Lound Lakes - Nick Jermy
At Suffolk Wildlife Trust, we know that protecting wildlife and restoring habitats is only possible when communities, businesses, and individuals come together with shared purpose. okoHaus have been supporting our work as a Nature Guardian, alongside taking steps within their business to champion the environment and sustainability.
Find out more about okoHaus and why they became a Nature Guardian in this interview with John Lewis.
Why has okoHaus chosen to support Suffolk Wildlife Trust as a Nature Guardian?
Environmental responsibility is really important to us here at okoHaus. In fact, it is central to our business, not just a corporate box-ticking exercise. We have a fully implemented Environmental Policy that we refer to and use to guide our daily operations. We are also actively working towards a strict target of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2030.
From our knowledge of sustainable building practices, we are very aware that focusing solely on carbon-reduction metrics does not provide a full picture of what it means to take environmental stewardship seriously. Real sustainability means ensuring that, while we supply ultra-low-energy and high-performance building solutions, we also safeguard and restore the local ecosystems affected by modern construction. We are passionate about putting this into practice. This isn't just lip service to sustainability.
That is part of the reason that okoHaus is an official Partner In Wildlife with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. We want to actively support local projects that improve biodiversity and encourage rewilding. This is part of our commitment to aiding the Trust financially and also physically by getting stuck in on working days.
What motivates you to support wildlife in our county?
Suffolk is so uniquely beautiful. I feel very fortunate to live here, and for all the dramatic aspects of the Suffolk countryside, we are also incredibly aware that it is quite fragile. We take our responsibility to the landscape and nature around us seriously. We refuse to separate our commercial success from the ecological health of our home county.
The Orwell Estuary is right on our doorstep because our headquarters is in Woolverstone. The estuary is absolutely spectacular. It is full of wading birds, and higher in the sky we can see birds of prey hunting over the mudflats. The river changes dramatically several times a day with the movement of the tide, and it is a fascinating and dynamic place. It serves as a constant daily reminder of what we are working to protect.
Personally, protecting wildlife in Suffolk is about moving beyond what might be seen as passive conservation and encouraging people to take an active, opinionated stance on habitat restoration. We want the next generation to inherit a county rich with native biodiversity.
How has becoming a Nature Guardian helped your business?
Before working with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, our perspective on sustainability was very much sewed by global impact, and working with the Trust has helped us look at sustainability a lot closer to home. This helps bring a deeper meaning and a connection to what can sometimes feel like abstract data points, such as carbon tracking and offset numbers.
Our involvement with the Trust has also changed the way we engage with our environment. We have learned so much about the local bird, insect, and mammal populations and how they are responding to changing habitats. Working with the Trust makes the fight against biodiversity loss feel like an incredibly personal issue, but also one we can take meaningful action on.
We see our Nature Guardian status as an invaluable part of our brand identity. We believe it distinguishes us from a standard window and door company and makes it clear that we want to be a regional thought leader in sustainable development.
Working alongside Suffolk Wildlife Trust keeps our team educated on local biodiversity issues, and it also allows us to align our business decisions with scientifically backed conservation strategies.
Working alongside the Trust is also a strong signal of trust for our core demographic of architects, self-builders, and premium homeowners. Building a new home or renovating an existing one is a considerable investment, and we are really pleased that buyers are increasingly prioritising genuine corporate responsibility over superficial greenwashing.
