For PAs and event planners looking for eco-friendly places to stay or host events, it’s good to know that the Goodwood Hotel has just been nominated for a green UK business award.
The award is timed well as Goodwood reveals its plans to become one of the most sustainable estates in the world.
Goodwood is a unique sporting Estate set in 12,000 acres of beautiful South Downs countryside. Owned by the Dukes of Richmond since 1697, it is famous for three of the biggest events in the social and sporting calendar: the Festival of Speed, the Qatar Goodwood Festival and Goodwood Revival.
The West Sussex estate’s award-winning entertaining and hospitality venues include the magnificent Goodwood House, The Goodwood Hotel and Health Club, The Kennels private members’ club, 2 championship golf courses and its flagship sustainable restaurant, Farmer Butcher Chef. The estate’s restaurants are supplied with organic meat, dairy and cheeses from Goodwood Home Farm, one of the largest self-sustaining organic farms in Europe.
Using green energy sources
Goodwood’s approach extends beyond the straightforward ownership of land and property to encompass each and every event and enterprise run on the estate. Director of Estate Sales, Isobel Starbuck explained: “We want to lead by example and are committed to undertaking a range of initiatives to achieve our sustainability goals. From solar panels, to rewilding and biodiversity projects, to biomass boilers fuelled from our own sustainably managed forests. We’re taking great strides every year to reach our goal of being one of the most sustainable estates in the world.”
Hot water and electricity to the 91-bedroom countryside hotel is now powered by a new £6 million biomass boiler – one of the largest ever installed in the UK – and has led to the hotel being named as a finalist in the UK’s top hospitality industry awards, The Cateys. The hotel’s bio-mass boiler is fuelled by 3,500 tonnes of straw from its Festival of Speed, 2,600 tonnes of woodchip from Goodwood’s forestry team and 1,000 tonnes of waste wood from across the estate. It is predicted that these measures will reduce the estate’s CO2 output by 5,100 tonnes.
In addition, the two golf courses are sustainability certified and have earned an international award for their environmental stewardship.
Elsewhere on the estate;
- Goodwood’s historic Motor Circuit and Aerodrome have installed solar panels to enable Goodwood to switch to a 100 per cent renewable tariff.
- There have been 78,000 new trees planted across the 12,000-acre estate in a huge woodland creation project.
- A new Goodwood Education Trust Centre has been opened offering outdoor learning opportunities and promotes sustainable food production, organic farming and conservation to visitors from schools, colleges and community groups.
Other green initiatives planned include creating a new foraging area with mixed fruit and nut trees next to the hotel for kitchen staff and guests.
Find out more about meetings and events at Goodwood here
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