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Businesses urged to look at a bigger, more cost effective, travel picture

Businesses urged to look at a bigger, more cost effective, travel picture

NATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL NETWORK News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service on 27 April 2009

The National Business Travel network (NBTN)(1), part of the government's ACT on CO2 campaign, is today calling on businesses to implement smart travel plans for staff to cut costs and significantly reduce carbon emissions. Reducing unnecessary and costly travel can help companies cope in the tough economic climate but according to latest figures, only 6%(2) of UK companies facilitate sustainable travel for employees. The good news for businesses is that staff are keen to embrace more flexible ways of working which are in turn more productive and eco-friendly

Encouraging car sharing saves employers money on mileage claims and expenses such as parking space maintenance. Bicycle hire schemes and converting a company car fleet to more fuel efficient, greener vehicles benefits the environment, reducing carbon footprint. Flexible and home working also saves companies considerable costs: at BT it has reduced absenteeism to 3.1% (the national average is 8.5%). And BT has calculated that a reduction in commuting by homeworkers has resulted in over 7.5 million kg of CO2 emissions being avoided from those journeys. Other companies that have successfully implemented smart travel plans include BSkyB and E-ON.

Latest research(3) by NBTN, of employee's who travel to work in Great Britain, reveals that over half of those surveyed (63%) would take up a work travel plan if their company offered one. A work travel plan uses more sustainable modes of transport like car sharing, cycle schemes and flexible or home working, if employers facilitated such schemes. More than 1 in 4 (28%) of those surveyed stated that flexible working would also increase their loyalty to an employer and over a fifth (24%) felt it would significantly improve their productivity. The potential benefits of travel plans for businesses, as demonstrated by companies like BT, are clear: increased employee reliability, productivity and improved corporate credentials.

Key factors which currently determine employees chosen method of transport are convenience (64%) and cost (29%). Just over a third surveyed currently use a car to drive themselves to work, however many employee's who travel to work would consider alternative means of travel with almost 1 in 5 (18%) surveyed willing to take part in a car share scheme.

Heather McInroy, Programme Director for NBTN says; "I am urging all businesses to embrace a modern approach to work travel practices. Business resilience, recruitment, retention and business agility to meet customer demands is at the heart of this issue. It is great to see that such a high percentage of employees would consider buying into a work travel scheme and I hope that employers now act on this. The message is clear flexible workstyles and travel plans are good for the environment, good for business and good for employee well-being."

Jon Marsh, Head of Agility at BT Global Sevices says, "Through working in partnership with NBTN we are communicating the effectiveness of work place travel plans and smarter working policies to other organisations so they can share in the practices that have been so beneficial to BT."

"At BT we have implemented flexible and home working at scale across the organisation, allowing people to work in the way that best suits them, their job, their personal circumstances and our customers. As a result we've been able not only to make large financial savings and productivity improvements but also create a more sustainable organisation through reducing travel and CO2 emissions."

The National Business Travel Network (NBTN) is urging businesses to champion smart work travel plans, including flexible working, to reduce CO2 emissions and bolster employee well-being and productivity. For further information and advice about work travel plans, please visit http://www.nbtn.org.uk

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For press information, business case studies/ interviews please contact:
Joanna Smith joanna.smith@coi.gsi.gov.uk/ 0207 261 8487

Notes to editors
About NBTN
The National Business Travel Network (NBTN) is a business-to-business network which enables companies to share best practice and promote the rationale for travel plans and Smarter Choices. Through research and practical case studies, NBTN is developing and demonstrating the strong business case for workplace travel planning.
A Department for Transport initiative and part of the government's ACT on CO2 campaign, NBTN works in partnership with and supports many existing organisations and networks, such as the BCC and CBI.

A work travel plan is a strategy for managing the travel generated by an organisation, with the aim of reducing its environmental impact. A travel plan aims to reduce over-dependence on car use by promoting sustainable alternatives such as working from home, teleconferencing or using alternatives methods of transport such as walking, cycling or public services.

YouGov research: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1971 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th - 20th March 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Other companies who have worked in partnership with NBTN and implemented smart travel plans include: BSkyB, E.ON, BAA, Bentley, Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone and HBOS.

(1) A Department for Transport initiative
(2) BCC November 2008
(3) NBTN You Gov Poll, March 2009

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