Businesses today want to operate in an ethical, sustainable way, considering their impact on society, the environment, and the economy. Here are some of the ways we at Computair are living and working responsibly and trying to make a positive change in the world.
Renewable energy
In 2021, we changed our electricity supplier to one which produced energy from 100% renewable sources. As a result, our office CO2 emissions were substantially reduced. However, we knew that more could be done and so, after a period of research and cost analysis, we made the decision in 2024 to install solar panels on the roof of the office.
In the sunnier months, we now generate more than enough electricity to power all of the office energy needs. Using a specialised battery to store excess electricity, we now regularly sell kWh back to the electricity supplier over the summer months.
During the winter, the stored amount of solar energy is considerably less, but we are still able to use any unexpected winter sunshine to reduce the amount of electricity we need to buy from our supplier. Solar panels are a substantial investment for an SME, but we are confident it will pay dividends over time whilst fulfilling our requirement for a cleaner energy source.
Sponsoring sport in the local community
We are aware of the significant health benefits sport can bring and we see youth sport in particular as being a great way to develop healthy active habits for life.
Toddington Rovers Football Club
We are proud and long-standing sponsors of the local junior football team Toddington Rovers, and in particular the Under 14s Dragons Team, who display the Computair logo on their team shirts.
Tring Rugby Union Football Club
We are also delighted to sponsor Tring Rugby Club. Computair has supported two team players each season over a number of years and has also been a shirt sponsor for the M & J tour shirts.
Carbon footprint reduction
Since July 2024 we have been working with environmental tech company Trees4Travel to move towards offsetting our carbon emissions. Post-Covid, we are travelling less and combining trips more, but air travel remains our number one cause of carbon emissions.
Put simply, carbon offsetting is the process of replanting areas which have been deforested with trees to recarbonise the environment. Through their leaves, trees pull carbon dioxide from the air, retaining the carbon in their biomass, and releasing pure oxygen back into the atmosphere.
Trees4Travel software calculates the number of trees needed to offset each aeroplane flight. Trees can then be purchased and planted, with a focus on deforested areas like the mangroves of Mozambique and Madagascar.
Sponsorship of Pitchlocator app
Computair is proud to sponsor an exciting project helping youth football in our local Milton Keynes and District Development League. Community Sporting Partnership UK offers a brilliant app, the CSP Pitch Locator, as well as a website and accompanying handbook, which all help parents navigate their way to match fixtures around the country.
Volunteering
We encourage engagement with local charities and we have staff who volunteer in a variety of settings. Our MD, Richard Phelan, is involved with a children’s circus skills group which really is as exciting as it sounds, teaching unicycle riding, stilt-walking, juggling and aerial silks, to name a few!
One of our original co-founders, Nigel Taffs, is a skilled player of the mandolin and the ukulele and his band, Last of the Summer Ukuleles, organises frequent musical events and pub concerts to fund-raise for charity. It is a recognised fact that music has the power to comfort and stimulate memory in dementia patients and LOTSU also play regularly in residential care homes for the elderly.
Several of our staff members attend sessions run by the NHS blood and transplant service, to donate blood for use across the NHS. This is an
accessible way to save lives and we try and accommodate appointments which arise during the working day wherever possible.
Hybrid working
Computair team members combine days in the office with days working from home. This has the effect of reducing our carbon footprint by cutting down on the distances travelled by car on the commute to work. Team members who live locally both cycle and walk to the office.
We also participate in a Cycle to Work scheme, a government-approved salary sacrifice program that lets employees save up to 47% on a new bike and safety gear. Employees can “hire” their new bike, paying off the cost interest-free through payroll before tax is deducted.
Recycling
Recycling is an important cornerstone of caring for the environment and we do our best by recycling plastics, tins, paper, cardboard, batteries and print cartridges, collecting those items here in the office before either recycling in kerbside recycling collection, taking to a local recycling point or dispatching them to specialist waste collection companies.
Being a software company, we also have to dispose of computer hardware, printers and so on. We collect this equipment and when there is a large enough quantity, it is taken to tthe local household waste and recycling centre.