23Jan

Lasting Impact: Bluestone National Park Resort

Storyland’s Marie Rayner caught up with Marten Lewis, Director of Sustainability at Bluestone National Park Resort in Wales (100 Changemakers in Wales (Future Generations Commissioner), Sustainability Director of the Year (Institute of Directors)), to explore the fascinating story of this International Green Key-awarded resort. We discussed everything from Bluestone’s incredible biodiversity achievements and their desire to create a sense of “wonderment,” to their stakeholder engagement tactics and beyond.

Let’s get into it.

Marie Rayner: Tell me a little bit about Bluestone and your role.

Marten Lewis: Bluestone National Park Resort is a five-star luxury, self-catering holiday resort near Narberth, Pembrokeshire, nestled in 500 acres of rolling countryside. The resort offers guests a wonderful base to explore the world-class Pembrokeshire coastal national park, the only designated coastal national park in the UK.

My role as Director of Sustainability is a privileged one: to look after the biodiversity, energy use, and waste strategy within our resort and supply chain, and to lead the Bluestone Foundation, which offers support to our local community through wellness and environment grants and programmes.

I love to share my passion for sustainability, and this year I have been lucky enough to tell Bluestone’s story at a UN Global Compact event and to present to a global audience for IAAPA.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: When did you start to get involved in sustainability? 

ML: I’d like to answer this question fully, as it is the essence of who I am.

I enjoyed the freedom and connection to nature that growing up near the coast in Pembrokeshire offered, but I was disengaged by traditional academia, and left school at 16 with no qualifications. I spent 2 years in the Army, and then 10 years working as a civilian engineer. Longing to be near the coast in Pembrokeshire, I returned home to study for a degree in Coastal Zone Management. This was a transformational moment, where hands-on learning about something I was passionate about connected with me in ways that school never could.

It was here that my passion for education and the environment began. I developed a sustainability educational programme for a local charity, the Darwin Centre, based on all that I was learning in my degree, but boiled down into the language of a 9-year-old! It was intended to capture the imagination of all children — particularly the less engaged, as I was at that age.

I worked with 70 schools at the time and engaged over 35,000 young people and families. I’m really proud of this charity. Twenty years on, it continues to go from strength to strength and has now reached over 70,000 young people.

A fundraising stakeholder was Bluestone National Park Resort, and in 2019 they enlisted my expertise to help realise their sustainability vision.

MR: And what is it that interests/excites you most about working in Sustainability?

ML: The scientist in me thrives on the experimental and continuous learning aspects of my role — testing hypotheses and iterating. I use my privileged position, knowledge, and empathy to share and learn; to bring as much value and positive change today, and for future generations.

The little boy in me that grew up by the coast simply wants a just world where humans remember we are nature — not disconnected from it.

Helping to make these things happen and bring change excites me the most.

MR: When did Bluestone start to build their sustainability strategy?

ML: Twenty years ago, when serendipitously, the UN coined the term ESG. William McNamara, OBE, founder, and CEO of Bluestone National Park Resort, laid out his vision on paper for what could be achieved on his dairy farmland. At the time, many questioned the viability of the ideas in what became known as his “Green Book.” It focused not only on building a holiday resort, but on transforming the entire concept of tourism, driven by the belief that Bluestone could be a force for good in terms of the environment, the local economy and local communities; the three pillars of sustainable development.

So, sustainability is in the DNA of Bluestone.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: What were the company’s original objectives? What are the most important aspects of sustainability to Bluestone?

ML: The most important thing about Bluestone’s approach to sustainability is the holistic approach, the bigger-picture thinking based on the Green Book. This objective to strive to be better, to keep our eye on the vision, to bring holistic value has stood us in good stead.

Businesses that are authentically working hard to be sustainable — are open and honest — will be rewarded by loyal guests. This is something Bluestone and I believe deeply and so we are now sharing our blueprint.

MR: How have these objectives evolved? 

