Action

Flexibility and resilience

At present, we operate from over 180 sites, including workshops, bodyshops, and branches, as well as offices and customer service centres across the UK, Ireland, and Spain. This diverse geographic spread means we have flexibility and resiliency within our operations and can share learnings between our business segments and across locations.

Energy

We have undertaken site energy assessments to meet our obligations under the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). Continued investment in energy efficiency has resulted in 90% of sites installing low-energy LED lights. We implemented an energy monitoring dashboard to direct energy efficiency actions and improve behaviours. 64% of the electricity we procured across the Group is renewable, and 17 solar arrays installed throughout our Spanish branches contributed to the creation of 1,518 MWH of energy in FY2024.

Company cars and charging

Our company car policy, focused on non-ICE vehicles, has resulted in 67% of our employees’ cars being either EVs or Plug-in hybrids. With the car already on order, this will increase to over 90% in FY2025. Over 75% of our locations across the Group have EV charging infrastructure in place.

ChargedEV is a business within the UK&I Rental operating segment that provides EV charging infrastructure. In FY2024, there was a 50% increase in domestic and a 150% increase in commercial installations, helped by new key energy sector and facilities management partnerships. ChargedEV added solar and battery solutions to its product portfolio and developed a range of key partnerships with energy providers to offer bundled solutions for domestic and commercial customers.

Government engagement

ZIGUP is an active member of the UK industry body BVRLA and has contributed to discussions on commercial vehicle regulation. This has influenced the government’s approach to infrastructure and support for the energy transition, incorporating input from our customers and the industry.

Tim Bailey, our Fleet Director, has been instrumental in developing the original Van Plan as a member and now chair of BVRLA’s Commercial Vehicle Committee. This led to significant changes in government spending, including the extension and ring-fencing of the Plug-In Van Grant, resulting in substantial savings for our customers. Leveraging our business and customer experience, Tim actively engages with government departments and public sector agencies to shape government policy.  

As a leader in the vehicle leasing sector in Spain, Northgate is playing a crucial role in accelerating the electrification of transportation in the country. As elected members of the board of AEDIVE (Spanish Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Vehicles), we have proactively worked to advance the adoption of electric vehicles at a national level.

EV Education events

We collaborate with our charging specialist, ChargedEV, and EV solutions experts to host EV open days. During these events, we provide a comprehensive overview of how we can assist organisations in transitioning to electric vehicles at every stage of the journey. We also introduce our EV solutions and discuss our customers’ challenges when transitioning to electric vehicles. In the past year, we have organised ten events, with over 300 customer attendees from private and public sector organisations. Attendees also had the opportunity to test out new electric vehicles.

Community engagement

We participate in the Darlington Employers Environment Partnership (DEEP), which champions the Darlington business community in achieving a just transition to net zero and reducing environmental impact. In collaboration with DEEP and Darlington Council, we hosted an EV open day at our Darlington head office, which included a visit from the Mayor of Darlington. Our Head of ESG chairs the DEEP Steering Group.

Employee engagement and training

We developed a foundation-level 45-minute carbon literacy training e-learning module based on content from the Carbon Literacy Project, developed and configured explicitly for the automotive industry. 

The Board is responsible for the Group’s overall approach to risk management and internal control, which includes ensuring the design and implementation of appropriate risk management and internal control systems. Climate transition issues are considered fundamental to our commercial success, and such risks and opportunities are assessed both against relevant financial planning horizons and aligned with our customer strategy and demand requirements. 

The risk management section, found on pages 71 and 75 of our FY2024 annual report, provides further details on the potential risks and our mitigating actions.

In FY2023, we first reported on how scenario analysis enhanced our understanding of physical and transition risks to our business over short, medium and long-term time horizons. In FY2024, we provided a comprehensive overview of the potential impacts on the Group and its stakeholders under different climate scenarios. The potential climate outcomes considered this year when reviewing climate risks and opportunities range from an orderly transition scenario that limits global warming to 1.5°C to an adaptation scenario where emissions continue the current pathway, which leads to around 4°C warming. 

We are making good progress in ensuring we have the knowledge, facilities, capability and governance to remain a key enabler in the transition towards low-carbon mobility.

On-track

Further development needed

Standard	Disclosure	Status	2025 Next steps
Governance	The Sustainability Committee discussed carbon reduction targets and the production of a net zero transition plan to be launched in FY2025.		A supporting climate disclosure policy will be launched alongside the net zero transition plan.
	New Group ESG policies have been developed and communicated.
	A suite of ESG commitments has been developed, complemented by a broad spread of metrics.		Further work will be undertaken to enhance ESG and climate disclosure reporting to meet emerging UK and EU regulations.
Strategy	We have developed carbon literacy training material to improve the knowledge and skills of our people.		The new carbon literacy training programme, which uses the new material, will be rolled out.
	We have undertaken site energy assessments to meet our obligations under the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)		We will submit our ESOS report to the Environmental Agency and incorporate its recommendation within our Transition Plan.
Risk management	We routinely assess the continuing suitability of business continuity plans to address many issues including severe weather events.		No further action is required.
	A suite in transition risk and opportunity metrics has been outlined in the report.		The plan will outline our actions to address risks and opportunities related to the net zero transition.
Metrics and targets	Presentations were given at management boards to communicate the carbon targets we set.		We are developing a communication plan to inform our stakeholders of the new suite of ESG commitments that have been developed.
	We calculated our Scope 3 footprint for both FY2023 and FY2024 this year, whilst also refining our methodology.		Continue to evaluate Scope 3 data and work towards the setting of a Scope 3 reduction target within the next two to three years.
	A GHG Management Plan was developed to prescribe the process and systems for effective GHG emission data gathering.		Use the prescribed methodologies with the plan to inform our disclosure to the emerging UK and EU sustainability reporting regulations.