Bees, bats and newts are thriving thanks to wildlife-positive land management at Nationwide House, making Nationwide the first in its sector to be awarded the Biodiversity Benchmark for continual nature enhancement and protection on office land.
Nationwide’s head office in Swindon has achieved The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark, becoming the first bank or building society to achieve the nationally-recognised standard for commitment to wildlife-positive land management.
Nationwide are presented with the Biodiversity Benchmark Award © Nationwide
The award, which was presented by Joanna Lewis, CEO of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, encourages businesses to adopt nature-positive site management, allowing them to make a meaningful impact for wildlife.
Along with more than 6,500 staff, Nationwide’s Swindon office is now host to frogs, toads and smooth newts, and many bird species such as song thrushes, herons and wrens. An otter has even been seen in the lake, along with an abundance of damselflies and dragonflies. A community orchard of 50 trees provides staff and wildlife with a bounty of fruit, with more planting planned for the coming weeks.
Allowing grass to grow throughout the spring and summer has encouraged wildflowers to bloom, encouraging insects and bats in turn. Nationwide’s uniform supplier has even turned old garments into stylish bee hotels.
The result is a wildlife haven which balances the needs of both nature and people.
Comma butterfly © Nationwide
An orchard at Nationwide's head office © Nationwide
Spending time in nature is known to support both physical and mental wellbeing, and office workers are feeling the positive effects of a workplace surrounded by nature. At Nationwide House, a nature trail encourages staff to walk for 30 minutes in nature for their mental health.
The Wildlife Trusts’ head of corporate partnerships, Emma Price-Thomas, says:
“Achieving this challenging standard is testament to Nationwide and the commitment of their employees to protecting and enhancing wildlife on their sites.
“Nationwide House is the 51st site in the UK to be awarded Biodiversity Benchmark status as more businesses recognise the value of nature and look to fulfil their environmental responsibility on their own land. Today in the UK, one in six species is at risk of being lost. Living and working alongside nature is going to be crucial if we are to succeed in bringing nature back, and landowning businesses can be a powerfully positive force for driving nature’s recovery. We want to recognise and celebrate those who have achieved excellence in this field, and inspire others to invest in nature.”
James Domm, Workplace, Property and Colleague Enablement Director at Nationwide, says:
“We’ve been working towards this award for almost three years, so it’s a great feeling to see all the hard work of our colleagues pay off by creating such a nature-friendly environment at Nationwide House.
“We’re honoured to have achieved this award, and we will continue to work to ensure that our offices are pleasant, nature-friendly environments – especially in our heartland locations like Swindon!”
Editor's notes
The Wildlife Trusts work with businesses in many ways, including forging charity partnerships and providing consultancy services. At the heart of it is our mission to win the fight against the climate and ecological emergencies.
Designed to complement the business standard ISO 14001, Biodiversity Benchmark empowers land-owning businesses to make a meaningful impact for nature by certifying their land management systems. Through strategic planning, ecological monitoring, and community involvement, Biodiversity Benchmark holders from a range of sectors – from business parks to water companies – have turned their sites into vibrant ecosystems.
Companies interested in achieving Biodiversity Benchmark certification can request a pre-assessment form here.
The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts are making the world wilder and helping to ensure that nature is part of everyone’s lives. It is a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 940,000 members and 38,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of its members, it cares for and restores special places for nature on land and runs marine conservation projects and collects vital data on the state of the seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year. www.wildlifetrusts.org
Biodiversity Benchmark
The Wildlife Trusts created the Biodiversity Benchmark to encourage organisations to manage their land for wildlife. It is the first scheme to recognise continual biodiversity improvement of land, and over 50 sites across the UK have now achieved the accreditation. The Benchmark is flexible and adaptable, so that it can be applied to any organisation which manages land, from businesses through to local authorities, service utilities, the NHS, developers and charities. The Wildlife Trusts Biodiversity Benchmark is designed to recognise biodiversity improvements on an organisation’s landholdings; it is not an endorsement of an organisation’s activities or a measurement of its broader environmental performance or impacts. A site that is awarded a Biodiversity Benchmark will be assessed annually.
Biodiversity Benchmark | The Wildlife Trusts
Nationwide
Nationwide is the world's largest building society, with over 16 million members. Following its acquisition of Virgin Money UK PLC, Nationwide is connected with one in three people in the UK and is the second largest provider of mortgages and retail deposits. It is also a major provider of current accounts, credit cards, personal loans and business banking. Customers can choose to manage their finances in a branch, via mobile app, the internet, telephone, and post. Nationwide has around 25,000 employees and its head office is in Swindon, UK.
As a financial services provider owned by its members, not shareholders, Nationwide's purpose is: Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society. For more information see www.nationwide.co.uk/about-us.