Case study
How Fourfront Group is embedding climate action into the future of office fit-out
Construction
Restore
Large Business
Carbon credits
Fourfront Group is an office fit-out specialist in the design and build sector of construction, creating workspaces for clients across the UK, Europe and London. A group of three specialist businesses - Area, 360 Workplace and Sketch Studios - it combines design, build and workplace expertise with a clear commitment to decarbonisation, backed by science-based targets and a determination to reach net zero faster. The group has been a certified B Corp since 2023.
At a glance
About Fourfront Group
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Windsor, Fourfront Group is made up of three independently operating businesses - Area (design, fit-out and construction), 360 Workplace (workplace consultancy) and Sketch Studios (furniture, logistics and relocations) - that share a single mission to create exceptional working environments. A certified B Corp since 2023 and part of the global United Workplace network, the group has designed and fitted out more than 10 million square feet of workplace across Europe.
Location
Windsor and London (operating across EMEA)
Company size
190 employees
Industry
Construction - design and build / office fit-out
Services used
Carbon avoidance and removal credits
Overall climate journey
✓ Set science-based targets
✓ Reduced emissions
✓ Funded carbon avoidance and removal credits
✓ Certified B Corp (since 2023)
The issue
Decarbonisation sits at the heart of Fourfront Group's strategy. As a business with science-based targets, the group has a clear pathway to net zero - but its ambition is to get there faster, which makes ongoing reductions a central part of the journey.
Because of the nature of design and build work, the largest part of Fourfront Group's footprint sits in Scope 3. The group has nonetheless made strong progress on its direct emissions, cutting Scope 1 and 2 by around 40% against a 2018 baseline. The biggest driver was the move to new, far more energy-efficient offices in Windsor and London - a significant investment - supported by a shift towards renewable energy.
But the team recognised that reductions alone, while essential, would not be enough on the timescale the climate crisis demands. Fourfront Group wanted to take meaningful, credible action now on the emissions it cannot yet eliminate, rather than waiting.
Crucially, this is not just an internal exercise - it is central to how Fourfront Group works with its clients. By funding verified climate action to account for the residual emissions of each project on a client's behalf, the group has made responsible delivery part of its core service and value proposition. It gives clients confidence that their workspace has been delivered as low-impact as possible, and demonstrates both business and climate leadership.
The challenges
Having decided to act, Fourfront Group looked at the carbon market and found it difficult to navigate - “a bit like the Wild West,” in the words of Head of Sustainability Duncan Morris. The group wanted confidence that its money would deliver real, verifiable impact and “the most bang for our buck,” without taking on the risk of selecting and vetting projects itself.
It needed a partner that understood carbon markets far better than the team did, could take that risk away, and could stand behind every claim with transparency and verification. That mattered all the more because Fourfront Group makes climate claims in highly competitive tenders, where credibility - and avoiding any hint of greenwashing - is essential.
The solution
Fourfront Group's response combines rigorous carbon measurement with high-integrity climate action - and puts its clients at the centre of it.
How the partnership works
As an end-to-end workplace specialist - spanning strategic consultancy, commercial interior design, fit-out, construction and furniture procurement - Fourfront Group shapes the carbon impact of every office it transforms for modern, hybrid working. Working with One Click LCA, the group rigorously calculates the total carbon impact and embodied emissions of each design and construction project, then gives clients the choice to fund high-integrity climate action through Ecologi to account for those emissions.
Reductions always come first. Fourfront Group strictly prioritises driving down absolute emissions before turning to verified climate projects for what remains.
"While we recognise that climate projects do not remove the need to reduce emissions at source, they play an important role in accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy, supporting critical environmental initiatives, and addressing emissions that cannot yet be eliminated. Our strategy remains centred on reducing embodied and operational carbon through design, procurement and delivery decisions, while supporting verified climate action for emissions that remain today.”
Through Ecologi, that takes two forms: the group balances its own Scope 1 and 2 emissions through an Oxford Principles-aligned portfolio; and it funds climate action to account for the residual emissions of each project - which represent the majority of its Scope 3 footprint - taking full responsibility for the unabated emissions that cannot yet be engineered out.
Why Ecologi
When it came to choosing a climate partner, Fourfront Group went to market, evaluated a number of providers and chose Ecologi. Three things stood out.
Transparency and verified impact - Duncan was drawn to the way Ecologi presented its information, with the transparency he would expect and verified backing for every claim, which the team felt was critical to being able to make credible statements about its impact.
A portfolio of high-integrity projects - the projects themselves sealed the decision: "really innovative things" from around the world, including a UK biochar project the team later visited in person. Fourfront Group funds both carbon avoidance and carbon removal through Ecologi, with a clear aspiration to grow the removal side of its portfolio over time. Its impact is tracked transparently on its Ecologi profile.
Bringing climate action to life - visiting the biochar site brought the work home and made an otherwise abstract subject tangible, moving it on from spreadsheets of carbon figures to something the team could see, feel and discuss with the people behind it. Fourfront Group deliberately brought a commercial colleague along, helping spark conversations about sustainability beyond the dedicated team. As Duncan puts it, sustainability "needs to come from within and be an organic process."
Crucially, the partnership has helped move carbon accountability from a sideline to the mainstream of how Fourfront Group operates. In a competitive market, being able to demonstrate credible, verified climate action - rather than unsubstantiated claims - has become a real differentiator when the group goes to tender.
The results
To date, Fourfront Group has funded the avoidance of 12,116 tonnes of CO2e and the removal of a further 144 tonnes through Ecologi - figures the team is proud of and intends to keep growing, with a particular focus on scaling up removals as part of its strategy.
Beyond the numbers, the partnership has changed conversations inside the business. Carbon impact now sits alongside cost and design quality when decisions are made, from the design team through to delivery, and a recent project site visit helped engage colleagues who do not work on sustainability day-to-day but are key decision-makers. For a business operating in competitive markets, the ability to make credible, verified climate claims has become a genuine commercial advantage.
Looking ahead, Fourfront Group wants to do more, faster - continuing to drive down its own emissions while scaling its investment in high-integrity avoidance and removals, and bringing more of its clients along on the journey.
“Partnering with Ecologi has been game-changing, in the sense that we can focus on those areas that we cannot deal with currently. It allows you to tackle those difficult areas and do something now. Time is of the essence, and I urge people to do more and do it now.”
Duncan Morris - Head of Sustainability at Fourfront Group
