Leading project and cost consultancy Davis Langdon is leading the way in sustainable company car policies by introducing bold new restrictions on company car allowances for vehicles with high CO2 emissions for both staff and partners. The changes extend to the ‘grey fleet’ - cash allowance takers - and aim to reward those who make sustainable car choices. Davis Langdon has been working closely with the Energy Savings Trust and fleet management provider Leasedrive Velo to develop the new policy.
The firm has set carbon emissions of165g/km as the benchmark offering employees an increased car allowance for vehicles at or below this level. Members whose vehicles exceed this level will have to make payments towards sustainable projects.
Nigel Underdown, head of transport advice at the Energy Savings Trust says: “The Energy Savings Trust commends Davis Langdon’s policy to encourage their staff to opt for lower carbon vehicles. This scheme offers drivers the opportunity to reduce their emissions from business travel and benefit from savings for running cleaner cars.”
He adds, “Whilst other firms have placed restrictions on vehicles linked to CO2 emissions, these have tended to be in a fairly modest way. The Davis Langdon approach is a forceful/strong incentive which others have not matched. No other organisation has sought to also control the ”grey fleet” (the cash allowance takers) in this way and establish a link of CO2 emissions to cash allowances.”
This is backed up by Roddy Graham, commercial director of Leasedrive Velo who says: “While most of Leasedrive Velo’s clients are seeking to make a difference to the environment via their company car policies, the proposed changes to the Davis Langdon staff policy will ensure Davis Langdon remain seen as a market leader and an employer of choice. The proposed changes to the partner scheme are also extremely bold and will clearly demonstrate Davis Langdon’s commitment to supporting environmental issues.”
The new company car policy is just the latest in a series of sustainability incentives Davis Langdon has introduced. The firm became a carbon neutral business last year having engaged the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management to help assess the carbon footprint of all its operations and offsetting the total greenhouse gas impact of the business. The firm is now developing an environmental management system to ISO 14001 standards that sets out a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other environmental impacts still further. The change to the car policy will of course contribute to this.
Rob Smith, senior partner at Davis Langdon says: “I am extremely pleased with the clear motivation shown by people in Davis Langdon to embrace sustainability and drive change. We must however remain mindful of the need to match announcements with actions. I feel that has been strongly demonstrated by our movements towards adopting ISO14001 and announcing carbon neutrality.”