Regional accountancy firm Bishop Fleming, which has an office in Bath, has continued to shrink its carbon footprint despite growing its staffing levels.
The firm has added 75 people to its workforce and won more 1,000 clients over the past year yet its average consumption of electricity and gas per employee fell by more than 14% in 2014 while the paper use per employee dropped by more than 15%.
The firm’s energy specialist Ewan McClymont, who monitors the performance of its seven offices, said recent investment in IT had made a huge impact, particularly its adoption of phone conferencing which had reduced the need to travel to meetings.
A roll-out of Wyse terminals, which use a fraction of the power of laptops or conventional computers, was also cutting its carbon usage.
Bishop Fleming introduced an energy management system in 2011 with a target to reduce annual energy consumption, car mileage, and use of paper by 5%.
Mr McClymont said: “Despite the firm’s continued rapid growth since then – adding two more offices and a large number of new staff – we have continued to achieve our environmental reduction targets.
“The only heading which has not fully met our 5% reduction target in the past year is car mileage. We saw a reduction of almost 4%, but this is our biggest challenge.”
The firm has offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Truro, Torquay, and Worcester As well as Bath. Its Plymouth base gained the crown for the highest carbon reduction, mainly due to its modern waterfront offices which helped cut its electricity consumption by a third.
Pictured, from the left: Bishop Fleming managing partner Matthew Lee with the firms carbon-monitor Ewan McClymont
