Small businesses flick the switch on £6m of wasted energy

Carbon Trust announces Big Business Refit to help SMEs slash energy bills by £40m


The Carbon Trust is to help thousands of small and medium sized businesses drive down their costs by as much as £40m through a new programme - The Big Business Refit.

The Big Business Refit will offer SMEs expert advice and financial support to slash their energy costs by scrapping old inefficient equipment and replacing it with new energy efficient models.

It follows a recession-driven surge in demand for the Carbon Trust’s interest-free business loans. In the first six months of 2009, hundreds of SMEs from bakeries to plastics factories have been given loans at zero-interest to equip their businesses with the latest energy-saving technology. As a result, they are saving an average of £14,000 each on their annual energy bills – a collective total of almost £6m a year.

Tom Delay, chief executive, the Carbon Trust, said: “Business owners are realising that for every month they ‘make do and mend’ with old inefficient equipment, they are wasting more cash on unnecessarily high energy bills.”

“With credit all but dried up elsewhere, the Big Business Refit breaks the deadlock by helping SMEs to buy the equipment that will both slash their costs and often transform their businesses.”

SMEs that want to take part in the Big Business Refit can get expert advice from the Carbon Trust by calling 01865 885879.

Read more: http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/News/presscentre/big-business-refit.htm

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