Sustainable events

Key members of our team work closely with the University's Sustainability Team, environmental impact experts, improving our processes.

Sustainable catering

We are committed to food sustainability and reducing food miles. Our catering team purchase over £40,000 of organic veg annually from Manchester Veg People, a local cooperative of growers based in Manchester, and we also purchase free range milk from family run Stephensons Dairy in Lancashire.


Our tea, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar, orange and apple juice is Fairtrade and in 2025 we received a two star Fairtrade status. You can view our latest Fairtrade statement here. We purchase One Water, an ethical bottled water that donates all of its profits to fund PlayPump® water systems in Africa. Our eggs are free range and our fish appears on the Marine Conservation Society approved list, meaning that any fish deemed at most risk of extinction are not caught.

A Sustainable University

  • Environmental sustainability is a University priority as it is central to our core goal of social responsibility.
  • In 2025 Our University was ranked number 1 in the UK and Europe and 2nd in the world for social and environmental impact to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • The University created the 10,000 Actions programme which is the biggest sustainability initiative in higher education.
  • The University’s £1 billion Campus Masterplan is nearing completion and sustainability has been embedded throughout the building work with a target of a 40% carbon reduction target.
  • The University is also committed to zero carbon by 2038.
  • Living Campus Plan-the challenges of a growing urban campus alongside the opportunities a healthy environment provides for people and nature, led to the development of our Living Campus plan which has resulted in the provision of more green spaces. This will be of benefit to our conferences too who will be able to hire some of the new buildings and will also help delegates with their wellbeing as they can enjoy the lovely open spaces around campus.
  • We are part of the “Plastic Free Greater Manchester” Campaign.

Creating sustainable events

As a team we're passionate about reducing our carbon footprint.

Here are some of the initiatives we've put in place:-

Catering

  • We have an ethical and sustainable sourcing policy, including free-range eggs and chicken, Marine Conservation Society-approved fish, a locally-focused procurement policy and a commitment to sourcing our fresh vegetables and salad through a local organic farming cooperative
  • Free range milk for all event catering and in cafes across campus
  • Using One Water, an ethical bottled water, that donates all of its profits to fund PlayPump water systems in Africa
  • We also bottle our own water for use in events
  • We use Fairtrade tea, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar, orange and apple juice.
  • Completely plastic free delivered catering
  • Commitment to eliminating single use plastic-we charge 50p on all hot drinks sold in disposable cups, which has seen the use of reusable cups increase from 10% to 46%
  • Giving our events up to 2 days before the event to give us final catering numbers to ensure this figure is as accurate as possible and minimises any potential food waste
  • Food waste from events is distributed to charity or community fridges where possible.

A/V

  • Provision of energy efficient LED screens
  • SMART Technology
  • Laser projectors
  • Hybrid event options

Venues

  • Our largest conference venue University Place has a very good BREEAM rating
  • Our Manchester Museum was the first carbon literate Museum in the world
  • LED lighting
  • AquaAid water coolers in our year round meeting rooms
  • Recycling bins in all rooms and public areas
  • Responsible purchasing policy to ensure that any items needed for our meeting rooms are procured responsibly and sustainably