First ChipsAway franchise achieves carbon neutral status

Telford & Wolverhampton branch of car scratch and bodywork repair specialist “setting the standards for the rest of our industry”

ChipsAway’s Telford & Wolverhampton branch has become the first of the franchise’s 200-strong network to achieve carbon neutral status.

ECA Business Energy awarded the car care centre with the PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality certification following an assessment of its operations and after it agreed to achieve a further two per cent reduction in its net carbon usage year on year.

The awarding body currently helps 300 body shops across the UK to reduce their carbon emissions and offset the carbon used in order to help protect the environment, reduce energy and travel costs, avoid future carbon taxes and generate increased customer demand through greener working practices.

The Telford & Wolverhampton franchise, owned by Darren and Matthew Fielding, was assessed over the course of several months to establish what contributes to the company’s carbon footprint today and what’s contributed to previous years of trading, including expenditure on gas, electric, petrol and diesel, as well as car repair parts. 

The branch’s total carbon usage was then calculated and offset against a renewable project taking place somewhere in the world. 

To achieve the franchise’s two per cent reduction in carbon usage each year, any new product, energy supply, vehicle or process must be assessed before being implemented or purchased to ensure it will help achieve that goal. 

Darren says: “This acknowledgement of the steps we’re taking to reduce our carbon expenditure is testament to the hard work of our team to provide a greener operation. 

“We know this is important to our customers and it’s important to us too, as we care passionately about protecting the environment. 

“The fact our expenditure is offset against a renewable project taking place what could be hundreds of thousands of miles away makes us feel like we’re having an impact on a global level as well as locally, which is very important to us. 

“The application and assessment process was simple and we encourage other car care centres who want to demonstrate the steps they’re taking to create a more sustainable future to go through the process.”

Simon Kings, technical director of ChipsAway, says: “As a franchise network, we have a responsibility and willingness to encourage all our business owners to take steps to make their businesses greener. 

“But in many cases, they go way beyond our support and take measures into their own hands. 

“Such is the case for Darren and Matthew’s team, who’ve demonstrated as our first carbon neutral car care centre that taking lots of small steps today make a huge difference in the long run. 

“We hope many more of our car care centres and mobile repair workers will follow in the footsteps of our Telford & Wolverhampton branch because they’re truly setting the standards for the rest of our industry.”