We spoke to Max Henderson, co-founder and CEO, Hotpod Yoga about the keys to a sustainable business, the challenges faced and the customer response.
How have you integrated sustainability into your approach?
Sustainability has always been integral to what we do and how we think at Hotpod Yoga. I used to be a strategy consultant, focussed primarily on sustainability. So, it’s been in mine and my co-founder’s thoughts from the start. Becoming a B Corp really consolidated that – particularly with new team members joining, who come into the company with a clear expectation and desire to have a positive impact on the world, as well as our business.
What challenges have you found in making the business more sustainable?
As a hot yoga business, we consume energy. While we only source from certified renewable sources, we still want to reduce consumption and, given what we do, that’s a challenge – but one we’re ambitiously trying to address through innovation.
Cost is also a challenge. While I generally don’t believe there needs to be a trade-off between cost and sustainability, in some instances it’s inevitable. And, as a franchise business, we have a responsibility to help find cost-effective solutions and help ensure our franchisees have good, healthy margins in their business so they can earn a great living. So, as the market for truly sustainable products and services is still developing, that remains a challenge.
Have you found that customers have been more receptive to you as a brand by being more sustainable?
Yes, and both our franchisees and our customers are clearly engaged by it. That said, as a yoga business, a lot of people simply expect it. Good ethics should be, and certainly are, central to our values as a brand. We’re also seeing an increasing number of people actively asking for more details – whether it’s about energy consumption, supply chains or other ethical issues. That’s why we’ve committed to publishing our B Corp review annually – as it transparently keeps people up to speed with some key elements of our sustainability programme.
What does the future have in store for Hotpod Yoga – and what role does sustainability play within this?
We’re already the UK’s largest yoga business, with 55 studios nationwide, and we’ve got more new studios launches planned too, which is exciting.
One of our focuses within this is ensuring that the best practice we’re implementing ourselves is consistently delivered across our franchise network. We know that’s a very meaningful way to enhance the positive impact we have, while minimising the negative. Our scale also opens up some really exciting opportunities in new areas. We’re looking at a number of national charity partnerships, for instance, which become much more impactful due to the size of our network and geographic spread.
What people / brands have inspired you to do things more sustainably?
It’s deeply uncool, but my world used to be big corporations. And I was hugely inspired by big, blue chip businesses pushing forward with strong sustainability programmes. Firstly, it felt inspiring due to the sheer size of the impact that they could have on the world if they got it right. Secondly, in many instances, it put the sustainability agenda to consumers in places they wouldn’t always expect.
That changed perceptions and expectations and helped take it out of a niche and into the mainstream, which to me is critical if we’re really to address the issues. Don’t get me wrong…. so many do it badly and there’s still much disingenuousness and greenwashing coming from big corporates around sustainability – but those that do it well really are inspirational, for me.
Where can people go to find out more information?
To find out more information about Hotpod Yoga generally, you can visit Hotpodyoga.com. This is also where we publish our annual B Corp report, which reviews our impact and focuses – not just within the B Corp framework, but also more generally. We have a new annual report due out very soon.
