Willmott Dixon’s pledge to become a zero-carbon company by 2030, without offsetting, has seen it announce a roll-out of electric vehicle charge points across all its sites and offices.

The company is working with electric vehicle charging specialist Rolec to install charging points at more than 100 locations across its sites and offices in England and Wales during 2021 for the nearly 300 of its people who have switched, or are switching, to electric cars under the company’s car scheme.

New Rolec electric charging points are being installed at Willmott Dixon locations, such as at its office in Hitchin.

Willmott Dixon expects this latest initiative under it’s Now or Never sustainability strategy to have a big impact on its annual carbon footprint by reducing emissions by nearly 1 million kgCo2e*, with the shift away from petrol and diesel fuel also leading to savings of £360k in fuel reimbursement. It is also intended to support more people transitioning to electric vehicles.

Julia Barrett, Chief Sustainability Officer, explains:

“Our 2030 ‘Now or Never’ strategy, launched last autumn, set some of the toughest science-based targets in the industry, including a pledge to have no direct emissions from our day-to-day operations by eliminating fossil fuel use in our offices and on our sites by 2030.

“In order to achieve this, it is critical that we move to a 100% electric vehicle fleet, which will only be viable if we are able to provide our people with the relevant equipment to make this step change possible.

“In January, we launched a new vehicle scheme, encouraging our people to consider electric vehicles and we have already seen several hundred applications. By installing electric vehicle charging points at our sites and offices, we are creating the infrastructure to support this change.

“Since 2019, all our offices and sites have been powered by certified, natural renewable electricity. We are also encouraging our people to consider making the same change at home, having recently led an internal campaign for Earth Day during April. By combining renewable electricity powered charging points with electric vehicles, we are proud to able to provide a truly sustainable vehicle solution for our people.”

Jake Hudson, Fleet Business Development Manager at Rolec added: “It is great to be able to assist with the provision of electric vehicle charge points for all of Willmott Dixon’s sites, sharing the vision of their 2030 ‘Now or Never’ sustainability strategy to deliver a greener future.”

Willmott Dixon’s latest sustainability commitment follows the achievement of becoming the first contractor, and one of only three companies globally, to have been awarded Level 3 of the Carbon Trust’s industry leading Supply Chain Standard. Achieving a score of 82%, the criterion recognises organisations which can demonstrate that they are measuring, managing, and reducing carbon emissions from their supply chains.

*compared to the average Willmott Dixon vehicle carbon emissions driving 15,000 miles annually.