Here at GCS Compliance Ltd, we take our commitment to ESG very seriously. In this blog, we share our current and future priorities and the difference some of our current activities are making.  

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

In consideration of this, we are really proud of the ongoing success of our participation in the Allstar Ecopoint programme, where CO2 emissions are turned into new certified carbon woodlands, both nationally and globally.

In addition, through our energy broker we have had 20  trees planted in our name, to help with reforestation, conservation and the protection of forests around the world.  

This, along with our signing up to Future Net Zero demonstrates how seriously we take sustainability, and our goal to reduce our carbon footprint.

Office Activity

But our determination to look after the planet doesn’t stop there.  At the office, we use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper, which is made from responsibly-sourced wood fibre, wherever possible, and encourage all of our employees to reduce their energy consumption within the office environment.  

We now have four plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), with charging points both at our office and at an employee’s home.  

We have also been looking at the possibility of having solar panels installed on our office roof and, further afield, have had an elephant pump built in our name in Africa through AquaAid, our water suppliers there.

Community and Charity

Outside of the office, and closer to home, we continue to donate both financial support and staff time to local events and charities.  We collect annually for the Medway Foodbank. 

The charity we have chosen to support this year is Breathing Matters.  This is a charity which was set up by University College London (UCL) to raise awareness and work to diagnose and treat lung diseases and respiratory infections, such as pulmonary fibrosis and pneumonia.  It carried out extensive research on the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on the lungs during the pandemic.

The charity is particularly close to our heart as a company, following the passing of one of our founders, Steve Little who had Interstitial Lung Disease. We have a Just Giving Page set up which provides a bit more information: www.justgiving.com/Steve-Jon-Little. 

Looking to the Future

We believe that the future success of the company lies in the hands of the next generation.  With this in mind, we consider it our responsibility to encourage young engineers and those entering the workforce.  We do this by participating in the Kickstarter scheme, offering work-experience placement opportunities to local students and recruiting staff from a local base where possible.

Ongoing Commitment

All in all, as a company, we are proud of our commitment to ESG.  We will continue to keep you updated with our ongoing activities in relation to this.