Employee and Community Engagement
Sustainability and social impact
Tackling climate change is a global challenge, but we can take action locally to help protect the future for our clients, employees, families and neighbours.
"Ocean strives to provide the best possible customer experience, and the best employee support and care, while positively contributing to our local communities, Bristol and North Somerset. We're committed to doing this in the most sustainable way possible."
Paul Harris, Owner, Managing Director
Championing sustainability
I'd like to introduce myself – I’m Johnny Harris, Head of Sustainability at Ocean.
With over 12 years working at Ocean, I have a deep connection to the company and a passion for the environment, having studied Sustainable Development in Practice at UWE. In 2021 I became Head of Sustainability, with a mission to make Ocean as environmentally responsible as possible.
We've made good progress, introducing many carbon cutting initiatives, including switching to 100% renewable energy, and our latest 2025 carbon audit sees us align our net zero targets with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for internationally recognised validation.
I’m eager to collaborate and share knowledge to achieve our sustainability goals. Feel free to get in touch.
Regards
Johnny
Making Ocean sustainable
After an initial Carbon Audit, we switched to renewable energy for all our offices and offset our overall carbon footprint. We also introduced a number of initiatives, including improved recycling/food waste bins, an Employee Volunteer Programme and even sustainable toilet paper from Boo Roll.
We've made some great progress and are proud of our achievements, but there's always more to do.
Ocean / Retrofit West partnership
We’ve teamed up with Retrofit West, The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s free energy efficiency advice service – to help Ocean customers save money and tackle climate change.
We’re spreading the word to new home owners and people moving house, about how they can improve and upgrade their property to make it warmer, more comfortable, and cheaper to run.
Watch their quick video or check out their brochure for more information on how retrofitting could benefit your home.
What is retrofitting?
Retrofitting means making updates or changes to an existing building to make it more energy-efficient and reduce its environmental impact.
Retrofit West can help you choose the right upgrades, like solar panels, heat pumps and insulation, and connect you with trusted, local tradespeople to get them planned and installed.
The perfect time to make a positive change
Moving into a new home is a great opportunity to improve energy efficiency.
Work can take place at the same time as any other planned upgrades or renovations, minimising disruption – plus the earlier you make the changes, the more you’ll benefit from them while you own your home.
Ocean / Unyfi partnership
We’re proud to partner with Bristol company (and fellow Better Business members) Unyfi. They help organisations find sustainable solutions for waste management, utility suppliers and more.
Following our carbon audit, we worked with them to transition our utilities to energy generated from renewable sources for all 11 of our offices, with 100 per cent renewable electricity and biomethane green gas, generated from organic matter such as food waste.
And they’ve recently helped us switch our waste management – we now have food waste caddies in each of our offices as well as general mixed recycling.
We’re looking forward to working with them to meet our future sustainability goals.
Ocean Volunteers
We want to play an active part and make a difference – our volunteer programme gives our teams a chance to get out of the office and help at a local group or charity.