There are 4.5million small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, that’s 99% of all Britain’s enterprises. But when it comes to sustainability, the benefits of being green – such as resource efficiency and cost saving, new business advice and the ability to answer tenders, PR and marketing differentiation and employee and customer engagement – are often being missed.
So, to help them realise the opportunities, a new national campaign has been launched by Planet Positive to offer all UK SMEs free sustainability advice.
The 7-days to Sustainability campaign is free and provides easy to follow steps to help business become more sustainable. SMEs can register for the 7-day programme online on the campaign website www.7days2sustainability.com. The first SMEs will start their 7-day Sustainability programme on Tuesday May 1st and SMEs will participate weekly thereafter for the remainder of 2012 and beyond.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: “Saving energy goes straight to the bottom line, helping businesses save money and increase competitiveness as well as cut carbon. Free help and advice, like the Planet Positive campaign is offering, helps to build businesses on sustainable foundations and reap all the benefits that energy efficiency has to offer.”
The campaign brings together expert knowledge from respected business leaders and Planet Positive’s 5-year knowledge of practical steps SMEs can take to be sustainable. Each SME will be sent a Planning Pack and then receive seven, daily activities:
- Sustainability Plan; Employee engagement & Behavioural Change
- Switch on to switching off – Energy Efficiency
- Waste & Recycling
- Travel & Transport
- Food & Water (+ Health & Well-being)
- Procurement & Supply Chain
- Success – Marketing and Winning business
