Fish City Celebrates Bronze Achievement in the 2025 NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey

Fish City is delighted to announce that we have been awarded Bronze Level in the 2025 Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey—a recognition that reflects our ongoing commitment to reducing our environmental impact and continually improving our sustainability performance. We were new to the survey this year, amongst just 23 small businesses and 14 organisations of all sizes in the Food & Drink Sector that participated in this year’s survey. This achievement marks an important milestone on our journey toward operating as responsibly and transparently as possible.

About the NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey

The NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey is Northern Ireland’s leading assessment of organisational environmental performance. Conducted annually by Business in the Community, the self-assessment survey is open to organisations across all sectors who wish to publicly demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility.

For 27 years, the survey—initiated by George Dawson, former Director of Business in the Community’s ARENA Network—has encouraged organisations to evaluate, report on, and improve their environmental impacts. It provides a robust platform for companies to benchmark their progress against peers while identifying opportunities for better, more sustainable business practices. Over time, it has become widely recognised as a positive driver of greener, more resilient operations across Northern Ireland.

2025 Survey Highlights

This year’s survey saw strong engagement and encouraging progress across participating organisations:

1. Participation Growth
   A total of 150 organisations took part in 2025, including 23 small businesses—a 14% increase from the previous year.

2. Overall Performance
   The average score across all participants was 77%.

3. Top Performing Sectors
   The mining and quarrying sector secured the highest overall score, with education close behind.

4. Employee Engagement

   • 95% of participants actively promote environmental awareness among their employees (e.g., inductions, internal campaigns, regular communications).

   • 89% embed environmental issues into their organisational culture through structured policies and continuous improvement initiatives.

5. Customer Engagement

   • 81% raise customer awareness of key environmental issues and communicate how they are managing their impacts.

   • 80% collaborate directly with customers to reduce environmental impacts associated with their products or services.

6. Supplier Engagement

   • 79% have procurement policies that explicitly incorporate environmental criteria or address supply chain sustainability, with these policies being senior-management approved and reviewed annually.

7. GHG Emissions Measurement & Reporting
   More than half of participants measure Scope 3 emissions, including:

   • Business travel (68%)

   • Waste generated in operations (67%)

   • Fuel- and energy-related activities (64%)

   • Employee commuting (57%)

8. Climate Risk

   • 53% have quantified potential climate-related risks and developed senior-level-approved mitigation plans that are now being implemented.

9. Resource Efficiency & Circular Economy

   • 79% have policies or action plans aimed at reducing waste and selecting materials with high recycled content or previously used equipment to lower environmental impact.

Find out more and download the report at www.bitcni.org.uk/niebs, and learn more about our sustainability journey on our website at www.fish-city.com/sustainability.

#NIGreenBusiness