Focused on the future

Our vision is to be trusted to meet the needs of our customers in a safe, reliable and sustainable manner and we’ve pledged to decrease our carbon emissions each year.

Our mission is to provide innovative solutions that fully meet our customers’ requirements, while helping them to achieve their own sustainability ambitions.

Our entire company car fleet is transitioning to electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. While our vans and construction vehicles are trialing innovative solutions to help us reduce our carbon footprint while on the road.

We anticipate the move away from petrol and diesel in our corporate fleet will take around two years, but the transition has already resulted in around a 30% reduction in emissions. We’ve also installed EV charge points at our offices and incentivised ‘at home’ charging for fleet drivers.

We’re focused on using our vehicles as efficiently as possible and apply big data analytics to re-work meter and data logger maintenance schedules – reducing field engineer mileage by around 10%.

Following on from the pandemic, we’ve continued to maximise the use of technology to operate a hybrid working model for our office-based staff. This change has reduced staff commutes and the associated emissions by around 50%.

We actively measure the production of waste across all sites and have strict reduction targets in place. We’re  also transitioning towards being completely paperless.

We recycle where possible by:

• re-testing all electricity meters at the end of their shelf life, ensuring only those which no longer function are disposed of
• donating old assets and equipment to test sites, helping to inform future sustainability solutions.
• refurbishing meters, regulators, modules, loggers, spools and valves where we can. Last financial year this prevented 45.692 metric tonnes going to landfill.

Data is the building block for energy efficiency – and we offer our customers an end-to-end metering, monitoring and analytics service:

• Metering – our advanced AMR metering systems, along with SMETS2 smart meters, are transforming how our customers manage their energy needs. In 2022 they helped our non-domestic customers to collectively reduce their electricity costs by around £1m and gas costs by around £1.5m*. We’ve also recently launched a next-gen gas data logger. Exclusive to our customers, it combines energy efficiency with broad-spectrum data communication. This translates into enhanced connectivity, improved data flow and better resulting data analytics.
• Monitoring – we’ve recently gained Elexon Performance Assurance Board (PAB) approval, allowing us to provide Half-Hourly (HH) reads in-house, ahead of the Ofgem-mandated market-wide HH settlement reform planned for 2025. This capability ensures data flow security and enables greater innovation, allowing customers to monitor usage in granular detail.
• Analytics – AMR DNA, our sophisticated data processing service uses artificial intelligence to provide energy savings recommendations. Then our innovative data management portal, WebAnalyser, captures multi-utility consumption data within a fully customisable dashboard, so it’s easy to view and report on.

*Based on the BEIS calculation from their Smart Meter Roll-Out Cost Benefit Analysis and updated to reflect non-domestic reductions (2.8% for power and 4.5% for gas) and the pence per kWh per Ofgem price cap.

We’re energising heat pumps, EV charge points and other domestic devices for our customers. Plus, we’re providing the granular load data that enables suppliers to export excess PV power for community consumption.

Through data available via the smart cabinet monitoring systems we now routinely install in our network substations, we’re also influencing the design of smarter, more efficient networks.

Lastly, we’ve developed a common connections specification for EV charging networks, enabling operators to build their countrywide presence more efficiently. As an Independent Network Distribution Operator, we provide technical and legal expertise, alongside asset values to help advance progress on Britain’s nationwide EV charging infrastructure.

We have a zero tolerance approach to any form of child labour, modern slavery or people trafficking. We also believe in responsible procurement – so we have systems and controls in place to ensure the same standards of integrity in our supply chain.

Increased digitisation provides a wealth of opportunity, but it also opens up risks to the safety of personal information. We ensure all personal information, whether it’s our customers’, colleagues’ or wider stakeholders’ is handled securely and is appropriately processed.

Naturally, we’re an accredited Living Wage employer – and we’ll only work with suppliers who also pay the living wage.

We encourage all office-based staff to take a paid volunteering day each year to support our local communities. We also support the below panel of organisations, chosen by our colleagues, through a programme of fundraising, donations and awareness activity.

We’re committed to equality of opportunity for all. We recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and are committed to providing a working environment that’s free from discrimination.

We always endeavour to show the utmost respect for our colleagues. We have a group of Employee Representatives and aim to take a collaborative approach to decision making across our business. We also regularly issue open and honest management communications and ask for 360 degree feedback on initiatives.

The safety of our colleagues is taken extremely seriously. We:

• have safety-related ‘golden rules’ in place across our organisation
• issue regular safety-related communications and monitor our safety culture by survey to identify areas for improvement
• encourage the reporting of accidents and near misses to rectify any issues and monitor trends
• have robust accident investigation procedures in place to identify root causes.

We have a bribery and corruption policy in place to ensure we don’t tolerate any acts of bribery and corruption.

We’re committed to acting professionally and ethically in all our business dealings and relationships.

We have a whistleblowing policy in place to ensure any concerns in relation to acts against the public interest are raised and appropriately addressed.

A third of members of our Board of Directors are women.

Our Board is made up of our most senior leaders and representatives from our three shareholders – Asterion Industrial Partners, EDF Invest and Swiss Life Asset Management AG.

We recognise the importance of managing our tax affairs in a prudent, socially responsible and effective manner that will be accepted and appreciated by all key stakeholders including the government and local communities.

For us, paying taxes is about more than just complying with the law. It’s about providing the government with both the opportunity to enable sustainable growth to its economies and the ability to enhance social development through collection of fair share of taxes.

We comply with applicable tax laws and strive for an open dialogue with tax authorities – ensuring compliance with both the letter and the spirit of tax law.