Now in the sixth year of delivery against our Now or Never strategy, the political backdrop has been noisier than usual. Consensus on net zero has fragmented, conflict in the Middle East has driven fresh volatility in global energy markets, and economic pressure has sharpened scrutiny on every line of a budget. And yet what we see on the ground - in the briefs our customers bring to us and the standards they now expect us to meet - tells a different story entirely.
Climate science has not softened to accommodate political sceptics. According to Copernicus - the European Union's Earth observation programme - 2025 was the third hottest year on record, and more significantly, the past three years are the warmest consecutive period ever measured, averaging more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. The 2016 Paris Agreement's 1.5°C long-term limit, once a distant threshold, is now projected to be permanently breached before the end of this decade. The pressure on our built environment to respond has only intensified.
Councils balancing lean budgets with long-term climate commitments, NHS trusts futureproofing their estates, education bodies investing in schools that will still be serving communities in 2075 - none of them are stepping back. If anything, the combination of fiscal pressure and energy price uncertainty has sharpened their focus. Every pound of capital expenditure must work harder, which means whole-life cost, operational energy performance and long-term resilience are central to the brief, not supplementary to it.
The signals from the Government have remained firm. The ten-year National Infrastructure Strategy, backed by a £725 billion investment pipeline, has made sustainable construction the baseline expectation, not the premium option. The Procurement Act has shifted public sector decision-making away from lowest capital cost towards whole-life value. We have been active in shaping what that looks like in practice — including through our involvement in developing the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, which sets clear performance limits for buildings. Customers expect evidence, not promises, and third-party verified performance is increasingly the price of entry. Our award-winning Energy Synergy® process exists precisely to close the gap between design intent and operational reality.
That logic applies to how we build as well as what we deliver. Diesel emissions now account for less than one percent of our total environmental footprint as we accelerate the shift to HVO and mains electricity; 84% of the electricity we used to power offices and sites in 2025 came from renewable sources. In a world of unstable energy prices, the case for clean, self-generated power and net zero carbon in operation buildings has never been stronger.
Our customers are basing their decisions on long-term risk - energy cost certainty, climate resilience, asset value, regulatory compliance - not short-term political weather. The sceptics are vocal, but they're not the ones commissioning the buildings. The direction of travel is clear, and we intend to keep leading the way.
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