ML: These objectives and ambitions have evolved into action — walking the talk. Whilst transforming a barren dairy farm into resort surrounded by nature reserve, quality habitat, and landscape, the holistic dream has bounded on. Just a few examples of how we’ve developed these objectives include:

  • The Bluestone Foundation supports wellness and environmental projects across Pembrokeshire.
  • We support our local supply chain with training and support, including financially, to carry out life cycle assessments.
  • We have built a solar farm generating a third of our electricity use.
  • We were the first resort in the UK, and possibly the world, to heat a water park with local sustainable biomass instead of fossil fuels.
  • We were the first resort in the UK to switch to 100% bio LPG for our gas use.
  • We have carried out four years of full carbon footprints and understand our responsibilities to Net Zero and now have science-aligned targets for an ambitious 2040 timeline.
  • We are accredited by the Green Key eco award for hospitality, which opens us up to an annual independent audit on all our outputs.
Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: These all sound like amazing initiatives. Can you tell me a little more about your conservation and the status of Bluestone as a nature reserve?

ML: Bluestone is classed as a nature reserve quality habitat and landscape, evidenced by a 2022 Wildlife Trust Consultancy survey. Wildlife Trust Consultancy looked at the ecology of the dairy farm before it was developed and compared it to the ecology of the whole site as a resort. They found that the uplifting biodiversity net gain is equivalent to that of a nature reserve. In addition to this, part of the site that hasn’t been built on; we have designated it as our own nature reserve. There’s a biodiversity action plan to manage that, aligned to the local priority species and habitats of the local biodiversity nature recovery plan for Pembrokeshire.

Biodiversity is critical to us —  critical to everyone! —  but a really important part of what we want to achieve. Biodiversity is a core component of our Bluestone blueprint.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: Would you say that your biodiversity net gain is one of your biggest achievements?

ML: For sure; Bluestone is a blueprint for regenerative tourism. It’s not just about being sustainable. To sustain something is to look after it and preserve it, but to be regenerative you’ve got to think of the economic, the social, and the environmental. You must be able to increase and improve all three of these areas — add value to the local and wider economy; support people (e.g., through community work, staff, and guests); and finally, add value to the environment.

Biodiversity is so important; it goes hand-in-hand with carbon reduction. When Adonis Blue Environmental (a Wildlife Trust Consultancy) assessed our site, they estimated that Bluestone’s site and its biodiversity action plan is set to achieve more than a 50% biodiversity net gain. In doing this, Bluestone is creating a natural area connecting habitat and species and enhancing the wider Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

To put this into perspective, a biodiversity net gain of 50%  is five times the 10%  required of most new developments in England, as of February 2024, with other parts of the UK to follow.

We’re inviting public and private landowners across the UK and internationally to model our operation as a blueprint for improving biodiversity, as part of the solution in tackling the present nature and climate emergencies.

MR: This all sounds fantastic and incredibly positive, but would you tell me what have been your biggest challenges to date?

ML: Ninety-eight percent of our footprint sits in Scope 3, which is our supply chain so tackling the supply chain emissions is the biggest challenge.

Another challenge, which is more fun, is trying to catch sight of the otters that have moved into our resort since we started developing the habitat —  first recorded in 2019. We have evidence they are here through fleeting videos as they scurry past our camera traps, but I have yet to see one for myself.

The Eurasian Otter is a European protected species, U.K. priority species, and a Pembrokeshire priority species, so it’s a top priority for us.

MR: And, still thinking about the things we as an industry need to overcome, what are the biggest barriers to achieving your goals?

ML: For us the biggest barrier has been bringing everyone along with us in our ambitions. That culture change is required. We invest a huge amount of time and effort in engagement around ESG, in the supply chain and local community, but also with our staff. Since 2021, we have added an ESG session to the onboarding process of all staff and through departmental training.

A recent survey of our 900 staff returned a score of 97% for “sustainability being important to me,” and 94% saying they understood Bluestone’s decarbonisation ambitions. We are very proud of this engagement, as having our teams on board helps us to push forward with our vision.

In terms of guests, there’s mix of push and pull. There are those we try to engage in culture change, but many are driving us. An ever-increasing number of discerning guests are being drawn to our brand because of our ESG credentials and are propelling us forward with our ambition.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: Stakeholder engagement, and trying to bring people on that journey, is always a tough one! It sounds like you’re doing really well with your staff. What else have you seen from a guest engagement point of view?

ML: Connecting with our customers by aligning with their sustainability values has been so motivating to see.

A recent survey with a response from 3500 guests told us that 95% believe climate change is something we should all be addressing, and 97% said sustainability was important to them, with 89% saying they would pay more for a sustainable product.

