SUSTAINABILITY POLICY

​

Portman Co. is committed to promoting sustainability. Concern for the environment and promoting a broader sustainability agenda are integral to our professional activities and the management of the organisation. We aim to follow and to promote good sustainability practices, to reduce the environmental impacts of all our activities, and to help our clients and partners to do the same.

 

Our principles.

Our Sustainability Policy is based upon the following principles:

​

• To comply with and exceed, where practicable, all applicable legislation, regulations, and codes of practice;

​​

• To integrate sustainability considerations into all our business decisions;

​​

• To ensure that all of our people are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and are committed to implementing and improving it;

​​

• To minimise the impact on the sustainability of all office and transportation activities;

​​

• To make clients and suppliers aware of our Sustainability Policy and encourage them to adopt sound sustainable management practices; and

​​

• To review and to strive to improve our sustainability performance.

 

Practical steps.

In order to put these principles into practice we will:

 

Travel and meetings:

• Walk, cycle and/or use public transport to attend meetings, site visits, etc, apart from in circumstances where the alternatives are impractical and/or cost-prohibitive;

​​

• Share transport if possible;

​​

• Where the only practical alternative is to fly, we will purchase appropriate carbon offsets;

​​

• Avoid or reduce physically traveling to meetings etc where alternatives are available and practical, such as using teleconferencing or video conferencing, and efficient timing of meetings to avoid multiple trips;

​​

• Reduce annual car mileage and purchase appropriate offsets for all staff business mileage; and

​​

• Replace company cars with more efficient models as they become due for replacement.

​

​

Purchase of equipment and consumption of resources:

• Minimise our use of paper and other office consumables, for example by reusing and duplexing all paper used, and identifying opportunities to reduce waste. Purchase office paper produced from sustainable sources;

​​

• Issue documents electronically wherever possible;

​​

• As far as possible arrange for the reuse or recycling of office waste, including paper, computer, and printer supplies and redundant equipment;

​​

• Reduce the energy consumption of office equipment by purchasing energy-efficient equipment and by good housekeeping;

​​

• Wherever possible use rechargeable batteries;

​​

• Investigate the opportunity for energy generation from renewable resources;

​​

• Purchase electricity from a supplier committed to renewable energy. Seek to maximise the proportion from renewable energy sources, whilst also supporting investment in new renewable energy schemes;

​​

• Ensure that timber furniture and any other timber products are recycled or are from well managed, sustainable sources and are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified;

​​

• Purchase Fair Trade (or equivalent) and/or organic consumables wherever possible;

​​

• Minimise office fuel and energy consumption;

​​

• Use office cleaning products certified for good environmental performance; and

​​

• Maintain office equipment (including cars) in good working order

 

​

Working practices and advice to clients.

• Ensure that any associates we employ take account of sustainability issues in their advice to clients;

​​

• Include a link to our Sustainability Policy in all our proposals to clients;

​​

• Comply with relevant environmental legislation relating to Portman Co's activities, products, and services; and

​​

• Maintain ISO 14001 compliance.

 

Monitoring and recording.

Our Sustainability Policy will be monitored annually and reviewed (from 2017) by the Director. The Director will seek to continually improve environmental performance.

​

Our Sustainability policy was revised in August 2019, the next full review is due in August 2020.