Who actually needs one
There are two different ways this actually reaches an SME, worth knowing which one is yours.
Any supplier bidding on a UK central government contract worth more than five million pounds a year including VAT has to submit a Carbon Reduction Plan alongside the bid. No plan, no bid considered, regardless of how strong the rest of the submission is.
Most SME subcontractors never bid on a contract that size themselves. What happens instead is the main contractor holding that contract needing carbon data from its own supply chain, and increasingly, that arrives as a request for your own Carbon Reduction Plan, or something close to it, as a condition of staying on their approved supplier list.
Different route in, same underlying requirement, and the same plan either way.
It's a specific government template, not an open format, a general sustainability report doesn't satisfy it on its own, even a good one.
What's included
Scope 1 and 2 in full, plus the five mandatory Scope 3 categories the government template requires, calculated properly rather than estimated broadly.
A realistic roadmap tied to your baseline, not a generic net zero statement copied from elsewhere.
What you've already done and what's genuinely planned, documented the way the template expects.
Built directly to the government's required structure, ready for a director sign off and publication on your site.
The five mandatory Scope 3 categories
PPN 006 doesn't leave Scope 3 open to interpretation. Beyond full Scope 1 and 2 reporting, five specific categories are mandatory in every Carbon Reduction Plan, whatever your sector. A plan missing any of these isn't a lighter version, it's non-compliant.
Flights, trains and other travel booked for business purposes, distinct from the daily commute below.
How your staff actually get to work, across whatever mix of transport they use to do it.
Waste from your own operations, split by how it's actually disposed of, landfill, recycling, or otherwise.
The freight and logistics of materials and goods moving from your suppliers to you.
The freight and logistics of your products and services after they leave your business, whether delivered to customers or moved on to other sites.
How we work
A short discovery call to confirm what's needed, then you share your energy bills, fuel and fleet data, and any existing environmental initiatives. We calculate the baseline, working out which Scope 3 categories are genuinely material to your business rather than applying a blanket list, and draft the plan. Before it goes anywhere near a bid, we walk whoever's signing through exactly what they're committing to, since that sign-off is a hard PPN 006 requirement, not a formality, and confirm it's published and properly signposted once it's live. Worth knowing it needs updating annually too, happy to help with that when it comes round. Pricing is scoped to your organisation on that first call, based on size and how much of your data is already in hand.
Frequently asked
A main contractor is asking us for this, we're not bidding on anything ourselves, does it still apply?
Yes, and that's actually the more common route into this than bidding directly. Whatever your client calls it, it usually means the same underlying requirement, they need your data to satisfy their own Scope 3 reporting. We build the same plan either way.
Does this guarantee we win the bid?
No. It removes a disqualifying gap, it doesn't score the rest of your submission.
How long does it take?
Typically one to two weeks once we have your data, faster if there's a tender deadline and you tell us upfront.
We already have a general sustainability report, is that enough?
It's useful groundwork, but it's not the mandated template. We can usually build the actual plan from it faster than starting from nothing.
What data do you actually need from us?
Energy bills for gas and electricity, fuel and fleet mileage, and a list of any environmental initiatives already underway. We'll tell you exactly what's missing on the discovery call.