Small firms take steps to improve green performance

Date: 26th November 2009

Green measures are being prioritised by smaller businesses despite the financial pressures of the recession, Abbey and Alliance & Leicester Business Banking has shown.

A new report from the lender indicates that 26 per cent of small firms are giving more thought to environmental issues this year, compared with 2008.

Meanwhile, 16 per cent say that they have "downgraded" these concerns and are instead concentrating on "keeping their businesses afloat".

Almost all firms (98 per cent) have taken some steps to improve their environmental policies, with a total of around £1.5 billion spent on the measures.

These could include steps as simple as making sure electronic equipment on business premises is turned off, rather than put on standby.

Paula Ickinger, head of business banking marketing at Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, said: "There are one and a half million small businesses in the UK, so it is very encouraging to find that so many of them have taken steps to reduce the environmental impact of their operations, in some cases at great expense.

"While some of these changes are relatively minor, the cumulative impact will have been huge."

The poll also showed that four per cent of small firms do not understand which changes to make in order to reduce emissions.

Posted by Thomas Fletcher