Employees at Galliford Try will now only have the choice of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) as their next company car.

The construction firm says the move away from internal combustion engine (ICE) company cars is one of a series of measures it is taking to ensure it will meet its target of reaching zero carbon across its operations by 2030.

Galliford Try currently leases approximately 1,000 vehicles for use by employees, of which 37% are already BEVs or PHEVs – the majority of which are BEVs. So far in 2021, 88% of new orders were for EVs or PHEVs.

Bill Hocking, chief executive of Galliford Try, said: “This is one step among many as we make progress towards our 2030 zero carbon target.

“The fantastic adoption of EV and PHEV alternatives by our people so far has allowed us to take this next step and make sure our fleet is as environmentally-friendly as it possibly can be as we go forward.”

The commitment to reaching zero carbon by 2030 is part of Galliford Try’s refreshed Sustainable Growth Strategy, which was unveiled last week.

With the widespread promotion of its smart and agile working programmes, the business continues to focus on bringing down travel costs, together with maximising the new ways of working established and adopted during the pandemic.

The business is already well advanced on its carbon reduction journey, having reduced carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (Scope 1, 2 and operational Scope 3) by 62% from 2012 to 2020.

In the car fleet alone, emissions have decreased to an average of 77g/km from 133g/km over the same period.