SunEnviro CEO honoured with Freedom of the City of London

SunEnviro CEO Mathew Stewart has been admitted to the Freedom of the City of London, a civic honour dating back to the medieval period.

Speaking after the ceremony, Mat said he had “never imagined” receiving an honour of this kind, describing it as “an unexpected privilege.”

The Freedom of the City is now largely symbolic, but it remains closely linked to the City of London’s traditions. Ceremonies take place regularly at Guildhall and recognise people from a wide range of professional backgrounds, linking contemporary working life with traditions that have shaped the City for centuries.

Mat was admitted through the Worshipful Company of Paviors, one of the City’s historic livery companies, whose origins lie in the construction and maintenance of London’s roads and pavements.

His admission followed a formal process that included detailed applications, professional checks, and an interview with a panel. Mat said candidates are asked about their business background, reputation, and charitable involvement before being accepted.

“You have to fill out numerous forms, talk about what you do, what your business does, and how you help other people,” he said. “Then you’re interviewed and, if you’re accepted, you go through a ceremony where you read an oath and you’re formally admitted.”

Membership of a livery company brings with it opportunities to attend talks, functions, and civic events, including the Lord Mayor’s Parade, and to connect with professionals across engineering, construction, and infrastructure.

“It’s really about being a livery man,” Mat said. “There’s a lot of focus on engineering, on infrastructure, and on meeting people from across different trades.”

Mat has spent nearly three decades working in the environmental services sector. Under his leadership, SunEnviro has grown from a single skip hire operation into a multi-site group operating across waste management, recycling, demolition, and aggregates. Anchored by the SunSkips brand, the group also includes SunDemolition and SunAggregates, serving customers across the East of England.

He holds professional competency certifications in road haulage, special waste, and transfer stations, and is a member of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM). Mat has previously said he was drawn to parts of the sector he felt were “underutilised and underinvested”, with a focus on improving operational standards and reducing reliance on landfill.

Charitable activity also formed part of the admissions process, with candidates expected to demonstrate how they contribute beyond their professional roles.

In recent years, Mat has taken part in a range of fundraising initiatives. In 2025, he joined East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices’ Jail or Bail fundraiser, where he was temporarily “locked up” at a hospice in Ipswich and challenged to raise bail money for release. His individual effort raised £3,860, while the wider event generated more than £38,000 for the charity.

He has also supported GeeWizz, an East Anglia charity helping disadvantaged children, through a £5,000 donation to fund a specialist wheelchair for a teenage wheelchair tennis player with cerebral palsy. Other initiatives have included supporting emergency services, community sports clubs, and local fundraising campaigns across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Despite the formality of the honour, Mat said the lighter traditions associated with the Freedom still raise a smile.

“I’m now technically allowed to be drunk and disorderly in London,” he said, joking that the historic rule probably carried a little less weight with modern policing than it once did.

“And I never imagined I’d end up with the right to lead sheep across London Bridge,” he added. “I just need to work out when that’s actually going to be useful.”

Everyone at SunEnvio is incredibly proud of Mat’s Freedom honour and his continued dedication to pushing the environmental services industry in a sustainable direction and helping people in local communities.