Carbon Net Zero Policy & Reduction Plan
Zest Assure, a trading name of Juicy Media Ltd, is a compliance platform (SaaS) that helps organisations manage ISO 9001, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certification through compliance workspaces, evidence management, reviews, assessor collaboration, staff training and audit-ready exports. Juicy Media Ltd is registered in England & Wales under company number 05514688, with its registered office at DiSH, Heron House, 47 Lloyd Street, Manchester, M2 5LN, and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration Z1589829).
This document combines our Carbon Net Zero Policy with our Carbon Reduction Plan and is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Procurement Policy Note 06/21 and the associated technical standard for Carbon Reduction Plans. It applies to every part of our operations, including the development and hosting of the Zest Assure platform, office activity, procurement and employee travel.
Commitment to achieving Net Zero
Juicy Media Ltd is committed to reaching Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. This commitment covers Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in full, together with the material categories of Scope 3 emissions that arise from running a software-as-a-service business, such as purchased cloud infrastructure, business travel, commuting and the goods and services we buy.
As a company that builds software for governance, risk and compliance, we treat our environmental obligations with the same rigour we ask of our customers. Our approach to reducing emissions is managed through the same quality and security management disciplines that underpin our ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications, and it sits alongside our Environmental Policy and Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.
Baseline emissions footprint
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases produced before reduction measures take effect. They provide the reference point against which all future progress is assessed. Our baseline year is 2024–25, and the figures below are estimated in line with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
| Emissions | Baseline year 2024–25 (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 1.2 |
| Scope 2 | 4.5 |
| Scope 3 | 9.7 |
| Total | 15.4 (estimated) |
Our Scope 1 emissions are minimal because we operate no fleet and no combustion plant of our own. Scope 2 reflects purchased electricity for office space, and Scope 3 — our largest category — covers cloud hosting, purchased services, employee commuting and business travel.
Emissions reduction targets
To stay on course for Net Zero by 2035, we have set interim reduction targets against the 2024–25 baseline. We project that carrying out the initiatives described below will reduce our total footprint to 9.7 tCO2e by 2030 — a reduction of 37%. Progress against these targets is reviewed annually, and the targets themselves will be tightened where the evidence shows we can move faster.
Reduction initiatives
The following measures are either already in place or committed to, and together they form the delivery mechanism for the targets above.
- Car sharing and low-emission travel. We favour rail over road and video calls over travel wherever a journey can reasonably be avoided. Where travel is necessary — for example to attend customer sites or assessor meetings — staff are encouraged to car-share and to choose electric or low-emission vehicles and public transport.
- Net-zero office infrastructure. Our Manchester base is run with energy efficiency as a first principle: renewable electricity, efficient lighting and equipment, and a recycling-first approach to waste.
- Carbon-conscious cloud hosting. The Zest Assure platform runs on renewable-powered cloud infrastructure. We select hosting providers on the strength of their published sustainability commitments as well as their security posture, and we review those commitments as part of supplier due diligence.
- Remote-first working. Our team works remotely by default, which removes the great majority of commuting emissions and lets us keep our physical office footprint deliberately small.
Sustainable software practices
Because our product is software, the way we build it is itself a reduction lever. We write efficient code so that each request consumes less compute; we serve the platform from edge infrastructure so that data travels shorter distances to reach users; we cache aggressively and avoid shipping unnecessary payloads; and we retire unused workloads rather than leaving them running. These practices lower the energy cost of every compliance workspace, evidence upload and audit export our customers perform.
Supply chain
Scope 3 emissions dominate our footprint, so supplier choices matter. We prioritise suppliers — cloud providers, software vendors and service partners — that publish credible carbon reduction commitments of their own, and we take environmental performance into account alongside quality and information security when onboarding and reviewing suppliers. Where a supplier cannot evidence progress on emissions, we will seek alternatives at the next practical opportunity.
Offsetting and mitigation
Reduction comes first: offsetting is a mechanism for addressing residual emissions we cannot yet eliminate, not a substitute for cutting them. For those residual emissions we invest in verified offset schemes, including tree planting, rewilding and clean-energy projects, and we will retire offsets only through recognised certification standards.
Monitoring, reporting and governance
We carry out an annual review of our carbon footprint, measured against the 2024–25 baseline and reported using the categories set out in PPN 06/21. This plan is reviewed and republished at least once a year, and whenever a material change in our operations makes the current figures unrepresentative. Responsibility for delivery sits at director level, with day-to-day oversight integrated into our management system reviews. Questions about this policy can be sent to [email protected] or raised by phone on 0161 464 9252; further information about Zest Assure is available at www.zestassure.com.
This policy is governed by the laws of England & Wales.
Declaration and sign-off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and the associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans. Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard, using the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.
This plan has been reviewed and approved by the board of directors of Juicy Media Ltd.
Signed: A. Smethurst, Commercial Director, Juicy Media Ltd
Date of update: 6 July 2026