Red-Inc: Advancing Customers' Net-Zero Journeys

Red-Inc is an office supplies business with a difference. Adam Huttly founded Red-Inc in 2008, in response to the wasteful practices of traditional supplier models. Now, 16 years on, their continuing success comes from never deviating from a mission to create a pioneering, low impact business that specialises in driving decarbonisation for their clients. 

“I envisioned a company that would prioritise sustainability and purpose over profit – challenging the status quo by pioneering new ways of doing business”. 

Adam Huttly – Founder of Red-Inc 

Their longstanding commitment to sustainable practices has allowed them to take bold action putting them ahead of the game. From being a B-Corp certified organisation since 2017, providing treeless paper, through to becoming the world’s first stationery company to gain SBTI validated science-based net-zero targets in 2023, having been net-zero in scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2018. These commitments ensure that Red-Inc and its clients are not just paying lip service to environmental responsibility but are actively working towards measurable and achievable goals. 

Changing the Supplier Relationship 

Amid critical social and environmental problems, the demand for businesses to collaborate with their suppliers is clearer than ever. Red-Inc consistently pioneers fresh, ambitious ways of thinking that advance their own, and their customers’ net-zero journeys. They are more than a stationery supplier; their value-added services educate and transform their customers’ understanding and response to their own supply chain impacts. 

Red-Inc operate using a lean business model. Removing the existence of traditional costly advertising and sales teams. Instead, investing the saved time and money into providing intimate care and additional services that help their customers and the environment. 

They offset 100% of company emissions alongside all deliveries, only investing in the highest quality, nature-based offsetting solutions. Believing that offsetting can make important contributions to achieving net-zero, but only when combined with dramatic decarbonisation. They are also the sole UK distributor of EnvoPAP treeless paper. This paper is made from 100% agricultural waste making it circular by design. As it uses no trees it helps fights deforestation whilst offering great printability. Even better its up to 38% lower in carbon emissions than conventional virgin and recycled paper. 

Tackling Scope 3 Emissions 

One area where Red-Inc excels is helping their customers identify and reduce scope 3 emissions. They are the pesky indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur in a company’s value chain but are not produced directly by the company itself. Whilst they commonly account for the majority of an organisation’s total carbon footprint, they are notoriously challenging to identify and reduce. 

As part of their efforts to help customers decarbonise their supply chain, Red-Inc have been providing carbon reporting since 2015. 

A new intervention, launched in 2023, is an enhanced reporting service – designed to help clients identify and reduce scope 3 emissions by tracking purchased goods and services alongside carbon reduction targets. 

They are improving the accuracy of their carbon reporting by using Defra’s conversion and cradle-to-gate emissions factors. Moving gradually from spend-based methods to more precise materials-based methods and, where available, supplier-specific data methods. 

To keep the pressure on, they even set GHG protocol aligned accuracy improvement targets in their reports. This is to ensure they are using the most accurate and up-to-date data collection methods possible for their customers. 

Law Firm Expertise 

In an industry that is struggling, Red-Inc are seeing year-on-year growth. By providing sustainably focused, value-adding services, they attract customers who see the value of working with an unconventional stationery supplier who understands the importance of how to achieve positive change. It’s a winning formula that has attracted customers from the WWF(UK) through to the Big 4 and from the Magic Circle through to purpose driven SME’s. 

Amongst their broad clientele, Red-Inc have helped law firms to embrace the sustainable challenges facing them. Holding them to account through the provision of progress reports and data detailing the environmental impact of their purchasing. 

“We’d love to be able to replicate our relationship with Red-Inc, which is centred on shared values, purpose and a common goal to protect people and planet, across our wider supply chain.” 

Sarah Ball, Director of Operations, Irwin Mitchell 

One of Adams initial radical ideas when starting the business was to remove next day deliveries. Instead, all customers are provided with a single, weekly, 100% fulfilment delivery. Removing wasteful 2nd and 3rd deliveries. This solution can reduce delivery emissions by 30% compared to the industry standard. Taking it even further, in just 18months they moved one law firm’s deliveries from weekly to quarterly, achieving a remarkable 81% reduction in deliveries compared to the industry average. 

Doing Better 

Red-Inc use their expertise to educate the world around them. Bravely showing customers that if they want ‘the best’ suppliers, success can no longer be solely based on next day delivery and cost. Afterall, they aren’t delivering life-saving organs, just pens and paper and that can be done better! 

Fore more information on Red-Inc: www.red-inc.com