From Manufacturing to Meaningful Change: How Metal Assemblies Is Embedding Sustainability Through Green Advantage
24 Aug 2026
Published in: Member News
Metal Assemblies' Peter Douglas discusses how ACEE's Green Advantage programme helped his business with sustainability.
For West Bromwich-based Metal Assemblies, sustainability was something the business wanted to understand better, and not simply be a box to tick. Joining Aston Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship's Green Advantage programme gave General Manager Peter Douglas and his team the opportunity to explore what sustainability could mean in a manufacturing business and how it could support the company's future.
"The Green Advantage Programme has been quite transformational in allowing us to embed sustainability within the business."
One of the biggest benefits has been the opportunity to explore areas that were relatively new to the team. Rather than remaining an abstract concept, sustainability became something the business could relate directly to its operations, decision-making and future growth.
"There's lots of things within the programme that we as a business weren't aware of, such as circular economy and being able to understand our carbon impact. So it's been a really good learning experience for the company as a whole."
The programme has also given Metal Assemblies the chance to learn from businesses outside its own sector. Sharing experiences with other organisations working through similar questions has been an important part of the experience; particularly when there isn't always an obvious starting point for businesses looking to improve their environmental performance.
"It was so good to connect with other like-minded individuals who are trying to learn all about sustainability and embed it within their business."
For Peter, there was also a real sense of reassurance in discovering just how many other businesses were working through the same challenges.
"I didn't realise how many different people and how many different industries were going through this similar journey to us."
That sense of shared learning is an important part of what Green Advantage offers. Sustainability can sometimes feel like something businesses are expected to have already figured out, particularly as expectations around carbon, resources and environmental impact continue to change. In reality, many businesses are still working out what the right approach looks like for them.
For Metal Assemblies, Green Advantage has provided the knowledge, practical understanding and connections to start making sustainability a more integrated part of the business. And, as Peter's experience shows, sometimes the most useful first step is simply having the opportunity to learn what you didn't know you needed to know.
Ready to take the first step? The Green Advantage programme supports Black Country businesses to build practical sustainability knowledge, understand their environmental impact and identify opportunities for improvement, innovation and growth.
Comments
Post A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please click here to login.
Our Patrons
