Southwark Climate Collective wins Best Climate Action Award

The Better Bankside team are celebrating after winning Best Climate Action Award at the 2026 Association of Town & City Management Industry Awards, for our Southwark Climate Collective (SCC) SME sustainability programme. The awards identify the best of the best in the urban place management industry across the UK and Ireland.

Over the past three years, our SCC project has helped more than 200 Southwark SMEs turn sustainability from a good intention into practical action – because climate action shouldn’t be reserved for organisations with dedicated sustainability teams and deep pockets. Through tailored support, expert guidance and a collaborative approach, SCC helps businesses cut emissions, save money and build resilience – proving that small interventions can unlock big change.

Gideon Taylor, Director of Place, commented:

“We are beyond thrilled! Over the past three years, SCC has helped more than 200 Southwark SMEs turn sustainability from just a good intention, into practical action. Getting an award is important to validate all the hard work from our team, experts and participating businesses.

Where do we go from here? We’re continuing to work with our members and programme partners to evolve SCC’s tailored support. We are also focused on elevating two big asks:

1. How can we financially incentivise SMEs?
2. Why isn’t there a national framework of support for SMEs to become more sustainable?

The profile the award gives is important, as we want things to change around the current level of sustainability support given to SMEs.”

For more information on our sustainability projects, contact Eleanor Holmes, Sustainability Manager, eh@betterbankside.co.uk.