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
- Ends -
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