Businesses wasting thousands of pounds through poor energy efficiency

Hospitality businesses in the UK are wasting more than £540,000 a day collectively through poor energy efficiency, research revealed today.

The study by the Carbon Trust, the Government funded independent body set up to address the challenges of climate change, showed that hospitality businesses could reduce their annual carbon emissions by 16% - a saving of £198m – by being more energy efficient.

Simple measures such as switching off lights in empty rooms, keeping heating down and turning computers and televisions off at the plug can lead to massive savings, the Carbon Trust said.

But the study revealed that business leaders are now grasping the nettle on energy efficiency. Of the 850 senior executives surveyed by the Carbon Trust, more than twice as many said reducing carbon emissions has risen up their agenda (20%) in the last six months than those who said it has fallen down (9%).

And they now rank energy efficiency (27%) ahead of recruitment freezes (24%), redundancies (17%), freezing salaries or giving below inflation pay rises (24%) as a potential cost-saving measure.

Hugh Jones, solutions director at the Carbon Trust, said: “Our new statistics provide stark evidence that if companies are starting to feel the bite from the economic downturn, the first place to look for cost savings should be their energy bill. There are literally millions of pounds going out of the window every day.

“We’re talking about money that could be banked simply by making quick and easy changes such as encouraging staff to turn off computers and lights, turning down the heating, or maintaining equipment properly.”

Neil Bentley, director of business environment at employers’ group the CBI, backed the Carbon Trust’s call.

“The analysis confirms the compelling business case for urgent action to improve energy efficiency and common-sense measures like turning off lights and turning the heating down can lead to substantial reductions in firms’ energy bills,” he said.

Has your business got any innovative green policies? Let us know by e-mailing catererfeatures@rbi.co.uk marked “Green Month”.

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By Daniel Thomas

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