Sustainability - Wildhive

"Building a sustainable Wildhive business means that both inside our hotels and outside in our grounds we follow best practice guidance where commercially possible, to ensure we are doing what we can to be the best we can. We understand our responsibilities towards a shared future for all, and we have an ongoing commitment to not only improve what we can do as a business, but also to raise awareness with our team and all of our guests. Sustainability is not just about the environment ~ our commitment aims to protect the planet and also deliver a holistic approach so that we can be a business that works for everyone, the team, suppliers and guests."

Ed Burrows & Charles Randall

Sourcing responsibly

We are conscious of our purchasing choices from the outset, engaging with and working closely with suppliers who share our ethos for protecting the future of our planet, caring for the people they employ and ensuring they receive a fair wage. Sourcing furnishings and artworks for the interior of the hotel from local suppliers and auction houses; recycling and reusing where possible. Choosing suppliers such as Belu Water who provide filtered water on tap, using their profits to support WaterAid, whose goal is to make clean water available to everyone, worldwide and 100 Acres English botanical toiletries, who supply Wildhive with refillable bottles to avoid single use items. The housekeeping team reduce harmful cleaning products onsite by using eco-friendly alternatives and the wonderful woodland accommodation is clad in reclaimed pallets from a local sawmill.

Food for thought

Our Best of British menu ensures we follow the seasons when purchasing food. We work wherever we can with local suppliers and since opening have developed some lovely relationships including Sam's Eggs, Dalton's Dairy, The Grumpy Farmer, Staffordshire Cheese and Smith Hall Farm. The luxury of using local suppliers means we can provide reusable containers for transporting goods which has reduced the need for packaging. What we can't source locally is provided by UK growers and producers ensuring our chefs buy 90% of produce from British suppliers. The kitchen team are practised in keeping food waste to a minimum and this is always considered when planning our menus, enabling the team to work towards a zero waste kitchen. We have a thriving kitchen garden which provides many home grown seasonal ingredients; vegetables, herbs, salads and soft fruits. We harvest our own fruit and honey from our planted orchards and 15 beehives.

Clean energy

We regularly monitor our energy consumption to ensure we continue to reduce our carbon footprint. To reduce our fossil fuel reliance we removed the oil fired boiler and LPG tanks and replaced them with a biomass boiler which provides all our heating and hot water for the House and Coach House. Our kitchen is 100% electric, we have EV charging points onsite and with the refurbishment of the house, installed low energy lighting throughout. Our Garden Room restaurant was designed by Tate + Co and features a living sedum grass roof bringing diversity and wildlife to what was previously a gravelled area. The Hives and Treehouses are independent and they use electricity from a clean energy producer and are serviced by the team who drive electric buggies. We offer guests a choice to reduce room cleaning if staying for multiple nights and encourage them to save water wherever possible, avoid changing towels daily, ensure the heating is off if windows are open, and lights are turned off when rooms are not in use.

Investing in People

At the heart of our business is the wellbeing of our team which is essential for creating happy, inspired people who enjoy coming to work and engaging with our guests. Our unique BeHive programme provides a range of incentives and security, enabling the team individual to progress, not only at work but also with their personal goals. We are focused on building long term relationships with our team members and have provided 95 jobs locally. We offer a 4 day week for our chefs and are now trialling this across other departments. We also value the importance of strong partnerships with our local suppliers, helping smaller businesses to grow by supporting them on a regular basis. For the team and guests alike, we have bicycles onsite and promote cycling, walking, hiking and immersing oneself within the landscape.

Debbie, David & Grace

Wildlife

We are located in a beautiful part of the English countryside on the edge of the Peak District National Park where nature abounds. The wild landscape illustrates the best of our country with rolling hills rising to high peaks, acres of fields with sheep and cattle grazing, rivers and streams criss-crossing and pretty unspoilt villages. At Wildhive we have restored the ancient woodland by clearing the many brambles and removing dead trees to allow for healthier growth. This has resulted in the floor of the woodland coming alive throughout the year with an abundance of wild flowers; snowdrops in late winter, followed by bluebells in spring and foxgloves in early summer to name but a few.

We have deer, badgers, squirrels, owls, pheasants, bats and a diverse range of birds and insects all sharing in this lovely habitat. We have planted 300 new trees and encourage guests to plant a tree during their stay. We have plans to extend the woodland with a proposed planting scheme of 4000 trees. Our 15 beehives provide honey for the hotel and the bee colonies help to pollinate up to a 2 mile radius of fields, meadows and hedgerows. We rewilded agricultural land, creating a wild meadow which is home to beautiful wild flowers and insects plus a newly planted orchard of fruit trees which will provide produce for the kitchen. We are members of the Countryside Stewardship scheme and promote a 'leave no trace' message to our team and guests so that we protect the natural beauty of the landscape that surrounds us and we are so fortunate to enjoy.

Woodland Dew Pond

Local community & beyond

Engaging with the community on a local level brings fulfilling relationships for all. Employing local people brings a unique knowledge of the area and customs. Our hotel has creates 95 jobs locally. We have enjoyed establishing partnerships with local makers, such as The ClayRooms Pottery and Marianne Slater, English Florist, who share the experience of their craft for the pleasure and wellbeing of our guests. At Callow Hall we are supported by local yoga instructor Gavin and Sound Therapist, Sarah. Betty's Sewing Shop hand make our Do Not Disturb room signs which are filled with BioPuff. We engage with local businesses for charitable events and happily host guests in our accommodation as a thank you for making a charitable donation. We continue to sponsor local and mainstream events such as Starlight, a charity supporting children and their families through illness. Where there are surplus items we donate these to local charities rather than discard. We are proud of the relationship we have built with Visit Peak District and Derbyshire in helping to promote this beautiful part of the UK.

ClayRooms Pottery Class

A bright future

As we grow our Wildhive collection, we aim to acquire sites with the opportunity to restore an older or neglected property within a natural landscape, therefore preserving heritage buildings for future generations. In seeking new Wildhive opportunities Ed and Charles are focused on balancing a commercial business and providing wonderful guest experiences with the needs of the community and environment. We cannot claim to be 100% sustainable but it's about doing what we can to be the best we can. Our Hives and Treehouses are a central part of the guest experience where they can truly immerse themselves in nature. The hive accommodation is built in sympathy and with respect to its location, choosing recycled timbers, sedum roofs, etc from local sources and they are of course designed to be energy efficient using clean energy. We are aware of the UNs sustainable development goals and as our business grows these goals will be at the forefront of our decision making as will our commitment to Companies Act Statement 172(1). As Wildhive grows, we have plans to launch The Wildhive Foundation with the vision of creating a brighter future for all.