British Business Ignorant Of Loans For Big Refit Projects: Carbon Trust Survey

Posted on 09. Sep, 2009 by Ross in United Kingdom

British businesses are being forced to “make do and mend” with old, inefficient equipment, as over half don’t have the cash to upgrade it. An even greater amount of small and medium-sized businesses wait until their equipment breaks down completely before replacing it.

Despite the availability of £40 million in interest-free scrappage loans from the Carbon Trust’s Big Business Refit for replacing old equipment with low-energy alternatives, inefficient equipmentis continuing to cost British businesses £3.3bn every year.

This was the conclusion of a survey of 1,500 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) which was released at the launch of the Big Business Refit this week by Theo Paphitis, who described the interest-free scrappage loans for as an ‘unbelievable deal’.

The key findings from the survey of SMEs were:

Over half (57%) have resorted to staff cuts to save cash.
Nearly half (46%) are unaware that they can cut energy costs by replacing old equipment.
Nearly half (41%) have accepted higher energy bills as a fixed cost, preferable to paying the upfront cost of replacing old equipment.
Over half (52%), are being forced to “make do and mend” as they don’t have the cash to upgrade.
Over half (60%) wait until their equipment breaks down completely before replacing it.

The Carbon Trust’s unsecured, interest-free loans can be used for equipment replacements costing between £3,000 and £400,000. The loans are designed to pay for themselves through direct energy savings, so that once the loan is repaid, savings go straight to bottom line. With a total of £100m in funding available, the Big Business Refit is expected to help up to 3,000 UK SMEs save a total of £40m from their annual energy costs.

Image of rusty machinery by Roy Montgomery @ Flickr