Hull-based Bio-D were presented with the accolade by the Lord-Lieutenant for the East Riding of Yorkshire.
The managing director of a Hull manufacturer has praised his staff after the company received a King’s Award – one of the most prestigious accolades in business.
Bio-D produce sustainable and environmentally friendly cleaning products. They were granted the award in the Sustainable Development category, which was presented by the Lord-Lieutenant for the East Riding of Yorkshire in a ceremony at Bio-D’s headquarters at the Marfleet Technology Park.
Managing director Lloyd Atkin said the award was “testimony to the whole team” who had done a “huge amount of work” to earn such an honour.
“For the team to receive that recognition is amazing. It goes beyond monetary value and straight to the heart of our business. It shows we are making a difference.”
Bio-D were founded in the 1989 by Michael Barwell, whose job at the time was to clean commercial ships for which he used heavy-duty safety equipment including a respirator.
Michael was shocked to discover that many of the ingredients in the products he used at work were also found in household cleaners and he began looking for more environmentally and people-friendly alternatives.
Lloyd Atkin was the first employee hired by Michael and took over Bio-D when the latter retired.
“I came here as part of an old-fashioned apprentice scheme and was the office junior,” Lloyd says. “For 25 years people have been telling me is the right time to be in this kind of business, and I think now they’re probably right.
“People are living more sustainable lifestyles now and we’re ahead of the curve because we’ve had that ethos since day one.”
All of Bio-D’s products are naturally derived from sustainable plant-based sources and they are B-Corp accredited, which measures a company’s social and environmental impact.
“When we started Bio-D the market for vegan, allergy-friendly, cruelty-free products was very small, so we had to create something that appealed to all those niches.
“The accreditations we’ve built up over the years has left us with a unique product, so people know we’ve got the paperwork to back up our claims.”
Heather Nixon is Bio-D’s sustainability manager and is credited by Lloyd as playing a key role in driving forward the work to earn the King’s Award.
“And on a personal level I’m a huge royalist, so to get an award from the King’s office is the highest honour,” Heather says. “Sustainability isn’t a new trend to Bio-D, it runs through every part of our business and that’s why our customers are so loyal.”
Recent sustainability initiatives include producing so much power from their solar panels that they now sell excess energy back to the grid, and installing an electric boiler to ensure the facility no longer uses gas.
Bio-D also run a “closed loop” process for their 20-litre containers, meaning their customers can return the containers and the company will relaunder and reuse them.
“Since we launched that scheme in 2021 we’ve saved over 13,000 containers from going to landfill,” Heather says. “There is no law saying we must put as much effort into sustainability as we do – and I don’t think either myself or Lloyd would’ve described ourselves as environmentalists when either of us first started at Bio-D.
“But we are always striving to do more, and we get amazing feedback from our customers about our work. What’s nice is we also have companies we’ve worked with coming to us and asking for help to make their own businesses more sustainable.”
Graham Norton has been working at Bio-D for a decade and is now a production supervisor.
“I saw a documentary where it showed the amount of plastic in the sea and the damage it’s doing to the wildlife, and it’s so sad,” the 51-year-old says. “To know we’re all working towards reducing that feels great.
“I wasn’t so bothered about all the environmental stuff before working here but when you see it in action it starts to make sense. I have two young kids and I want them to grow up in a nice world.”