tendering for the contract, REPRA offered the best value for money by a wide margin. As a result of their assistance, our calculation costs are much lower than they were, while the accuracy of the calculation has increased significantly. REPRA meetings also give us the opportunity to share best practice with decision makers from like-minded organisations on issues such as WEEE and packaging minimisation.
Adam Cowper-Smith, Cleaning Manager, Selfridges