1 : What's this all about?

As the world moves inexorably towards a more sustainable future, forward-thinking companies and individuals are racing to get on board.

At squestr, we offer an intimate high-quality wrap-around service, which is designed to help you achieve all of your environmental ambitions with the minimum of fuss and expense.

Our key team members all have a long history of working in conservation in Africa, with hard-earned reputations for integrity, efficiency and diligence. We would like to think that you can feel confident about having us as your environmental partners.

2 : How is this done?

There are six steps to taking comprehensive action on the environment ...

2.1 : Quantify

The first step is get us to undertake an Emissions Audit for your company. This is primarily done through an analysis of your spend, which we carefully segment into various emissions categories. The results will bring great clarity to your situation and enable you to focus on those areas in which you can make the most efficient environmental gains.

2.2 : Strategise

The second step is for us to help you define a simple Environmental Strategy, in which you outline your general plans to reduce emissions over time.

2.3 : Act

For each reporting period, you can (optionally) define various Positive Actions to reduce your emissions.

These actions may include practical items such as “we intend to install solar water heaters”, behavioural items like “we intend to educate staff about cutting waste” or research options such as “we intend to review all our product suppliers to ensure they are the most environmentally sound choices”.

2.4 : Broadcast

You may also choose to achieve a level of Carbon Certification (such a Carbon Neutral status), which is the primary mechanism through which you can broadcast your environmental credentials to legislators, stakeholders, staff and customers.

2.5 : Sequester

Carbon certification is usually achieved through the purchase of Carbon Credits, which we are able to provide via our tree planting projects in tropical Africa.

2.6 : Report

All of the above is brought together in an annual Environmental Strategy Report, which we prepare on your behalf and which sits alongside your usual Financial Report as a description of your company’s ambition and progress.

3 : Do we really need all this?

Lots of companies are already enjoying the potentially enormous benefits of taking action on the environment.

Environmental Reporting and Carbon Offsetting is a legal requirement for larger companies (defined as consuming more than 40,000 kWh per annum and fulfilling 2 or 3 of : turnover >£36M, balance sheet >£18M, employees >250).

Assuming that your company does not fall into that definition, any positive action that you take on the environment is likely to be voluntary rather than compulsory. 

For the vast majority of companies, the arguments for taking action usually far outweigh the costs, but we do need to make an assessment of your specific situation. We really don't want to recommend something to you that you do not need.

Some typical reasons to go ahead are ...

• To avoid the risk of being excluded from supply chains or not invited to tender by companies which are looking to reduce their emissions footprint.

• To provide a positive boost to your brand image.

• To increase staff motivation, leading to easier recruitment, higher retention and greater wage flexibility.

• To increase customer motivation, leading to higher sales, greater brand loyalty and greater price flexibility.

• To prepare yourselves in advance for the extension of the current legislation to cover small and medium sized enterprises.

• To save money by reducing your consumption and emissions.

• To benefit from the enormously uplifting feeling of understanding your carbon footprint and taking positive action toward a sustainable future.

4 : How much hassle is it?

For most companies, we can usually deliver both a full Environmental Report and any required Carbon Certification within 2-4 weeks.

The level of involvement from your team can range from relatively minor to highly engaged, depending on your inclination.

We will probably need to meet with 1-3 members of your team on one or two occasions.

We will need to liaise with a member of your accounts department over the course of 1-2 days, in order to gather the financial data that we need to calculate your emissions.

You can choose whether or not you want to undertake a range of Positive Actions each year to reduce emissions. If you are keen, then you may appoint an environmental officer to manage these tasks. If you do not have the spare capacity, you may ask us to do that for you, or you might decline to undertake such actions.

Your marketing department may choose to include your environmental credentials onto your website and promotional materials.

At the end of each year we would usually have one additional meeting and spend another 1-2 days liaising with your accounts department.

5 : How much does it all cost?

For most companies, creating a full Environmental Report and purchasing offsets to achieve Carbon Certification is not a particularly expensive undertaking. The advantages of doing so should vastly outweigh the costs.

There are two distinct cost areas.

The first is the generation of your Environmental Strategy Report, the cost of which is dependent on the size of your company, coming in at around GBP 1000 per GBP million turnover (with a lower limit of GBP 3000 for smaller companies). We undertake create this report for you with no up front charges, you only need to pay us if and when you are totally happy with it. The annual renewal of the report typically costs around 30% of that amount.

The second is the cost of purchasing carbon credits in order to achieve Carbon Certification. These costs can range enormously, depending on your choice of certification level and the size of your company, with a typical range of GBP 0-3000 per GBP million turnover. Annual renewal of your carbon offsetting typically costs around 30% of those numbers, since the trees you planted in previous years continue to sequester carbon, we simply need to account for tree lossage.

6 : Is this one of those never-ending commitments?

No. We don't believe in trying to tie down our customers to long contracts and you are free to cancel at any time. We hope that you will appreciate our levels of service and experience significant benefits from taking action on the environment.

7 : Where can I read more about all this?

If you have time to do some background reading on these subjects, then there’s lots of information here on the website, simply go to the homepage and use the main menu for navigation.

Another really good option is to take a look at a sample Environmental Strategy Report that we have prepared for a company similar to your own. They are long reads, but even a quick glance through the various graphs and diagrams should prove interesting. Let us know if we have not already sent you a sample report by email.

8 : How do we get started?

If you arrived at this page via a link on an email, then please return to that email to find the recommendations about how best to get in touch.

If you arrived on this page by any other means, then please get in touch using the contact page.