Your net zero plan

These support schemes and networks are available in East Midlands:

• Green Entrepreneurs Programme has a small grants from £10,000 to £20,000 and a large grant that starts at £100,000 – must be located in Derbyshire County
• Grants4Growth for the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership area, consisting of the 3 districts of Boston, East Lindsey and South Holland, has secured over £2m of UKSPF funding to deliver practical business support to local companies. The Grants4Growth project, launched in early July 2023, will support local businesses to invest in their future, awarding both capital and revenue grants to Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) looking to grow.
• Staffordshire Moorlands UKSPF funding is available for the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Authority area. Visit their site for information on grants and funding opportunities available as part of the UKSPF funding awarded to the council.
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Business Sustainability Grant for North Lincolnshire supports businesses in reducing their energy related overheads whilst also seeking to reduce the regions CO2 emissions as a direct result. Businesses must be based within North Lincolnshire. The maximum grant per business is £5,000 and the minimum grant per business is £500.
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund Business Grants in West Lindsey is specifically intended for businesses in West Lindsey aiming to reduce their carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency. Key priorities for this scheme are (1) clean and green productivity; (2) sustainable rural growth and (3) the transition to a circular economy.
• University of Derby’s Invest to Grow programme gives grants and loans from £15,000 to £250,000 to B2B companies in the East Midlands that create jobs in different sectors, including low carbon
• Visit Peak District and Derbyshire has links to grants from local authorities and UK Shared Prosperity Fund Business Grants.

Actions you can take right now

1) Save energy in the home, office or workplace

Cut your bills by using less energy. Quick measures include:

• lighting – use LED bulbs for greater efficiency
• heating – put your thermostat on a timer and seal your windows for extra insulation
• office equipment – try to turn off and unplug devices when they’re not being used

2) Do an energy walk-round

Walk around your building and see where energy is being used.

Prepare a checklist

Look out for wasteful energy use and maintenance issues in the following areas:

1. Look at lighting, heating and refrigeration systems, as well as ventilation and water heating.
2. Identify wasteful energy use and maintenance issues.
3. Check at different times of day and compare day and night time use.
4. Monitor over a period of a week for accurate average figures.
5. Make sure equipment is checked and cleaned regularly to ensure maximum efficiency.

Improve ventilation

Routine maintenance checks and cleaning will improve the efficiency of your ventilation system.

3) Change your energy tariff

Switch to a green energy tariff with your energy supplier. This will reduce your reliance on energy produced by fossil fuels.

4) Switch to a smart meter

This will allow you to see and control how much energy you use. Find out more about smart meters.

5) Manage your waste

Recycle waste to prevent it being taken to landfill sites where it takes longer to break down and causes more emissions.

6) Get training in energy efficiency

You can train your team to be aware of energy efficiency in the workplace. Find a sustainability training course.

Longer term actions

1) Make changes to your home, office or workplace

If you are the legal owner, there are a number of long-term measures you can take to improve energy efficiency at your work buildings.

Check planning permissions guidelines before you go ahead with any structural changes.

Improve insulation and windows

You can make long-term savings on energy bills by insulating buildings and replacing old windows.

Install renewables

You might also consider installing renewable sources of energy on your land.

For example:

• heat pumps for heating and water
• solar panels or a wind turbine for electricity

By doing so, you could make significant long-term savings on energy bills.

2) Reduce transport emissions

Over 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions are caused by transport. You can take measures to reduce the impact.

If you have employees you could introduce a cycle-to-work initiative or encourage them to take public transport.

Visit our page on switching employee mode of transport for guidance.

Electric vehicles

If you use a work vehicle, you can reduce emissions by switching over to an electric vehicle (EV). You would be exempt from road tax, congestion charges and parking fees in certain areas.

For easy overnight charging you could install EV chargers at your home or workplace. Visit our page to find out more about installing chargegpoints.

Indirect emissions

To reduce indirect or ‘supply chain’ emissions you need to consider what happens before and after your business provides a service or makes a product.

1) Choose greener ‘upstream’ suppliers and products

• use suppliers that measure and reduce carbon
• help your suppliers with carbon reduction projects
• buy products that take less energy to make, transport and operate

Find out more information on how to source products and services from green suppliers.

2) Reduce emissions ‘downstream’ of your business

1. make products that take less energy to make, transport and operate
2. reduce water consumption and waste disposal needs
3. make investments in lower carbon financial products
4. give incentives for lower emission activities in leased assets or franchises

3) Certify your supply chain action with PAS 2060

1. Measure greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) based on accurate data.
2. Reduce of emissions through a carbon management plan.
3. Document and verify through qualifying explanatory statements and make a public disclosure.

Through independent British Standards Institution (BSI) verification for PAS 2060, your business can demonstrate that it has met these requirements. You can show your business is environmentally friendly and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while enhancing your organisation’s performance and resilience.

Search on Google for PAS 2060 certification organisations.

Share your progress

Sharing your progress will help employees and customers feel confident that you’re reducing carbon and moving towards net zero.

You should share your progress once you’ve done both of the following:

• worked out a benchmark of emissions
• started to take action

Find out more about how to track and share your progress.