q.beyond AG
q.beyond takes pioneering approach to sustainability

q.beyond takes pioneering approach to sustainability

– CO₂ emissions halved in just two years
– Rail now primary means of transport for business travel
– Gender pay gap to be closed in two steps

Cologne, 23 June 2022 – In the past two years, q.beyond has halved its CO₂ emissions and thus made significant advances towards its target of becoming climate neutral from 2025 onwards. The IT service provider is now taking further measures to bolster this success. Avoiding most domestic flights and using rail as the primary means of transport will significantly reduce the CO₂ emissions caused by business travel. Furthermore, in the next three years the company will convert the whole of its car pool to electric vehicles. q.beyond already offsets the residual emissions from its car pool and business travel with high-quality CO₂ certificates for climate protection projects. Starting in 2025, q.beyond will fully offset those emissions that cannot otherwise be avoided or reduced any further from all major sources along the value chain through to supplies to customers (scopes 1 to 3 in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol).

Climate neutrality offers competitive edge in SME sector

q.beyond’s CEO, Jürgen Hermann, sees his company as playing a pioneering role here: “Achieving climate neutrality in 2025 already will place us at a genuine competitive advantage”. He is convinced that q.beyond’s core target group, namely small and medium-sized enterprises, will deliberately choose climate-neutral IT service providers ever more frequently in the years ahead in order to reduce their own CO₂ footprints. Today, q.beyond already powers its data centres exclusively with green electricity, thus promoting the resource efficiency of its customers’ IT use.

q.beyond’s digital service portfolio also helps SMEs to boost the sustainability of their business operations. It extends the lifecycle of machines, enhances building energy efficiency and facilitates resource-efficient work from home. Cybersecurity concepts also strengthen companies’ business resilience, while software-as-a-service solutions optimise the use of goods in retail and reduce waste. “Decarbonising business and society is a process that harbours great opportunities for q.beyond”, stresses Jürgen Hermann and adds: “Sustainability is increasingly turning into a growth driver for us.”

Equal pay for equal work

In view of this, the economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainability are also key components of the “beyond 2022” growth strategy unveiled at the beginning of April. q.beyond has from the outset taken an all-round approach to sustainability and is carefully examining potential improvements. In spring 2022, the salaries of the company’s total of around 1,100 employees were reviewed to identify any pay differentials between women and men for comparable activities. q.beyond will largely close those gaps identified in individual cases in autumn 2022. In a second step, it will then compensate any potential differentials still in place. Regular investigations should ensure that no further gender pay gaps arise in future. “q.beyond staff receive equal pay for equal work”, declares CEO Jürgen Hermann.

All interested parties can find the latest Sustainability Report of q.beyond AG here: www.qbeyond.de/en/sustainability/.

About q.beyond AG
q.beyond AG is the key to successful digitalisation. We help our customers find the best digital solutions for their business and then put them into practice. Our strong team of 1,100 people accompanies SME customers securely and reliably throughout their digital journey. We are experts in Cloud, SAP and SaaS. With nationwide locations and its own certified data centres, q.beyond is one of Germany’s leading IT service providers.

Contact
q.beyond AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations/Mergers & Acquisitions
T +49 221 669-8724
invest@qbeyond.de
www.qbeyond.de