Since its founding in 2010, GreenZone Cleaning & Support Services has set out to be a different kind of cleaning company – one that embeds Social Value at the heart of everything it does.
To date, the company has delivered £17.6 million in Social Value as measured by the Social Value TOM System™, including a standout £4.8 million from head office activity and £800,000 from site-based initiatives in 2024 alone.
This case study takes a closer look at GreenZone’s Social Value journey and the legacy the team is building.
15 years of purpose-led growth
Since its founding in 2010, GreenZone has steadily built a reputation for responsible and impactful service delivery. From the outset, the team embraced high environmental standards, earning early recognition through:
By 2012, the business was measuring its carbon footprint, supporting charities, and had become a Living Wage Recognised Service Provider and secured an Investors in People Accreditation – later getting their Gold status.
The business went on to form an ethical supply chain and partnerships with responsible suppliers like Metsä, earning industry acclaim at the Facilities Management Awards and its first Green Apple Award for environmental best practice. It was also named a Green World Ambassador.
From winning Planet Mark’s Best Company Award in 2018 to becoming a Social Enterprise UK supporter in 2021, GreenZone kept sharpened its impact – securing EcoVadis Gold Sustainability Ratings and being shortlisted for the Global Good Awards.
In recent years, GreenZone’s impact has earned national recognition:
- Private Sector Leadership Award at the 2022 Social Value Awards
- A renewal of their Royal Warrant by Appointment to HM The King (2024)
- Green Apple Environment Award – Gold (2024)
GreenZone wins the Private Sector Leadership Award at the 2022 Social Value Awards!
Working with Social Value Portal
While Social Value has always been central to GreenZone’s mission, the business made a strategic decision in 2021 to enhance the way it measured, managed, and communicated its impact.
GreenZone chose to partner with Social Value Portal and adopted the Social Value TOM System as a consistent and independently validated methodology – the first in the industry to do so.
The Social Value TOM System
This enabled the business to quantify impact across four key areas:
- Jobs: Promoting local skills and employment
- Growth: Supporting the growth of responsible regional businesses
- Social: Building healthier, safer, and more resilient communities
- Environment: Protecting and improving the natural environment
Like any company focusing on Social Value, historically the difficulty has been to measure the impact we have made and to put a monetary value to it – SVP allows us to do this. SVP’s TOM System provides a consistent, transparent, and evidence-based way to measure Social Value. SVP and the TOM System have been transformative in quantitatively capturing our social impact as a Head Office function, but also at the individual customer site level. The TOM System has allowed us to identify and develop our key social impacts over the last 5 years, and in 2024 we are pleased to have delivered £4.8M in Social Value!
Grace Rupert, ESG & Sustainability Manager, GreenZone
How is GreenZone delivering Social Value?
Supporting local economies and social enterprises
One of the most significant ways GreenZone delivers Social Value is through its commitment to local economies. Wherever possible, the company hires locally and builds its supply chains around small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises, keeping the value it generates in the communities it serves.
Working with Social Enterprises
GreenZone partners with a range of mission-driven suppliers that reflect its environmental and social values:
Hey Girls
With 1 in 10 people in the UK unable to access or afford period products, Hey Girls addresses period poverty through its Buy One, Give One campaign. Every product purchased results in another donated to someone in need. GreenZone has installed Hey Girls dispensers at its head office and across participating client sites.
Fruitful Office
GreenZone provides fresh fruit to staff through Fruitful Office. All packaging is 100% compostable or recyclable and for every basket delivered, a tree is planted. In 2024 alone, GreenZone facilitated the planting of 283 trees.
Blue Bear Coffee
By sourcing from Blue Bear Coffee, a social enterprise fighting human trafficking, GreenZone supports ethical trade and survivor rehabilitation.
Volunteering and charitable donations
All GreenZone head office staff receive dedicated ‘Giving Days’ for volunteering. In 2024, the company partnered with OnHand to connect employees with local causes, making it easier than ever to contribute time.
A Charitable Committee representing employees across the business leads GreenZone’s donation strategy. Over the past five years, they’ve supported 50+ causes – here are just a few of the highlights from the past year:
- Diabetes UK: Wendy Bignold, Operations Director’s Assistant at GreenZone, took on the Edinburgh Half Marathon in May for a cause close to her heart – she raised over £900, 258% over her target!
- LandAid SleepOut: Members of the head office took part and raised £6.3k – a record for GreenZone!
- Thames21: The team participated in a litter pick on the Thames riverbank, where they collected over 60 bags of rubbish!
- Crisis at Christmas: GreenZone’s annual donation matched the cost of helping ten people for a full year.
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Carbon reduction
For 12 consecutive years, GreenZone has externally certified its Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint, setting a new benchmark by becoming the first UK cleaning company to achieve this through Planet Mark.
To go further, GreenZone moved to a new leading carbon certification provider, developing a hybrid methodology to capture Scope 3 emissions. With support from GEP Environmental, they’ve since created a first-of-its-kind carbon model that measures emissions at individual client sites.
Other key actions included:
- Fleet investment: 31 of 36 vehicles are now electric or hybrid.
- Carbon removal: GreenZone became a Climate Pioneer in 2022, investing in Climeworks for direct air carbon capture and underground storage, and CarbonCure for embedding CO₂ into concrete through mineralisation.
GreenZone’s people
The cleaning sector is often challenged by high staff turnover, but GreenZone is committed to creating a working environment where people feel supported and recognised.
Employees have access to:
- Health Assured and MetLife: A 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme offering confidential support on everything from mental health and financial concerns to family matters and legal advice.
- GreenZone’s Emergency Hardship Fund: For staff facing difficult circumstances can also access, promoted internally to ensure it’s widely known and available.
- The Dolly Parton Imagination Library: Employees with children under five receive a free book every month.
- English for Business lessons: Delivered through Commercial Language Training Ltd and tailored to real workplace needs.
Employee achievements are also regularly celebrated through the Above and Beyond Awards, recognising staff who go the extra mile.
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Supporting clients to deliver Social Value
GreenZone’s commitment to Social Value doesn’t end with its own operations – the business actively supports client-led Social Value initiatives too.
In 2023, GreenZone supported Wrap Up London with clients at 200 Aldersgate and 20 Old Bailey, where over 45 coats were collected for people in need. GreenZone provided a dedicated mobile team to collect and deliver donations across the site and from their own head office.
For five years, GreenZone has backed their client Mapp’s ‘Let’s Can Hunger’ campaign, contributing food bank donations. The team have also rolled up their sleeves to assist with beach cleans, lunch clubs, and soup kitchen volunteering.
Looking forward
Never content to stand still, GreenZone continues to push boundaries. In 2025, the business will sponsor the Accountability & Reporting category at the Social Value Awards, showing ongoing leadership and commitment.
GreenZone doesn’t treat Social Value as a box-ticking exercise or a series of one-off initiatives — quite the opposite. It’s embedded in everything they do. They’ve led the way in the cleaning sector, but they’ve also set a powerful example of what it means to be a true Social Value champion across any industry.
Claire Houston-Holland, Strategic Account Manager, Social Value Portal
Looking for a purpose-led cleaning partner that can support your own Social Value ambitions? Get in touch with GreenZone.
For more inspiring accounts of organisations driving positive change, check out our Success Stories.
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