Walking along the edge of harbour on a very bright, crisp cold Sunday with our 2 children aged 8 and 10 we noticed one of the houses had very prominent solar panels. So the discussion got onto saving the planet, the recent Summit in Copenhagen and how businesses consume natural resources; electricity, cars to get people to work and airtravel.

Pretty serious stuff for a Sunday morning. And then the discussion got onto Nimbus.  "So Daddy, if we are all meant to be saving the planet, what does your company do to help?" My initial reaction was "Well. not much..."

But, it got me thinking. We now use web-ex  more and fly less than we ever did. I gladly gave back my BA Silver Card in exchange for a Blue card (Note to BA - couldn't that be spun into a clever PR angle by renaming it a Green Card. They certainly could do with the positive spin). The knock on effect of reduced expenses is a welcome by-product, plus less wear and tear on our staff.

Our HQ is in a large stately home in the middleof 2,000 acres of woods.  Last year they installed a huge wood chipping and burning facility to heat the buildings. And wood is not something they are short of.

Many of our staff work from home reducing the cars on the road and again making them more effective. My commute the office is over an hour, but that is because I choose to mountain bike through the hills to work - the long way which includes a couple of climbs with stunning views over Chichester Harbour.  The direct route takes  just 15 mins.  But when I get to work I need to fight for the showers as a large number of staff have taken advantage of subsidised bicycles on the Government Ride2Work scheme.

But a larger point is that Nimbus Control is being used by major corporations to help them reduce waste and improve their efficiencies. That probably has a greatest effect.

So, satisifed with that, the kids turned their thoughts to lunch at the sailing club, and whether ice cream was on offer. Now we were back on a siubject where I could be clear on the answer - "Maybe. We'll see"