Latest News

This section is intended for sharing useful information or news about green initiatives that your business has undertaken. If you have any updates that you would like to share, please email sustainability@nwleicestershire.gov.uk.

Energy Efficiency Business Breakfast, Tues 13th March

We are running an Energy Efficiency Business Breakfast in partnership with the Carbon Trust on Tuesday 13th February to celebrate national Climate Week. This free event is aimed at SMEs and will help businesses make sense of their gas and electricity bills, with the aim of monitoring and managing their energy. The event begins at 7.30am at the Royal Hotel, Ashby de la Zouch and will finish around 10am with further opportunity to network and speak to Carbon Trust staff. Places are offered on a first-come first-served basis. Please email: gillian.squires@nwleicestershire.gov.uk to book your place.

£75 million Technology Fund for SMEs, Dec 2011

The Government is to create a new £75 million fund to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in technology and innovation.

The announcement was made alongside details of a range of measures designed to encourage growth as part of the Government’s new Innovation and Research Strategy report, which states that technology funding will be delivered by the Technology Strategy Board.

In addition to the new fund, the Board also plans to encourage collaboration between SMEs and research organisations, such as universities, using a voucher scheme.

There will also be additional funding available to the Smart scheme, which provides finance to SMEs engaging in research and development projects with the aim of producing new services or products.

The report also suggests the Government will help SMEs grow with additional funding to the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), which encourages uptake of public sector contracts by SMEs and helps them become more accustomed with the procurement process.

The Case for Renewables in UK Business, July 2011

This paper sets out the findings of the Carbon Trust’s recent research looking at the case for businesses to produce their own energy via renewable means. The analysis indicates that new incentives – such as the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed in Tariff – coupled with an expected rise in energy costs, development of renewable energy technology and building regulations, create an economic case for business to consider renewable energy generation.