PPN 06/21 Decarbonisation Plan

Decarbonisation Plan: In compliance with Procurement Policy Note 06/21: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts.

Date: 9^th May 2025

Commitment to achieving Net Zero

Vercity is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040, with an interim target of carbon neutrality by 2025.

Baseline Emissions Footprint

Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.

Baseline Year: 2022

Additional Details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations.

Vercity commenced emissions collection and collation in 2017-2018, with an initial focus on business travel and office utility usages. However, we have since opted to use 2022 as our baseline year due to due improvements in our data gathering and analysis providing more actual Scope 3 emissions data, with well-established assumptions applied where actual data remains unavailable.

2022 is also considered the appropriate baseline year because the direct effects of Covid on values will not be included, and the impact of new (post-Covid) working practices will have become more embedded, including hybrid working, a reduction of in-person meetings, and assumptions being made for staff commuting. For example, emissions from business grey fleet vehicle travel in 2018 was150 tCO2e, in 2020 it was 61 tCO2e, and in 2022it was 81 tCO2e. Also, in 2018, no allowances were made for staff working from home whereas, in 2022, this accounted for 86 tCO2e.

* Business travel – Grey fleet, Air, Train, Bus, Taxi / Staff commuting / Business hotels & events / Deliveries / Water supply / Waste / T&D losses / W2T.

Current Emissions Reporting

* Business travel – Grey fleet, Air, Train, Bus, Taxi / Staff commuting / Business hotels & events / Deliveries / Water supply / Waste / T&D losses / W2T.

Emissions reduction targets

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets.

We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next fifteen years to 35.4 tCO₂e by 2040. This is a reduction of 90%.

Progress against these targets can be seen in the graphs below:

During the period that our data covers, Vercity has experienced business growth – with employee headcount increasing commensurately. By normalising our emissions onto a headcount basis, we can better understand the impact of our reduction initiatives, as shown in the graph below:

Carbon Reduction Projects

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed since the 2022 baseline.

Vercity was independently certified carbon neutral in 2024, by Carbon Neutral Britain – using only VERRA or Gold Standard offset schemes.

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2022 baseline. The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equates to 0.9 tCO2e per employee, an 8.26%ge reduction against the 2022 baseline and the measures will be in effect when performing the contract.

The continuation of hybrid and home working model and the guidance of using technology such as MS Teams for activities that do not require an ‘on-site’ presence:

• In June 2022, Vercity closed its large central London Head Office, achieving significant emission a 39% reduction on utility usages. While reducing the associated commuting emissions. While also committing to only entering into contracts for new office facilities that have committed the provision of green energy for the duration of a tenancy.
• In 2024 there was a 11% increase in the ratio of business travel by public transport v grey fleet vehicle, account for 37% of all UK business mileage. This equates to a reduction of 20 tCO2e.
• Employee training on understanding climate impact on their personal choices of work practices. Including energy usage while home working, with an 18% reduction per employee in related emissions.

While Vercity is achieving year on year emissions reduction per employee, we recognise that key factors are only in our ability to influence, such as 68.5% of 2024 business travel was by our grey fleet. Although, as above, the proportions of public transport use versus grey fleet has increased, significant reductions will only be achieved between now and 2040 by the general move away from traditional combustion engines to zero emissions vehicle alternatives.

Vercity is ISO 14001 : 2015 – Environmental management system accredited by BSI. And ESOS certify to the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) phase 3.

Declaration and Sign Off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors.