MARCH 2020 COVER STORY
BRITISH
RACING GREEN
Bentley Motors’ historic Crewe factory has become
a fl agship for high-quality, sustainable manufacturing.
MM takes a look inside to discover its secrets
17
BY CHRIS BECK
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
Since the fi rst Bentley motor car
was built in 1919, the company has
been synonymous with high-quality,
luxurious – and fuel-guzzling –
vehicles that are driven by everyone
from footballers to heads of state. The
marque also has a strong motor racing history,
having won the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race
six times, the fi fth highest of any manufacturer.
It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that
the company’s factory at Pyms Lane, Crewe
(the former aircraft engine plant that has been
home to Bentley production since the end of
the Second World War) is a shining beacon for
sustainable manufacturing.
However, last year, Pyms Lane was awarded
PAS 2060 status by the Carbon Trust, which
recognises the site’s carbon neutrality. In doing
so, it became the fi rst luxury car factory in the
UK to achieve the certifi cation.
The site’s drive to carbon neutrality
has actually been years in the making. In
1999, Bentley was the fi rst UK automotive
manufacturer to achieve the ISO 14001
environmental management standard. Peter
Bosch, member of the board for manufacturing
at Bentley Motors, says that the company
has been taking an incremental approach
to sustainability ever since. “Our
but also the environment.”
Today, the company’s site-wide
sustainability programme is called
Be Sustainable. The lengths the
initiative has gone to in order
to achieve carbon neutrality are
impressive. For starters, over
30,000 solar panels across the site
(including 10,000 on the UK’s
largest solar car port) mean
100% of the factory’s energy
is generated either by these
panels or is purchased as
certifi ed carbon neutral. The
total solar energy capacity at
the site is 7.7MW – enough to
power 1,750 homes.
“The solar panels are an
energy-saving measure that is
very visible,” says Bosch. “They
are the foundation for being
carbon neutral. But the fi rst
step in being environmentally
friendly and carbon neutral
is to avoid or reduce the use
of energy. We’re constantly
challenging our processes: can
they be done with less energy?
Can we switch assets off over
the weekend? Should we invest
in new technologies that use
less energy? This could be a
robot that applies glue, or an
upgraded steam boiler for the
heating system, but it could
also be a programme that
goes through every process
environmental approach has evolved
over time. As a responsible corporate
citizen, we have always looked after
our employees and our neighbours –
Peter Bosch, member of
the board for manufacturing
at Bentley Motors
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk