PPN06/21 Compliance For Shaw Trust

Contract Overview

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to adopt a legal commitment to achieve ‘Net Zero’ carbon emissions by 2050. To support this, the Government Commercial Function developed a new commercial policy measure for all central government departments and arm’s length bodies. This measure requires suppliers bidding for major government contracts (greater than £5m per year) to commit to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and publish a ‘Carbon Reduction Plan’.

Procurement Policy Note 06/21 requires all major public sector suppliers to provide a Carbon Reduction Plan, which calculates mandatory emissions and states their commitment to achieving Net-Zero by 2050. In-Scope organisations are required to outline both existing and proposed mitigation measures for carbon reduction throughout their contract period. 

Our client Shaw Trust, a South-West-based charitable organisation with approximately 3,400 employees, commissioned our ESG and Sustainability team through a comprehensive tender process. The project involved delivery of carbon footprint reports and reduction pathways, which incorporated Science based Targets. Our works included a thorough examination of emission scopes 1, 2 and a subset of scope 3 for 4 financial years, before developing a plan to achieve net-zero status by 2030.

Our client required carbon footprints in consideration of their 90 sites including offices, factories, retail stores and domestic housing. The client requested an in-depth substantial assessment of their portfolio of assets to ensure the outcome report was as accurate as possible. This included 4 energy efficiency site visits to a selection of the Client’s offices, plastics factory, garden centres and retail stores. Calculating our client's carbon emissions included emissions associated with items like pens, laptops, use of the cloud and various goods sold at their various retail locations. 

Contract Challenge

Shaw Trust required the compliance document as soon as possible, as compliance was required in order to win a government project tender of over £5m per year. Due to the complex and varied nature of the client’s sites, the data collection process took longer than anticipated.

Our Sustainability team were not permitted to audit any of the domestic properties and therefore conducted desk-based audits, reviewing each property’s energy performance certificate (EPC).

Our Solution

Throughout the project, our team were met with challenges due to some data being difficult to locate. This led to some delays in acquiring the required data. To ensure we helped our client achieve their tender deadline, our team conducted regular progress meetings with both our client and their various stakeholders. By engaging with our client’s team at regular intervals, we were able to acquire their ‘buy-in’ over the course of the contract, facilitating them to locate the information required for progress.

‘Shaw Trust employed Delta Simons to assist with our carbon baseline and reduction planning exercise – to be net zero by 2030. From the outset the principle was to be ambitious and produce an exemplary piece of work. Delta Simons has been the ideal partner for this exercise, enthusiastically meeting every demand of the exercise with a ‘yes, we can do that’. Their knowledge, both practical and theoretical is excellent and they genuinely added very real value at each stage of the process, proactively engaging and being available to discuss ideas and outcomes often at short notice. I fully recommend Delta Simons and look forward to working with them further in the delivery of our plans.’

Phil Hunt, Social Value and Sustainability Lead, Shaw Trust.

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As a market-leading international provider of carbon emission analysis, and reporting, we encouraged our client to be as ambitious as possible, offering to bring additional emissions sources into the scope as the project progressed. This involved considerable research, as many items went beyond standard practice. Many companies, including our client, are no longer waiting for policymakers to make positive changes within their business. There’s a mutual benefit to taking climate action now. Committing to climate action, installing Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability policies and setting targets appeals to the modern investor, client and employee, as well as being the right thing to do.

We work with clients from multiple sectors including; industrial, commercial and residential developers, retailers, industrial manufacturers, fund managers, institutional investors, hi-tech companies, the public sector and charitable organisations. For the past 30 years, our team has provided a holistic suite of trusted environmental services and advice, designed to mitigate risk to both people and the environment, whilst removing the pain from planning or maintaining developments, buildings and/or assets.

If you are looking to partner with an environmentally conscious, holistic Sustainability and Carbon Assessment Services supplier, get in touch with our team by emailing info@deltasimons.com.