At Mainstage, we’ve always been keen to be efficient and environmentally friendly without any compromise to quality. Our portable stages, Bleachers, and other products, are all made in our factory in Lancaster, and every item goes through a thorough process of quality checking to make sure it meets our exacting standards.

This means that any changes we make to improve the efficiency of the company have to be weighed up very carefully against any impact they may have on our products. We will not cut corners to save cost and compromise on quality.

With this in mind, we have been focusing on reducing our carbon footprint and moving towards sustainability, in ways which do not impact our manufacturing. With a bit of brainstorming we’ve made some significant steps towards improving our business in some surprisingly simple ways.

One of the biggest changes was the installation of some new roof panels in our factory. These panels have been specially made to increase the amount of light which can get into the factory during the daytime. They work exceptionally well and not only do they save us from having to use the light during the day, they also make our staff happier and healthier. Getting enough sun is vital to a person’s health, and we want our team to feel great.

Aside from carbon emissions, the other big environmental concern at the moment is the availability of clean, fresh water. There are still over 700 million people in the world with no access to clean water, and so we investigated what we could do to cut down our water consumption.

Taking into account the factory’s location (the lovely Lancashire countryside) we looked into ways we could use the naturally occurring water (rain!) to cut down on the piped water. What we ended up with is a bespoke system which harnesses the rainwater and supplies it directly to the toilets, using it every time we flush. With a factory full of people on site, that results in a substantial reduction in our water usage from the mains and leaves more water available for people who really need it.

The biggest step towards environmental friendliness is still to come, early in 2014. We examined each step in our process, from initial consultation, through design and manufacture, to delivery and installation, and concluded that for Mainstage, as is so often the case, the least environmentally friendly part of the process was the manufacturing of the products.

Because this is the very crux of everything we do, making any changes is something which needs to be thought about long and hard, with every factor weighed up and reviewed to see what could be done. We determined that making a substantial difference to our environmental impact would require an equivalently substantial move, and so we are currently preparing for a complete revamp of the factory machinery. Doing this not only makes the factory cleaner, but it also allows for the production of a wider variety of products, and greatly increases our capacity.

This reinvestment into the factory is just a small part of our continued moves to make sure Mainstage continues to be the best place in the UK to buy portable staging from. In all elements of our continued improvements, we have our customers, and of course our team, to thank. Without the team being so dedicated and hard-working, we would not be able to provide the quality and service that we do. And without our customers, we wouldn’t be here at all. Thank you!