Edinburgh water firm Business Stream makes 'ambitious pledge' after slashing emissions

Business Stream, the Edinburgh-based water retailer that forms part of Scottish Water, has set new targets after cutting its carbon emissions by a quarter over the past year.

Over the period, the firm has implemented measures to make it more energy efficient and introduced new processes to generate environmental savings, which have included reducing the number of pages in its bills, installing more energy efficient air conditioning units and moving its servers to the cloud.

In addition, Business Stream has continued to support its colleagues to reduce their impact on the planet both at home and at work, including installing electric car charging units in its car park.

To accelerate its plans to achieve net zero, the firm has launched a second pledge to reduce its carbon emissions by a further 20 per cent by April 2023.

Chief executive Jo Dow said: “As a water retailer we recognise that we have an important role to play in helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals. But we also have a responsibility to reduce our own environmental impact.

“Over the past year we’ve taken proactive steps to significantly lower our carbon emissions - and we’re now committed to doing the same again this year. It’s another ambitious pledge but we’re determined to do everything we can to achieve our net zero target as quickly as possible.”

Business Stream is the largest operator in the Scottish non-domestic water market. The firm - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scottish Water with its own board and management team - acquired the non-household customer base of Southern Water in preparation for the English retail water market.