Supply Chain Digital Magazine April 2023 | Page 39

G4S

“ There ' s an awful lot of factors that make fleet decarbonisation complicated , and there ’ s no doubt the easier markets right now are UK & I and Europe ”

JON WILLESCROFT CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER , G4S
That it is still on track is thanks in no small part to LeasePlan , which has worked with G4S on creative ways to skirt supply challenges . Chief among them is LeasePlan ’ s strategy of buying available hybrid and allelectric vehicle stock , leasing them to G4S on short-term contracts of between three and nine months .
“ More than three-quarters of the new cars we ordered last year were lowemission vehicles ,” says Willescroft . “ This is around 450 vehicles and is a really big step up from where we were before . This alone removes over 1,000 tonnes of carbon from the environment .”
Willescroft himself moved to a leased electric vehicle while he was waiting for his Tesla company car . “ By 2025 , we want 40 % of our passenger cars to have zero carbon emissions , and all of them by 2030 .”
By 2040 , G4S wants its entire UK fleet to be zero carbon – this target could prove to be the most technically challenging , because the remainder of the fleet will be its heavy armoured vehicles , which are used for cash protection .
“ Cars are becoming easier with regards to the net-zero journey ,” says Willescroft , “ but heavy vehicles are harder to electrify because the technology just isn ’ t there at the moment to give you the battery range .
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