Most small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are looking to take measures this year to encourage their employees to choose more sustainable modes of transport, according to a new survey.
A poll of more than 500 UK-based SMEs by rail ticketing specialist Trainline Partner Solutions found that 83 per cent of organisations wanted to “bolster support” for staff to book lower carbon travel options, with 48 per cent of firms expecting to increase their use of rail travel in 2024.
Just over half of SMEs (52 per cent) said they had already set targets for reducing their emissions from business travel. Among those yet to set this sort of target, two-thirds (66 per cent) of firms expect this to change during the next 12 months.
This increased focus on cutting emissions from business trips comes as the Trainline survey also revealed that 90 per cent of travel managers working for SMEs expected their employees to travel more this year, as well as spending more on travel than in 2023.
An increased number of businesses are also looking to travel management companies to help them to track and reduce their business travel emissions – 42 per cent are already using TMCs in this way and another 39 per cent are expecting to start partnering with TMCs to do this during 2024.
Andrew Cruttenden, general manager at Trainline Partner Solutions, said: “Businesses are telling us they expect to both travel and spend more this year as business travel continues to rebound post-Covid.
“We’re seeing a clear signal that sustainability considerations are a growing factor in setting travel policies and budgets, and rail is a great way to reduce the carbon emissions for travel versus flying and driving.”