New podcast episode: The visibility gap – How to make ESG connect
28.10.2025
In episode 01 of Sustainability by Design, Giff speaks with Heather Smith of HSC, the consultant who realised that Croxley Park’s sustainability story didn’t need more action, it needed to be seen.
Croxley Park is a leading M25 business park. It was already running a serious sustainability programme: decarbonising older buildings, improving biodiversity across the site, community partnerships, composting systems, beehives. But none of it was joined up, and when ESG activity isn’t connected, it’s almost impossible to communicate, let alone justify to investors and tenants who want proof, not promises.
Heather talks candidly about the ROI challenge of ESG in existing commercial stock, how Planet Croxley became a sub-brand that gave the site’s sustainability work a real presence, and why communication is the missing link between action and impact. The park now generates the equivalent of £2.8 million in community benefit annually.
“It’s only when you start talking about why something is or isn’t happening that people understand,” Heather said. By treating design as a storytelling tool rather than an afterthought, Croxley Park turned ESG from an invisible process into something people could see, believe in, and get behind.
In this episode: the business case for ESG in commercial property, the challenge of applying it to existing stock, and why good intent without a clear identity stays invisible.
