Investing in our estate and people The energy we use to power our estate also has a significant impact on our carbon footprint and the expertise of our people is an asset in managing climate- change issues because we recognise that colleagues making environmentally conscious decisions plays a part in our risk mitigation efforts. We continually invest in our estate, updating and integrating new energy-efficient features and equipment across our sites. – Our environmental management system provides a framework to help us oversee our environmental responsibilities effectively and meet our targets. Our offices are accredited to ISO 14001:2015 – an international standard. – The recent purchase of our Bristol office, The Core, saw environmental considerations central to the design. LED lighting, new chillers, heating, ventilation and an air conditioning system have made the site more energy efficient. As a result, running costs for our estate in Bristol are now 55% lower than they were in 2016. – We procure a 100% renewable electricity tariff through our partners at Engie and have done since 2014. We are in the process of applying for membership to RE100, a global initiative dedicated to accelerating a global shift in clean energy, under which we will continue our objective of sourcing 100% renewable electricity. In addition, we are increasingly enabling and encouraging flexible working and reduced business travel, leading to further reductions in Scope 3 emissions under our direct control. – Approximately 200 of our people do have jobs that require a car, and a number of others have an optional car lease benefit as part of their compensation. In August 2020, we announced an improved car scheme policy to encourage our people to make better decisions for the environment, including more hybrid and pure electric vehicle options. For cars that are company funded, the Group will also cover the costs of the installation of a charge point where an electric vehicle is chosen. – We have invested in a network of Environmental Champions across all our office sites and a growing network across our repair centres, all of whom have received accredited sustainability training. Our Environmental Champions work to engage colleagues and promote local awareness campaigns, as well as working with the local property teams to deliver local initiatives designed to reduce our environmental footprint. These initiatives are particularly focused on energy efficiency and waste. In addition to the reductions in energy usage across our estate, we also recycled 98% of our total waste in 2019 along with 100% of office waste being diverted from landfill.