11 July 2012 by Scott Leiper

No Journeys June

With bases in locations as diverse as Aberdeen and Coventry to Dubai and Houston, Texas, travel is an inevitable part of doing international business. Last year at Amor we travelled the equivalent distance of once around the globe by train, and seven times by aeroplane - a staggering 200,000 miles in total. As well as having a huge environmental impact, it results in our people spending time away from home, and that's not even to mention the financial implications.

As a leader in business technology solutions, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to combine both our business and IT expertise to drive better outcomes for ourselves and our customers. That's why for the month just past we have implemented the 'No Journeys June' initiative, with all travel out-with our base cities that was not directly required by a customer suspended.

Making use of our portable video-conferencing equipment, we've held virtual meetings rather than catching a train; the blanket ban in place pushing ourselves to explore different ways to exploit our communication technologies. The total number of journeys we undertook as a business more than halved when compared against May's figures, with air travel seeing one of the largest reductions (and as a result with some of the biggest impact on our overall carbon footprint). It's been a valuable experience, and we've learned lessons about what works and what doesn't. We'll analyse the figures in depth later on in the year before we go on to repeat the experience, and will continue to strive for the best and most innovative ways to do business.