Sustainability has always been important to us at UK Electrical, but in recent years it has taken on even greater significance as we respond to evolving legislation and industry standards, including the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standards and BREEAM 2027.
Like many organisations in the construction sector, we’ve seen growing expectations from clients and partners to demonstrate clear progress on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. In response, we began a structured sustainability journey in 2023, working with specialist consultants Wylde Connections Ltd to measure our greenhouse gas emissions and develop a clear roadmap towards Net Zero.
That work led to the publication of our first Sustainability Strategy & Report in 2024, and our latest Sustainability Strategy & Report 2025, outlining our commitments and the practical steps we’re taking to reduce our environmental impact.
Now in our third year of carbon reporting, we’re pleased to share an important milestone: We’ve already achieved our 2030 target to halve our operational emissions, six years ahead of schedule.
Measuring where we started
Our first step was understanding our carbon footprint.
Like most organisations, our emissions fall into three categories:
- Scope 1 – direct emissions from company vehicles and fuel use
- Scope 2 – emissions from purchased electricity
- Scope 3 – indirect emissions across the supply chain, including materials, transport and subcontractors
When we established our baseline in 2021, we set a target to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50% by 2030. Three years on, we’ve already exceeded that goal.
- Scope 1 emissions have reduced from 76.17 tCO₂e in 2021/22 to 26.96 tCO₂e in 2023/24
- Scope 2 emissions have reduced from 6.96 tCO₂e to 5.33 tCO₂e over the same period
These reductions mean we’ve already achieved our 2030 operational carbon reduction target.
“We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made over the past three years. Achieving our 2030 operational reduction target this early shows what can happen when sustainability becomes part of everyday decision making across the business.”
Debbie Fellows, Operations Director
Practical changes across our business
The progress we’ve made has come from a series of practical changes to how we operate day to day.
To reduce travel emissions, we’ve replaced 60% of our van fleet with six-seater vehicles, allowing engineers travelling to site to share transport and significantly reducing the number of journeys. We’ve also introduced hybrid vehicles for managers.
At our head office in Bromsgrove, we’ve installed solar photovoltaic panels which now generate renewable electricity to help power the building and EV chargers for staff.
Across our projects we are also focusing on dematerialisation, reducing the volume of materials used on our projects in the first place, rather than simply offsetting what we consume. This means improving efficiency through better design and procurement. For example:
- We use Building Information Modelling (BIM) on around 80% of our projects to optimise designs and reduce material waste
- We are actively sourcing materials with 20–40% recycled steel content where possible
- We are working with wholesalers to limit deliveries to site to a maximum of two per week, helping reduce transport emissions
Improving the accuracy of our reporting
Alongside these operational improvements, we’ve also continued to improve how we measure and report our carbon footprint. During the 2023/24 reporting year we introduced Carbon+Alt+Delete, a specialist carbon accounting platform, allowing us to use more product-specific emissions data such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) rather than relying solely on industry averages. This gives us a clearer understanding of the carbon impact of the materials and components used in our projects.
Understanding the bigger picture
While reaching our operational target early is an important milestone, it’s only part of the story. For a business like ours, operational emissions, our vehicles, our offices, our energy use, represent only a fraction of our total carbon footprint.
In our most recent reporting year, Scope 3 emissions, primarily from construction materials, subcontracted works and transport, accounted for around 94.6% of our total emissions. This is typical for contractors delivering large-scale commercial and industrial projects, where the carbon embedded in materials and logistics far outweighs anything generated by the business itself.
Our total reported emissions reduced from 1,882.83 tCO₂e in 2022/23 to 592.69 tCO₂e in 2023/24. However, this change largely reflects the nature of the projects delivered in each period, rather than a like-for-like efficiency improvement. The previous year included a major CAT B fit-out, a project type that involves significantly higher material volumes and therefore a larger carbon footprint. In 2023/24, our workload consisted entirely of CAT A base-build projects, which are generally less material-intensive.
Being transparent about this context is important to us, it ensures that year-on-year comparisons are understood in the right way by the clients and partners who rely on this data.
Building credibility and accountability
Our sustainability efforts are supported by recognised industry accreditations.
We have been awarded EcoVadis Platinum, placing UK Electrical in the top 1% of companies assessed globally for sustainability performance. The EcoVadis assessment evaluates businesses across areas including environmental impact, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.
We also maintain Constructionline Gold certification, demonstrating compliance with recognised standards across environmental management, equality and responsible business practices.
Continuing our journey to Net Zero
We remain committed to halving our overall emissions by 2030 and reaching Net Zero by 2050. Reaching our operational target ahead of schedule is an encouraging milestone, but it’s only one step in a much longer journey.
Our focus now is on continuing to work with clients, suppliers and project partners to reduce emissions across projects and supply chains, helping deliver more sustainable buildings for the future.
If you’d like to understand how our sustainability performance can support your procurement requirements, ESG reporting, or tender submissions, we’d be glad to talk.
Get in touch with our team, or read our full Sustainability Strategy & Report to find out more.
