In today’s environmentally conscious world, consumers, investors, and employees are increasingly prioritising sustainability when making decisions. As a result, businesses that can effectively position themselves as leaders in sustainability can gain a significant competitive advantage.  There are several ways a company can implement sustainability strategies, one of which is energy efficiency. Taking a positively sustainable approach to your business’ energy usage is a brilliant way to reduce energy consumption, improve the carbon footprint, maintain a positive reputation, but also benefit from a reduction in energy bills, saving the business money too. In this blog we explain the reasons why positioning your business as a leader in sustainability is a good thing and the benefits this provides.    Key strategies for positioning your business as a leader in sustainability: Embed sustainability into your core values and mission statement. Make sustainability a fundamental principle that guides all your business decisions. This will demonstrate your genuine commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Set ambitious and measurable sustainability goals. Clearly define your sustainability objectives and establish concrete targets for reducing your carbon footprint, conserving resources, and promoting social equity. Track your progress regularly and communicate your achievements to stakeholders. Adopt sustainable business practices across all operations. Implement energy-efficient practices, reduce waste, source sustainable materials, and minimise your environmental impact throughout your value chain.   The benefits of being a sustainability leader in your industry  By working to establish your business as a sustainability leader in your industry, not only will you work to improve the energy efficiency of your business and help to reduce your impact on the environment, but your reputation will benefit also. Some of the many benefits of prioritising your sustainability strategy can be found below:   Enhanced Brand Reputation and Customer Loyalty – Consumers have been found to be increasingly seeking out companies that align with their values, particularly those that prioritise sustainability. By demonstrating a commitment to environmental and social responsibility, businesses can enhance their brand reputation, attract environmentally conscious customers, and nurture long-term customer loyalty.   Improve your company’s impact on the environment – Ultimately one of the key goals of pushing sustainability principles forward is to improve the impact of which organisations and individuals have on the environment. Saving the planet and working to reduce harmful emissions is imperative for the preservation of future generations. By being a leader in your industry, you can encourage your competitors and partners to follow suit. Rather than competing with one another, this is a great opportunity for businesses to come together with a shared goal.    Improved financial performance – Sustainability practices can lead to significant cost savings, particularly through reduced energy consumption, waste management, and resource utilisation. These cost reductions can directly translate into improved profitability and financial performance. A great opportunity for businesses to help the environment whilst cutting costs and making greater profits.   Strengthen relationships with investors and suppliers – Those with a key interest in your business will be much more likely to place greater trust within the scalability and longevity of your business if you begin to place yourself as a leader in sustainability now rather than later. With an expectation on businesses to make big changes before it’s too late, investors, partners, and suppliers, are paying closer attention to those businesses who are actively making a change.    As sustainability leaders, businesses can play a significant role in shaping a more sustainable future for the planet and society. By demonstrating best practices and advocating for sustainable policies, businesses can help mitigate climate change, conserve resources, and promote social equity. This can be done in a number of ways, but some great places to start are to consider renewable energy supplies and look at ways to reduce your energy usage, and carbon emissions. For more support of this, our team can provide the advice and details of our services you may need to access renewable energy sources, and take greater control over your energy usage (smart meter roll-out).

