WIREDGOV

Small businesses across the UK will benefit from new Government funding and support to help them invest in sustainability, to cut their operating costs and boost their business.

• Government announces £2 million funding boost to help more SMEs cut costs
• Funding is part of a range of new measures to support small business growth, in the Government’s response to the Willow Review
• 67% of SMEs who adopted sustainable practices like installing solar panels reported reduced costs

Small businesses across the UK will benefit from new Government funding and support to help them invest in sustainability, to cut their operating costs and boost their business.

This includes an additional £2 million in funding via the ‘Made Smarter Adoption Programme’ specifically to help SMEs lower their bills and become more energy efficient through investment in technology in areas like heating, insulation and solar power.

This forms part of the Government’s response to the Willow Review Report, which found that 67% of SMEs who adopted sustainable practices, like installing solar panels or selling energy back to the grid, reported reduced operational costs – a clear return on investment.

The Willow Review report, published earlier this year, is an independent government-backed report spearheaded by Small Business Britain and supported by Barclays. It aims to unlock the economic opportunity of sustainability for the UK’s 5.7 million small and medium sized businesses.

Blair McDougall, Minister for Small Business, said:

Investing in sustainability is good for growth, cutting costs, and saving SMEs money to spend on growing their business.

That is why, as part of our Plan for Small Business, we are supporting SMEs through measures including brand new funding and an improved support offer via the Business Growth Service.

Katie White, Minister for Climate, said:

Clean energy is the economic opportunity of the 21st century and we are ensuring small business have the tools they need to take advantage of clean technologies and energy efficiency.

The Willow Review recommendations will help the small businesses that power Britain unlock the financial benefits of sustainability, as we accelerate towards net zero.

The Government’s response is part of wider work to support small businesses to transition to net zero, to save them costs.

This includes schemes like the Zero Carbon Services Hospitality trial, which is giving 600 small hospitality businesses free energy usage and assessments of how to reduce their emissions and bills. This will deliver savings of over £3 million for businesses while also preventing 2,700 tonnes of carbon pollution over a year – the equivalent of about 270 return flights from London to New York.  

As well as the mass roll out of smart meters to small businesses across the country, helping millions of consumers manage their energy use so that they can improve their efficiency and save money on bills.

Michelle Ovens CBE, CEO and Founder of Small Business Britain, said:

We are delighted to see such a positive and practical response to the Willow Review. This is a strong step towards helping SMEs turn sustainability into new opportunities and better growth, benefitting not only the businesses, but also the wider economy.

We look forward to continuing working with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to ensure small businesses can fully make the most of the opportunities that sustainability brings.

Abdul Qureshi, Head of Business Banking at Barclays, said:

We are pleased to see this support being made available to help more small businesses build resiliency, reduce costs, and unlock growth opportunities from the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Both the public and private sector have important roles to play in achieving this, and as a leading lender to UK SMEs, we are focused on fulfilling that role through initiatives such as our Green Loans for Business and our recently announced joint partnership with Sustainable Ventures to support UK climate innovators through The National Climate Tech Accelerator.

Recognising that growth, innovation, and sustainability can go hand-in-hand, the response forms part of the Government’s Plan for Small Business, the most substantial package of support for the UK’s 5.7 million SMEs in a generation, helping unleash their full potential, to create jobs and grow the economy.