Carbon Reduction Plan
Answer Digital Limited (company number 03655429)
Publication date: 22/09/2025
Commitment to achieving Net Zero
Answer Digital Limited is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.
Since April 2023 we have worked with Carbon Neutral Britain to measure our total organisational emissions and offset them. Offsetting supports our interim carbon neutral ambition but does not count towards our Net Zero reduction targets, which are set out below.
Baseline Emissions Footprint
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
Baseline Year: 2022/23 - 31 March 2022 to 1 April 2023.
Additional details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations: Our baseline was our first organisational carbon footprint, calculated with Carbon Neutral Britain using the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and UK Government conversion factors. We use an operational control boundary. The baseline includes Scope 1, Scope 2 and the five Scope 3 categories required by PPN 006, plus homeworking, water, hotel stays, transmission and distribution losses and well-to-tank emissions. Our methodology is documented and is applied consistently each year.
Baseline year emissions: 31/03/2022 to 01/04/2023
| Emissions | Total (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 (Mains gas) | 11.04 |
| Scope 2 (Purchased electricity) | 8.00 |
| Scope 3 (Included Sources) | 129.82 |
| Total Emissions | 148.86 |
Scope 3 included sources, baseline year:
| Emissions | tCO2e |
|---|---|
| Total Organisation Energy usage WFH (Cat 7) | 73.28 |
| Organisation Waste (Cat 5) | 0.03 |
| Business travel (Cat 6) | 5.35 |
| Staff commuting (Cat 7) | 25.88 |
| Business Hotel or Event activities (Cat 6) | 11.61 |
| Inbound Deliveries (upstream transportation) (Cat 4) | 0.22 |
| Scope 3 source | tCO2e |
|---|---|
| Downstream transportation and distribution (Cat 9) | Not reported as not relevant to our business. |
| Organisation water usage (Cat 1/5) | 0.63 |
| Transmission and distribution losses (Cat 3) | 0.73 |
| Well to tank (Cat 3) | 12.08 |
Current Emissions Reporting
Reporting Year: 2024/25 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025)
| Scope 3 source | 2024/25 tCO2e |
|---|---|
| Total Organisation Energy usage WFH (Cat 7) | 44.14 |
| Organisation Waste (Cat 5) | 0.059 |
| Business travel (Cat 6) | 8.97 |
| Staff commuting (Cat 7) | 34.10 |
| Business Hotel or Event activities (Cat 6) | 2.94 |
| Inbound Deliveries (upstream transportation) (Cat 4) | 0.035 |
| Outbound Deliveries (downstream transportation) (Cat 9) | Not reported as not relevant to our business. |
| Organisation Water Usage (Cat 1/5) | 0.13 |
| Transmission and Distribution losses (Cat 3) | 0.87 |
| Well to tank (Cat 3) | 14.29 |
Emissions reduction targets
To continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets. We will reduce total emissions by at least 9% per annum against our 2022/23 baseline, increasing to 20% per annum from 2030.
We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 74.43 tCO2e by 2030. This is a reduction of 50%.
In 2023/24 our total emissions increased to 161.88 tCO2e, 13.02 tCO2e (8.7%) above our baseline due to increase in headcount as our business grew. We have reduced this to below baseline in our 2024/2025 carbon report whilst still maintaining headcount growth.
Carbon Reduction Projects
Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives
The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2022/23 baseline and the measures will be in effect when performing the contract.
Business premises, staff and travel:
- Remote working where possible, using video and phone conferencing and travelling only when necessary.
- All internal servers migrated to the cloud, removing the need for a 24/7 air-conditioned server room.
- Local teams (permanent staff, contractors and suppliers) for on-site work to minimise travel.
- Cycle to work scheme, and a green car incentive scheme making electric vehicles affordable through salary sacrifice.
- Use of public transport for company travel, favouring green transport where possible.
- Energy efficient equipment and a turn off when not in use policy; all internal office lighting replaced with low energy LED lighting in 2021.
- Minimal printing, increased recycling and elimination of single-use plastics in offices, with reusable cups and water bottles issued to all staff.
- A paperless office objective with tracking of print outputs
- Volunteering days for staff between projects to support environmental initiatives, including moss planting with the National Trust at Saddleworth and Marsden Moor and a tree-planting programme.
Use of technology:
- A sustainable by design approach to projects.
- IT equipment meets Regulation (EC) No 106/2008 on energy-efficiency labelling for office equipment, and we favour laptops over desktops.
- A 4-year device refresh cycle, with devices re-issued wherever possible and then donated to charity, recorded in asset registers.
Certification and assurance:
- Annual measurement and offsetting of our emissions through Carbon Neutral Britain, providing independent annual validation.
Future Carbon Reduction Initiatives
In the future we will be implementing further measures such as:
- Solar panel installation to our office in late 2025.
- Completion of ISOO 14001:2026 in 2027
- Capturing additional data points to improve the accuracy and coverage of our Scope 3 reporting.
Declaration and Sign Off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body). Board approval given on 22nd September 2025
Signed on behalf of the Supplier:
Richard Ellis
Operations Director
22nd September 2025