Lucion Group Wins Second Palatine PE OSCARS

The Palatine OSCARS Awards (Operating Sustainably, Consciously and Responsibly) celebrate the companies across their portfolio that have gone above and beyond in their commitments to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and are becoming more sustainable. Winners of the annual Palatine Awards demonstrate operating with sustainability, consciousness and responsibility at the heart of what they do. 

Palatine PE recognised Lucion Group, from their investment portfolio, as the winner of the Palatine Carbon Leadership Award at the start of 2022 and, most recently, Lucion Group was named Palatine PE’s ‘Embedding Sustainability Award’ winner in October 2022. Lucion Group’s Chief Technical Officer Ross Boulton provided insight on Lucion’s latest award. 

Lucion Group’s Internal ESG lead, Hazel Gillings, who leads the company’s ESG activities, is keen for all of our team to get actively involved with our ESG and sustainability initiatives. Our people are passionate about the environment and being part of a business that is compassionate and conscientious.  We were delighted to win the Carbon Leadership award earlier this year, as it shows that our leadership team is steering our business in the right direction. To now win the Embedding Sustainability award highlights that we are successfully integrating these leadership decisions into all that we do and throughout our entire operation. 

We are continually aware that our business activities can have a negative impact on the natural environment. We are therefore committed to reducing this impact by continuing to utilise the expertise and support of Climate Impact Partners for our worldwide carbon offsetting projects, along with introducing various sustainable initiatives across the business in addition to our seawilding project. Such initiatives include:

• Lightfoot in-vehicle driver efficiency technology and rewards platform to our fleet of 197 vans which monitors and feedback to the driver their driving style to reduce harsh acceleration, improve fuel economy and overall driving standards. 
• Carbon Offsetting Shell fuel cards where every litre of fuel purchased is carbon offset through Shell’s global portfolio of nature-based projects.
• Cycle to Work scheme as well as encouraging staff to use public transport via strategically located office facilities. 
• Increased Sustainable Car Allowance levels for those eligible and owners of a hybrid or electric vehicle. 
• ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) Salary Sacrifice Scheme. 
• Where possible, our laboratory and office buildings are equipped with renewable energy sources, such as air source heat pumps and solar photovoltaic cells powered through clean energy sources.
• Retrofitted efficient LED lighting in our offices.

In response to World Environment Day in June 2022, the Group sponsored Seawilding, based at Loch Craignish, Argyll, the UK’s first community-led native marine habitat restoration project. The aim of the project was to restore lost biodiversity to help our seas recover from the prolonged impacts of human activities.

Globally seagrass is known to absorb significant quantities of blue carbon, responsible for 11% of the organic carbon buried in the oceans. Additionally, in some parts of the world seagrass has been found to absorb carbon up to 35 times faster than rainforests.

In total, we have funded the planting of 280m2 of seagrass on behalf of our Lucion Group community.

Securing Our Future With Sustainable Initiatives

The demand for transparency on sustainable and socially responsible practices is on the rise. ESG analysis and reporting can provide valuable insights and help create long-term value for stakeholders.

Centred around the Lucion Group mission “Protecting People and Planet”, we want to ensure that all of the operating businesses within Lucion Group have appropriately linked charity partnerships and social initiatives aligned to the focus of each business, in addition to meaningful governance processes and carbon reduction practices.  

As a result of these initiatives and many more in the pipeline, the company has, and will continue to drive efficiency and mitigate tonnes of CO2 from entering the earth’s atmosphere, whilst engaging with our clients to support our local communities through the work we do and creating meaningful partnerships with the community groups and charities that matter to us.

Palatine commented on Lucion’s latest award win stating;

“When we invested in Lucion in 2019, they already had a strong ESG foundation with centralised management and governance systems. Further ESG advancements have been achieved through several acquisitions, which introduced a wide range of expertise and client services that transitioned the Group from a risk management focus to a positive outcomes business.

Lucion’s leadership team now leads by example and understands the benefits of a high-quality ESG proposition. This ethos has been applied to the business culture and is executed by all Lucion’s employees, who embody the Group’s purpose: Protecting People and Planet.” 

- Palatine PE.

We understand our role and responsibility to lead by example. As such, we are committed to playing our part to not only reduce our direct carbon emissions but to use our skills and expertise to support others to do the same. To reduce our impact, we are continuing to invest in our initiatives. This year we plan to continue to:

• Continue the transition towards a hybrid/fully electric vehicle fleet where logistically possible.
• Source 100% renewable energy for all offices where we have energy bill responsibility.
• Streamline our business functions to reduce resource consumption and travel.
• Commit to a Science-Based Target to reduce our emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
• Work towards becoming a ‘Beyond Net-Zero’ Group of companies, eliminating our emissions where possible and offsetting our annual emissions by 150% to ensure we have a net positive impact on the environment.

We are determined to see a positive change in the landscape of our business. 2022 will see us invest in our 'beyond carbon neutral' objectives. By December 2022, our initiatives will not only have offset our current carbon production, but we'll also continue to limit our carbon production where possible, and aim to offset not only what's leftover, but an additional 50% of the output. 

As a group of environmental companies, we are committed to embedding ESG in everything we do as a business. Led by the ESG principles, the combined Lucion Group is passionate about making a difference among clients, employees, investors, regulators and corporations, as we adapt to the ever-changing business environment impacted by the effects of climate change.

About The Author

Lucion Group’s Chief Technical Officer Ross Boulton monitors strategic, operational, and regulatory risks to effectively manage and protect our Group businesses.  With over 17 years in the industry, Ross joined as a Regional Manager in 2008 and now has board accountability for our shared, central functions including, Information Technology, QHSE, Learning and Development,  HR and ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance). 

Ross leads corporate governance and assurance of all regulatory and professional obligations, covering technical and social values, professional liabilities and employment practices. He is our Board level health, safety and wellbeing champion reporting on and monitoring high-level QHSE KPIs and highlighting issues for consideration. Within this, he oversees Lucion’s Take Care Be Aware (TCBA) forum which provides a platform for employees to give feedback directly to the Assurance Team and Board of Directors.

Ross also leads our acquisition integrations, successfully supporting our CEO in four acquisitions between 2020 and 2022. He reviews legal obligations associated with contracts and frameworks undertaken to ensure the effective delivery of services that help protect both our clients and Lucion.