Keeping us safe
Serco UK & Europe’s Defence Business Unit provides Maritime Services for customers in the Defence sector, operating over 90 vessels from five sites around the UK. Based in Hampshire but working in British waters and around the world, it provides services ranging from towage to transporting passengers, as well as fuelling ships to trialling cutting edge maritime technology.
Its critical support services operate in sensitive facilities on behalf of military organisations in the US, UK, Australia, and the Middle East, both in-country and embedded within deployed forces around the world. It has had a long-standing partnership with the Royal Navy since 1996. Serco’s Defence expertise also covers other military settings, including space, land, and air.
Why join The Solent Cluster?
Serco wants to align with the UK Government’s target of becoming a Net Zero emitter by 2050 and understands that this will inevitably require the collective efforts of millions of individuals, firms, and public bodies nationwide.
Corporate social responsibility is therefore very important in reducing Serco’s impact on the environment, especially in its position as a critical public service provider. Its commitment is to ensure it is at the forefront of collaborative innovation hence its desire to join a consortium of like-minded organisations that have best practice and the continued success of the Solent region at the heart of their operations.
Serco looks forward to the Cluster being a forum in which organisations can come together to provide a platform for the advancement of low carbon solutions. These innovations will help invigorate the local economy, encourage the development of ‘green skills’ in the wider maritime industry, and benefit the region as a whole.
Net Zero ambitions for the Defence sector
Many of the vessels and vehicles that Serco currently operate in its Maritime Services contract run on diesel fuel so a key objective for the business is to support its customers in the transition to alternative fuels, whilst exploring opportunities to decarbonise its operations and the wider industry.
Serco’s 2021 ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report, details the adoption of sustainable business practices that reduce the environmental impact of the services it delivers, the products and services it buys and the ways in which it operates. It is committed to Net Zero carbon emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3 and has already seen progress with a 15% reduction in scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from 2017 – 2021 and a reduction of 40% carbon emissions per employee across the same period.
Serco recognises that collaboration is vital to reach global Net Zero targets, but varying market maturity means a tailored approach across its regions is required. In the UK Serco has published a Carbon Reduction Plan which specifically covers the interim targets for local operations.
There are numerous projects which will assist Serco in reaching Net Zero in 2050 including utilising funding opportunities and accelerator programmes to support low to medium technology readiness level (TRL) businesses to further develop their innovative solutions and bring them to market. This is to be achieved through competitions and collaborations such as the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and Connected Places Catapult Maritime Accelerator Programme.
“As a business to government service provider, Serco wants to work with the Cluster to ensure we are doing everything we can to meet the UK government and the Maritime Industry’s targets of becoming net zero by 2050.”
Salli Shapcott, Aviation and Maritime Services Director