Free energy advice scheme launched for Staffordshire businesses

Staffordshire County Council is inviting eligible businesses to express their interest in receiving fully funded Energy Advice at no cost.

Delivered by Green Lark Environmental Solutions on behalf of Staffordshire County Council, this support will help businesses better understand their energy consumption, identify opportunities for improvement, and prepare for future investment in energy-saving measures.

Through the service, businesses can identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption and operational costs, improve energy efficiency across premises and day-to-day operations, gain a clearer understanding of your current energy usage and discover potential energy-saving measures and estimated savings.

Firms can also develop a roadmap for future energy improvement projects and become “investment ready” for the Scale Up Staffordshire loan or other potential funding opportunities, such as grants, as they become available.

Green Lark will provide specialist guidance to help businesses understand their current energy performance, identify practical and cost-effective energy-saving measures and prioritise opportunities for improvement.

The energy consultancy will also explore options for future energy efficiency investments and prepare organisations for potential grant and funding applications.

To be eligible for this support, businesses must be located within Staffordshire County Council’s administrative area, excluding Stoke-on-Trent.

They need to be sole traders, micro-businesses, or a small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a combined annual gas and electricity consumption of at least 8,000 kWh per year.

Firms must also be located within non-domestic premises and be responsible for paying their own energy bills.

This programme is scheduled to run until March 2027. As funding is limited and demand is expected to be high, there are a limited number of places available.

Eligible businesses are encouraged to register their interest as soon as possible. Apply today via an online form.

Victoria Highfield from Online for Equine Ltd recently took part in the scheme. She said: “We were extremely impressed with the assessor and the quality of the energy assessment.

“What we particularly valued was his ability to look beyond the areas we had already identified.

“He made several practical and insightful suggestions that we had not previously considered, giving us new ideas and opportunities to explore for improving our energy efficiency and reducing waste.

“It was a very positive and valuable experience, and we would be more than happy to recommend the energy assessment.”