Willmott Dixon is the first contractor - and one of only three companies globally - to achieve Level 3 of the Carbon Trust’s industry leading Supply Chain Standard.

Achieving a score of 82%, it builds on the company’s knowledge and skills gained through the award of the Carbon Trust’s two previous standards, with this version recognising organisations that can demonstrate they are measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions from their supply chains.

To achieve Level 3, Willmott Dixon worked closely with two of its category A supply chain partners; TJL Plastering and McDermotts Building & Civil Engineering. Together, they created carbon management plans which included measures to reduce fuel use on site, reduce office energy use and create a more sustainable approach to transport.

Both partners reported significant carbon and cost savings between 10-20%. Willmott Dixon also examined the embodied carbon of the materials purchased on their projects, with a particular focus on concrete, developing carbon reduction strategies as a result.

Achieving Level 3 builds on six years of work, with Willmott Dixon achieving Level 1 of the Standard in 2015, where initial investigations showed that Willmott Dixon’s supply chain emissions (scope 3) are 99 times greater than what they emit in their own operations (scopes 1 and 2).

In 2018, Willmott Dixon achieved Level 2, after helping three high-impact supply chain partners baseline, monitor and reduce their footprint, with McDermotts achieving ISO50001 as a result.

The criteria for Level 3 also required Willmott Dixon to expand the approach developed during Level 2 and to engage with more of its supply chain. They worked with three further groundworks companies, helping them baseline their carbon footprint.

Marta Iglesias, associate director, The Carbon Trust, said:

“Willmott Dixon is the first company in their sector to be certified to Level 3 of the Supply Chain Standard. This achievement is a reflection of their robust strategies and plans for climate action in their supply chain, and their successful engagement with suppliers. We hope this is a step towards extending their positive impact and building a net zero future.”

Julia Barrett, chief sustainability officer, Willmott Dixon, said:

“We are delighted to have met the criteria for the award of the prestigious Carbon Trust Supply Chain Standard at Level 3. Achieving this accreditation is key to meeting the objectives of our ambitious ‘Now or Never’ 2030 Sustainability Strategy, where we have set some of the toughest science-based targets in the industry. Through our strategy, we will continue our work to reduce our scope 3 emissions, this is driven by our ambitious target to achieve a net zero carbon supply chain and deliver net zero embodied carbon on our projects by 2040.”

Further to its collaboration with the Carbon Trust, Willmott Dixon is also working closely with the Climate Action Group, part of the Supply Chain Sustainability School. Together the organisations are developing a carbon footprint tool to help the industry’s shared supply chain better understand their own carbon emissions and take steps to reduce it.