ecoSMARTER launched by new Northern office
The new ecoSMARTER programme has been designed to benefit small companies in the North West.
Through ecoSMARTER, Carbon Smart and its partners are helping small companies to gain a Carbon Smart Blue Certification, monitor their energy usage, save money and meet other businesses in an online member community.
The ecoSMARTER programme has just begun and places are being snapped up by businesses with fewer than 10 employees. They will benefit from the expertise of Carbon Smart and receive support from a dedicated environmental manager to help them gain the Carbon Smart Blue Certificate. The businesses will also receive an electricity monitor that will display their electricity usage.
Hundreds of businesses across the North West will be taking part in ecoSMARTER and one of the key innovations in the project will be to work with businesses in groups, as well as 1-2-1, to embed new green practices. The latest social media will be used to bring businesses together in an online community and workshops will also help participants build new networks that will help sustain change, even after the project has ended.
All this is supported by government through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and will be at no cost to the small businesses that gain a place on the programme.
The electricity monitor, online dashboard, installation and support would normally cost £130 while Carbon Smart Blue Certification normally costs £875, giving a total value for the support of £1005.
The Carbon Smart Blue Certification is nationally recognised and companies will be able to use it to demonstrate their environmental credentials. Not only does it help the companies win new business, but the average company with a blue certificate saves £2819 per year, which would equate to a great deal of sales for them.
The ecoSMARTER project is particularly looking for small businesses with fewer than ten employees and can be contacted via email at ecosmarter@carbonsmart.co.uk. Alternately, businesses that are interested can ring Nick on 0161 237 4630 to find out more.