O.C.O Technology hosts visit by The Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk
We were thrilled to welcome The Lady Dannatt, MBE, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, to our Wretham operation on Thursday, March 13.
As HM The King’s representative, Lady Dannatt presented Group Chief Executive Officer Steve Greig with the King’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development 2024. The prestigious award consisted of a Grant of Appointment and an engraved glass plaque bearing the Emblem.
Speaking to an audience of around 120 guests, including O.C.O customers from as far afield as Japan, Spain, Italy and the US, Lady Dannatt said: “I am absolutely delighted to be here today for this very, very special presentation of the King’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development 2024.
“The handover of industry awards on behalf of His Majesty is always a delightful duty and I have been given the most phenomenal tour here today, probably one of the most interesting I have been on. The award is clearly very well deserved.
“These awards have become the most prestigious recognition a company can receive and are proof that UK businesses are increasingly visionary in leading the world in the development of new environmentally sustainable practices. Huge congratulations to O.C.O Technology.”
Assisting Lady Dannatt was Deputy Lieutenant, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Lonsdale TD, who officially presented the Grant of Appointment, signed by His Majesty the King.
To mark the occasion, Steve Greig presented the Lord-Lieutenant with a certificate announcing it had retired one carbon credit in her name – representing the verified removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This represents 431 average UK car journeys and is equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed by 45 trees in a year.
Steve said: “We were honoured to welcome Lady Dannatt to our facility and to have the opportunity to share insight into our groundbreaking work.
“The fact we could assure Lady Dannatt that her attendance was genuinely carbon negative made the occasion even more special and was a perfect way to demonstrate the benefits of our high-quality carbon credits.
“Receiving our King’s Award has been an absolute pinnacle of our success and we are hugely proud of our achievements. Not only has it underlined our own commitment to carbon capture and sustainability, but we are now able to fly the flag for UK technology around the world in an even bigger and better way than we did before.”
Among other attendees was Cllr Keith Gilbert, Chairman of Breckland Council, and during his speech Steve also thanked the council for its support.
Prior to the presentation, Lady Dannatt enjoyed a tour of O.C.O’s £10 million manufacturing facility, first visiting the test laboratory to see how the ash blends are mixed, before viewing the manufacturing lines and talking to the team to understand more about the production processes. The tour ended with an overview of the different sized aggregate ready for delivery to the construction sector.
Speaking afterwards, the Lord-Lieutenant said: “I found the tour very surprising and deeply impressive. I am not a scientist, but the concept was quite extraordinary and the fact the aggregate is carbon negative is quite phenomenal.
“If this is the way forward, it is to be commended on every level, O.C.O has a fantastic team and a fantastic product and this was a brilliant experience. I am very proud that here in Norfolk we have such cutting-edge technology solutions.”
O.C.O Chairman Richard Skehens, who hosted Lady Dannatt during her visit, also paid tribute to colleagues Karen Finch and Dr Peter Gunning for their hard work in compiling the King’s Award entry form.
When the awards were announced last May, O.C.O was one of only 28 organisations nationwide to be named as a recipient in the Sustainable Development category. It was commended for adding value to stakeholders’ environmental performance (through carbon reductions and waste avoided), while its research and development programme was highlighted for fostering innovation in new product applications, such as asphalt and concrete.
