Atlas Hotels, an award-winning franchise group, operates 58 hotels across the UK, including 13 in Scotland, 2 in Wales, and 43 in England. As Europe’s largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Express hotels, Atlas Hotels wields considerable influence in driving impactful sustainability initiatives.

Claire Waddington, Head of Projects at Atlas Hotels, emphasises, “For Atlas Hotels, sustainability is more than just a buzzword, it’s key to our operation.”

The company is committed to embedding sustainability into everyday practices, inspiring guests to make eco-friendly choices through room messaging and eliminating single-use plastics. Internally, the Atlas Cares Programme unites its sustainability efforts and includes an annual Sustainability Award to highlight and reward progress across its portfolio.

In addition to reducing emissions and enhancing energy efficiency, Atlas Hotels focuses on broader social impacts, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), employee wellbeing, and community involvement. Recently, they launched a partnership with mental health charities Mind and SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), aiming to achieve an ambitious fundraising target.

“At Atlas Hotels we put a huge value on the ‘S’ in ESG and it is a key driver of our high employee engagement levels,” says Claire Waddington.

“Our biggest hurdle was deciding where to focus and how to bring together all our sustainability initiatives into a single programme with clear targets. The FuturePlus platform, alongside their expert guidance, has played a significant role in bringing clarity, structure and a useful external perspective. The innovation at FuturePlus means their tools develop with new legislation and emerging trends so that we’re never caught off guard.”

– Claire Waddington, Head of Projects.

IMPACT CERTIFIED since February 2024.