Energy bills can represent a significant proportion of the outgoings of organisations in almost any sector, which is why business owners are always looking for ways to reduce those costs.
Many worry about the financial outlay required for some of the larger, more expensive, energy saving solutions. But, as many companies have discovered, sometimes it’s the small-scale energy saving initiatives that can result in significant cost savings.
Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology is a firm that has made significant savings. Jon Bevan, safety, health, environmental and facilities manager, says: “Since implementing our Switch It Off campaign, we’ve saved £32,500 to date and are predicting annual savings of £42,000 in the Bristol office alone.
“Our concept is simple but has paid huge dividends; by encouraging staff to turn off all unused devices at the end of the day we’ve saved 13.5% on our energy bills and reduced our Co2 emissions by 7%.”
The company is one of more than 1,200 companies in the west of England that have signed up to a Go Green scheme to explore new ways of green working, and to share their experiences with the region’s wider business community. The scheme forms part of Bristol’s year as the European Green Capital 2015.
The changes may seem simple and obvious, but many of the 270 members of staff were surprised to see how much energy they were wasting after hours. As well as making cost savings, the company has improved the energy efficiency of the tools they build. Being able to pass on their cost savings is already helping them win and retain customers.
Another business that has been able to benefit from energy saving measures is Roberts Supermarket, is a busy food store based in Coventry. The business opened around eight years ago and, like all small retailers, has always battled to keep costs down in order to make a profit.
“At one point, electricity was costing us more than rent, so energy is always something we’ve tried hard to control,” says owner Amrit Singh. By working with their energy supplier, E.ON, and using its online Energy Toolkit, the company is making savings of £600 a month. Amrit explains: “The Toolkit suggested we change the fans in our fridges, which now have thermostats, and they’ve already paid for themselves. We’ve also invested in new refrigeration doors for our chiller units. By keeping the cold where it’s needed, the doors have made the shop a nicer temperature for customers, while also lowering our heating costs. We’ve also switched to LED lights and installed timers on our chiller units. It was a big investment, but we could see that the long-term savings would be worth it.”
In an effort to reduce their energy bills, Cumbria-based home fragrance manufacturer Wax Lyrical persuaded their landlord to invest in the installation of a wind turbine in a field adjacent to their factory, which belonged to their landlord. As a result of the move the company, which employs 135 people and has an annual turnover of £14.5 million, is making savings of £20,000 a year. This is an equivalent of 25% of their energy bill.
Lime is an award-winning restaurant in Nottingham, which serves Indian food. Like many restaurants, energy consumption is high, and Lime’s energy spend was running at around £8,000 to £10,000 a year. Working with E.ON, however, they have reduced their energy bill by £1,400 this year.
Owner Sohail Rana says: “Our eyes have been opened to the cost of running things like heating, air conditioning and kitchen equipment, all of which are vital to us. But it was surprising to see how much energy we were actually wasting. By making small changes, like turning our fryers down to low when we’re not using them, and making sure the air conditioning is set to the right temperature, we’ve cut down on waste and the savings have stacked up.”
Even the smallest of business premises can make valuable savings on their energy costs, as Ideas Made Digital has discovered. The firm works with other companies to help them innovate, create and grow. For example, they created a connected button for a famous Italian beer brand, allowing their customers to order beer to their door with the push of a button. They also conducted global online advertising for Etihad Airways to grow their inbound sales.
The team of ten also operate from a shipping container based in the Artworks box park at Elephant and Castle in London.
Partner Ross Tavendale said: “It gets very cold in winter so we would tend to leave the heating on a low setting all night to stop us coming into an ice box. As you can imagine this gets pricey, so a simple solution was to get timer plugs for all the heaters, which will save us around £800 a year, or 20%, off our heating bill.” The timer plugs cost just £50 in total.
“We had no idea how much electricity we were using,” says Tavendale. “From electric radiators, to screens that are always on, to lighting, it really adds up. We went with the containers as it was a cost effective solution for our growing company, but we had no idea the upkeep could run up such large bills if you were careless. However, just being mindful about energy consumption really helps you make small savings that add up to a lot in the long term.”
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