Q & A with Commercial

Commercial is one of the largest office services and supplies companies in the UK, with five divisions providing Office Supplies, Interiors, Print Procurement, IT Services and Recruitment. Founded 17 years ago, it has grown consistently year on year and now serves over 2000 customers in the UK and Ireland.

Simon Graham is Environmental Strategist at the Group. He is responsible for designing and managing the groupwide Carbon Reduction Programme which has a target to reduce emissions by 75 per cent over three years.

What prompted your company to embark on the 'green route'?

"Simone Mann, a Director and Co-Founder of Commercial, was invited by one of our customers, BSkyB, to an audience with Al Gore, including a screening of The Inconvenient Truth in May 2006. She returned to Commercial convinced that the company had both an obligation to respond to climate change and an opportunity to show leadership and innovation.

"The film was shown to staff and, when they were given the chance to respond, a huge majority committed to helping the company to reduce its environmental impact. Two teams with representation from across the divisions, one focusing of carbon and the other on waste, were launched and are responsible for implementing the reduction programme, and I am proud to say that the best ideas have come from the staff themselves."

How has your company benefited from this orientation?

"The company has benefited financially, with over £100,000 in annual efficiency savings, but the main gain has been in the staff. The Programme has allowed staff to shine who otherwise may not have been noticed and has been a huge advantage in attracting a retaining the best people.

"At the same time, it has given the company a new focus that has helped us stand out from the crowd and brought in over £2million of new business. We have also been very honoured to have been awarded a number of accolades, including winning the Carbon Positive Pioneer Award at the Prince of Wales' MayDay Summit."

What part of your company was responsible for the largest slice of greenhouse emissions?

"Our carbon baseline was audited by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, which reported that 84 per cent of the Group emissions were the vehicle fleet."

How did you tackle this problem?

"One of the critical areas that needed to be addressed was data. We tackled fleet emissions by a combination of a dynamic routing system designed by the Logistics Department, route consolidation, remote warehousing, the use of technology to reduce engineer journeys, and a bunked sustainable biodiesel system. This has provided a staggering audited reduction of 52 per cent in fleet emissions and has led to us being invited to join the Energy Savings Trust's Motorvate programme."

What other carbon reduction measures has the company undertaken?

"We have moved all our electricity supply to 100% renewable electricity with the retirement of ROCs and following a trial of various lighting technologies, we have implemented high efficiency lighting typically saving 80 per cent in energy.

"By encouraging cycle commuting, home working and car sharing, over 50 per cent of staff no longer commute by single occupancy car, and public transport use for appointments and commuting has increased by 77 per cent. Our Reduce/Reuse/Recycle waste management scheme has reduced waste to landfill by 88.5 per cent, with over 90 per cent of packing now reused internally.

"At the same time, due to the size of our supply chain, we have encouraged our suppliers and customers to engage with climate change. As well as an annual conference at Cheltenham Racecourse on CSR, providing environmentally friendly supplies and supplier audits, we also assist our customers in reducing their carbon footprints by the services we offer, many for free. I was extremely pleased that at the last conference a number of them, including Johnston Press and St James' Place, were able to talk about their achievements since the previous conference."

What was the biggest challenge facing the Group's low-carbon drive?

"Many of the things we have undertaken have been cutting edge and so finding partners to work with has been difficult. However, we have received huge support from our suppliers and organisations like the EST, Envirowise and The CarbonNeutral Company and this has been invaluable."

Are government carbon reduction targets achievable?

"The targets are eminently achievable. Commercial has managed to reduce emissions by far more than the government targets, at the same time sustaining annual growth of over 30 per cent. I would encourage legislators to look at ways of supporting companies that are already doing good things, as these are willing partners, through initiatives like the BITC MayDay Network rather than through legislation like the RTFO."

What new technologies are emerging that might aid your business to reduce emissions?

"We are constantly looking for more efficient ways of running our fleet and so any improvements in this area are always interesting. We are also watching developments in heat pumps with interest."

Please tell us what you are working on at present

"The next major project is to expand our employee engagement through a Green Ambassadors scheme. Already staff are very engaged in the programme, through the various teams, our Earth Day celebration and other activities; the Green Ambassadors scheme will take this further and help them take the programme outside the workplace."

What advice would you give to someone taking on a role similar to yours?

"Don't be afraid to dream - if you have the company on board, it is possible to make radical changes."