One of The Keyholding Company’s (TKC) missions is to propel the security industry into a greener future, leading by example to deliver quality services whilst being kinder to the planet.
With our sights set on becoming a net zero organisation, we are delighted that our work towards that objective was nominated in the Outstanding Security Sustainability category at the 2024 Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs).
Here are some highlights from our award submission that bring to life our sustainability efforts from last year:
Driving operational efficiency
TKC protect 38,000 properties across the UK, conducting over 1 million jobs for our clients annually through our London Operations team and a nationwide network of 200 ACS-accredited service partners (SPs).
We deliver mobile security, which refers to any physical security job (e.g., mobile patrols, alarm response) where typically an officer moves from one property to another on a motorbike or in a vehicle.
Because of this and the scale at which we operate, our operational travel brings a hefty carbon cost. In 2019, we were responsible for 56.93tCO2e of vehicle emissions through our London Operations service delivery team. From that point, we committed to understanding, reporting and mitigating these emissions with initiatives our clients, SPs and employees could get behind.
Since 2019 we have reduced London Operations vehicle emissions by 50%, a figure our entire organisation is proud of.
Carbon calculator
Our first step was to develop a tool to monitor and report the estimated amount of carbon emitted on every job. This information is now available to clients in our platform and on every job report, helping them hit their own sustainability goals.
The added benefit is that we can be smarter and more analytical operationally. We can optimise our officers’ routes, aiming for fewer, shorter journeys to lower emissions and deliver faster, more efficient services.
Electric vehicle fleet
Transitioning our London Operations car fleet to electric vehicles (EVs) has been a huge focus and has proved very influential in reducing our total carbon emissions.
Our London Operations car fleet is now 100% electric, and we are undergoing a large-scale project to incorporate electric motorbikes into the fleet. Our research into EVs has led to an expert understanding of a relatively new market, so we have been helping some clients with their own EV fleet changeover.
Learn more about our EV transition here.
Offsetting our carbon emissions
Every year, sustainability experts Alectro conduct a carbon audit for us. The audit gives a total figure of our company-wide carbon emissions, so we can meticulously track and report our environmental progress. Based on this, we make financial contributions to projects that positively tackle the climate crisis, offsetting our own carbon expenditure and the estimated vehicle emissions created by the jobs our SP network conducts on our behalf.
We want to encourage combined ownership in our sustainability efforts, so we asked employees to vote for the projects they wanted to see supported. Four offsetting projects for 2023 were selected, focused on reforestation, renewable energy adoption, and methane capture. Because of our contributions to these projects, we are proudly carbon-neutral.
Supporting our supply chain
We want to support our SPs with their own sustainability goals, so we made per-job vehicle emissions calculations accessible to them too, not just our clients. They now have extra data at their fingertips to help hit their carbon reduction targets (every little helps!).
Another way we encourage exceptional operational practices across our network is through our annual Partner Performance Awards, which recognise top performers across client services, rapid service delivery and tech adoption. But with 200 SPs spanning the UK, we couldn’t help but think they were likely to be driving amazing ESG initiatives that needed to be celebrated too. From this, the ESG Award was born in 2023 to make known the incredible work local companies do to serve their communities and positively impact the world around them.
The first-ever winner was Copeland Group Services, who impressed us with their wide-ranging ESG initiatives, from sponsoring local football teams and boxing gyms to making their own electric vehicle transition. Truly inspiring!
2024 and beyond
Although we didn’t take home the OSPA on February 22nd, our dream team of Charlie Gordon Lennox (CEO), Rachel Webb (Chief Commercial Officer) and Sean Hargreaves (Guarding Director) had a fantastic evening.
To be included in a category like this recognises the hard work put in by so many across The Keyholding Company to make our services kinder to the planet. We have made some great strides towards our net zero target and are hoping to become one of the first B-Corp certified security companies in the UK this year.
We are excited to continue our journey, and hope you will follow along!
To learn more about our approach to delivering sustainable services, visit Our Environment.
Delivering security with a conscience
Delivering security with a conscience
If you want to work with an environmentally conscious security provider to help hit your own ESG targets, we can help.
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