A recent survey carried out by the British Business Bank, revealed small businesses account for around half (43-53%) of UK business greenhouse gas emissions.
That is why sustainability is a big part of Kent Business School’s government-backed Help to Grow Management course, starting this February, which has been created to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) grow post-pandemic.
Aimed at small and medium-sized businesses in the UK that employ between 5 and 249 employees, the Help to Grow: Management course is worth £7,110 per participant but is 90% subsidised by the government, meaning business leaders pay just £750 for tailored, high-quality business advice. It is taught on our Medway Campus.
Here one of the Programme Directors for the Help to Grow Management scheme, Dr Lynne Oxborrow, offers up her top five tips for improving your sustainability practices, today:
Understand your carbon footprint
Could reducing energy, water use or waste reduce your costs? Or could adopting more sustainable products or services add value for your customers and help to engage your staff? Reflect on and rethink your energy use and where it comes from. Consider the energy used for machinery, lighting and heating but don’t forget what you use to cool your server, store data and send emails too.
Adopt new technologies
Using MS Teams, Zoom or a similar platform could mean fewer routine visits to customers. Sensors that switch off the lights when you leave could reduce your energy use. You could also use technology to monitor your carbon footprint and measure the improvements you make.
Rethink your business values
Look at how changes you make could reflect positively in your external and internal branding and communications. You need to be genuine and include the tangible things you’re doing to make a difference. Innovations in your product, changes to your supply chain, doing more with fewer resources need to be shared with staff, customers and stakeholders.
Get your team onside
Making a positive difference can have a beneficial effect on staff morale, wellbeing, motivation, staff retention and productivity. Getting everyone involved in making changes such as cycling to work, introducing a recycling scheme, reducing food waste in catering outlets, and turning down the heating, could make a big difference to the team and make sure your initiatives are a success.
Plan for the long term
Plan for carbon reduction, targeting the easiest, most accessible changes first, and then move onto longer-term actions that might require more knowledge and investment, but which could also have the biggest impact on your business and the environment. Introducing sustainable or recycled materials, and reducing packaging could cut material usage, reduce logistics costs and create added customer interest. These innovations could help differentiate your business from your competitors.
Book your place on our Help to Grow Management course here.
Help to Grow is a £520 million scheme to help owners of small and medium-sized businesses take their business to the next level.