Chestertons is saving money and the planet after becoming the first large estate agency to convert its entire fleet of company cars to electric.

With more than 70 electric BMW i3s (pictured) on the road across London, Chestertons calculates that it will have reduced its tailpipe CO2 emissions by 2,925kgs (183 tonnes) per year and is urging others in the industry to follow its lead.

CEO Guy Gittins (pictured) says when it took the decision to work towards becoming the greenest estate agent in the UK in 2019, it realised it had to completely overhaul its car fleet.

Along with many other green initiatives across the business, such as using all renewable energy for each office, Chestertons achieved its goal of becoming the first agent to be certified as carbon neutral.

“We are not only doing our part to improve London’s air quality, but we have also seen some cost savings as a result of our decision, which have been put towards supporting government-backed carbon offset programs so we could achieve our carbon neutral status,” says Gittins.

“It is a project that our staff have all been incredibly excited about and proud to be a part of and it has certainly helped raise awareness of environmental issues across the business and within the communities we serve.”

Michelle Keller, Chestertons fleet manager, adds that feedback from estate agency staff and clients has been overwhelmingly positive.

She explains: “At first, we had concerns about the availability of charging points, especially for our busiest offices like Islington and South Kensington, but this has never caused any issues and in fact turned out to be a big advantage during the petrol shortage a few weeks ago!”.

Chestertons Libyan owner is reportedly offering the company for sale at £100m.