Harrison Spinks’ Ethan McGuigan strives for progress, not perfection, in sustainability.
As the sustainability systems manager for bedding producer Harrison Spinks, Ethan McGuigan says nearly every day at work is different. His role touches on various aspects of the company’s business including devising the sustainability strategy, and influencing and creating the initiatives that drive sustainability for the company. “I think sustainability has to be integrated into the entire business,” McGuigan says. “So, I have one of the best jobs because I get to be involved everywhere.”
McGuigan joined the Leeds, England-based company straight from university. After studying chemical engineering at Newcastle University in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, he earned a master’s degree in advanced chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge. “For me, chemical engineering is all about the process and this wide approach to systems thinking. In sustainability, in general, you have to have that big picture view.”
Since joining Harrison Spinks two years ago, he has helped refine the company’s responsible sourcing strategy for materials and also recently designed a sustainability training program that is rolling out to staff on the production floor. McGuigan is also the lead project manager for the Innovate UK’s Sustainable Smart Factory project. Harrison Spinks received the smart factory grant in 2022 to digitize its wire drawing process, which turns rods into wire for innersprings. New sensors monitor key process parameters, which replace manual data collection, allowing Harrison Spinks to reduce carbon emissions and track long-term trends.
By partnering with the Manufacturing Technology Centre and Bespoke Automatic Control Services Ltd., the company has reduced scrap, electricity and emissions. McGuigan says Harrison Spinks bakes innovation into its culture which fosters achievements. The company’s 2024 Impact Report reveals it plans to decrease carbon emissions from direct operations by 95% within 10 years and implement new manufacturing technology to reduce energy consumption by 60%.
“I think every industry has an important role to play when it comes to sustainability and reaching net zero (emissions),” McGuigan says. “Even the small changes that I make to this company have a small change on the industry and that has a small change in the wider world. Even the little steps that I am taking I can look back and see how they’re having repercussions in the industry and that motivates me.”
engagement session to the team at Harrison Spinks, which he then rolled out to all staff over the course of 2023.
For those who want to integrate more sustainability into their products and processes, McGuigan echoes some famous words spoken by Winston Churchill: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
Using this as a lens through which he views his work, he says, “In the business world, particularly in sustainability, sometimes you have to make good decisions based on incomplete information. You can’t be paralyzed by analysis. Sometimes you have to be bold. That’s what innovation in sustainability and sustainable development is really about.”
Looking to the future, McGuigan urges everyone to stay positive. Doomsday predictions, he says, are not a reason to cease making progress.
“My advice is to be optimistic, always,” he says. “Make some wild and ambitious ideas like a circular economy and eliminating waste. That’s a massive and bold idea, but it’s only with that kind of leap of faith that you can eventually make it there.”
Read more about Harrison Spinks’ sustainability efforts: Harrison Spinks Releases New Impact Report.
