Energise's journey to a unified business management platform with Zoho One

The company

Energise is a UK-based sustainability consultancy working with organizations that are seeking to reduce their environmental impact in a measurable way. Their work spans carbon reporting, compliance, and operational change, often at a level where data is not just supportive, but foundational. As a certified B Corp, Energise leads by example, living and breathing its ethical, planet-friendly principles — something it has been doing since its inception 15 years ago.

Over the years, Energise's work has contributed to efforts that touch a meaningful portion of the UK's carbon footprint. Its consultants have advised on more than 7.5% of the UK's carbon footprint, delivered more than 700 compliance programmes, boasts a 100% audit pass rate, and has saved its clients more than £58,000,000 to date. Its notable clients include Iceland, The National Union of Students, and Bidfood.

This scale came with a certain expectation. Precision and consistency mattered. The ability to explain, defend, and act on data mattered. And inside the business, these expectations don't stop at client delivery.

Catherine Parkinson, Head of Business Systems, works across the internal layer that supports all of this. Her role isn't just to run projects or manage delivery. It is to make sure the systems behind the work actually hold together, across teams, tools, and data.

The challenge: Outgrowing the systems that kept the show running

Over time, Energise moved through multiple tools: Time tracking systems, project management platforms, and internal builds. Each one worked for a while, until the business outgrew it. Then the cycle repeated.

In some cases, they built their own systems to bridge the gap. That helped in the short term, but it introduced a different kind of friction. Maintenance became harder and flexibility reduced. Every improvement required more effort than it should.

Then COVID forced a shift that made those gaps harder to ignore. The business moved from an office setup with local infrastructure into a fully remote model. What had previously been manageable through proximity and workarounds started to show up more clearly. "We suddenly had to go remote. That's when our Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Simon, decided to rebuild everything again because he'd found Zoho," recalls Catherine.

Catherine spent lockdown unpicking the patchwork of platforms that Zoho would come to replace. Data sat in different places, reporting had depended on pulling information together manually. Decisions required someone to reconstruct the state of the business before a conversation could even begin. None of it would scale with the way the business was now thinking.

"Having a unified platform makes things so much easier than managing a suite of separate systems."

Catherine Parkinson Head of Business Systems, Energise

This realization shaped what came next.

The solution: Building with intention for the long-term

The move toward Zoho didn't begin as a platform decision. It began with a need.

The team started with Zoho Creator, building what they called a "net zero hub" to handle client data and reporting. They could now utilize Creator's ability to handle a million rows of data. This initial build solved a specific problem, but it also exposed something else.

There was an underlying structure available with Zoho, if they chose to extend it.

From there, the Zoho One system began to take shape gradually. Zoho CRM became the central record of customers and interactions. Zoho Projects began to structure delivery. Zoho Analytics pulled data across systems and Creator continued to support use cases that needed flexibility. Zoho Flow bridged gaps that had always been workarounds.

This wasn't a single rollout moment. Through phased implementations, the system assembled itself around how the business actually worked.

"We now have around 25 Zoho apps that we're using on a regular basis, many of them totally integral to how our company operates. Zoho is an incredible unified platform, and the ability for all the apps to share data between them is a huge plus point."

Catherine Parkinson Head of Business Systems, Energise

That shared structure became more important than any individual feature.

How the system works today: Painting the Zoho One picture

Each part of the business now sits on a unified system, with apps mapped to specific business functions, also clearing the way to add many more others, as and when the need arises. "Wherever possible, whenever we have a new requirement, I see if Zoho has a suitable app first," reveals Catherine.

Zoho CRM holds the full customer record. Every interaction, from initial contact through delivery, is tied back to it. Zoho Projects carries the execution layer, where work is planned, tracked, and linked to opportunities.

Zoho Analytics sits across everything. It pulls data from CRM, Projects, and other systems to create a view that didn't exist before.

Previously, reporting meant exporting data, combining it, and rebuilding it in spreadsheets or presentations. It required time, context, and careful handling. Now, the same information is available in one place, already structured.

Leadership meetings reflect that shift. Instead of reviewing prepared reports, the team works directly from live dashboards.

"It used to involve one person pulling everything together and updating a spreadsheet or a PowerPoint for our exec team. Teams conversations here, siloed emails there, Excel files elsewhere — it wasn't unified. Now it's just there."

Catherine Parkinson Head of Business Systems, Energise

This changed the way that decisions were made.

Zoho Creator remains part of the system, but in a different role. It supports specific workflows (field data collection, structured inputs, internal tools) where the business needs something tailored. "We're now building a tool in Creator to store data from a client survey," explains Catherine. "Creator is still a key app for us, and it's very useful."

Zoho Desk is used internally, not for customers, but for managing system-related work: requests, improvements, ideas. Everything is tracked in one place instead of being spread across messages and emails.

Security, too, has been absorbed into the system. Zoho Vault manages shared credentials and authentication, ensuring access is controlled without being dependent on individuals.

In a nutshell, here's how Energise built their operations around Zoho One:

• Built a unified, future-proofed Zoho One ecosystem, that evolves with business needs.
• Established Zoho CRM as the single source of truth.
• Connected delivery via Zoho Projects linked to sales.
• Enabled seamless cross-app data flow.
• Centralized insights with Zoho Analytics (real-time dashboards).
• Eliminated manual reporting and data silos.
• Used Zoho Creator for custom, flexible workflows.
• Streamlined internal ops with Zoho Desk.
• Secured access and credentials via Zoho Vault.
• Created a scalable, modular system for future growth.

Benefits and ROI: What changed in practice

The most noticeable shifts were the elimination of manual tasks, duplicate data, and siloed activities.

With work no longer depending on someone connecting systems manually, reporting no longer began with reconstruction. Information moved through the system instead of being carried by people.

In one case, a report that previously took close to an hour to assemble could now be produced in minutes, because the structure already exists.

Across the business, these changes accumulated, leading to fewer workarounds and less duplication.

Life after Zoho One: Adoption and turning point

Energise began using Zoho One at a point when their own internal processes were still evolving. Different teams were working in different ways, and the processes were being shaped alongside that. The tools were in place, but how they connected to each other — and how people used them day to day — was still taking form.

The shift came when visibility improved.

As data from CRM, Projects, and other systems began to come together in Analytics, it created a shared layer across the business. Instead of relying on prepared reports, teams could see what was happening directly, in one place. "I've had feedback that having such a high-level view of data accessible in one place is a huge bonus," says Catherine.

People could see their own work reflected in it. They could follow how it connected to other parts of the business. And they didn't need someone else to interpret it before acting on it.

From that point on, adoption stopped being something to manage and started to happen on its own.

How Energise approaches the platform

Energise treats Zoho One as something that they can shape. Catherine writes Deluge scripts, builds flows, and connects systems together. The goal isn't to adapt the business to the software, but to make the software reflect how the business actually operates. "We never use a system straight off the peg," she says.

That approach changes how new needs are handled. Instead of evaluating new tools each time, the question is simpler. Can this be done within the system we already have? Most of the time, it can.

Looking ahead

The next phase up ahead is all about refinement: More automation in reporting. Better alignment between projects and financial visibility, deeper connections between their custom Zoho One platform and other internal systems.

There is also a measured approach to AI. Energise is deliberate about where it fits and where it doesn't. Automation is welcomed where it removes repetitive work. Less so where it replaces judgment or authorship.

This balance reflects how they've approached business systems overall: Build what helps and keep what works.