Speedy has been ranked in the top 25% of companies for sustainability by leading ratings provider EcoVadis.

Speedy was awarded silver by EcoVadis in this year's assessment, with the business scored highly for its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

The company is the UK's leading provider of tools, equipment and plant hire services to a wide range of customers in the construction, infrastructure and industrial markets, as well as to local trade and consumers. Speedy employs approximately 3,500 people across 200 UK locations.

It was the first hire provider to sign up to the science-based targets initiative (SBTI), where emissions targets are certified to be in line with reductions required under the Paris Agreement.

The company launched the industry's first net-zero hire centre in Milton Keynes, certified this year with an A+ energy rating. It’s also investing in its fleet to ensure that the majority of its vehicles are electric or hybrid by 2030, with more than 50% of its capex now focused on hire products that help customers to reduce their own emissions.

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The EcoVadis assessment universally benchmarks Speedy's ESG performance across the environment, labour, ethics, human rights, corruption, and sustainable procurement.

The business now plans to work closely with its supply chain of construction equipment manufacturers to help them to improve their sustainability as it targets a gold EcoVadis rating putting it into the top 5% of all businesses.

Amelia Woodley, director of ESG at Speedy, said: "This is a great achievement for our business. Major contractors are increasingly scrutinising the environmental impact of their supply chains. The EcoVadis rating gives them the certainty that Speedy is a responsible business that can help them to operate more sustainably.

"With 1,500 vehicles and 200 locations UK wide, net-zero represents a huge transformation for us. But the silver accolade demonstrates the maturity of our ESG strategy and reflects how we're moving in the right direction as a business.

"We now need to mobilise our supply chain to join us on our journey to enhance our position as the leading provider in sustainable hire. Working as one sustainable supply chain, we can play a significant part in the overall decarbonisation of the built environment."