Green moves 'can save SMEs £400m'

Small businesses in Britain can collectively slash their energy bill by £400 million and save nearly 2.5 million tonnes of CO2e every year by taking measures to cut emissions, experts say.

Not-for-profit organisation Carbon Trust has launched an online assessment tool for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enabling them to measure their carbon footprint reduction and have their efforts certified.

The group said firms that have used its Carbon Trust Standard SME online certification so far have made average savings of £2,000 on energy costs and cut emissions by 13 tonnes CO2e per year.

Harry Morrison, general manager of the Carbon Trust Standard, said: "What you can measure, you can reduce, so we believe there's a major opportunity for every business to cut costs and carbon by taking action and achieving certification."

With an estimated 194,575 companies in the UK having between 10 and 249 employees and falling in the SME category, the total savings can be huge, the trust claimed.

Many SMEs are still not aware of the opportunities they have in the burgeoning market for green goods and services, which is already valued at £112 billion.

A previous survey by the trust found more than half (52%) of small firms perceive the growth of green economy as a threat.

Copyright © Press Association 2011