Rising energy prices and tax increases are the biggest worries facing businesses in Bristol in 2010 after the state of the economy, according to research released today by the Carbon Trust.
The extent of business worries over energy prices was revealed as the Carbon Trust kicked off its Best Advice campaign (www.thebestadvice.co.uk) a drive to persuade British businesses to stop wasting £3bn of energy every year.
Graham Keating: Makes total business sense to save energy
The campaign was launched in Bristol by Graham Keating, Director of Yeo Valley. He urged businesses to take a free Carbon Survey from the Carbon Trust which he calls “the best free advice any business will get this year”.
The trust – an independent company set up in 2001 by the Government in response to the threat of climate change and accelerate the move to a low carbon economy – estimates that if all eligible businesses in Bristol signed up for the free Carbon Survey they could collectively save £13.8million in energy costs and 118,000 tonnes of CO2 a year
Opinions from 700 business decision makers in London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, East Anglia, Brighton & Hove and Liverpool were sourced from an internet poll.
About 60% of business decision makers in the area said they are worried about the unstable economy, while over a half (54%) said they worry about energy price hikes. A similar number (56%) admitted to being concerned about tax increases.
Far fewer are worried about a possible change in government (23%) or complying with environmental legislation (14%).
Nearly a half (47%) of the businesses surveyed said that one of their top three New Year’s resolutions is to reduce the amount of energy their business uses. Despite this nearly one in ten (9%) admitted that no one within their organisation is responsible for managing their energy consumption and controlling costs.
The Carbon Survey, available free of charge to all businesses that spend between £50,000 and £3 million on energy each year, provides the services of an energy expert on site and a tailored energy-saving action plan. It typically identifies potential savings on energy costs of between 20% and 30%.
South West-based organic food producer, Yeo Valley, has taken advantage of multiple free Carbon Surveys across its multiple sites since 2005. In its Bristol site for example, by implementing a range of recommendations, such as launching an energy efficiency staff awareness programme; replacing old, energy intensive compressors, and fitting Variable Speed Drivers to condenser units, Yeo Valley saved over £30,000 and 368 tonnes of CO2 a year.
Mr Keating said: “It just makes total business sense to save energy and why wouldn’t you take up the offer of a consultant who will give you expert advice for free, when you’d normally pay £500+ per day for their skills?
“At Yeo Valley we have always taken pride in our approach to minimising our impact on the environment — we’ve been buying renewable electricity for years, we heat our offices using home-grown, Miscanthus biofuel and even generate our own electricity at our Wills Barn training centre.
“Even so, the Carbon Trust experts identified significant additional cost and carbon savings at our operational sites and have provided a hugely valuable service to us. Our annual electricity and gas/oil bill is over £2.5m so any savings are financially important and ecologically vital.”
All businesses spending £50,000 or more on their energy consumption are being urged to visit www.thebestadvice.co.uk, or dial 01865 885788 for more information and to register for their free Carbon Survey.
Businesses spending less than £50,000 can access free, expert advice via a new Cut Carbon, Cut Costs online tutorial at www.carbontrust.co.uk/onlinetraining.