The road to Net Zero for the modern workplace
Bruntwood SciTech’s Manchester is home some of the city’s most innovative businesses (over 150 in total) for science and tech. The developments have been designed to bring a variety of companies together by offering office and laboratory space, helping them to collaborate, innovate and ignite that creative spark.
They are the UK's first commercial property landlord to sign up to the World Green Building Council's Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, and have also pledged for their buildings to be net zero carbon by 2030. As all responsible businesses of today are aware, reduction of the carbon footprint of the business includes transport carbon. A fleet of kick-scooters from Swifty was an ideal solution for Bruntwood to implement, according to an employee survey.
Why are kick-scooters the best option for Bruntwood?
Bruntwood SciTech is made up of two sites. Around 80 members of staff work between departments, Manchester Science Park and Circle Square. They are about 1.5 miles apart and the journey can be made by kick-scooter in about 8 minutes, or a 20 minute walk. Parking at Circle Square is limited - making brief back and forth car commutes difficult - and taxis are costly.The issues of connectivity between both sites were further exacerbated around the time of the pandemic, where colleagues were in the midst of maintaining social distancing and would often resort to conference calls with one another between sites, despite being in close physical proximity.
In essence, Bruntwood SciTech were looking for a simple commuting solution to bridge that gap and establish a speedy means of moving between sites so colleagues had that face-to-face interaction - so important for a healthy, collaborative and innovative workplace such as Bruntwood SciTech.
The advantages of scooters over bikes for mobility were backed up by the employee survey that was conducted. The results showed that the majority of employees felt unsafe riding a bike between sites, and that they were more likely to use the kick-scooter fleet on this basis. The employees perceived the scooters as much more accessible and therefore preferred mode of active travel.
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The scoot commute – making the vision a reality
With the support from the Bruntwood employees, Sci-Tech's Community Engagement Manager, Oliver Storr then reached out to Swifty to form a proposal. Swifty Scooters offered a design service to create a completely bespoke fleet according the the business size and requirements.
Bruntwood selected the adult kick-scooter SwiftyZERO MK2 which features 16" pneumatic wheels, front and rear V-brakes and is both lightweight and nimble to ride. These were custom painted according to the Bruntwood brand guidelines and branded with their logo.
The advantages of Swifty are not only the daily use of these high quality scooters, but the brand visibility - they look stunning. They are also easy to service going forward, as all Swiftys use standard size componentry. The cost of the fleet was covered by an Active Travel Fund, a grant awarded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
How Swifty Scooters fulfilled commuting requirements
Swifty Scooters were able to help provide the solutions to meet Bruntwood’s active travel needs through the bespoke service they offered and the high quality of the scooters themselves. The knowledge and experience gained delivering scooter fleets to other similar eco-conscious companies was also an important element in Bruntwood’s decision-making process.
And mirroring the scooter of choice with those other partnerships, the lightweight but sturdy nature of the SwiftyZERO was deemed the best model to suit Bruntwood’s requirements, given its suitability and robustness for handling the assortment of challenging surfaces in an urban setting.
Swifty Scooters created bespoke stands for the fleet, and were able to customise the scooters (including mudguards) in Bruntwood SciTech’s brand colours.
A scooter-focused future ahead?
Bruntwood have several other high-profile buildings in and around Manchester, alongside locations in cities such as Leeds and Liverpool. Last month also saw them acquire Glasgow’s Met Tower with the aim of turning it into a tech and digital business hub. Next year is the first phase of their Birmingham Health Innovation Campus.
With all this growth on the horizon - and the reduction in car use - the need for sustainable travel will undoubtedly increase within many of these sites. Micromobility represents a viable solution to those requirements, helping to further drive that innovation and economic growth at the very heart of Bruntwood’s ethos.