‘Virtual businesses cut carbon emissions by 95%’ – PeoplePerHour.com
Press Release: London, 22 September 2009 – Growing numbers of businesses are choosing to employ and manage a staff of remote freelancers over the internet, realising huge carbon emissions savings.
With unemployment continuing to rise, many small businesses have made cutbacks and now employ remote freelancers online to fulfil functions that were previously handled by in-house staff. A significant number of small businesses have started operating entirely ‘virtually’ – i.e. with freelance and permanent members of staff all working collaboratively online from their own homes.
PeoplePerHour.com is a website on which businesses can post projects for individual freelancers to bid to work on. Some businesses are operating entirely through PeoplePerHour.com – outsourcing everything from bookkeeping to sales, marketing to graphic design. The website has grown rapidly on the back of this trend and now has more than 40,000 registered members in the UK.
Apart from realising huge cost savings, the environmental benefits of outsourcing to individuals online is proving an unexpected bonus for small businesses that have taken the virtual route. PeoplePerHour.com estimates that businesses that become entirely virtual can cut their carbon emissions by as much as 95%. The majority of small businesses’ carbon footprint is generated from the energy required to run an office and staff members’ daily commutes to and from work.
For example, sales consultancy Ask-Kent took the decision to become a virtual business in 2006. Previously a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ business with ten fulltime employees working from a Maidstone office, the company now operates virtually – employing up to five remote freelancers through PeoplePerHour.com and operating entirely online. The company’s founder Richard Romaine monitors his staff and their work online.
“We have cut overheads by £80k per year by going virtual,” reports Mr Romaine. “As a business, this is the primary benefit of the move but as a valuable offshoot we have saved in the region of 100 rush hour journeys per week which has resulted in a massive reduction in the company’s carbon footprint.”
In the recession, cost cutting has been a key factor in many businesses’ decision to adopt the virtual model. However, PeoplePerHour.com founder Xenios Thrasyvoulou believes that if a significant proportion of the
“Businesses that use PeoplePerHour to appoint remote freelancers have already saved thousands of tonnes in carbon emissions,” he says. “However, this is really just the tip of the iceberg. SMEs employ more than half the working population. If the majority of these were to make some element of their business virtual, they could play a very prominent role in delivering a greener, more sustainable future.”
For further information, photos, interviews and case studies, please contact:
Sami McCabe
t: +44 (0) 20 3393 8277
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e: sami@ubiquitycomms.com
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PeoplePerHour.com Background Information
PeoplePerHour.com was founded in 2007 by two
The company is funded by its founders and a group of prominent angel investors who are active in the internet space.
Typical PeoplePerHour.com buyers run a small businesses (usually less than 20 people) including boutique financial firms, internet companies, property and
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