Creative ad leader grounds its net zero vision in industry first for Northern Ireland

Holywood advertising agency, Ardmore is on course for net zero status after becoming the first creative agency in Northern Ireland to sign with three leading national and international industry bodies focused on sustainable transformation.

Cementing a new partnership with Planet Mark, a globally-recognised certification for progress and excellence in sustainability, Ardmore is the first creative agency locally to join a list of over 800 international organisations committed to driving positive environmental change within their respective industries.

Additionally Ardmore has become the first in its industry locally to enrol with UK ad agency trade body The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) on its Media Climate Charter, to lead on transitioning to a zero-carbon future. It has also affirmed its support to the Business in the Community (BITC) Climate Action Pledge which supports companies in their pledge to track, cut and report greenhouse gas emissions.

As a result, Ardmore is now focused on implementing new sustainable practices, led by its newly established Ardmore Climate Target (ACT) Collective.

Ardmore deputy managing director, Miriam Moertl, said: “We’re proud to be the first in NI to step up and commit to a new initiative which will drive progress towards net zero within our own industry and among the business community.

“Climate change is here and, increasingly, clients are coming to us for solutions to sustainably manage their communications. Recognising the role we can play in tackling the issue, we established the ACT collective, and are delighted to have enrolled with three top national and international sustainability initiatives to continue our hard work to date in reducing our carbon footprint to date, and to reinforce our commitment to achieve net-zero status as quickly as possible.”

Under the ACT Collective, Ardmore has committed to transforming operations across three key areas: reducing its operational footprint to zero, educating and inspiring its teams to reduce and report personal emissions, and inspiring change amongst clients, suppliers and the wider community.

Steve Malkin, CEO and founder of Planet Mark, explained: “As the first creative communications agency in NI to partner with Planet Mark, Ardmore has demonstrated a clear commitment to reducing its carbon emissions and making positive changes to tackle climate change. We’re delighted to broaden our scope of work with likeminded organisations in NI and to reach a new industry here early. I hope that Ardmore’s impressive work to date and in the future in tackling climate change serves as a catalyst for others to sign up.”

Through its partnership with Planet Mark, Ardmore completed an extensive and rigorous assessment process to measure its current climate impact analysing its social data across a wide range of areas.

By undergoing this assessment, Ardmore has already helped to protect an acre of rainforest through Cool Earth.

Kieran Harding, managing director, Business in the Community NI, continued: “We are delighted that Ardmore has joined our growing group of NI organisations that have made a public declaration to take action urgently.”

Nigel Gwilliam, director of Media Affairs, IPA, added: “We are delighted to have our longstanding member agency Ardmore pioneer support for the IPA Media Climate Charter in NI. We believe the Charter is a critical first step towards transitioning the media agency industry to a zero-carbon future.”