VIQU Announces Their Green Pledge

In early 2022, we decided it was about time we did more to help our environment. After all, SMEs like VIQU contribute around 30% of the UK’s total emissions. In a survey of more than 1,000 UK businesses carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce, it was reported that only 11% of respondents are currently measuring their carbon footprint. Perhaps this is unsurprising given that less than 10% of SMEs currently see climate action as a source of future growth according to Natwest’s ‘Springboard to Sustainable’ Report.

The Natwest report suggests that the vast majority of surveys, studies and initiatives focused on reducing carbon emissions solely concern themselves with the impact of the corporate sector, missing or minimising the crucial part SMEs play in the UK economy. Don’t forget, SMEs employ 60% of all UK workers and are responsible for 50% of total UK turnover. According to the report, our small but mighty sector has the power to be responsible for delivering over 50% of the UK’s climate targets; SMEs just need the right support and guidance to make it happen and to understand how it can benefit them financially.

I truly believe in the power of SMEs and doing your small part to contribute to a big impact, which is why we decided to appoint a Climate Change & Sustainability partner to calculate VIQU’s carbon footprint and create our first annual green audit. This led to the creation of VIQU’s Green Policy. We made the decision to firstly pledge to reduce our emissions to ‘Carbon Net Zero’, before putting pledges in place for 2023 and 2024 to ensure we remain on-track with our carbon commitments.

2022 – Carbon Net Zero

This year, we have planted thousands of trees to offset VIQU’s carbon emissions, meaning that we counteract 100% of the carbon dioxide that our business puts into the atmosphere.

2023 – Carbon Negative

In 2023, we will revisit VIQU’s current carbon emissions and plant further trees to remove additional carbon we are putting into the environment. We will also assess the emissions created by our candidates when they attend in-person interviews, and work towards off-setting these too.

2024 – Renewable Energy

In 2024, we will deliver on our biggest and most effective part of our pledge, with the installation of solar power panels at our Birmingham office. This action will allow us to put our own energy back into the grid and positively impact others!

Additionally, our Green Policy includes:

• Access to the government’s ‘Bike to Work’ scheme. This enables all team members to purchase bikes on interest free payment terms for a significantly reduced cost.
• All cleaning products used in our offices are environmentally friendly
• Both offices have electric vehicle charging points, encouraging our team members to invest in electric/hybrid transport.

If you’d like find out more about our commitments to support our environment and community, please click here.