Ansons Consulting

This week, torrential floods are sweeping across Spain; devastating events that are sadly becoming far too familiar across Europe. It’s hard to witness these scenes and not experience cognitive dissonance. We know climate change is real, intensifying weather extremes. But do our political, economic and personal choices reflect that urgency? In relation to transport, the answer to this question is a resounding “no”! Transport is responsible for nearly a quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions, directly fuelling the conditions behind more frequent floods, wildfires, and droughts. Yet while we mourn these disasters, society still relies on carbon-intensive modes of transport - like petrol and diesel cars and short-haul flights - to get from A to B, with no real sign of this dependency changing anytime soon. And while we wait for a silver bullet – some 🪄 magic solution 🪄 that will erase transport emissions without requiring any sacrifice – the climate crisis worsens. Pinning our hopes on futuristic tech 🚀 or major policy shifts alone means waiting when we simply don’t have time. Instead, we argue change must come from an integrated approach: ➡️ Politically: Supporting leaders (and all influencers and decision-makers) who advocate for sustainable transport and policies that encourage a rapid shift to cleaner options. ➡️ Economically: Investing in industries and innovations that push us toward a lower-carbon, circular economy, from public transport to green infrastructure. ➡️ Socially: Embracing shifts in our daily routines, from choosing greener travel modes to rethinking work and leisure travel. So, what can we do today? How can we align our actions with our knowledge? It’s time to move past the waiting game, rethink our transport choices, and bridge the gap between awareness and action. 🌍  Every choice we make matters! #ClimateCrisis #SustainableTransport #SystemsChange John Pinkard James Burns https://lnkd.in/eMjCuNB7

Following this year’s UK General Election, we reached out to our network, asking: "What should the transport priority be for the new government?" The response was resounding, with over half of respondents calling for greater investment in #activetravel 🚴♂️ 🚶♀️ Following the Chancellor’s recent Autumn Budget 2024 announcement, here’s our take on some of what’s in store for active and sustainable travel: 🔹 Fuel Duty Freeze: While this may provide relief to drivers, it falls short of encouraging a shift to low-carbon options like walking, cycling, and public transport. Adding to the challenge, a 50% increase in the single bus fare cap in England and above-inflation rail fare hikes are on the horizon. 🔹 Air Passenger Duty Increase: A small step forward to help disincentivise aviation, though much more remains to be done in this area. 🔹 Active Travel Infrastructure: A commitment of £100m for England’s active travel projects is a modest improvement over last year, yet still insufficient to make widespread impacts. 🔹 Rail and EV Infrastructure: Investments in rail and electric vehicle charging are promising, but meaningful results will take time. As the devolved nations consider this year's funding settlements, we’re keen to see their future decisions prioritise active and sustainable travel. We are, after all, in the midst of a #ClimateCrisis, which demands bold, decisive action. #ImaginingANewFuture John Pinkard James Burns

🧐 A few years ago, we had the privilege of working with Paths for All and Living Streets to refresh their #Walkipedia resource—and it’s only grown since then! 🌱 Originally launched in 2009 as a paper-based resource, Walkipedia was created to offer a comprehensive hub of walking-related information for Scotland, helping shape policy, programmes, and advocacy efforts. In 2017, we stepped in to give it a content update and digital upgrade💡 Our goal was simple: make it easier for everyone—whether you’re a policymaker, campaigner, or walking enthusiast—to access key facts, figures, and research that supports walking as a sustainable travel option. 🚶♀️ A collaboration with Transform Creative (Transform Scotland) made the resource more accessible and interactive, introducing user-friendly features and vibrant infographics to bring the data to life. This update helps ensure the online version of Walkipedia is a living resource, continually evolving to meet the needs of its users. Today, Walkipedia continues to inspire and support efforts to get more people walking, wheeling and cycling. It’s a one-stop resource for shaping and informing Scotland’s active travel policies and campaigns. 👉 Explore the Walkipedia and see how it can help you promote walking and build healthier, more active communities: https://lnkd.in/dNs6yNY6 🔗

🏛 It has been a little more than 100 days since a new chapter began at the #UKParliament, with a significant change in government. What has that change meant for sustainable transport?   Just after the elections, we’d asked our network what they thought the priority was for the new government: over half of respondents wanted to see an increased investment in #activetravel 🥇🚴♂️ Whilst it’s still too soon to assess the new government’s impact, we’d like to take a look at what has happened since then 🕵♂️ The priorities announced by the transport secretary involve reforming the railway, improving bus services, infrastructure work, greener transport and better integration between transport networks. In practice, the big highlights have been that the #UKGov has: 📄 Commissioned an internal review of DfT’s capital spend portfolio 🚆 Introduced the #PassengerRailwayServicesBill to bring train operators into public ownership 💷 Partly funded #TransiTHub (£20m from the UKRI - Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC)), a collaborative research hub of universities across the UK aiming to find the best solutions to decarbonise UK transport   The Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh MP, has also: 🚍 Promised a ‘bus revolution’ with more local control 🚴♂️ Announced “unprecedented levels of funding” for active travel   It’s exciting to see what the proposed initiatives for buses and trains can deliver, and to hear that active travel funding has not been forgotten. However, we are keen to know what this will translate to in terms of policy and what exactly will be announced in the new autumn budget, especially in terms of active travel – something we know our network is passionate about. We’ll be watching closely for any emphasis on cycling, walking and wheeling in the months to come.   👉 Stay tuned for updates as we continue to follow these developments and work towards more active travel initiatives. #sustainabletransportUK  

We’re thrilled to see the progress being made! The Trossachs Explorer pilot 🚍 is such an exciting step towards more sustainable travel in high-volume rural areas, and it’s great to see the positive results and support from all involved. The Ansons' team is proud to have been part of the journey with Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority in shaping the future of transport to and within the National Park. We're looking forward to what comes next!

