ABOUT KINGDOM SERVICES GROUP

Kingdom Services Group was founded in 1993 by CEO Terry Barton, who built the business from modest beginnings into one of the UK’s most established multi-service facilities management groups. Operating across Security, Cleaning, Healthcare and People, the business delivers services through multiple distinct entities and regional offices across the country.

It is a group built on decades of growth, and that scale, while a strength in every operational sense, created a very particular set of challenges when Kingdom turned its attention to sustainability, because of how large the company is due to its many entities.

THE HONEST STARTING POINT

When Kingdom first began working towards carbon reporting, the focus was on building something that had not previously existed at group level: a unified sustainability framework spanning Kingdom Cleaning, Kingdom Healthcare, Kingdom People and Kingdom Security.

Bringing colleagues across the business on board required clear communication and a structured approach, helping everyone understand how their contribution connected to the group’s wider ambitions. With consistent effort and a shared sense of purpose, engagement grew and data began to flow more reliably across the organisation.

The structural side of the process called for equal attention. Data arrived from multiple systems, in different formats and at different times, and translating raw information into what the NCZ platform and SustainIQ required took careful, methodical work. It was this groundwork, however, that laid the foundation for the stronger, more dependable reporting that followed.

BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE

The shift came when Kingdom invested in the right combination of tools and processes. Partnering with SustainIQ alongside NCZ gave the group an ESG platform capable of centralising data and handling calculations automatically, reducing the manual burden that had made early reporting so time-consuming.

To drive meaningful colleague participation across the group, Kingdom introduced an annual commuting and home-working survey delivered through its colleague engagement app. Rather than relying on a standard request, each of the four main entities runs its own survey with a prize draw attached, a total of £100 in Amazon vouchers distributed across the group. It is a practical solution to a genuine problem: when people are site-based, remote and stretched, they need a reason to stop and engage. The voucher scheme provided one, and participation has grown steadily as a result.

WHEN BETTER DATA TELLS A HARDER STORY

One of the most significant moments in Kingdom’s sustainability journey came when improved reporting processes began to produce results. The emissions figure from the 2024 report was substantially higher than the figure from 2023. Not because the business had become less sustainable, but because the data was finally more complete.

Emissions categories that had not previously been captured, including well-to-tank and transmission and distribution factors that rarely appear in standard internal reporting, were now being quantified properly. The honest consequence was that Kingdom needed to reset its baseline year to 2024 and revisit its existing targets, which included a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2033 and a net zero commitment of 2050 or sooner.

It is a moment that takes confidence to sit with. A bigger number is not a comfortable headline, but it is an accurate one. And accuracy, as Kingdom has come to understand, is the only foundation from which genuine progress can be built.

TURNING CREDENTIALS INTO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Kingdom includes its NCZ certification in most tender submissions and where relevant to client requirements. The certification provides externally verified evidence of the group’s commitment to carbon reduction, and it consistently contributes to strong scores in the sustainability and social value sections of bids, areas that carry growing weight in procurement evaluation, particularly across public sector and ESG-focused clients.

Beyond individual contracts, the certification strengthens stakeholder confidence more broadly. Clients want reassurance that their supply chain is taking environmental responsibility seriously. Employees want to work for an organisation with purpose. Wider stakeholders want evidence of long-term thinking. NCZ certification gives Kingdom a credible, auditable answer to all three.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Having spent two years building the reporting infrastructure, Kingdom is now positioned to shift its focus from measurement to action. The next phase of the journey includes:

• Rolling out energy reduction initiatives across sites, including LED lighting, building management systems, motion-activated sensors, energy-saving fittings.
• Expanding the electric vehicle fleet and introducing car-sharing options to reduce transport-related emissions.
• Strengthening the ESG roadmap and increasing investment in the carbon reduction initiatives already identified through ESOS obligations.
• Continuing to build staff education and engagement around sustainability, building on the survey infrastructure already in place.

WHERE NCZ MADE THE DIFFERENCE

Across a journey that involved structural complexity, resistant data sources, rising emissions figures and a reporting process that required building almost from scratch, one consistent thread runs through Kingdom’s account: the experience of working with NCZ was hugely supportive and very straightforward.

The quality of communication, the responsiveness of the team at every level, and the active involvement of NCZ’s leadership in the engagement process are all cited as reasons the partnership works. When questions arose, they were answered. When the platform caused confusion, the team worked through it. When Kingdom needed a walk-through of its carbon footprint report, NCZ was there. For a business navigating the complexity of group-wide sustainability reporting for the first time, that kind of consistent, accessible support is not incidental. It is what makes the difference between a process that stalls and one that keeps moving.