In 2023/24 we delivered £39,918,429 of social value, validated by the Social Value Portal.
Sustainability is one of our five core values, and our dedication to creating a positive impact motivates us to not only contribute to the communities we belong to but also to advocate for environmental responsibility.
The Vertas Group is Planet Mark certified, and we have worked alongside them to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy and Net Zero Roadmaps that integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business to achieve significant and quantifiable reductions in our carbon emissions.
Our Commitment
We recognise our role in minimising the environmental impact of our operations and promoting sustainable practices. As a Group, we are committed to achieving Net Zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions across the entire value chain by 2050 from a 2022 baseline year. We aim to have reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 90% and are taking concrete steps to ensure significant and measurable progress towards achieving both our short and long-term goals.
Awards and accreditations
Planet Mark Certification 2025
Our Sustainability Journey
Our journey towards achieving Net Zero is marked by a detailed roadmap that considers every aspect of our business operations. We are focused on enhancing our procedures and adopting practices that put sustainability and environmental considerations at the forefront of all we do.
Central to our efforts is our Sustainability and Social Value team, tasked with gaining a full understanding of the Group’s carbon emissions and guiding us towards achieving our sustainability goals.
We’ve identified four key areas of focus for our sustainability journey, each with specific, measurable objectives designed to help us achieve our Net Zero goals and minimise our environmental impact.
Waste
We aim to minimise and actively manage waste through elimination, reduction, re-use and recycling.
Initiatives include:
- Minimising the amount of plastic used within our business
- Diverting 99% waste away from landfill
- Ensuring all equipment and materials is procured sustainably
- Embedding waste management within our culture and providing sustainability training to all colleagues
We have saved £2.5m pieces of single use plastics from switching to reusable pots and wooden cutlery as well as reducing plastics through mixing our own cleaning chemicals on site in reusable containers.
Travel and Transport
Our goal is to actively promote and encourage sustainable transport across Vertas Group and to have a fully EV fleet by 2030.
Initiatives include:
- Monitoring and reporting on our business mileage and fuel consumption
- We’ve switched our car fleet to 100% electric vehicles
- We have started switching our vans to electric, with the aim of having a fully electric van fleet by 2030
- Installing EV charging points on sites
- Encouraging colleagues to reduce their travel emissions through our Green Travel Plan, promoting our cycle to work and electric vehicle schemes as well as public transport discounts, car sharing and digitalising meetings.
Energy and Carbon Management Infrastructure
We aim to improve the environmental performance of our buildings and infrastructure by moving towards carbon neutral performance.
Initiatives include:
- Decarbonising our Head Office
- Making our buildings more energy efficient with LED lighting, electrified heating and optimising heating and cooling settings
- Our design and property consultancy, Concertus, take Fabric First approach and always recommend environmentally friendly and sustainable materials
- Switching to 100% renewable clean energy within our buildings
- Maintaining our ISO 50001 Energy Management System
Since our baseline in 2022 our building emissions have decreased by 35.1%
Giving Back Positively
We will positively contribute to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of our communities through our projects and contracts.
Initiatives include:
- Measuring the impact of social value initiatives through the TOMs framework
- Supporting social causes and initiatives that align with our values and interests, and that benefit our planet and customers.
- Where possible, we support local suppliers by using locally sourced products
- Volunteering our time, skills, and resources to support our chosen charity and other enterprises
- Support for students at local educational institutions
- Supporting unemployed people into work
- Promote local skills and employment
- Volunteering our time, expert skills, and resources to support our chosen charity and other enterprises
In 2024/25 our Social Value contribution to date is…
- £2,554,116.67 from local, TUPE transferred and disabled employees hired.
- £305,579.62 of apprenticeships.
- 122 hours which equates to £12,347 of expert volunteering advice to local community groups.
- £17,456.93 from support for local community projects through volunteering.
- 158 weeks of accredited training.
- 7,194 courses completed on Converse, our internal training platform.
- £4,123 generated via donations or in-kind contributions to local community projects.
- £11,797 from 677 hours for supporting students at local educational institutions.
- £7,669 from 4,200 hours in work experience placements.
- 1,946 colleagues have completed an internal Social Value training module.