The journey to Net Zero is a challenge most of us face. At Corps Security, we take our responsibilities to the environment very seriously. But as many will understand, it is an ongoing challenge and requires a dedicated team to review many business areas.
We equally take the reporting of our goals, achievements, and areas of improvement very seriously. Our annual ESG report is a testament to our commitment to be open and transparent with our colleagues, customers, suppliers, and the wider community we serve.
This year has seen significant investment to understand our position on the road to Net Zero truly, and we wanted to provide an update on where we are now and what we have done to ensure we remain on target to be a Net Zero Emissions business by 2050.
Communicating with our colleagues
Our annual conference took place in July 2023. It is customary for us to discuss our achievements in ESG and our progress on the journey to Net Zero. This year, we took that communication further and used the conference to educate and enhance our colleagues’ understanding of the jargon they often see communicated. We explained what Carbon Neutral means as an alternative phrase to Net Zero. We explained the scopes of our plans in easy-to-understand terms to ensure our colleagues could grasp the magnitude of the challenge we face, including what it means to the future of our business and industry, whilst communicating our actions and further commitments to set ‘science-based’ targets as we advance.
Corps are delighted to say that our Annual Conference in Oxford was a certified Carbon Neutral Event. Our quality and compliance team engaged with industry specialists at Neutral Carbon Zone (NCZ) to offset the event’s emissions, attended by hundreds of colleagues from across the country.
It was an engaging session with the core of Corps Security’s critical operational staff, senior management, regional managers, the board, and trustees.
Accuracy of Reporting
One of the key elements we were keen to address in 2023 is the accuracy of our reporting, not just with the ESG report for public consumption but our internal reporting for the business and individual sites- to give us a much deeper understanding of our emissions and how to control them.
Corps Security retains its ongoing collaborative partnership with Carbon Footprint Limited. Corps remains committed to reducing our emissions and fully engages with the recommendations provided to us to achieve our goals. In addition, we continuously review our Carbon Offsetting Programme and, in the last twelve months, have begun to explore further opportunities in biodiversity as an alternative – or in addition to – tree planting and replenishment schemes.
Working alongside Carbon Footprint, we continue to update our annual Carbon Reduction Plan and make our Carbon Footprint Appraisal available each year for everyone to review.
Corps’ latest initiatives
Whilst we remain on target for our carbon-neutral goals, we are not complacent in our actions or our education on how best to get there efficiently, effectively, and openly. We therefore wanted to share some of our latest initiatives to help us achieve our aims. They may surprise you, impress you or, better still, inspire you.
- Hybrid/Electric Vehicles and Charging: The company has replaced many of our fleet with hybrid or electric vehicles. Sadly, the charging infrastructure in the UK restricts our ability to replace all our vehicles due to the remote locations of many of our customers’ sites. To reduce the impact of the poor infrastructure, we have installed four EV charging points at the Corps Monitoring Office and Alarm Receiving Centre in Glasgow and two at our London head office in Farringdon. Doing so means we can charge six vehicles at any one time. Our regional offices are leased buildings, so we have begun discussing the possibility of investing and installing points with the landlords of these properties.
- Car Allowance: Corps have increased the car allowance for those choosing hybrid or electric vehicles to incentivise take up. There is also consideration of a salary sacrifice scheme, to further encourage engagement from our colleagues in this area.
- Neutral Carbon Zone (NCZ): Following our engagement with CNZ for our annual conference, we are delighted to announce we will be signing a contract this month (September 2023) with them to utilise their unique carbon management and certification platform to track our journey to Net Zero. Our partnership will provide us with all the tools we need to monitor, report, and reduce the emissions of our entire value chain – efficiently and effectively.
- Uniforms: Corps Security is in talks with a uniform recycling company regarding old uniform supplies. The organisation has a 3-tier system whereby Tier 1 reuses the material for future garments; Tier 2 recycles the materials into different products that can be used again, or Tier 3 the uniform is zero landfill, so if the material is non-recyclable, it will be made into chips and melted or used to generate energy.
- Similarly, our London Regional Team recently engaged with Suited and Booted, a charity providing clothing and accessories for the less fortunate for job interviews. Not only did the London team provide an array of blazers, trousers, and other valuable items, but they also offered to provide our electric security vehicle to collect donations from across the capital and deliver them to the charity HQ when business operations allow.
- Stationery: Corps has signed a new, company-wide contract with a leading ethical stationery supplier and fellow Social Enterprise, Ethstat, responsible for all office supplies to all locations across the UK. With every purchase, we can be confident that we are supporting dementia care and ending homelessness with every purchase.
Collaborative Supply Chain
At Corps, we pride ourselves on our relationships with our customers. By collaborating around carbon neutrality with them, we can share best practices, set joint goals, and engage in various partnership relationships to ensure the supply chain works together to better our planet and protect its people.
Get in touch
If you would like to know more about the initiatives we have in place, are a customer and would like to engage with us to help you achieve your goals, or if you have any questions about the work that we have done, please get in touch here.
