Environmental and Sustainability Policy
1 OUR COMMITMENT
Tech Relays Limited is committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner and to minimising the impact of our business activities on the environment. We recognise that, as a business, we have a responsibility to consider our environmental footprint and to take proportionate, practical steps to reduce it.
As a small, fully remote technology business, our environmental impact is inherently lower than many organisations of comparable size. We do not operate a physical office, we have no company vehicles, and the nature of our work means that the vast majority of our activity is digital. We nonetheless recognise that all businesses contribute to environmental impact and we are committed to doing what we reasonably can to minimise ours.
2 OUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
The primary sources of environmental impact associated with our business are:
- Business travel — occasional travel to client sites, undertaken only when genuinely necessary
- Energy consumption — home working environments used by our staff
- Hardware — laptops and devices used by our team
- Digital infrastructure — cloud-based platforms and services used to deliver our work
We do not have significant sources of waste, water consumption, or emissions beyond these areas.
3 WHAT WE DO
Remote-first working
Our entire team works remotely. This eliminates the energy consumption and emissions associated with operating a physical office, and removes the need for daily commuting by staff. Client engagements are delivered digitally wherever possible, with in-person visits made only when necessary and agreed in advance.
Travel
Where travel to client sites is required, we keep this to a minimum and encourage the use of public transport where practical. We default to video calls and remote collaboration tools in preference to in-person meetings.
Digital infrastructure
Our operations rely on cloud-based platforms and software-as-a-service tools. We favour established providers who publish their own environmental commitments and are investing in renewable energy for their data centres. We operate a paperless business — documents are created, shared, and stored digitally.
Carbon awareness in technology choices
We are aware that digital tools and services — including cloud computing and artificial intelligence platforms — carry an energy cost that is not always visible. We consider the environmental credentials of technology providers as part of our decision-making when selecting or switching platforms, and we are mindful of unnecessary or wasteful use of energy-intensive services.
Supplier considerations
Where we have a genuine choice between equivalent suppliers or service providers, we will consider their environmental commitments as one factor in our decision. We favour suppliers who demonstrate a credible and proportionate approach to their own environmental impact.
Hardware
We aim to extend the working life of devices and equipment wherever possible, rather than replacing them unnecessarily. When hardware reaches the end of its useful life, we dispose of it responsibly through accredited recycling or refurbishment schemes rather than sending it to landfill.
4 LOOKING AHEAD
We will review this policy annually. As our business grows, we will consider what additional steps are appropriate and proportionate to our scale, and will update this policy to reflect any changes to our practices or environmental commitments.
We are a small business and do not make commitments we cannot keep. Our approach to sustainability is to embed sensible, low-effort habits into our everyday operations and to build on these over time.
5 RESPONSIBILITY
Overall responsibility for this policy sits with the directors of Tech Relays Limited. All staff and contractors are expected to support our environmental aims in the course of their work.
This policy was approved by the directors of Tech Relays Limited and was last updated in March 2025.
Tech Relays Limited | Company No. 15393115 | Bickland House, Falmouth, TR11 4SB | help@techrelays.com