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Sustainability and Social Value
0
lost time injuries, three years running
100%
of our subcontract spend went to SMEs
1 in 4
of our people are Apprentices or Formal Training
300,000+
people have used Motion Reality since 2018
Our commitment
Motion Rail is committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We report our environmental, social and governance performance every year against the reporting year ending 30 September, and we publish the carbon figures in full. What follows is the position at the end of the 2025-26 year.
Our carbon footprint
We measure our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the GHG Protocol, using the UK Government conversion factors, and we publish a Carbon Reduction Plan under Procurement Policy Note 006.
In the year to 30 September 2026 our absolute emissions were 59.65 tCO2e. That is 58% below our 2023-24 baseline and 13% below last year.
We want to be straight about what that number means. Most of that fall is lower activity rather than lower carbon working, and the measure that strips activity out, carbon per unit of work, moved the wrong way this year. That is the measure we are managing against, and our target is a 39% reduction by 2030 on the path to net zero by 2050.
Where our emissions come from
Travel accounts for 95.5% of our emissions. Fleet fuel alone is 81.3% and business travel a further 14.1%. That is the shape of a rail telecoms contractor: small mobile teams carrying tools and test equipment to transient sites across the country, much of it out of hours when there is no train to catch.
It also tells us where to concentrate. Fleet renewal is the single biggest lever we have, and the one we control most directly. Our 2030 targets are to remove every D to G rated vehicle from the fleet and to have more than half of it A rated. We are not there yet. The practical constraint is the availability of longer range electric vans capable of servicing large transient rail sites, and we are tracking the market closely.
Alongside the fleet, we plan travel out of projects where we can, using local multi-skilled teams, and we monitor and train our drivers, which improves both carbon and safety.
Our supply chain, safety and governance
We recorded zero lost time injuries in the year to September 2026, as we did in the two years before it. Our safety, quality and environmental management systems are externally assured to ISO 45001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and we held Cyber Essentials Plus throughout the year.
All of our subcontract spend in 2025-26 went to small and medium sized enterprises, against a target of 70%. We paid 87.7% of supplier invoices within 30 days, at an average of 9.3 days, because a small business waiting to be paid is a small business that cannot invest.
Our board reviews ESG performance and this report is approved by the CEO. Our work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 Good Health and Well-being, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and 13 Climate Action.
Growing our own engineers
Technical skills shortages are an acute problem for our industry. Our answer is to grow talent rather than buy it. A quarter of our people are apprentices, and we are a member of the 5% Club, the employer audit for investment in apprentices and graduates.
Two of our telecoms apprentices are working towards end point assessment, one is a degree apprentice at university one day a week, every apprentice is working towards a Duke of Edinburgh award, and one has taken gold in the UK WorldSkills challenge.
Across the year we delivered 786 hours of training and briefing and 28 toolbox talks. Women make up 29% of our workforce, up from 25% the year before, and 43% of our board. We are working towards 30% across the workforce by 2030.
Motion Reality and our communities
Motion Reality is the not-for-profit arm of Motion Rail, built in partnership with the Centre of Excellence in Mobile and Emerging Technologies and endorsed by Network Rail. It began as a way of teaching our own workforce about hazardous environments, then became a virtual reality tool for teaching children about the dangers of the railway, particularly level crossings and trespass.
More than 300,000 people have used it since 2018, through our own work and through other contractors and partners. It has won Safety Achievement of the Year at the National Rail Awards and the Education and Training Excellence award at the Rail Business Awards, and was highly commended in the safety category of the RIA Rise Awards. We are currently developing it with Network Rail to work for people with hearing impairments and to carry STEM teaching.
Beyond Motion Reality we deliver rail safety and STEM sessions in local schools and with groups including the Gilwern 1st Beaver Scouts, and over the year our people raised funds through marathons for Diabetes UK and St John Ambulance, with £3,330 donated to community causes.
How we report
Our reporting year runs from 1 October to 30 September, matching our financial year. Carbon data is collected quarterly and the inventory is calculated in house against the GHG Protocol using the UK Government conversion factors for the reporting year. 84.8% of our 2025-26 emissions data is high quality, drawn from fleet card transactions, flight bookings and expense records.
The Carbon Reduction Plan and the full ESG report are reissued each year. Figures for the most recent year are provisional until our annual accounts are finalised.
