Small businesses 'improving energy efficiency'

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of small businesses improving their energy efficiency, according to a new survey.

A survey by NetRegs.gov.uk showed that the number of small businesses taking action to improve their energy and water efficiency has doubled in just two years – suggesting that the UK's five million small and medium-sized enterprises are starting to recognise their impact on the environment.

However, with the recession still affecting many companies' budgets, only one in five plan to spend on improvements next year.

Paul Elliott, business support adviser for Business Link, said that many small businesses were focused on environmental management but the recession had knocked them off course.

He said that at a practical level for existing and start-up businesses, it was common sense to adopt green polices because in a lot of cases they help cut back on waste and allow businesses to make better use of resources and utilities.

Mr Elliott added that management training and attitudes have changed about going green over recent years.

"If we think back a few years people thought of going green as being much more of an imposition in terms of regulations and costs to the business, but really you could substitute the term green initiatives with resource efficient initiatives," he said.