Yesterday two members of our team, John Pinkard and Lucie Rofé, attended a seminar organised by CoMo UK about shared transport in Scotland 🚗 🚐 🚲   We really enjoyed the insightful presentations and the opportunity to meet and catch up with some great folk in the transport sector 🗣 🤝   It was also our first time at the Skybar in Edinburgh, what a beautiful view! 🏰   Thanks to the CoMoUK team for putting on a great event 🤗 #sharedmobility #transportUK #networking #sustainabletravel

🌍 #WorldMentalHealthDay is a reminder of the importance of taking care of our minds and bodies. Enabling everyone to incorporate active travel—like cycling, walking, or wheeling—into their daily routines can help improve mental well-being 🚶♂️🚴♀️   At Ansons, we work with local and regional authorities, businesses, real estate professionals and workplaces to help create transport strategies that not only reduce car use but also foster healthier, more connected communities. 🏙️💚   It’s time to put the right measures in place to encourage active travel and make it easier for people to embrace the mental health benefits of physical activity. Let’s build a future where everyone can move better, feel better, and thrive! 🌟   #ActiveTravel #MentalHealth #SustainableTravel #WorkplaceWellbeing

🚀 Over the past few months, the Ansons team has been diving deeper into marketing & coms – and here’s what we’ve learnt 👇 📝 Establishing a strategy: defining our vision, our objectives, and the actions we need to take to achieve these has been crucial. We are pros at doing SWOT analysis for our clients, and this time, we applied these skills to ourselves! 💡 🗝Consistency is key, and can be achieved through good planning: as a small consultancy with a packed project schedule, posting regularly can easily be forgotten  👀 We know how important it is to be consistent on LinkedIn, so we’re working on building a regular presence. For us this has been made easier by planning everything in advance through a dedicated social media calendar  🗓 Having a clear plan ahead of time reduces the stress of last-minute content creation. 🎯 🆔  Defining our brand identity: we know what we stand for and what our purpose is (more on that later, watch this space), but we’ve found it hard to articulate for social media. We’ve been trying to identify how we want to show up online, and we’re making great progress 🙌 ⌨ Website revamp: because we like a challenge, we’ve also been reworking our website over the summer. In the coming weeks, we will be launching the newest version of our website!   A few things that have made it all easier? 💛 💻 Learning through the Business Gateway webinars (available to all if you are based in Scotland) - they have been super helpful to make sure we we’re standing on solid foundations. We found Jay Taylor's and Gary Ennis's webinars very insightful ! 🤝 Collaborating with experts, like Nicola Angus, Principal Digital Marketing consultant at Targeting Innovation Ltd who helped us with all things website & SEO, Eileen Cooper FIDM, Limetree Consultancy, who helped us with our website content and comms strategy, and the lovely people John Pinkard met through the RBS accelerator course (special shoutout to Melinda O'Reilly, Entrepreneur Acceleration Manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland Business) 🤓 Brainstorming with the team – the room in which we spent quite a lot of our time is pictured below!   And now? We’ve got our strategy in place, and we’ve got a much clearer view of how to get there. If you want to hear more about how we deliver it, or if you have any nuggets of wisdom to share, let us know in the comments 💬 👋 Here’s James Burns and John Pinkard in action during one of our monthly meetings, preparing the posts for the coming months 🤫

📽 A very insightful short film, highlighting the importance of mixed-used development and placemaking (full vid on youtube : https://lnkd.in/eGMDXbYC) What these developments have done differently, amongst other things: 🗣 Set out with a well-thought out, collaborative, vision-led plan 🏡 🏛 Included housing and shops in close proximity 🚶♀️ 🚲 Designed the environment to be walkable and low-car 🌳 Included a lot of green space This follows many of the very sound principles of the The Congress for the New Urbanism ✅ And it works extremely well: the residents are happy, the community is thriving, and the developments are economically profitable. Thanks for highlighting this initiative Richard Dilks 😎 #newurbanism #urbanism #sustainable #housing

🚍 Catch the Bus Month might be over, but your chances to hop on a sustainable ride certainly aren’t! The @InnerForthFutures Partnership’s Bike Bus pilot is still running every Sunday until the end of October 🍃 🍂 This seasonal circular bus route around the Inner Forth is perfect for cyclists and walkers alike, making it easier to explore this beautiful area without relying on a car. Planning a cycling adventure? Start in Linlithgow, follow the scenic canals to the Falkirk Wheel for a relaxing lunch, then ride out to the Kelpies before catching the 16:45 Bike Bus back to Linlithgow 🚴♂️🔃 👊 At Ansons, we’re proud to have played a role in making this possible. Our feasibility study for the Green Heritage Transport Service (GHTS) helped pave the way for this sustainable travel option, contributing to the broader goal of supporting local action towards net zero. Opportunities like the Bike Bus are not just about convenience—they’re about making tourism more sustainable and enriching the visitor experience while protecting our environment 🌿   To plan your journey, visit https://lnkd.in/ejW3XMyQ.