Celebrating 20 years of going beyond compliance at our anniversary stakeholder event
On Wednesday 8th July 2026, Beyondly celebrated the company’s 20th anniversary in the beautiful surroundings of The Savile Club London.
2026 marks 20 years since the inception of Beyondly (originally Comply Direct), and we were delighted to bring together our valued customers and stakeholders for an exclusive anniversary event to celebrate this significant milestone and share insights on sustainable packaging strategies.
It was a brilliant moment to reflect on the past two decades of environmental progress, share knowledge and experiences, and to also look ahead to how we can continue finding better ways to support our planet and drive environmental responsibility forward.
The venue
The afternoon was set in The Savile Club, London, a historic venue with a vast literary and musical background. It was a venue befitting of such a landmark celebration for Beyondly. Despite the heatwave outside, the venue remained cool and welcoming ahead of the day’s events, making it the perfect spot for the celebrations.
The event
Our compere for the day, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Beyondly, Alex Hilton, began proceedings with a welcome speech before handing over to Beyondly’s Managing Director, Jessica Aldersley. It was a particularly poignant moment, as Jessica is also celebrating her 20th anniversary with the company in 2026.
Following the speeches, guests then gathered in the ballroom for an afternoon full of insightful conversations. The afternoon also featured inspiring keynote speakers, environmental campaigner Chris Hines, and Josh Pitman from Priory Direct, who shared expert insights, practical experiences, and forward-thinking perspectives on advancing packaging sustainability in alignment with EPR, as well as how we can all be better climate advocates and activists. They explored how strategic investment in sustainable packaging can also support commercial growth while creating meaningful climate benefits.
Discussions around tables at the three-course, all-vegan lunch highlighted the growing complexity of environmental compliance, particularly as businesses prepare for regulations such as PPWR and face increasing requirements across the EU and US, as well as within the UK. Attendees discussed the challenges of interpreting legislation, managing data through spreadsheets, and meeting registration and reporting obligations that can sometimes outweigh the commercial value of entering certain markets. Reliable data capture, clear internal sign-off processes and earlier communication from government around regulatory changes were identified as essential.
There was also strong agreement that compliance and sustainability must be embedded across every department within a company, while still being led by dedicated specialists with the expertise to coordinate business-wide action. Interest in ISO standards and B Corp was evident in the room, although many acknowledged that the new B Corp standards and recertification process will demand significant time and resource. Despite these challenges, attendees showed a clear and passionate commitment to improving environmental performance and moving beyond box-ticking towards meaningful, long-term change.
To round off the day’s events, attendees made their way back to the drawing room for a champagne toast. Together they raised a glass to Beyondly, 20 years of compliance and environmental action, and to the commitment to continue making the world a fairer and more sustainable place for all.
It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to sit down with customers and stakeholders and have such meaningful discussions in this way. We would like to say a huge thank you to our speakers and valued members for making our 20th anniversary celebration so memorable.
