Going green is not just good PR but also helps companies to cut costs. DERIN CLARK speaks to business owners who are saving money while reducing their emissions.
From outdoor event firms to leading shopping centres – the last 12 months have seen a rise in companies becoming more sustainable and saving money at the same time.
This has been boosted by grants and support provided by business groups to help the region reach net zero targets.
For a Suffolk outdoor events company, Events Under Canvas, an £18,622 Road to Net Zero grant from the New Anglian Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) helped the business to save thousands of pounds on their energy bills.
Jenna Ackerley, managing director of the East Bergholt firm, said: “We bought our own building in 2017 and our energy bills have been high due to being fully electric.
Events Under Canvas, which provides tents for outdoor events, hopes to introduce more green initiatives (Image: Events Under Canvas)
“With the price rises, we were expecting to be paying around £10,000 a year so we got quotes for how much it would cost to install solar panels on our roof.
“It came back at £25,000, which we couldn’t afford, but we were put in touch with the New Anglia LEP who helped us get a grant to cover 75pc of the cost.
“We had them installed in April and are expecting to save about 80pc of our energy bills per year.
“This will be about £8,000 – which covers the £7,000 we spent out of our own money having the panels installed.”
Seeing the financial and environmental benefits of having solar panels, Ms Ackerley is keen to implement more sustainable initiatives.
“We have a fleet of 17 vehicles, which are all diesel vans and trucks, that I’m hoping to change to fully electric by 2025,” she added.
Events Under Canvas has installed solar panels on its head office roof (Image: Events Under Canvas)
Although the Road to Net Zero is no longer available, the New Anglia LEP is providing grants from £25,000 to £100,000 through its Business Transition to Net Zero scheme, information about which can be found on its website.
The funding for these projects is mainly coming from the government, which has set the target for the country to become net zero by 2050.
Helping businesses to reduce their carbon emissions is a key part of its strategy to achieving this goal and, as a result, it is offering almost £5bn in funding to help firms across the UK become greener.
Along with grants, local business groups have been providing practical, environmentally-friendly solutions that are designed to help firms cut costs.
Support from business organisations
Norwich BID (Business Improvement District), which represents companies in and around the city, has delivered a number of projects to achieve this – including providing business waste audits, bespoke action plans to reduce waste and energy usage, and holding an expo for local firms on how to reduce their carbon emissions.
“Working with individual businesses Norwich BID conducted 250 plus waste audits and delivered over 300 bespoke action plans to reduce waste and energy usage,” said Stefan Gurney, executive director at Norwich BID.
“Norwich BID has also worked on bringing together small to large eco-conscious organisations and local authorities at the Journey to Net Zero Expo in October 2022.”
Norwich BID is working with businesses across Norwich to help reduce carbon emissions (Image: Newsquest)
Another initiative promoted by the business group is its Norwich Upcycling Exchange.
“Norwich BID is connecting waste producers with creative upcyclers who can turn otherwise unwanted materials into new products,” added Mr Gurney.
“One successful example of this is Norwich market’s Water and Earth which commissioned and stock a range of soap products from waste coffee grounds given by a local business.”
Norwich’s largest shopping centre, Chantry Place, has also been working towards reducing its carbon emissions.
It has already halved its energy consumption since 2010, which has helped make its energy bills more affordable during the energy crisis.
Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place, said: “We will continue to drive energy efficiency across our operations and already only source electricity from sustainable sources.
Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place (Image: Chantry Place)
“We were also one of the first shopping centres in the UK to invest in a rooftop solar farm and have 772 solar panels that have to date generated enough green electricity to have boiled your kettle over 8.5 million times.”
Looking ahead to 2023
Looking ahead to next year, businesses across the region are continuing their drive towards reducing carbon emissions.
Norwich BID has set out plans to launch a new Norwich upcycling exchange platform, provide free compostable and biodegradable cutlery for businesses, and introduce a city-wide reusable coffee cup scheme.
Mr Gurney said: “Norwich BID will be bringing businesses together to collectively tender for a new waste and recycling provider for the city.
“With the aims of reducing collection vehicles, increasing recycling and, most importantly, saving businesses money, the tender will leverage the increased purchasing power of the collective to achieve the best service for the best rates.
“Other exciting plans for 2023 include the introduction of a city-wide reusable coffee cup scheme.
“With a pilot launching early 2023 the scheme aims to remove single-use cups from the city’s waste streams by introducing a reusable cup which can be used at coffee outlets across the city.”
