First Direct saves power

Bank First Direct expects to save £24,000 a year and reduce its carbon emissions by 147 tonnes using power-saving software.

The bank has installed NightWatchman software from 1E to automatically switch off the 2,600 computers in its Leeds and Hamilton offices.

'Although we are a 24-hour business, many computers are not used at night. We do encourage employees to switch off computers but understand that sometimes people forget so many were needlessly being left on,' said Chris Pilling, chief executive of First Direct.

Research from 1E shows workers who do not turn off their PCs contribute 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) to UK business emissions each year, the equivalent of running 200,000 family cars for a year.

More than one in six (18 per cent) of PCs are habitually left on overnight, wasting 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.

First Direct is also undergoing a programme to install more energy-efficient computer screens.