Businesses in Hull are being called on to think about their energy use – and whether there is anything they can do to become more energy efficient.
The Hull Business Energy Efficiency Scheme (HBEES) helps small and medium enterprises in Hull reduce their energy bills and emissions by offering grant funding of up to £15,000, which will help to replace existing inefficient systems and equipment which otherwise may be too expensive to invest in.
HBEES grant funding covers energy-efficient lighting and solar panels, as well as improvements to heating systems and machinery. It will also support the cost of implementing EV chargers for fleets of electric vehicles.
Additionally, HBEES offers fully funded specialist advice with a specialist environmental consultant to Hull businesses, covering topics including how to calculate your carbon footprint, support to draft an energy policy, energy management gap analysis, and support with the energy risk and opportunity register.
There are many reasons why businesses should take the time to get to understand what’s happening with their energy usage and to calculate their carbon footprint.
Phil Hall, HBEES programme manager, said: “Often where carbon emissions are high at a business, so are energy costs – so by finding out how you can become more efficient can also help to save your business money, helping your bottom line especially at a time when energy costs are so high.”
In addition to this, the Government is setting targets for businesses to reduce their emissions as we work towards net-zero nationally, while in terms of local government Hull City Council is working to ambitious targets of the city becoming net-zero by 2030. By finding out more about your energy usage and carbon emissions you can help support these targets.
Finally, in terms of corporate social responsibility, it’s important for businesses to care about the environmental impacts of their business operations and to ensure they are doing their best to be a good neighbour within their communities by being as environmentally friendly as possible.
Phil (pictured left) added: “By investing in energy efficiency you’re not only saving money on energy costs, but also doing a great thing for the environment and are future-proofing your business.
“More and more, businesses are being asked about their energy usage and carbon footprints – increasingly it’s a question featured on many tendering processes, and even small businesses in the supply chain need to be able to provide this information.”
To support eligible businesses who wish to know more about their energy usage, HBEES will fund a specialist to support you on the following four strands of specialist energy advice, you don’t need to undertake all four, you can mix and match these to your business requirements:
Strand 1 – Carbon Footprint Calculations
Support to calculate your carbon footprint, HBEES’ service provider GEP Environmental will contact you to gain an understanding of your business and the activity you undertake and discuss what information is required to calculate the business’ carbon footprint. They will then use the information provided to complete the calculations.
Strand 2 – Develop your Energy Policy
Support to develop an energy and carbon reduction policy. GEP Environmental will provide you with up to 14 hours of support that will focus on your business’s energy policy/strategy requirements that can be endorsed at the highest level of the business but one that all staff have responsibility for.
Strand 3 – Energy Management Gap Analysis
HBEES can also support businesses with energy management gap analysis, where you can receive up to 14 hours of support that will help you understand how close the business’s processes are in relation to best practice, ISO 50001:2018.
Strand 4 – Energy Risk Register
Finally, HBEES can help you to understand your business and the energy risk and opportunity register, you can receive up to 14 hours of support that will help identify the risks and opportunities facing different areas of your business in relation to energy management.
As the HBEES scheme is based in Hull, it’s only available to businesses that pay their rates to Hull City Council. They must also have fewer than 250 employees, an annual turnover of less than €50 million or a balance sheet of less than €43 million.
The scheme supports all different kinds of businesses – from those in manufacturing, logistics, engineering and others, so business owners are urged to get in touch before March 2023 to see if they are eligible.
If you are interested in applying for this support, all the information is available to prospective businesses at hullbees.co.uk.
Phil said: “Now is the perfect time to take advantage of the grant funding and fully-funded specialist advice on offer to Hull businesses. Not only is it becoming more essential than ever before to understand energy use in your business, but business energy costs are at an all-time high.
“Our HBEES scheme will end in June 2023, so to ensure your application is processed in time we need completed applications to be in by the end of March 2023 at the latest.
“We still have around £250,000 of funding available so don’t delay – register your business and apply for a grant or specialist advice before it’s too late.”
If you are applying for grant funding, once you are fully registered, HBEES then provide you with an on-site energy assessment and report at no cost to your business.
The report will outline the potential changes that can be made, explaining to you how any investments that you make will not only save you money – but will also support Hull on the road to NetZero.
HBEES will then work out the cost of making these changes, and how much you can save in terms of money and CO2 emissions. The grants are then available to support you towards 40% of the cost of implementing any of the recommendations in the report.
If you would like to apply for the HBBES fully funded specialist advice service, email HBEES at BusinessEnergyEfficiencyScheme@hullcc.gov.uk to find out more, check your eligibility and apply for this support.
Phil added: “So far, we’ve supported over 200 Hull businesses to not just reduce their emissions but have also seen some businesses save tens of thousands of pounds on their energy costs each year.
“If you’ve been thinking about how you can make changes to reduce your business’s emissions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – grants are still available, but you must complete your application by March 2023.”
Visit the HBEES website to find out more and apply for the support and advice on offer, as well as to read case studies from businesses who have already been through the process.
