Remote workers save space and improve productivity

12th July 2011

AIT Partnership Group Ltd has reduced the number of miles travelled by its technical and sales staff with the help of a Sustainable Routes grant.

The Reading-based data technology company applied for a match-funded grant of £750 to buy laptops for its field engineer and salesperson (cost £1500).

The employees now work flexibly from home. Each one is saving around 400 miles a week in their individual petrol costs.  The company benefits from an improved carbon footprint and the increased well-being of its people.  

AIT’s finance manager Sonia Lawlor says:  “Our engineer can work effectively on client sites without having to return to an office desk that has been empty all day.  We have saved space, allowing us to expand without relocating.” The reduction in travel time has also improved staff performance. Sonia adds, “Employees are more productive if they don’t have to spend two hours a day on the road!”

The £750 grant from the Sustainable Routes programme provided an incentive to try remote working, but now the benefits are proven the company will be looking to encourage more staff to take it up in future.  

Visit http://www.ait-pg.co.uk/default.aspx to find out more

Sustainable Routes is a pioneering scheme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), available to businesses, excluding franchisees, who want to cut travel costs by adopting new ways of working. The grant of up to £1000 is available towards reducing business travel costs for small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs), employing fewer than 250 people, which have been trading for at least two years and are located in the South East of England - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex.