Last updated: 29 October 2026
Medhurst Communications Limited is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Improving the life chances of young people through education is central to our business, and we take our sustainability responsibilities seriously. Our Carbon Reduction Plan is completed in accordance with Procurement Policy Note 006, which carries forward PPN 06/21, and the associated reporting standard. Emissions are reported under the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol corporate standard using the Government's conversion factors for company reporting.
Where we stand
Our baseline year is 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022, the first year we assessed our footprint, calculated with a professional carbon footprint organisation using the 2022 DEFRA and BEIS emission factors. Baseline emissions were 178.69 tonnes of CO2 equivalent: 38.94 tonnes from Scope 1, 5.39 tonnes from Scope 2 and 134.36 tonnes from the included Scope 3 sources.
In our most recent reporting year, 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025, like-for-like emissions were 179.69 tonnes: 24.16 tonnes from Scope 1 (natural gas and company cars and vans), 12.08 tonnes from Scope 2 (purchased electricity, market-based) and 143.45 tonnes from the included Scope 3 sources, principally employee commuting, business travel, waste, and fuel and energy related activities.
Like-for-like emissions rose with the growth of the business to 205.06 tonnes in 2022/23 and 222.66 tonnes in 2023/24, before falling back to 179.69 tonnes in 2024/25. That is 0.56 percent higher than the baseline, so we claim no absolute reduction against it for this period. On an intensity basis emissions have fallen: emissions per employee are down 29 percent and emissions per million pounds of turnover are down 2 percent since the baseline year.
What the figures include. The baseline captured company vehicles, office gas and electricity, purchased paper and water, purchased computing equipment, fuel and energy activities including well-to-tank and electricity transmission and distribution, waste, business travel and employee commuting. Inbound and outbound freight (Scope 3.4 and 3.9) is outside our operational and financial control and is excluded. From 2023/24 our reporting also covers all purchased goods and services and capital goods on a spend basis, which added 3,717.88 tonnes in 2024/25; those two categories are reported separately so that year-on-year comparison stays consistent.
Our targets
We project our like-for-like carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 87.95 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2028, a 50.8 percent reduction against the 2021/22 baseline. The plan charts progress against that target year by year. Beyond that, our independent Target Setting Report recommends a 50 percent reduction in absolute market-based emissions and emissions per million pounds of turnover by 2030, and a 90 percent reduction by 2040, a pathway under which Net Zero is achievable ahead of our 2050 commitment using carbon removal offsets for the residual.
What we have done
At the baseline we were already certified to ISO 14001, with solar panels on our head office and LED lighting in place. In the second reporting period we launched an electric car salary sacrifice scheme for business and personal journeys and increased the number of electric vehicles in our fleet. During 2024/25 we switched our electricity supply to a 100 percent renewable tariff.
What comes next
We plan to set up a salary sacrifice scheme for bicycles and e-bikes, to continue installing EV charging points at work so that more staff can switch to electric vehicles, to move our gas supply to a renewable-source provider when the current contract ends on 31 March 2027, with the switch planned from 1 April 2027, and to offset the remaining calculated footprint through climate change solutions, with the aim of becoming a carbon neutral organisation.
Independent verification
Our carbon footprint is appraised annually by carbon management specialists Carbon Footprint Ltd, whose Target Setting Report models our emissions to 2050 and sets the reduction pathway above. Both documents are published here in full.
Declaration
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are reported in accordance with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements where required, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard. The plan was reviewed and approved by the board of directors on 29 October 2026 and is updated at least annually. The measures it describes will be in effect when we perform a contract.
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