1. Our Commitment

Hillmorton Design and Development Ltd recognises that our activities, however digital in nature, have an environmental footprint. We are committed to minimising our environmental impact, operating responsibly, and continually improving our environmental performance.

We believe sustainable business practice and commercial success are not mutually exclusive. By embedding environmental responsibility into our operations, we aim to contribute positively to a low-carbon future — particularly relevant given our focus on the rail and transport sectors, which play a critical role in sustainable infrastructure.

2. Scope of Our Impact

As a digital services company, our primary environmental impacts arise from:

• Data centre energy consumption — Servers hosted by Netcup (Germany) consume energy; we aim to minimise unnecessary resource usage through efficient code and infrastructure design.
• Office and remote working — Energy used by our team's devices, home offices, and any physical premises.
• Business travel — Any client site visits, meetings, or events requiring travel.
• Procurement — Hardware, software, and services purchased to support our operations.

3. Our Objectives

We commit to the following objectives and will review our progress against them annually:

3.1 Energy and Carbon

• Encourage team members to use energy-efficient devices and, where possible, power them from renewable energy sources.
• Select hosting and infrastructure providers that demonstrate a commitment to renewable energy or carbon reduction. Netcup operates within Germany's robust energy regulatory environment, and we will monitor their sustainability commitments as part of our supplier review process.
• Design and deliver digital products with performance efficiency in mind, reducing unnecessary server load and data transfer.

3.2 Travel and Commuting

• Prioritise remote working and virtual meetings to minimise travel-related emissions.
• Where travel is necessary, encourage use of public transport — particularly rail — in keeping with our sector focus.
• Avoid unnecessary air travel for domestic journeys where an equivalent rail or virtual option exists.

3.3 Waste and Resource Use

• Operate as a paperless business wherever practical.
• Responsibly dispose of electronic equipment through certified WEEE recycling channels.
• Extend the lifecycle of hardware through repair and refurbishment before replacement.

3.4 Supply Chain

• Consider environmental credentials when selecting suppliers and partners.
• Engage with suppliers to understand and, where possible, reduce supply chain emissions.

4. Legal Compliance

We will comply with all applicable UK environmental legislation and regulation, including but not limited to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013, and any relevant provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008.

We will keep abreast of relevant legislative and regulatory developments and update our practices accordingly.

5. Responsibilities

Environmental responsibility is shared across our organisation:

• The Board of Directors is responsible for approving and reviewing this policy and ensuring adequate resources are allocated to environmental objectives.
• All staff and contractors are expected to understand and comply with this policy and to actively support our environmental objectives in their day-to-day work.
• The lead Director will review environmental performance at least annually and report outcomes to the Board.