Firms 'go green' to beat credit crunch

Companies are focusing on energy efficiency as a cost-saving measure to beat the credit crunch.

According to research for the Carbon Trust by YouGov, almost a third of business leaders were putting measures to cut energy wastage at the top of their list to save money, above redundancies and pay and recruitment freezes.

A fifth of 857 senior managers questioned also said reducing carbon emissions had risen up their agenda in the last six months - twice as many as those who say it has slipped.

With an estimated £7 million a day being wasted on poor energy efficiency by UK companies, the Carbon Trust urged firms to implement low-cost measures to save money and cut carbon emissions.

Simple steps such as switching off computers and turning down heating could save £2.5 billion - with savings of £1.3 billion for small and medium businesses - and 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the next 12 months, the Carbon Trust said.

Hugh Jones, solutions director at the Carbon Trust, said: "Our new statistics provide stark evidence that if companies are starting to feel the bite from the economic downtown, the first place to look for cost savings should be their energy bill.

"There are literally millions of pounds going out of the window every day across the UK.

"We're talking about money that could be saved by making quick and easy changes such as encouraging staff to turn off computers and lights, turning down the heating or maintaining equipment properly."

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