Wilson Vale HQ becomes carbon neutral

Wilson Vale has announced a significant step on its journey to net zero, with its head office and operational support teams achieving carbon neutral status.

The contract caterer, which employs 650 people serving the business and industry and independent school sector, has introduced a range of measures to meet its sustainability targets. Investments include: installing solar panels and a Daikin heat-pump climate control system with inverter technology, as well as having no gas supply and introducing six electric car chargers to power up its electric company cars, a third of which are already electric, with the remaining cars hybrid models.

Graeme Watson, ESG director at Wilson Vale, said: “There are three scopes for emissions categorised by the UK government for net zero commitments. Our environmental projects planned years ago have now put us ahead of the curve, making it relatively easy to become carbon neutral for scopes 1 and 2 with minimal offsetting of our residual carbon emissions.

“We are delighted and proud to have achieved this – it is testament to our strong core environmental ethos since our inception 20 years ago. In future years, the aim is to drive down the few carbon credits required so that our offsetting is as low as it can possibly be.”

Looking towards tackling scope 3 emissions, Wilson Vale plans to collaborate with its supply network and client sites. “Virtually all Scope 3 emissions fall out of our immediate control though we can have a positive influencing factor,” added Watson, “We are excited to have begun our journey to net zero, a destination we hope to reach by 2045 and we look forward to continuing our efforts as a green organisation.”