When we’re engaging our customers, we embed sustainability from the time of booking. Before they arrive, they receive reminders to bring a reusable water bottle with them —  they can buy these onsite, but we want people to come with their own! Their digital welcome pack maps out how we recycle and what happens to our recycling and our food waste, so they can see what really happens behind the scenes.

There are more visual clues to our environmental ambition across the public and private spaces. For example, we have recycling boxes for nappies in every single toilet and every single lodge (and in fact, we may be the first resort in the world to offer nappy recycling!). You can also take part in history and cultural heritage walks that we provide for free around the resort.

MR: The concept of sustainability as an “enriching” activity is something that seems to be growing in popularity. Are there any other experiences, like the heritage walks, that you offer to guests?

ML: Of course! We get guests involved as “nature detectives” so they can learn about the creatures that inhabit the resort. We also take guests off-site for activities on the waterways, as well as things like bushcraft and learning about specific wildlife.

We offer these enriching experiences because we want our guests to have wonderment.

It’s hard to get wonderment without learning something new! Going, “Wow, I didn’t know that!” —  that’s much more wonderful that just seeing something sparkly and shiny and colourful. Having that new understanding of something really brings wonderment, which is something we want our guests to experience when they stay with us.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

MR: So, it’s important to create that sense of wonder and that link to sustainability as early as possible. At what point do you start considering sustainability during design?

ML: My role is to ensure that sustainability is one of the core considerations at design phase. The business case documentation for all projects has a section on sustainability. Measuring impact is my role and I am on the board to ensure this happens.

We also have a group called Team Planet, which I chair, that consists of various heads of departments. The group allows us to talk in a very collaborative way about challenges, barriers, successes, and innovations. This information can then be disseminated back to the business.

MR: And how do you factor initial investment costs with long-term operational savings?

ML: All projects and spend that is considered have to be scrutinised through our Vison Canvas pillars. These are:

  • Love our People
  • Refurb and reimaginebefore new build
  • Protect our planet
  • Digital evolution
  • Making more guests happy

Our staff and guests, the local community, nature, and climate all have a seat in the board room when decisions are made. This frames all decisions on investment and ongoing costs.

MR: What excites you most about the future?

ML: Sustainability is increasingly important for consumers when booking a no-fly break. More and more people will start to visit national parks, areas of natural beauty, and other beautiful parts of our island.

Put in this context, our blueprint can help landowners, local authorities, and their respective communities to regenerate the land, regulate visitors, and direct them to the places they would prefer them to be in terms of footfall.

I’m incredibly passionate about sharing our Bluestone blueprint, not only because we think it’s a fundamental part of explaining how Bluestone has become the vision that we set out on our Green Book, but also because we are offering it up to the wider industry to take our ideas and run with it.

Sustainability isn’t about what we can do as individuals, it’s about what we can do together, and our Bluestone blueprint really feeds into this idea of sharing and learning and not being territorial.

Photo Credit: Bluestone National Park Resort

About Bluestone National Park Resort

Bluestone National Park Resort is an award-winning 5* luxury, self-catering holiday resort near Narberth, Pembrokeshire, nestled in 500 acres of rolling countryside. The resort has over 400 accommodation units and offers a diverse array of activities as well as the opportunity to explore the Pembrokeshire coastal national park. Bluestone has been voted the no.3 holiday park and resort in the UK and ‘Wales top resort’ in 2024 Which? Survey, over and above Center Parcs, Warner Leisure Villages and Parkdean. The resort has been committed to improving sustainability and maintaining the local environment since opening in 2008. Bluestone’s Carbon Footprint is calculated externally by the Zero Carbon Forum, with scope one and two energy emissions publicly disclosed annually through Companies House. In 2022 Bluestone stopped selling water in plastic bottles, communicating with guests before arrival reminding them to bring their own reusable water bottles, providing refill stations around the resort for free access to drinking water.

  • Winner – British Travel Awards 2024 – Best Company for UK Parks and Lodges Holidays

 

About Storyland Studios

Storyland Studios is a full-service experience design firm with offices in the US and Europe. We imagine, design, and create immersive experiences and environments that lift the Spirit. Storyland Studios team Members and Executive Leadership include alumni from The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney lmagineering, Pixar Animation Studios, Universal Studios, and LEGOLAND® – all passionate about creating immersive storytelling experiences that shape culture and connect with people on an emotional level. storylandstudios.com