Honest Mobile CEO Q&A: Sustainability-led Telecommunications

Telecommunications companies operate vast networks of data centres, network towers and other infrastructure, all of which require significant amounts of energy.

Whilst many mobile companies are working towards net zero goals, swapping to renewable energy and focusing on improving energy efficiency through advanced cooling systems, using renewable energy sources and optimising network operations, telcos are not renowned for their sustainability.

Driven by the belief that there’s a better way to do mobile for both people and the planet, Andy Aitken and Josh Mihill founded Honest Mobile.

Before becoming CEO and Co-Founder of Honest, Andy was a qualified accountant and spent 11 years at Deloitte, where he co-founded Propel by Deloitte and grew it into a multi-million dollar scheme.

Today, he’s on a mission to change the stereotype that everyone hates their mobile network. 

He shares his journey with Sustainability Magazine.

Why did you found Honest Mobile?

The bar is so low in the telecoms industry and my vision as CEO is to raise it from the top. This is a real passion point of mine. I built the original tech ecosystem of Honest from scratch, so helping the team expand the product roadmap and launch new products that constantly raise the bar is something I actively support and am involved in. 

My role as CEO naturally encompasses overseeing the commercial success of the business and managing shareholder relations, but my day-to-day varies. I often answer enquiries with our customer support team to ensure I’m always in tune with what our customers want from us.

What is Honest Mobile? 

Honest is the network doing mobile right, offering planet-friendly SIM-only plans for both customers and businesses. The idea came to life over a pint in the pub one night in 2019 with Josh, my co-founder and old school friend. Like many, Josh and I were frustrated with the big networks taking advantage of customers with price hikes, terrible customer service and poor sustainability efforts. We knew there had to be a better way.

With Honest, customers enjoy bills that drop every month, support in seconds — 37, to be precise — and a smart app that helps keep them informed.

Since launching in 2019, we’ve grown the team from 2 to more than 20 employees while on a mission to build the best mobile network on the planet. I’m incredibly proud that as a purpose-led brand, we’ve reported YOY growth of more than 100% every year — proving it’s possible to balance ethics with commercial success.

The milestones we’re most proud of since launching the business include becoming the UK’s first and highest-scoring B Corp mobile network, the UK’s only carbon-negative mobile network and being among the top-rated UK mobile networks on Trustpilot with an average score of 4.7 out of 5.

How do you support your team?

Josh and I firmly believe that supporting our team starts with involving them in decision-making and shaping the company, as well as establishing clear, proactive policies. By doing so, we ensure that every team member feels valued, informed and aligned with our mission.

Our rebrand at the start of the year was a great example of this. Everyone in the company got involved, helping us define what makes Honest different and the values fundamental to who we are and why each member is a vital part of this.

Proactive policy creation is also a key component of our team support system. I believe it’s important to have policies in place before they are needed. There’s no point in writing a parental leave policy when someone is already expecting a baby or a sickness policy when someone is already sick. 

Having these policies written early means people can plan and make informed decisions. Of course, we can still revisit and improve them as we grow.

Tell us about your sustainability initiatives. 

Honest Mobile is the UK’s only carbon-negative mobile network. That means we remove double the CO₂ emissions created by our members’ phones. We’ve also removed as much carbon as we can from our own supply chain whether that’s using servers powered by renewables or always buying second-hand equipment.

We calculate all the emissions created in the manufacture, use and daily charging of your phone, then look to reduce and remove that carbon from the air. So for every email sent, phone call made and selfie taken, we capture double the CO₂. We also do this for everything at Honest HQ, making us carbon-negative across our whole business.

Alongside this, we work with TreeApp to plant trees all over the world. Trees are a great way to capture carbon because they’re not as expensive as some other methods. They also provide many social benefits like employment, encouraging biodiversity and preventing soil erosion. However, it’s a slow process and as a tech company, we want to lead the way in how businesses remove carbon from the air.

That’s why we also work with Klimate to build a blended portfolio of carbon capture mechanisms to capture all our Honest HQ and members’ emissions. This portfolio is constantly evolving, but right now it’s 95% through trees and the other 5% through Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Biochar.

Our sustainable commitment goes beyond carbon negativity. We're members of 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of revenue to climate action initiatives. 

Do you have any partnerships you can tell us about?

As Honest grows, so does our community. We partner with companies that use business as a force for good and our customers can enjoy perks with other sustainable brands we’re aligned with, such as LUSH, Doisy & Dam, Zen Internet, and Karma Drinks. We’re proud to support businesses committed to doing right by people and the planet.

What do the next 12 months hold for you and the company?

We’re proud of everything Honest has achieved so far, but this is just the beginning. The bigger we grow, the bigger our impact on people and the planet.

On the sustainability front, we’re determined to remove 500 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere by the end of 2024 and continue our journey toward Net Zero certification.

From a product perspective, we’re excited about launching new offerings in the next few months that address major pain points like expensive roaming and poor coverage. Watch this space.

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