DPD UK’s Director of Marketing, Communications & Sustainability has praised Forest Green Rovers for continuing to lead the way on sustainability and showing all organisations what is possible.
Tim Jones was commenting as the two organisations enter their fourth season working together and DPD UK’s second as a club sponsor. Jones particularly highlighted the club’s success in cutting its carbon emissions as being inspirational, as DPD UK progresses towards its own Net Zero target.
The leading parcel delivery company signed a two-year partnership deal with Forest Green Rovers in 2023 and has been the club’s parcel delivery partner since 2021, delivering replica kit and merchandise for fans.
DPD UK recently confirmed that it is on target to deliver a 46% reduction in emissions by the end of 2024, from the 2020 baseline, with a third of its final mile van fleet now electric and 95% of its HGV fleet running on HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil).
As part of Geopost, DPD UK has a net zero target of 2040, which is fully validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). DPD UK has confirmed that the UK operation is on track with the trajectory required to meet the group target.
In its latest sustainability update, DPD UK outlined progress towards that goal including adding a further 350 electric vehicles (EVs) taking the EV fleet close to 4,000 strong, while its new flagship London sortation centre is now consistently over 90% all-electric in terms of final mile, as part of DPD UK’s plan to deliver electric only across London.
Forest Green Rovers (FGR) is known for being the only vegan football club in the world and in 2017, FGR chairman Dale Vince was appointed as a Climate Champion for the United Nations who also recognised FGR as the first Carbon Neutral football club in the world as part of the UN Climate Neutral Now pledge. The club’s sustainable initiatives cover every aspect of its operation including energy, transport, food, waste and supporting nature and biodiversity.
The sponsorship deal means that DPD UK’s logo and branding will again appear on the back of player’s shirts for the 2024-25 seasons. In addition, DPD U branding appears on the stadium and the pitch perimeter.
The new kit is made out of bamboo fabric and each shirt features a design on the inside of the neck inspired by the warming stripes developed by climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins, at the University of Reading, to illustrate the rise in average global temperature since 1850, while the inside seam features a graph showing the loss of biodiversity since 1970.
Tim Jones, Director of Marketing, Communications & Sustainability DPDgroup UK commented,
“Working with Forest Green Rovers has been inspirational. The club continues to lead the way on sustainability, significantly reducing its carbon emissions, finding innovative solutions and new ways to highlight the key issues. The team shirts this season show how the message is literally sown into the fabric of the organisation. At DPD UK, we are six years into our own sustainability journey in terms of decarbonising our business and improving every aspect of our operation. While we have made good progress, we know there are tougher challenges ahead, so it is fantastic to be able to share experiences and successes with other like-minded organisations and hopefully together we can help raise awareness of what can be achieved.”
Forest Green Rovers chairman, Dale Vince, commented:
“DPD UK is a big company, visible in our daily lives - that takes net zero seriously. At FGR we bring sustainability into every aspect of what we do - it’s a driver in every choice we make, which is why we use DPD to deliver to our fans. We're really pleased to have DPD partner with us again this season - helping us deliver great sustainability.”
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About DPD UK
DPD is a member of Geopost, a European leader in parcel delivery and solutions for e-commerce. Part of the La Poste Groupe.
The company operates more than 10,000 vehicles in the UK from 85 locations and delivers over 400 million parcels a year.
DPD UK topped the Money Saving Expert parcel delivery customer satisfaction poll for the ninth time in 2024.
In November 2023 DPD opened London Docklands to deliver all-electric throughout London. Currently, 33% of DPD’s van fleet is all-electric while 95% of the HGV fleet runs on biofuel. The company is on track to be Net Zero by 2040.
Details of all of DPD’s sustainability initiatives can be found on its dedicated sustainability website: green.dpd.co.uk/
