One Year On: How PSI Turned Carbon Literacy Into Commercial Confidence

Working with The Green Accountants, PSI began taking practical steps to strengthen its sustainability position. The leadership team completed Carbon Literacy training, the wider team followed, and PSI began building the foundations it needed to improve contract readiness and respond confidently to client and tender requirements. It is a clear example of how Carbon Literacy for SMEs can move from awareness into practical commercial confidence.

For many SMEs, sustainability only becomes urgent when someone else asks for it.

A tender lands. A major client asks for carbon data. A supplier form includes questions about sustainability policies, emissions, targets, or Carbon Reduction Plans. Suddenly, something that once felt like a “nice to have” becomes a commercial requirement.

For PSI Production Services Group, that moment came when a major contract opportunity highlighted the growing importance of having a Carbon Reduction Plan in place.

At the time, PSI, like many businesses, recognised that sustainability mattered. But the commercial value of embedding it into the business had not yet fully landed. When supply chain expectations changed, the cost of being under-prepared became clear.

Rather than treating that moment as a setback, PSI used it as a turning point.

Working with The Green Accountants, PSI began taking practical steps to strengthen its sustainability position. The leadership team completed Carbon Literacy training, the wider team followed, and PSI began building the foundations it needed to improve contract readiness and respond confidently to client and tender requirements.

How Carbon Literacy helped PSI move from reacting to being ready

Since first sharing their story, PSI has made significant progress.

The business is now 100% Carbon Literate and has a new Carbon Reduction Plan in development for 2025. It has created a more robust sustainability policy, backed by clearer facts and figures, and is preparing to feature its sustainability commitments on a new website.

For Gareth Gordon, Technical Project Manager at PSI, one of the biggest changes is the confidence the business now has when opportunities come up.

Where PSI may previously have hesitated or been unable to respond fully to sustainability requirements, they can now demonstrate their commitments, evidence their progress, and answer sustainability questions with confidence.

Gareth described it as “keeping the company in the ring.”

That phrase captures the commercial reality for many SMEs. Sustainability is not just about winning new work. Increasingly, it is about staying eligible, staying visible, and staying competitive when clients and supply chains raise their expectations.

A stronger position in tenders

One of the clearest signs of progress has come through tendering.

Gareth shared that an opportunity PSI had tendered for four years ago came up again. This time, when sustainability questions appeared, PSI was able to give comprehensive answers.

That shift matters. It shows the difference between being caught out by requirements and being prepared for them.

PSI has also received feedback from a tender reviewer that its siustainability submission was among the highest-scoring documents in relation to the bid. For Gareth, this demonstrated the real business impact of the work PSI has done, and the value of understanding sustainability properly rather than treating it as a box-ticking exercise.

This reflects something The Green Accountants had told PSI early on: businesses may lose work if they do not act, but they can also win work if they do.

That message is now playing out in practice.

Building momentum accross the business

Carbon Literacy training helped open the door to more internal conversations about sustainability. Gareth shared that after the training, the team had reached a new threshold of understanding. Sustainability felt more practical, more relevant, and less out of reach.

That awareness has helped create momentum.
PSI has introduced a salary sacrifice scheme to encourage employees to move to electric vehicles, using Octopus. One team member has already taken up the scheme, and Gareth has also moved to an EV himself.

The business is also making more sustainable use of existing equipment, getting greater value from machines they already own rather than defaulting to replacement or unnecessary consumption.

These may sound like practical operational steps, but they are exactly where meaningful change starts. For SMEs, sustainability often becomes achievable when it moves from a broad ambition into specific decisions about energy, travel, equipment, procurement, and day-to-day behaviour.

New oportunities & industry recognition

PSI’s progress is also helping the business connect with wider sustainability networks in its sector.

The company now features on the Theatre Green Book’s Sustainable Suppliers Database and has signed up with Green Arts Northern Ireland, which focuses on supporting creators and the cultural sector. PSI is part of that supply chain.

Gareth is also increasingly involved in wider industry conversations, including sitting in on PLASA sustainability panels.

This shows how sustainability can move a business from simply responding to pressure into actively participating in the future of its sector.

The challenge of changing attitudes

The journey has not been without challenges.

For Gareth, one of the hardest parts has been shifting attitudes externally. He shared that some people still laugh at sustainable initiatives or fail to take them seriously.

Another challenge is the need for a clearer road-map. Without one, actions can be missed or momentum can fade. PSI’s new Carbon Reduction Plan should help create that structure, giving the business a clearer sense of what needs to happen next and how progress can be tracked.

This is an important lesson for other SMEs.

Enthusiasm matters, but structure matters too. Training can spark awareness, but a plan helps turn that awareness into consistent action.

Why this matters for other SMEs

Supply chain pressure often arrives before businesses feel ready. A client asks for carbon data. A tender requires a Carbon Reduction Plan. A supplier questionnaire asks for evidence of sustainability commitments. By the time those questions appear, it can already be too late to start from scratch.

For businesses that rely heavily on a small number of major contracts, the risk is even greater. Losing one opportunity can have a serious impact.

PSI’s journey shows why it is better to act before the pressure arrives.

By investing time and resources into Carbon Literacy, carbon reduction planning, sustainability policies, and team engagement, PSI has moved from being reactive to being ready. The business can now pursue opportunities with more confidence, respond to sustainability requirements more effectively, and show clients that it is taking meaningful action.

Gareth’s advice to other SMEs

There may be costs and time involved at the beginning, but the longer-term benefits can outweigh them. As he put it, when it comes to sustainability and supply chain expectations, it is “not if, it’s when.”

Change is coming, and businesses that wait until they are forced to catch up may lose positions they previously held.

His advice is simple: set time aside, allocate resources, and start.

For PSI, taking action has helped the business stay in the conversation, strengthen its tender responses, engage its team, and build a clearer path forward.

For other SMEs, the message is clear. Sustainability is no longer something to leave until later. It is becoming part of how businesses prove they are credible, prepared, and ready for the future.

Next Steps