The Challenge
Blycolin, an international specialist in textile services for the hospitality sector, had long been committed to doing business responsibly. But like many growing companies, their sustainability efforts were scattered across different countries and departments. When CSRD entered the picture, Nicolet, Blycolin’s manager of quality, safety, and sustainability, realized it was time to take a big step forward. “We always had a lot of sustainability data,” she explains, “but not much of it was written down, let alone aligned across countries.” The internal sense of urgency was rising, but the path forward was unclear.
The Collaboration
After meeting Justus (The Overview Effect) during a sustainability leadership program, Nicolet reached out for support. “We had conversations with multiple parties, but the click was strongest with Justus and Lianne mainly because of their pragmatic, data-driven approach.” Together, we kicked off a CSRD readiness trajectory:
- We helped establish a cross-functional steering group to build awareness and ownership internally.
- We reviewed existing documentation, identified gaps, and co-created a sustainability policy and governance structure.
- We supported stakeholder dialogues and created a clear foundation for the 2024 sustainability report.
Blycolin needed help with writing a report and a structure that would future-proof their ESG work. “The Overview Effect gave us a backbone,” Nicolet says. “We can now respond much more confidently to customer questionnaires like CDP, and we have a shared understanding internally of what we’re working toward.”
The Impact
From scattered to structured — What used to live in multiple minds and spreadsheets is now aligned and accessible, without becoming bureaucratic.
From compliance to conviction — Some legal pressure may have initiated the project, but the outcome renders a stronger internal commitment to ESG.
From individual effort to team momentum — The project grew from a one-woman mission to a company-wide shift in thinking through phased implementation and critical conversations.
