For Crest Nicholson, the need to balance the demands of employee benefit, cost effectiveness and sustainability has resulted in the introduction of a new and progressive environmental policy across its entire fleet of 230 company cars.

Research has shown that the most important factor for employees choosing a company car is still the amount of tax they pay, and so Crest Nicholson has implemented a maximum emissions cap of 195g/km across all its company-owned vehicles, but combined this with a unique incentivisation scheme that aims to encourage and reward the use of low emission vehicles across the Group.

In practice this means that car drivers will receive a 20% uplift to their allowance if they choose a car with CO₂ emissions of 130g/km or less, enabling them to either spend 20% more when ordering a new car or receive the difference as a cash supplement. The 195g/km cap will be further reduced to 185g/km in November 2010, reflecting the necessity for companies to progressively improve environmental performance.

Any company car scheme needs to respond to the requirements and wishes of its employees, and so the previous restriction to diesel only cars has also been lifted, whilst the emissions cap for those receiving just a car allowance has been removed altogether. This ensures greater choice and flexibility for those that may still want a high performance vehicle, but combines it with a considerable incentive that encourages staff to think low carbon.