June 12, 2024
Beyond Carbon is a consultancy specialising in sustainable Passivhaus building work which supports large-scale construction projects to decarbonise and reach ambitious sustainability goals.
The company was founded in January 2022 by Joel Callow and Chris Swinburn, who had both been previously leading environmental teams in a medium-sized building consultancy, but felt a new, more specialist firm might be able to have a larger environmental impact.
Beyond Carbon now helps developers to design and produce quality, zero-carbon architecture which is both built to last and to reduce environmental impact.
Joel said: “Our typical client would be a local authority which is building social housing and wants it done considerably better than the industry standard, but we’ve worked with a range of other clients including the University of Oxford, Transport for London and a Big Four housing developer.”
Beyond Carbon has grown rapidly from the two founders to 11 staff, and intends to rise to a total of 15 in the next 6 months. The team have so far worked on projects as large as £100m in construction value and for some of the most demanding real estate clients in the UK.
Joel and Chris initially started running the business from their homes but joined coworking space Perch in Bicester in 2022, in search of a more permanent base for their growing team.
Joel said: “About a year into our time at Perch, as we continued to take on more team members, we upgraded from a hot-desking membership to our own office space. We love having a place to call our own and use Mondays as our day to work together in person as a team, but many staff members opt to work from the office on other weekdays too as they love the quality of the space.”
“It’s hugely satisfying as an entrepreneur to have a team of staff who are genuinely happy in their roles and excited about what we’re doing whilst earning a living. My proudest moments have all been in relation to feedback from either our team or our clients, who also regularly give us positive feedback about the technical quality of our work and the enthusiastic way the staff conduct themselves.
“We sometimes reflect with slight disbelief on how fast our little consultancy has grown, and how well regarded we are within our professional circles.”
Joel added that growing an innovative, value-led startup hasn’t come without its challenges, however: “It has been slow finding the right people, who not only have excellent technical skills, but crucially share our strong environmental ethos in their own personal and professional lives. It is safe to say we have been really picky, primarily recruiting through our existing professional networks, and are delighted with the team we have. Less picky would have meant faster growth, but at the cost of our culture and values, so we are glad we’ve been patient and we’re extremely proud of what we’ve built so far.”