CLA UK secures £1m+ deal with instant and accredited carbon emissions reporting

Founded in 2005, CLA UK is a leading provider of freight forwarding and driver-accompanied road freight services in the EU. With over 1,000 monthly full-load movements between the UK and central Europe, as well as customs, warehousing and sea and air services, CLA UK provides shippers with a full end-to-end logistics package. 

In this case study, we explore how CLA UK retained one of their largest customers by partnering with Pledge to provide carbon emissions reporting on their shipments at short notice.

The challenge

Key customer asking for carbon emissions reporting at short notice.

The team at CLA UK had a large and long-standing customer — a leading automotive manufacturer — asking them to provide scope 3 carbon emissions reports on all its shipments. With the knowledge that failing to meet this requirement posed the risk of losing this crucial client, and a deal worth over £1M, it was a race against time to provide them with what they wanted. The team initially investigated doing the carbon emissions reporting themselves, but soon realised it was highly complex and a drain on time, resources and costs.

They needed to find a solution that was quick and easy to set up, provided third-party verified carbon emissions calculations and had reporting capabilities that met their customer’s needs.

Ben Peake, Business Development Manager & Sustainability Lead, CLA UK said, “We knew we needed to find a solution that met this customer's needs or risk losing them to our competitors.”

The solution

Pledge self-serve design, easy file upload and reporting capabilities make carbon emissions reporting quick and easy

CLA UK turned to Pledge, whose streamlined approach to calculating and reporting emissions offered a simple solution to their problem. Pledge enabled CLA UK to meet this customer’s needs instantly by using the following features:

• Self-serve setup: CLA UK simply signed up to Pledge to get access to the platform for a 14-day, no-obligation trial. There was no need for them to waste time with sales calls. This meant they could provide a solution to their customer even faster.

• Simple file upload: CLA UK could simply drag and drop a pre-populated CSV or Excel files directly into the Pledge platform for instant calculations, meaning no engineering resources were needed to integrate emissions reporting.

• Instant reports: The option to customise and export reports in just a few clicks meant CLA UK could provide the customer with bespoke reports at regular intervals or on an ad hoc basis.

"Pledge helped us avoid the burden of developing our own carbon emissions reporting system. It's a user-friendly platform that takes the complexity out of the process, allowing us to meet this customer’s needs quickly and efficiently so we can focus on what we do best - providing exceptional freight forwarding services."

Ben Peake, Business Development Manager & Sustainability Lead, CLA UK

The outcome

CLA retains vital customer and expands service offering

With Pledge, CLA UK was able to meet its customer’s carbon emissions reporting requirements and secure their business, ultimately preventing a loss in revenue and helping boost its reputation as a forwarder that delivers for its customers. The customer is delighted with the additional service, enabling CLA UK to secure more business with them since.

Using Pledge also had other long-term benefits for CLA UK — it can now offer any of its customers carbon emissions reporting on their shipments, repeating the success they’ve had with this first customer. The team has seen a surge in demand for carbon reporting, opening the possibility that they’ll integrate carbon emissions reporting into their customer portal using Pledge’s API when necessary.

"Pledge was instrumental in helping us meet the tender requirements of one of our largest customers, ensuring we retained their business. We're already seeing strong interest from other customers for emissions reporting, so we expect it to become a core part of our service offering very soon. The platform itself was incredibly user-friendly, taking the hassle out of carbon emissions reporting and allowing us to efficiently meet customer needs."

Ben Peake, Business Development Manager & Sustainability Lead, CLA UK

Summary

CLA retains vital customer and expands service offering

CLA UK's success story with Pledge underscores the platform's ease of use and effectiveness in helping shippers meet their carbon emissions reporting needs. By embracing Pledge, CLA UK demonstrated its unwavering commitment to going over and beyond for its customers and set the stage for future growth.