James McNaughton Group
Key contact: Howard Browning, Director for Corporate Responsibility
Fleet profile: 165 cars (99 diesel, 66 petrol) 121 HGVs, six LCVs
Business: One of the UK and Ireland’s leading suppliers of paper, board, plastics and other substrates to the graphic art and printing market ~
Locations: Headquarters in Erith, Kent with 18 centres across Britain and Ireland

After making fleet policy changes designed to influence both vehicle choice and driver behaviour, leading paper and printer supply merchants, the James McNaughton Group, have reduced fuel expenditure by up to £2,500 per car and made significant carbon savings.

Implementing the recommendations of an Energy Saving Trust Green Fleet Review has seen the Kent-based company, with operations across the UK and Ireland, incorporate a range of environmentally-friendly transport initiatives into its wider corporate social responsibility strategy. These include:
• Ensuring drivers on the employee car ownership scheme opt for a diesel, hybrid or bio-fuel car capable of a minimum 37 mpg when they next change their vehicle (that figure is expected to rise in 2008/9 to a minimum 42 mpg, with a cap on individual vehicle CO2 emissions also under consideration)
• Introducing an eco-driving and journey planning drivers guide, featuring Energy Saving Trust top-10 tips
• Installing telephone and video conferencing facilities and encouraging the use of public transport to reduce mileage
• Capturing data to enable comprehensive and ongoing analysis of fuel usage and miles driven

Sustainable solution programme
Reducing emissions from vehicle use is just one of a range of environmental priorities for the James McNaughton Group, which has put in place a farreaching programme of ‘sustainable solutions’ designed to reduce its corporate carbon footprint.

The company has signed up to a green energy tariff, ensuring 100 per cent of their electricity supply comes from renewable energy sources. Complementing this, a wind turbine is planned to generate electricity for the logistics site.

A lighting control system has also been commissioned for the warehouses and main office buildings and is expected to reduce actual energy usage by up to 30 per cent per annum.
As one of the leading suppliers of recycled paper products, the company offers carbon neutral products by investing in carbon offsetting projects.

Data collection vital
While the company knew what it wanted to achieve, it admitted that it was unsure where to start with ‘greening’ its fleet. That was where the Energy Saving Trust Green Fleet Review service came to the rescue. By highlighting the need to collate data on fuel consumption and mileage, the review focused on implementing administrative processes before making practical changes.

By adopting the approach ‘if you don’t measure it, you can’t monitor it’, the company discovered the following information:
• Car drivers clocked up 3.9 million miles a year
• Fuel spend totalled £477,000 a year
• Car carbon emissions were 1,400 tonnes, an average of 6.9 tonnes per car

“What the Energy Saving Trust showed us was that we could achieve significant financial and environmental benefits by developing a ‘green’ fleet policy which influences both vehicle choice and driver behaviour.” Howard Browning, Director for Corporate Responsibility, James McNaughton Group.

Thousands of pounds saved
Following the review, more than 69 cars have been changed and the fleet profile is now 60 per cent diesel. Total business mileage has been cut by 107,000 miles, despite 17 cars being added to the fleet in 2006. In 2007 annual fuel costs were reduced by more than £86,000, and an estimated 245 tonnes of CO2 emissions cut. Drivers are also benefiting because they are saving money on the fuel tax they pay on their private mileage.

In addition, the company’s logistics operation has spent the last few years implementing better route planning and reduced its fleet by 43 vehicles, cutting road mileage by over one million miles per year and carbon emissions by 975 tonnes.

These impressive results contributed to the James McNaughton Group being named Runner-Up in the Business Mileage category at the 2007 Energy Saving Trust Fleet Hero Awards, in association with The Observer and Fleet News. The next steps The company operates six light commercial delivery vehicles in six major cities and in 2008 the London and Belfast vehicles will be replaced with electric vans.

This is the start of a long term plan to replace all diesel vans with zero emission electric vehicles. Options for tackling the 2,934 tonnes of carbon emissions coming from the company’s fleet of 121 HGV diesel vehicles are also being investigated. Energy Saving Trust guidance and advice essential For Howard Browning, Director of Corporate  Responsibility at the James McNaughton Group, support received from the Energy Saving Trust was crucial for implementing change.

He said: “The first step was looking at the website and downloading casestudies. Inspired, I picked up the phone to arrange a face-to-face meeting with a Key Account Manager. Not long after, the Green Fleet Review was booked and an independent consultant was appointed to draw up recommendations for improving all aspects of fleet operations. The whole process was very easy and efficient.

“The review obliged us to look, in incredible detail, at every aspect of the fleet and its operation. We didn’t have much of the required information so we went on a huge data-gathering mission. I can’t pretend that it did not take time and effort to put the reporting and monitoring system in place, but as subsequent updating is now very quick and easy, it was certainly worth the effort. “Today, I can summon up a spreadsheet which displays facts and figures for every car in the fleet, the miles-per-gallon achieved, individual and combined carbon emissions, the number of petrol station stops per month, the price
paid at the pumps and the average cost per mile – all with comparisons to previous periods.

“What the Energy Saving Trust showed us was that we could achieve significant financial and environmental benefits by developing a ‘green’ fleet policy which influences both vehicle choice and driver behaviour.”

Source: Energy Saving Trust