AN 'ENVIRONMENTALLY conscious' real estate business has denied expenses claims to employees which contain meat meals.

Igloo Regeneration decided last year to remove meat from the menu from all corporate entertaining and internal catering – and now staff expenses must be vegetarian if they wish to be reimbursed.

This has proven a bit more difficult to the 30-strong company, whose staff regularly work out of the office and thus claim back meal expenses.

Development surveyor Kate Marfleet first led the changes to meat catering in the firm, persuading staff to go vegetarian in what she claimed was to reduce their environmental impact.

She said: "We realised we needed the whole company to come on board, it couldn't just be imposed. We had some justifications as to why it was a good idea, mostly environmental. There were some reservations from staff, but most of those were based on them being unsure of the environmental impact," she admitted.

The 28-year-old has recognised that there are times where employees may be restricted by the new food policy but added that the company would make no concessions: “If you are somewhere where there is no vegetarian option, then obviously you shouldn't starve. Even if you decided you really wanted a bacon sandwich, then that's fine, but the company won't pay for it."

The UK's TUC trade union body has critiqued Igloo Restoration’s strict expenses stance stating that ‘employees should not be left out of pocket if they choose to eat meat’.

The property firm’s director John Long admitted that it took some time for employees to get on board: "The important thing is that we want to treat everyone as a grown-up. A lot of people thought it was challenging when we first talked about it. We knew it could be controversial internally."

With a tag line as the country’s ‘leading responsible real estate business’ to maintain, Mr Long stated that their internal policies should reflect that. The firm also encourages employees to use trains wherever possible and doesn't provide company cars.

"We spend a lot of time thinking about the impact of our property development on the planet," he continued. "We invest a lot of time thinking about sustainability and we've been thinking about carbon for 20 years. About six months ago, we thought we ought to look at ourselves rather than just our projects."

The company has however ruled out the possibility of going vegan as employees raised the issue that it would be ‘too restrictive’.

Despite Ms Marfleet leading the change to a meat-free workplace, she admitted that she does not abide by such strict dietary habits outside of the workplace. “I almost am vegetarian. I eat meat probably once every 10 days.”

She explained that the new food policy has had a big impact across the firm and not only in the younger employees, reporting that older colleagues are now reducing their meat consumption at home.

"I think it's the right thing, it's about encouraging people to make small, positive changes. Eating less meat is one of them," she concluded.