Your net zero plan

You selected ‘Media and entertainment’ and ‘East Midlands’
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Understand your business emissions

1) What causes emissions

Direct carbon emissions produced by media and entertainment businesses include:

energy use – electricity and gas for lighting, heating and office equipment
general waste – when it’s not recycled and ends up at landfill sites
transport – using petrol or diesel vehicles to deliver services

2) Calculate your emissions

Use a free carbon calculator to work out your business’s carbon footprint. This is measured in tonnes, over a year.

3) Estimate the cost of your emissions

Once you have your carbon footprint, you can calculate how much your emissions are costing you. This will give you an idea of potential savings you can make by taking action.

4) Sign up to the SME climate commitment

Make a climate declaration to show customers you are committed to reducing emissions.

Get finance and support

1) Support in your sector

Advice on sustainable TV and film production is available from Albert.

The Advertising Association (AA), has launched Ad Net Zero to provide guidance for advertising businesses and media agencies
Visit Net Zero Carbon Events report on their Roadmap towards Net Zero by 2050
The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s Path to Net Zero (PDF)
Unlimited Theatre’s net zero roadmap
Open Source Arts’s Net zero carbon roadmap report (PDF)

You can also learn how to run your business in a more environmentally friendly way by hiring a sustainability consultant.

2) Get financial support in your region:

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.
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
Workplace Travel Service Grants give SMEs up to £25,000 for travel improvements such as electric vehicle chargers, showers and bicycle parking – must be located in Nottingham city
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.
Peak Innovation SME Innovation grant and is available for small and medium-sized businesses within the High Peak Local Authority area. This targeted support aims to help them undertake new-to-firm innovation; adopt productivity-enhancing, energy efficient and low carbon technologies and techniques; and start or grow their exports. The maximum grant per business is £10,000 and the minimum grant per business is £1,000. A larger grant may be considered in exceptional cases where grant funding is necessary for the project to proceed and deliverables are substantial.
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.
Derbyshire Dales District Council for SMEs is funded by Government, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF). It includes business advice, a business start-up programme and rural innovation grants.

Actions you can take right now

1) Save energy at your workplace

Cut your bills by using less energy. Quick, low-cost 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:

Look at lighting, heating and refrigeration systems, as well as ventilation and water heating.
Identify wasteful energy use and maintenance issues.
Check at different times of day and compare day and night time use.
Monitor over a period of a week for accurate average figures.
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) Manage your waste

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

4) Get training in energy efficiency

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

5) 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.

6) Switch to a smart meter

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

7) Promote sustainability

By promoting sustainable practices to their audiences, companies in the media, arts, and entertainment sector can raise awareness about sustainability and encourage more people to take action.

Longer term actions

1) Make changes to your office or workplace

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

Check planning permission guidelines before you go ahead with any structural changes to the property.

Improve insulation and windows

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

Install renewables

You can also make significant long-term savings by installing renewable sources of energy.

For example:

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

2) Reduce transport emissions

Over 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions are caused by transport.

You can take measures to reduce emissions from logistics.

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 also reduce fuel costs by switching 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

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

3) Certify your supply chain action with PAS 2060

PAS 2060 is the internationally recognised standard that recognises your efforts towards carbon neutrality.

The standard process for PAS 2060 certification includes these steps:

Measure greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) based on accurate data.
Reduce of emissions through a carbon management plan.
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.