Sustainable travel

The decarbonisation of the transport sector is a critical element on our journey to net zero.

We started to make the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) in 2018 with the introduction of our Nissan Leafs. This was followed by the launch our EV strategy in 2019, which included plans to decarbonise our own transport and encourage our colleagues to do the same.

Through our low carbon transport policy we're making it easier for colleagues to adopt EVs by installing charge points at our sites, offering an EV and cycle purchase scheme, including EVs on our company car scheme and incentivising the use of public transport and cycling as a means of travelling to work.

We've also begun the replacement of our own fleet vehicles with low emission alternatives. 

Sustainable transport

• Travel season tickets - we offer interest-free 12-month loans for non-car users and those who regularly use public transport as an incentive to travel more sustainably.
• Cycle to work - we enhanced our cycle to work scheme to include electric bikes and have removed the £1,000 cap on the scheme to encourage the take-up of electric bikes.
• Home-working - we've enabled our people to work in an agile way, whether part or full time, as appropriate, reducing commuter transport across the organisation.

Choice

• We've increased our range of EVs from just one model to an open policy in 2020 to offer more variety and choice.
• We also offer EV pool vehicles for operational colleagues to use when needed.

Incentives

• We now offer enhanced car allowances - up to 43% for a full battery EV and 30% for a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
• Colleagues can purchase an EV via an affinity scheme run by our car supplier with competitive finance on offer.
• We offer interest free loans for the purchase of a home charger, for those who work from home, or prefer to charge from home.

Infrastructure

• We've made chargers available to all colleagues across our depots and offices, with a choice of slow and fast chargers according to users and location.
• We have 120 charge points across our sites and depots, increasing all the time.
• We're also planning to provide EV charging in accessible parking spaces.

Results

The uptake and overall difference we have seen as a result of our programme has been rapid and substantial:

• 50% of our company car users now have an EV (including those on order).
• 74% of colleagues selected EVs in the 2021 round of company car renewals.
• Nearly 100 people currently use our ‘cycle to work’ scheme, which is an increase of 25% since we lifted the £1,000 limit.
• There is an ever-increasing appetite for more colleagues to move to EVs with 92% of those due to renew in 2022 considering an EV.

See below for our complete case study and our factsheet which sets out why your business should make the change to electric vehicles now.

Case study and factsheet