A MAJOR campaign urging UK companies to embrace the idea of flexible working practices for staff could reduce congestion on the roads by up to 10% over the next five years, it is claimed.

The Work Wise UK initiative is encouraging the widespread adoption of ‘smarter working practices’, such as flexible working, remote working, mobile working and working from home.

Those behind the campaign recognise that for many company car drivers adopting such an initiative is not so easy. Campaigners say fleets will benefit from reduced road congestion, lower fuel bills and higher residual values as cars do fewer miles if companies take up the challenge.

RAC Foundation executive director Edmund King predicts that flexible working could slash the worst peak traffic by up to 10% within five years.

King said: ‘Even those essential workers who will never have the choice of working from home may be able to negotiate more flexible working patterns and for those whose job makes this impossible – then at least by removing some of the congestion, it might make their journey a bit easier.’

Supported by various organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Trades Union Congress (TUC), the three-year initiative urges British employees to take advantage of technological developments, including the growth of faster broadband and improvements to mobile technology, to adopt more flexible working practices for the benefit of both business and workers.

Sir Digby Jones, the outgoing director-general of the CBI, said: ‘Flexible, smarter working is here to stay. Nine out of 10 requests from staff to work flexibly have been accepted by employers and the UK leads the rest of Europe in numbers of part-time workers.

‘New technologies will help people in the future to ‘telework’ from home or on the move.’

Further information is available at www.workwiseuk.org.