We first began properly looking at our impact on the planet in 2009 when it became clear to us that every business, big or small, had a responsibility to proactively become more sustainable if we wanted a future. We installed our first HP L65500 wide format latex printer; it ran water-based inks, which are kinder to the environment. That year we also introduced organised recycling of manufactured paper, cardboard and plastics. Four more HP L25500 wide format latex printers followed in 2011, replacing our last solvent roll to roll machines meaning all our roll-to-roll print was now produced using water-based Latex inks.

In 2015 we moved into our purpose-built 21,000 square foot Cumbrian HQ, which we designed specifically with sustainability in mind – from the LED lighting throughout, to the air filtration system to reduce our reliance on gas heating, to facilities to compact our waste and increase our recycling efficiency. 2016 saw our launch of the Ast Network Partner Scheme – our nationwide network of approved Applicators – meaning we could use Applicators local to jobs, thus reducing the need to travel, and that year we also began to make the transition from paper documents to a completely digital filing system. We completed this transition in 2018 when we became a fully paperless business. In 2020 we installed our HP Latex R2000 Hybrid printer, marking the final step in moving all our print technology to water-based Latex inks.