Building firm praised for green efforts

Castle Building Services has installed electric rapid charging points at its office in Hebburn.

The company is also promoting the use of hybrid and electric cars with its staff, even contributing towards the cost of installing charging points at their homes.

Castle – who are independent services design and installation contractors – has developed its list of approved company cars and, since implementing the new policy in April 2017, 20% of its employees drive hybrid cars.

Commercial director Andrew Dawson said “We work with clients daily, designing and installing fantastically energy efficient mechanical and electrical services to ensure their buildings have the smallest carbon footprint and as such, we are keen to practice what we preach.

“It seemed obvious that the next best step for us to take as a business would be to encourage staff to drive hybrid cars and what better way to do that than installing free to use charging points at the workplace. Apart from free electricity, because these cars have such low emissions, staff also benefit from lower tax payments associated with company car schemes, and of course the ongoing benefits to the environment are significant.”

Coun Allan West said: “As a council, we are committed to creating a low carbon economy and we have a network of electric charging points at strategic locations across the borough.

“It is great to see a local business introducing measures like these to encourage and incentivise employees to reduce their carbon footprint.”