Helping Brabners LLP to Achieve Sustainability Success

Client Overview

Brabners LLP is a northern-based law firm with a history dating back to 1815, specialising in full-service legal offerings for a wide range of businesses, including large to mid-sized organisations, SMEs, public sector bodies, and charities. Brabners has cultivated a unique culture that embraces change, particularly in their sustainability journey.

Client Objectives

Brabners LLP aimed to manage and report their resource consumption effectively while ensuring compliance with various reporting regulations. Their specific objectives included:

• Complying with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR).
• Monitoring electricity, gas, waste production, and business travel across their Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Preston offices.
• Creating an annual end-of-year ‘Resource Efficiency Report’.
• Setting and achieving robust sustainability targets:
  • Encouraging hybrid working to reduce commuter mileage.
  • Adopting a Zero Waste to Landfill policy.
  • Reducing paper consumption by 50% by 2023 from a 2019 baseline.

Our Approach

Inteb provided a comprehensive approach tailored to Brabners’ requirements, focusing on several key services and products:

1. Data Collection and Analysis:
   • Conducted annual carbon footprint assessments across gas (Scope 1), electricity (Scope 2), and waste and business travel (Scope 3) emissions.
   • Collected data monthly from utility invoices, business travel reports, and waste figures, enabling granular analysis and identification of trends.
   • Utilised CBN Expert, a sustainability reporting software, to provide an online dashboard for visualising and downloading data.
2. Annual Resource Efficiency Report:
   • Compiled and analysed data across five key metrics: electricity consumption, paper usage, waste production, business travel, and associated carbon footprint.
   • Reported on intensity ratios based on the number of full-time employees, providing a detailed comparison across different offices and years.
3. SECR Compliance:
   • Ensured annual compliance with SECR regulations by disclosing gas, electricity usage, and business travel emissions.
   • Calculated intensity ratios using business metrics such as tCO2e/£100,000 revenue and tCO2e/full-time employees, showing a 3.8% reduction in their most recent financial year.

Results

Inteb’s collaboration with Brabners LLP delivered significant outcomes, demonstrating the value of the tailored services and products:

1. Carbon Reductions:
   • Achieved a 24% reduction in emissions in 2021 due to hybrid working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   • Reduced electricity and gas usage by 16.4% and 28.8% from 2021 to 2022, attributed to energy efficiency improvements.
   • Adoption of renewable electricity tariffs reduced their carbon footprint by 102.39 tCO2e.
2. Environmental Benefits:
   • Purchased green electricity contracts and REGO-backed gas tariffs.
   • Offset annual emissions through carbon credits with Forest Carbon Ltd.
   • Partnered with the Kingsdale Head Peatland Restoration Project to restore over 400 hectares of peatland.
3. Reputation and Stakeholder Engagement:
   • Published an annual Sustainability Progress Report and Sustainability Goals document, showcasing their commitment to sustainability.
   • Regularly updated clients on their ESG commitments through blogs and news items.
   • Achieved B Corp status in 2022, enhancing their reputation among clients, investors, and stakeholders.

Conclusion

Inteb’s partnership with Brabners LLP has been instrumental in monitoring, managing, and reducing their annual carbon footprint. By focusing on a triple bottom line approach, Brabners has adopted a more holistic understanding of their emissions. This case study exemplifies the benefits of embracing energy efficiency, both in terms of cost and carbon savings for the future.