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£100 million in loans available from the Carbon Trust
30/10/2009
The Carbon Trust will help thousands of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) reduce their costs by as much as £40 million through a new programme - The Big Business Refit – set to launch in September.
The Big Business Refit will offer SMEs expert advice and financial support to slash their energy costs by scrapping old inefficient equipment and replacing it with new energy-efficient models. With a total of £100 million in available loans, the Big Business Refit is expected to help up to 3,000 UK SMEs save a total of £40 million in their annual energy costs.
SMEs can also benefit from free energy saving assessments from a Carbon Trust expert and a tailored action plan that identifies the savings that could be made by replacing energy-guzzling equipment.
This initiative follows a recession-driven surge in demand for the Carbon Trust’s interest-free business loans. In the first six months of 2009, hundreds of SMEs from bakeries to plastics factories have been given loans at zero-interest to equip their businesses with the latest energy-saving technology. As a result, they are saving an average of £14,000 each on their annual energy bills – a collective total of almost £6m a year.
The top choices among the SMEs that have taken a Carbon Trust loan in the first six months of 2009 are:
SMEs can also benefit from free energy saving assessments from a Carbon Trust expert and a tailored action plan that identifies the savings that could be made by replacing energy-guzzling equipment.
This initiative follows a recession-driven surge in demand for the Carbon Trust’s interest-free business loans. In the first six months of 2009, hundreds of SMEs from bakeries to plastics factories have been given loans at zero-interest to equip their businesses with the latest energy-saving technology. As a result, they are saving an average of £14,000 each on their annual energy bills – a collective total of almost £6m a year.
The top choices among the SMEs that have taken a Carbon Trust loan in the first six months of 2009 are:
- New energy efficient lighting and lighting controls, a key way for any business to save money, provided annual savings of nearly £1m for the companies we have helped.
- Replacement air compressors, used for powering pneumatic tools, provided annual energy savings of £400,000.
- Mechanised materials handling equipment, such as cranes, which are used to load heavy equipment, provided annual savings of £400,000.