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Case study

Leading the refill revolution

Organisation type

Charity/third sector

Sector

Cities and communities

Environment and sustainability

Transport, travel and tourism

Service

Behaviour change

Campaigns

Design

Media relations

Strategy

Thought leadership

The brief

Londoners use around 7.7 billion plastic water bottles every year — 10% of all litter in the Thames and a major source of ocean pollution.

Borough Market wanted to lead by example. The Market committed to becoming the first in the UK to phase out bottled water, installing public drinking fountains and setting a goal to stop selling bottled water within six months.

Our challenge was to show that putting the environment ahead of profit can be both practical and powerful — inspiring others to follow suit.

Insights and approach

Our communications strategy positioned Borough Market as a credible pioneer of sustainable retail.

We delivered an integrated PR and social campaign encouraging visitors to refill rather than buy single-use bottles, while also targeting large organisations across London and the UK to adopt similar measures.

To ensure authenticity, we contextualised the initiative within the Market’s wider sustainability journey — demonstrating that this was no ‘greenwash’ but a genuine commitment to environmental responsibility.

Strong visuals were central to our approach. We developed a bright, engaging visual identity for the fountains, including posters, floor vinyl and reusable bottles. The story was amplified through proactive media relations and a social campaign using #BoroughFountains, extending reach through user-generated content and influencer engagement.

Results

The campaign received national and international attention, with coverage from The Guardian, Mail Online, BBC, The Sun, Telegraph, Metro, and Huffington Post.

Borough Market was hailed by Mintel as “leading the way in one of four key European sustainability trends to follow for 2018”. The initiative influenced announcements from the Mayor of London, UK Government, and Network Rail, all referencing Borough Market’s leadership. Nearly a year later, media continued to call for interviews and comment — testament to the campaign’s enduring influence.

  • 107

    pieces of coverage

  • 372m

    opportunities to see/hear

  • 30,000

    shares of The Guardian article on social media

  • 66,000

    views of the BBC London video on Facebook

  • 6,000

    people per week using Borough Market drinking fountains

“

Barley were the natural choice for us when looking to launch our public water fountains and becoming the first Market to phase out the use of single use plastic bottles. The team at Barley swiftly developed a great understanding of our organisation, our values and objectives. They worked with us to develop a brand identity and campaign in a very short time scale and the results speak for themselves – national and international print, online and broadcast coverage which far exceeded our expectations.

Kate Howell

Development and Communications Director, Borough Market

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