Unipres UK, has saved 1m kilograms, around 1,000 metric tons, of CO2 since introducing a salary sacrifice scheme with Fleet Evolution.

We took delivery of their first EV on the scheme in December 2012 with nearly 20 delivered in March 2013, reflecting the strong EV focus of the scheme.

At the same time, the 1,000 employee business has seen carbon emissions on new additions to its salary sacrifice fleet fall to an average of just 11g/km of CO2.

Our company’s carbon footprint from our employees personal motoring and commuting over the last decade would have measured around 1,809,387,050 grams of CO2 or 1.6m kilograms had those who took it’s salary sacrifice scheme remained in their original cars.

But, with the Fleet Evolution scheme in place, it has totalled around 764,269,541 grams or 0.76 million kilograms of CO2, a saving of over 1m kilograms or around 1,000 metric tons of climate warming greenhouses gases.

We operate our vehicle fleet entirely on a salary sacrifice basis provided by Fleet Evolution, the Tamworth-based salary sacrifice and fleet management specialist, with all new vehicles joining the fleet currently being battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

Employees from machine operators to the managing director select vehicles through the scheme and, to encourage EV and hybrid uptake, We have added several charge points in the corporate car park so that staff can recharge their vehicles while at work.

When it comes to EVs on the company fleet, the Tesla Model Y is currently the most popular BEV while the most popular PHEV is the BMW 530E.

Director of Finance and Admin, Andrew Fawell, said that the company’s salary sacrifice car scheme had proved popular with staff as it opened up the prospect of having a brand new car to employees that would not qualify otherwise at affordable prices.

“The salary sacrifice model works very well for us, especially as Benefit-in-Kind tax rates are currently so beneficial, and it clearly helps us to meet our CO2 and corporate responsibility targets as shown by the CO2 savings we have achieved.

“At the same time, Fleet Evolution provides excellent service levels and takes away all the issues associated with the day-to-day running of our fleet,” he added.

Andrew Leech, founder and managing director of Fleet Evolution, said that the Unipres UK fleet was a shining example of how salary sacrifice could dramatically reduce the corporate carbon footprint for businesses and help with carbon reduction targets.

“Car salary sacrifice schemes are very carbon efficient as they promote low carbon vehicles across the board within a low tax environment. They are also an extremely valuable benefit to employees due to their convenience, ease of use, absence of upfront payments and value for money.”

The key features of the Fleet Evolution salary sacrifice scheme include all servicing and repair costs, road fund licence, fully comprehensive insurance, corporate discounts and no deposit.

“These are major benefits for employees when they are faced with the current, much-publicised energy and cost of living crisis.” added Andrew Leech