Businesses are encouraged to take advantage of grant funding now available to help pay for energy-saving improvements. The money is available to SMEs who sign up to the Target 2030 project, run by sustainability charity Severn Wye Energy Agency.
The project provides a free site survey, energy report and recommendations for how to improve the energy efficiency of the business. For those businesses eager to take the advice on-board and make improvements, grant funding is available to cover 30% of the costs – up to £60,000. 240 Gloucestershire businesses have already benefitted from the programme, and it is now open to SMEs in Swindon and Wiltshire.
Solar panels, low carbon heating, induction catering equipment, LED lighting and specialist manufacturing equipment are just some of the upgrades that businesses have made with the help of the Target 2030 grant, but participants are able to get creative, as Severn Wye’s marketing director, James Clarke, explains. “Many just take us up on the free energy health check to start with.
The report helps them understand what improvements they could make to reduce their bills and emissions, and they can make a plan from there. There’s absolutely no commitment at all, but if they do want to make upgrades now, the 30% grant can make a big difference – shortening the payback time by years.” The Gloucestershire grant pot has been boosted this month by £300,000 – but with the same amount having been snapped up in just a few months last year, businesses are strongly encouraged to get in touch with Severn Wye before the funding runs out.
As the money is provided by the European Regional Development Fund, its unclear whether any similar schemes will be possible in the future. Recent clients include Gloucester Rugby, the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury, the Fosseway Garden Centre and the Malt House in Stroud, and Severn Wye hope to support 60 more businesses in Gloucestershire and another 70 in Swindon and Wiltshire.
To register for the Target 2030 programme, visit the project website at target2030.co.uk or email Severn Wye’s business team at business@severnwye.org.uk.