Empowering the whole business to achieve net zero

Turley is an employee-owned independent advisory company working in the built environment and beyond with clients throughout the UK and Ireland and over 290 co-owners.

Having reported its carbon footprint since 2016, Turley calculated, reduced, and offset all emissions to achieve CarbonNeutral company certification in 2018. Putting in place robust data gathering mechanisms – such as using employee surveys to understand the extent of remote working and employee commuting patterns, engaging with its landlords to receive better data on energy consumption, and ensuring that spend data on physical assets was being tracked and translated into emissions data – enabled the company to identify areas which it could effectively target to reduce emissions.

After reducing its carbon emissions through smarter and greener ways of working, Turley has offset its remaining, unavoidable emissions through a high-quality offset programme which provides communities in Kenya with access to clean ground water, thereby reducing pressure on nearby forests. Turley is also funding projects to deliver tree cover growth and enhance biodiversity through the restoration of mangroves on Mtwapa Creek, near Mombasa, as well as supporting new woodland in Cumbria under the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code.

Co-owners were consulted on the development of Turley’s three-year ESG strategy. Sustainability has also been embedded in its employee benefits programme, for example through expanding the amount that employees can borrow to purchase an e-bike.

To engage co-owners in its work to reach net zero, Turley has introduced carbon literacy training for all employees as well as a ‘show your stripes campaign’ to encourage them to share ideas about how they can reduce their carbon impact.

Feedback from co-owners has been consistently positive, with Turley’s work to reduce its environmental impact cited as a key reason for employee turnover being low, particularly among younger colleagues.

Related courses and resources

Surveys show that a large majority of global consumers expect companies to be run in a socially responsible manner, with 81% saying they are more likely to buy from brands with similar values to their own. Full IoD members can request a template CSR policy for your company from the Information & Advisory Service.