Cabinet member for Carbon Reduction and Sustainability Cllr Jayne Sharratt meets Amplifi founders Pete Kenyon and Jenny Kitchen
I’ve spent my first months as the cabinet member with the portfolio for Carbon Reduction and Sustainability focusing on the big changes the council needs to make to meet its own 2030 net zero target – but I’m also acutely aware of the need to encourage carbon reduction and sustainability across the whole community. The really brilliant thing about this part of my job is that so many people in the borough are already acting.
Jenny Kitchen and Pete Kenyon are the founders of Amplifi, a local collective bringing together Tunbridge Wells businesses who want to act for the planet and community and inspire others to join in too.
Pete is a partner at law firm Cripps who are head quartered in Tunbridge Wells, and Jenny is the CEO of creative digital agency Yoyo Design. “If we do this together, we’ll do it better,” Pete says, about the principle behind the collective. “It’s refreshing for businesses not to compete – taking action on sustainability is something we all have to work on together and the sense of a circular economy that could come out of it is really exciting.”
The idea started when Pete and Jenny had a coffee together. “We cared about doing the right thing for the environment, and we had a clear view that businesses had to do it together. It was a simple conversation between two people who care. We wanted to be able to share ideas, resources, best practice. Problem solving is a part of it too, we want to find ways to overcome the barriers to sustainability,” Pete says. Jenny was clear about the vision from the start and the social responsibility of businesses to do good in the wider community is important. “It really matters to us that Amplifi feels progressive, credible and has the right energy to it to really get people engaged and excited,” she says. “We have lots of ideas, but we really want to listen – that’s why we are beginning with a survey so that we can see what the business community needs to become more sustainable and work from there.”
I know from experience that there is an alchemy to bringing people with energy, ideas, and commitment together to get things done, and Pete and Jenny clearly have these qualities in abundance, making Amplifi a welcome asset to the Tunbridge Wells community. If you would like to find out more about joining the collective, or have your say you can take part in their survey here amplifi | Have your say.
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