Arnold on ethical marketing

CHRIS ARNOLD

I recently spent one of the best night’s of year in the garden of the Hemple Hotel (well the garden's green) watching the awards being given out under a wigwam made of reclaimed materials, drinking organic RDA juice and eating organic, fair trade, non GM snacks, I was left feeling a warm green glow.

Everyone was so passionate and there was a great sense of camaradary. But the best bit was being Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for the evening. The green business circle is a very friendly bunch. There’s no sense of competition and no back biting. Having a passion for ethics strongly units them all which makes for one of the friendliest group of businessmen and women you’ll ever meet. And that's something else that’s different, probably half the businesses represented at the event were run by women. It’s not easy being green and many businesses struggle to get distribution and their message to a broad audience. It takes more than the average determination to make green businesses fly. Few have the big budgets of multinational brands and you can’t expect any help from the government.

But the drive all these entrepreneurs have – many gave up top jobs – leaves you with a massive feeling of admiration. There couldn’t be a greater contrast to the likes of Alan Sugar. These people all set out to enrich lives rather than get rich. They really do respect both people and the planet. There were some brilliant ideas and inspiring winners, with a strong bias towards environmentalism. Finisterre, the cool surfer brand of clothes, won the fashion award. Even though Ken Livingstone lost the GLA he did win the award for best politician, beating David Cameron. Hugh beat Jamie for TV campaigner with his Chicken Run campaign.

Best Big Idea went to Ewgeco who produce an energy monitor, though my favourite is the runner up Moixa who make USB rechargeable batteries that last forever – simply brilliant. Divine Chocolates won Ethical Business and Natural Collections won Online Retailer. There were other winners but also many brilliant and worthy entrants. One of the other great pleasures was meeting new and interesting people, including a few celebs (can’t help name dropping) like the stunning Anneka Svenska, Ken Livingstone (somewhat less attractive but what a nice down to earth guy) and Annie Lennox, who I last spoke to 20 years ago in a record shop in Crouch End. This led to a fascinating conversation about how Crouch End (where I also live) has changed, since she lived there in the 70s, to become the eco-ethical centre of North London.

Lennox is a strong supporter of human rights and ethical issues. One person I will reveal got a trophy (made of old wood) was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Looking at my photo you may be surprised that with my glasses on I’m often told I look a lot like Hugh. This probably was to Hugh’s advantage as he disappeared soon after he got his trophy (some might say chickened out) leaving me to play his part. I was approached by at least a dozen people congratulating me on the award, several of whom wanted me to support their eco projects – sorry Hugh I’ve promised you’d help them all. One took a lot of persuading I wasn’t Hugh as he really wanted to get his point about chickens off his chest. Let’s hope the pictures the paparazzis shot of me in the KFC later don’t get published! It does give you an unpleasant taste of fame - think I’ll stick to being anonymous.

There’s little doubt that the Observer Ethical Awards (sponsored by Ecover) is doing a lot to help ethical businesses, I just wish the government was doing more. The ethical space is full of innovation, inventive business ideas and a passionate pioneering spirit. Being part of that gives you a new perspective on things. And boy do they know how to party. On a lighter side, an eco-ethical joke. “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” “Your eco friend trying to avoid wasting battery life and so reducing the amount of batteries your doorbell uses and therefore the number that end up in landfill.”