The businesses were given diamond, gold, silver, bronze and endeavour awards at the 2015 Travel Plan Awards for initiatives which have reduced dependency on car travel.
The awards, organised by Travelchoice in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Travel for Work were presented by John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive of Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and Goldie Sayers, British Olympic javelin thrower at a special ceremony which took place on Friday 27 March at Peterborough Town Hall.
Ikea Distribution Centre, Peterborough and Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust received the top (diamond) accolade for going above and beyond of what is expected of them with initiatives such as installing on-site bike shelters, showers and lockers and introducing personalised travel planning amongst their employees.
Rizwan Hemraj, Peterborough City Council’s sustainable travel officer said: “The businesses have worked really hard to encourage their employees to travel to work more sustainably – they have all embraced a sustainable travel ethos in their business practices. I am particularly pleased two businesses achieved the diamond award. To reach this level, a business needs to demonstrate that sustainable travel is embedded in the company.
“A big thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony. It was a fantastic opportunity for the business community to network and share good practice”.
Award categories and winners
Endeavour Award (level one)
Given to those organisations who have just started out on their Travel Plan journey and have engaged with Travelchoice about creating a Travel Plan for their business. Whilst the Travel Plan may not be a finished document, some guidelines have been created in which to develop a Travel Plan on.
Winners:
• BGL Group
• Deloitte
• Land Registry Peterborough
• Long Road 6th Form
• Macintyre Hudson
• Nvidia
• Serpentine Green Shopping Centre
• Skanska Cambridgeshire Highways
• St Mary’s School
• United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Bronze Award (level two)
Recipients of this award are commonly businesses who have written a basic Travel Plan and have begun the initial engagement with fellow employees and staff about current travel trends and ways and means any problems could potentially be overcome.
Winners:
• Abcam
• British Sugar
• Cambridge Regional College
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee
• Lindum Group
• Luminus
• Mencap
• Opportunity Peterborough
Silver Award (level three)
Level three most commonly rewards those who have now got a working Travel Plan with staff awareness and response being of a reasonable level. Aims and objectives set within the Travel Plan have progress being made towards them.
Winners:
• Atkins Peterborough
• Axiom
• Perkins
• Queensgate Shopping Centre
Gold Award (level four)
This level rewards businesses who have adopted the travel plan ethos and have made good progress with the aims and objectives set within the document. Staff have a good understanding of the document and trends are showing an increasing positivity and single car occupancy has visibly fallen.
Winners:
• ARM
• Environment Agency Cambridge
• Environment Agency Peterborough
• Granta Park
• Peterborough Regional College
• Skanska Peterborough
• Thomas Cook Group
Platinum Award (level five)
Is the top award which recognises businesses who have adopted the Travel Plan into the ethos of their business with outstanding trends showing within their staff base. It is predominantly for businesses who have achieved the objectives and aims set out in their original document and have set new objectives to further push the boundaries of what their company can achieve. It is most common for businesses who have been developing their plan for a number of years to be achieving this level.
Winners:
• Cross Keys Homes
• Eversheds
• Peterborough Environment City Trust
Diamond Award
Is presented to one company every year who has excelled within their Travel Plan and have gone above and beyond what is usually expected from them.
Winners:
• Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Ikea Distribution Centre