Going Green

Rockliffe Hall is committed to initiatives that protect the environment around us.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility goals and policies include protecting the environment and community around us whilst looking after our own competitive interests and the interests of the wider society. Our corporate social responsibility statement demonstrates our commitment to implementing environmentally-friendly and socially responsible practices.

Statement of Corporate Social Responsibility

  1. We aim to protect the environment and community around us and those interests of the wider society.
  2. We encourage our customers to reduce their carbon footprint by providing facilities and products to help them do so.
    We ensure our staff are aware of our Corporate Social
  3. Responsibility policy and that they are aware of our impact on the environment and that they work in a responsible manner to uphold our policy.

Included below are some of our current practices to reduce our impact on the environment. These practises are reviewed and added to on a regular basis.

Recycling and Waste Management

  • The hotel works closely with Compass Waste Management on waste management, to maximise the recycling of waste materials and to ensure responsible disposal of other non-recyclable wastes. The majority of packaging waste arising from Rockliffe Hall’s retail operations is recycled including paper, cardboard, plastics and also used ink cartridges used in the shop.
  • Rockliffe Hall’s retail outlets including the spa boutique and golf professional shop make every attempt to ensure that the packaging associated with products sold to customers is recyclable.
  • When requested, recyclable paper bags are provided to customers for ease of handling purchases.
  • In the event that a customer would like Rockliffe Hall to dispose of the packaging materials, they can do so immediately at the time of purchase or return the materials to the Retail Shop during normal opening times at a later date. Rockliffe Hall will be pleased to assist.
  • Customers are encouraged to check packaging for recycling information and to utilise local waste recycling facilities whenever possible.
  • The hotel recycles paper for in-house documents and only prints/photocopies in black and white for internal documents unless absolutely necessary.
  • The hotel recycles oil from the kitchens through a local contractor.
  • Our golf course features 12 miles of drainage and irrigation underneath the fairways and greens, it is sustainably managed through the 8 wetland areas in the grounds (taking water when the course is dry, and pumping out water when the course is wet).
  • The Golf Course also uses recycled rain water when additional water supplies for irrigation are required.

Further information on recycling and symbols can be found at www.toddpak.co.uk/recycling-information/

Energy Saving

  • All of the lights in the back of house sections, WC’s and corridors are on PIR light sensors which reduces our impact on the environment.
  • Low energy lighting is used throughout the hotel to reduce energy emissions.
  • We use a CHP unit to help reduce utility costs and emissions and low energy lighting is installed throughout the hotel to help further reduce energy costs.
  • All lights and air conditioning are switched off when guests rooms, function rooms, restaurants and public areas are not in use and the doors are locked to ensure they remain off.
  • In the kitchens we focus on using fresh local and seasonal produce, which reduces the CO2 emissions in transporting produce a long way and growing produce outside of natural cycles.
  • We also try and avoid buying produce from abroad, to reduce our impact on the environment. We recently switched all of our olive oil use in the kitchens to rape seed oil which is sourced locally.

Local Environment

  • During the planning and development process involved with the construction of Rockliffe Hall, designs were specifically chosen that had a minimal impact on the surrounding environment (to protect the beautiful trees in our grounds), in addition to the 35,000 new trees that have been planted over the past 2 years.
  • The wetland areas around our 375 acre site also provide a natural habitat to swans, moorhens, heron and otters. In addition to this we have a lot of squirrels in the grounds, and to enhance their living environment we have built natural ropes and feeding stations to link between the trees to make their habitat larger.
  • We encourage our guests to enjoy our 375 acres of fresh air, and have resort maps featuring a range of easy to follow walking and jogging routes around the grounds. We also offer Nordic Walking classes, which is a great way to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and countryside.

Local Community

  • We are committed to supporting fundraising events in the village, such as the Strawberry Fair; the Garden Party and the Village Fete, through the provision of prizes and donations.
  • We are committed to selecting one local charity a year to provide corporate support and hosting events to increase their awareness in the wider community
  • We are committed to recruiting locally (having no live-in provisions for staff), and encourage our team to use public transport and car-sharing schemes to get to and from Rockliffe Hall.
  • We have a number of team members who are with us on placement from local colleges such as Darlington, Middlesbrough & Newcastle and our Chefs have very close links with the colleges (often participating in cookery demonstrations, judging events and mentoring).

Working Practices

  • We have a policy in place to educate each of our team member on environmentally safe work practices and our Corporate Social
  • Responsibility is discussed in each new team members induction.
  • Or team are encouraged to help contribute ideas as to how we can continue to reduce our impact on the environment.
  • We knowingly only work with where possible suppliers with ethically sound working practices.