Ten Electric Vehicle (EV) chargepoints have been installed at the Hardwicke Head Office
Employees have been empowered to go electric with an EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme
Company Car drivers are being provided with home chargepoints
A feasibility study for a 1 MegaWatt Photovoltaic (PV) system is underway with plans to implement within the next 6 months
Average CO2 emissions of the Group car and van fleet has reduced to 93 g/km
The Markey Group mantra of creating tomorrow’s environments is evolving to ensure sustainability is at the heart of the group’s focus. Since the removal of its mains gas supply and implementation of a Biomass boiler back in 2012, Markey Group and its subsidiaries have always looked for economically viable avenues to reduce their carbon footprint, but believe now is the time to double down on its environmental efforts in the wake of the COP26 Climate Change Conference.
Electric Vehicle Chargepoints
Five twin 7kW totem chargepoints have been installed in the Markey Group Head Office car park allowing for 10 EVs to charge simultaneously. These chargepoints will not only provide charging for company cars and vans but allow Markey Group employees to charge their own vehicles used to commute to and from work.
Group Managing Director, Paul Markey said “We know that not all of our employees have the luxury of off-street parking or access to chargepoints at home, so we hope the availability and reliability of EV chargepoints at work may help our employees switch to electric vehicles.”
All chargepoints will be on the Pod Point national chargepoint network allowing for the chargepoints to be operated in the same way as all Pod Point chargepoints such as those at Lidl and Tesco. Initially, the chargepoints will be restricted for employee and visitor usage only and will be free of charge.
With an eye on the future, Markey Construction, who carried out the groundworks installed ducting for an additional 18 chargepoints allowing for extra capacity to be added as and when demand requires.
EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme
In collaboration with the EV leasing specialist, Fleet Electric, an EV salary sacrifice scheme has been launched allowing eligible employees to sacrifice part of their salary in return for a fully maintained and insured electric vehicle. In the main, EVs offer lower cost motoring than petrol or diesel equivalents, however, they tend to have a higher purchase price or monthly lease deterring the majority from making the switch.
Group People Services Manager, Geraldine Miller, said “we are extremely pleased to be able to assist our employees in their own efforts to be more sustainable and join the electric revolution. We know the perceived cost of electric cars puts our employees off switching, so being able to provide them with savings of 30-40% on an electric car will ensure cost isn’t a barrier.”
Solar Panel (PV) System
The Markey Group Head Office where the Construction and Manufacturing division's of the Group are based along with the Group Services teams covers 110,000 square foot. There is potential for up to one MegaWatt (MG) of solar energy to be produced using PV panels placed on the roof providing green electricity to the building and vehicle chargepoints. A feasibility study is underway to ascertain the viability of the system to enhance the amount of green energy utilised by the Group with plans to implement in the next 6 months. As well as providing clean green energy, it will further reduce the carbon footprint of every kitchen unit and furniture item produced by Premiere, the Groups manufacturing division.
Markey Group Average CO2 Emissions
In recent years Markey Group businesses have made a concerted effort to reduce the CO2 emissions of the vehicles it uses. In use across the businesses are 4 Electric Vehicles (EVs) and 10 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) helping to reduce the overall CO2 emissions of the car and van fleet down to 93 g/km. To ensure employees have the ability to charge their vehicles at all possibilities, as well as the head office chargepoints, company car drivers will be getting chargepoints installed at their homes