Yorkshire Water: the world’s first poo-powered pub

Case study · Sustainability & Utilities

We opened a pub powered by sewage for three days in Leeds. It put Yorkshire Water’s net zero plan on regional TV and in four national titles, reached a combined 72.5 million readers and won Best Small Budget Campaign at the CIPR Awards.

• 19 pieces of coverage
• 72.5M combined circulation
• 5 broadcast hits, including ITV Calendar
• 100% positive sentiment

• Client Yorkshire Water
• Sector Sustainability & Utilities
• Services Creative campaign, media relations, video, paid social
• When 6 to 9 November 2019
• Where The Light, Leeds
• Recognition CIPR Awards 2021, Best Small Budget Campaign

What did Yorkshire Water need?

Yorkshire Water had committed to reach net zero carbon by 2030. Few people knew about it. Climate pledges were all over the news, and a water company talking about carbon was easy to ignore.

The brief had three parts:

• Business objective: build understanding of the 2030 net zero plan among Yorkshire residents and regulators, including Ofwat and the Environment Agency.
• Communication objective: a stunt unlike anything Yorkshire Water had done before, strong enough to win regional TV coverage.
• Proof: bring to life carbon-cutting work already happening inside the business.

What was the idea?

The answer was already at a sewage works. At its Knostrop Recycling Centre in Leeds, Yorkshire Water turns sewage sludge into biogas through anaerobic digestion, then into electricity. The site generates enough power to run 55% of its own operation, the equivalent of powering 7,600 homes (Yorkshire Water, 2019).

Anaerobic digestion is a hard sell. Poo power is not. So we built a pub that ran on it.

The Number Two Tavern looked like a traditional Yorkshire pub, with a painted sign, bar stools and a pump on the bar. Everything electrical ran from a battery charged at Knostrop. It served one drink: Yorkshire water, on tap.

How did we bring it to life?

• Built the pub in a pop-up unit at The Light in Leeds, with an exhibition explaining how poo power works and Yorkshire Water’s other net zero projects, including its pledge to plant one million trees.
• Opened to media and stakeholders on 6 November 2019, a day before the public, with broadcast crews as the priority.
• Opened to the public for three days, 7 to 9 November, so the story renewed each day.
• Filmed a 30-second launch film on opening day and ran it as paid social to people around Leeds to drive visits.
• Released a 90-second film after the event carrying the net zero message, targeted at sustainability professionals on LinkedIn and people interested in sustainability on Facebook.
• Added a selfie wall reading “I checked into the world’s first poo powered pub” to turn visitors into content.

What did it achieve?

Results by stage of the AMEC evaluation framework. Every figure shows where it came from.

What did Yorkshire Water get from it?

A process few people had heard of became a story people wanted to share. Utilities rarely get regional TV to film a sustainability story. ITV Calendar and Leeds TV filmed the pub on opening day, the national tabloids followed, and outlets in the USA and Europe picked it up.

Yorkshire Water gained a physical, photographable proof point that made its 2030 target feel real to residents and regulators alike.

What did we learn?

• Humour opens the door for a serious message. A cheeky name got a technical story onto regional TV.
• Give the media more than one day. A preview plus three public days gave reporters fresh reasons to come back.
• What we would do differently: measure awareness before and after from day one, and count visitors at the door, so every result has a clean source.