Business Spotlight: BIC Innovation

Based in Gaerwen and Bridgend, BIC Innovation is a B Corp certified employee-owned consultancy in Wales which supports businesses to achieve their growth ambitions through expert advice and innovative strategies.

BIC Innovation joined GlobalWelsh’s Business membership programme in 2023. We caught up with Hilary Centeleghe, business development manager, to talk about why they’re unique and how their environmental programme could save businesses money…

Introduce us to BIC Innovation…

Founded in 2004, 2024 marks BIC Innovation’s 20th year anniversary. We provide innovative and strategic business support across a wide range of industry sectors. From marketing strategy, to business innovation, new product development and exporting, we do everything we can to help businesses grow and prosper. As trusted partners in the delivery of Welsh Government, Innovate UK and European projects, we bridge the gap between public sector bodies and SMEs, ensuring that policy objectives translate into tangible results for growth orientated SMEs. Our team of over 50, are at their best when helping businesses to innovate, scale, improve or overcome complex challenges.

Working closely with businesses, one common reoccurring theme we see is the topic of decarbonisation. As public sector institutions and large corporations move closer to their decarbonisation goals, they have already begun to scrutinise their supply chain more than ever before, which is prompting businesses to evaluate their carbon emissions. However, we recognised that decarbonisation and climate reporting can seem intimidating. That is why, working with Greener Edge, we have established trac-C, which aims to support as many SMEs in Wales as possible to understand their carbon footprint and how to begin their decarbonisation journey effectively and economically.

"We provide innovative and strategic business support across a wide range of industry sectors. From marketing strategy, to business innovation, new product development and exporting, we do everything we can to help businesses grow and prosper."

Tell us more about trac-C…

trac-C is our solution to help businesses decarbonise in a way that suits their timescales, budget, and needs. Current environmental guidelines often only offer a general overview of what it means to be sustainable with no practical information on what each business actually needs to do to comply. This has led to a great deal of confusion for business owners as they’re not sure where to start on their environmental journey, and so we thought a better structure could be put in place. 

Working with our colleagues at Greener Edge, who offer the technical knowledge, we have designed a selection of packages for businesses of all sizes to monitor and assess their carbon footprint and then look at the potential solutions in a realistic manner.

We are taking companies on a structured, supported, and measured decarbonisation journey – founded on expertise, realism, economic sense, with sound pragmatic, easy to implement solutions. We’re also helping businesses to leverage carbon savings with usable marketing techniques and strategies to ensure organisations are transparent, reducing the risk of greenwashing.

Decarbonisation is a massive talking point at the moment in business so by providing a suite of packages which offer digestible information and practical help in a supportive environment, businesses will be able to implement a data-backed strategy which will allow them to explore sustainable solutions, which benefit the business, not just as a stamp on paper. 

"trac-C is our solution to help businesses decarbonise in a way that suits their timescales, budget, and needs. Current environmental guidelines often only offer a general overview of what it means to be sustainable with no practical information on what each business actually needs to do to comply."

What impact are you hoping trac-C will have on businesses?

trac-C gives a clear picture of their carbon footprint and what they can realistically do to improve this. We support organisation to work towards net zero, navigate complex and often contradictory information out there, and make their decarbonisation a more productive journey. The impact this has on businesses is that they can set meaningful emission reduction targets using data not fiction, make their business more attractive with transparent carbon reporting, identify emission sources that can lead to reduced costs and improve operational efficiency and be more innovative through sustainability.

Not every business will be able to address their sustainability goals by having solar panels or heat pumps installed, and this is where the majority need our help. We don’t have a vested interest in selling a specific product or service so we’re basing the solution on the data that comes from their carbon footprint. 

"We’re very excited to build our profile and better establish ourselves on GlobalWelsh Connect which is a great online platform for making connections."

What makes you unique?

We are impartial in everything we do. We know that one size does not fit all. We work in partnership with organisations as extended members of their team, who are equally invested in seeing success. We bring our passion, expertise, and solutions to businesses. As a critical friend, we’re not afraid to challenge the status quo, but will always offer practical solutions, tailored to that business needs. Some of the interventions we provide are available through funded initiatives. If a business is eligible for support through one of our funded programmes, we always let them know. Equally, if we feel we aren’t the right people for the job, we do our best to signpost to more suitable support. 

BIC Innovation is driven by passionate individuals. We won't ever generalise or give you figures based on a general understanding because that’s not sustainable and realistic for every business. We also offer a human element, with industry experts with years of knowledge and experience. 

What are your 2024 goals?

We found out about GlobalWelsh through an online event with M-Sparc and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to support Wales and meet with other Welsh businesses and entrepreneurs. One of our main goals is to better engage with the GlobalWelsh community in Wales and overseas. We’re very excited to build our profile and better establish ourselves on GlobalWelsh Connect which is a great online platform for making connections. You only get out what you put in and we are looking forward to working with GlobalWelsh more closely and exploring the opportunities!

Connect with Hilary on GlobalWelsh Connect >>