Sumillion wins King’s Award for sustainable IT procurement

Sumillion has received a King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, placing the Basingstoke-based IT provider among a small group of businesses recognised under the long-running honours scheme.

The recognition comes as the company argues that many organisations still buy technology in ways that increase both cost and environmental waste. In its view, procurement should put sustainability at the centre of decision-making rather than treat it as a secondary issue.

His Majesty The King approved the Prime Minister’s recommendation that Sumillion receive the award in the sustainable development category. The honours programme is widely regarded as the UK’s top formal business recognition.

Sustainability model

Sumillion works with organisations seeking to update their IT estates while reducing environmental impact. Its model centres on carbon-tracked procurement, circular lifecycle management and end-of-life processes designed to cut waste.

The business focuses on extending the working life of devices, improving their use across organisations and handling disposal more responsibly. It argues that these steps can lower carbon intensity per employee and per unit of revenue while reducing unnecessary spending on replacement equipment.

That position reflects a broader debate across the technology channel, where customers are under pressure to manage budgets more tightly while also meeting environmental targets. Suppliers and buyers are increasingly expected to show not only what equipment they purchase, but how long assets remain in service and what happens to them when they are retired.

Chief Executive David Manners set out that argument in direct terms.

“Too many organisations are still buying IT in a way that creates unnecessary cost and waste. Sustainability is often treated as an afterthought rather than a core part of procurement. We have shown that it is possible to reduce impact, improve efficiency, and deliver better outcomes at the same time,” said David Manners, Chief Executive, Sumillion.

Operational model

Sumillion’s internal environmental governance includes ISO 14001 certification, Carbon Literacy training and external assessment through EcoVadis, where it achieved a Silver rating this year. It also says changes to operations and energy use have helped reduce carbon intensity as the business has expanded.

Its environmental target is to reach Net Zero across Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030. Those categories cover direct emissions from owned or controlled sources and indirect emissions from purchased energy.

The company links its environmental work with a social impact programme. Through its Green Partnership initiative, it says it has supported clean water projects in Ghana that have provided more than 85,000 people with access to safe drinking water.

It also says education projects backed by the programme have distributed more than 50,000 books and improved digital access. Those figures form part of Sumillion’s broader claim that commercial activity can be tied to measurable outcomes beyond its own operations.

Procurement pressure

The award comes at a time when IT procurement is receiving closer scrutiny from both finance and sustainability teams. Rising expectations around reporting, combined with pressure to control spending, have pushed organisations to look more closely at refresh cycles, asset utilisation and disposal routes.

In practice, that has led more buyers to examine refurbished hardware, longer deployment periods and more structured recovery of equipment at end of life. Providers that can document carbon impact and support reuse are taking a clearer role in those purchasing decisions.

For Sumillion, the award offers external recognition of a business model built around those themes. It believes the balance between cost, performance and sustainability will play a larger role in defining how organisations buy IT.

Basingstoke remains the company’s headquarters as it works with customers looking to modernise their technology estates while reducing waste through lifecycle management and procurement choices.