In today’s competitive business landscape, energy management has emerged as a critical factor for success. By adopting energy-efficient practices, businesses can not only reduce their operating costs but also enhance their environmental sustainability and corporate reputation. Moreover, effective energy management can empower businesses to make informed decisions, leading to improved financial performance and long-term growth. In order to establish a clear approach to energy management, these energy management best practices make for the foundation of a successful strategy.    Establish Clear Energy Goals and Targets The first step towards effective energy management is to set clear and measurable goals. These goals should be specific, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), ensuring that they are both ambitious and realistic. By establishing clear targets, you can track the progress of your business, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate achievements, where possible. These energy goals and targets help to clarify to all within your organisation, the specific actions required and the goals to be achieved.    Conduct a Comprehensive Energy Audit To gain a thorough understanding of the business’ energy consumption patterns, your business should conduct a comprehensive energy audit. This audit should identify and quantify energy usage across all operations, including lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and industrial processes. The audit should also pinpoint areas of energy waste and recommend potential solutions. More information about energy audits and their importance can be found here on our blog.   Implement Energy-Efficient Technologies Investing in energy-efficient technologies can significantly reduce energy consumption and associated costs. Businesses should consider replacing outdated equipment with energy-efficient models, upgrading lighting systems to LED lighting, and installing smart energy meters for business and occupancy sensors. All of which will improve the efficiency of the business and have a positive impact on the carbon footprint of the organisation.   Adopt Energy-Conscious Operational Practices Beyond technological upgrades, businesses can implement simple yet effective operational practices to conserve energy. These practices include turning off lights and equipment when not in use, optimising HVAC settings, and promoting energy-saving habits among employees.   Monitor and Track Energy Performance Continuous monitoring of energy performance is essential for identifying trends, evaluating the effectiveness of energy-saving measures, and making informed decisions. This will also help to ensure that your SMART targets and goals are still accurate to your business, as you develop and grow. Businesses can utilise energy management software and metering systems to track energy consumption in real-time. Smart meters are excellent for remaining aware of your energy usage, in real-time. Pushed by the UK government, by the end of 2025 it is expected that all homes and small businesses will be provided with smart energy meters.   Encourage Employee Engagement One of the only ways you will certainly take full control over energy management in your business is by engaging all members of the business. It is important to empower  your employees to become active participants in energy conservation efforts. Provide training on energy-saving practices, encourage participation in energy-saving contests, and recognize employees for their contributions to reducing energy consumption. If you struggle to find ways to do this, our blog offers some excellent advice on creating an energy efficient workplace.   Leverage Financial Incentives and Rebates The UK government offers a number of financial incentives and rebates to businesses that implement energy-efficient measures. These incentives can significantly offset the upfront costs of energy-saving projects. Helping you to make big changes without the huge costs.    Seek Expert Guidance Consult with energy management professionals, your business energy supplier, or experts within the energy saving industry for advice. These experts can provide valuable insights, conduct detailed energy audits, and recommend tailored solutions to optimise energy performance. If you would like advice from the D-ENERGi team, either about your current energy supply or ways to improve the efficiency of your business, our team can support you. Contact us today for more information about several of our service offerings, including smart meter installations for businesses.

It’s an exciting time moving your business into a new premises, or opening a business for the first time. However, despite all the excitement, there’s lots to think about. From paying contractors to installing equipment and hiring staff for your new site, the checklist may feel endless. Getting everything ticked off before the grand opening will save you from headaches later down the line.  One of the most important elements to tick off your list and to ensure you have set up and ready to go, is your business utilities. With this handy checklist, you can guarantee you’ve got everything covered so your new premises are supplied with the gas, electricity, and water required to keep you up and running.  The following checklist includes everything you need to cover business utilities for your new premises:    1 – Compare business energy prices  To start you will want to compare business energy prices from various energy suppliers. Using a comparison site or getting a variety of quotes and details of tariffs from a selection of energy companies will help you in finding the right tariff for your business.  2 – Set up a new business energy contract before opening  Before your opening it is important to have selected the provider to supply your business energy and water. This way, you won’t have problems in the long-term with bills. Having decided upon a tariff you can begin paying a good monthly rate for your utilities that works for your budget. Rather than being placed on a deemed tariff by an existing supplier and overpaying for your business energy.  3 – Give your provider accurate meter readings  The next, most essential step, is getting accurate meter readings and supplying these to your energy company. Giving your provider meter readings as soon as you move into the premises will help to ensure your bills are accurate from the get-go.  4 – Consider installing business smart meters  Finally you should consider installing smart meters for your business. Not only will these provide you real-time insight into your energy usage but will send data directly to your energy provider, to save you the hassle of taking regular meter readings in the future.    Set up business energy with D-ENERGi  For an alternative energy supplier to the big 5 in the UK, consider starting a contract with D-ENERGi. We are a well-established energy provider, based in Manchester, supplying businesses of all sizes, including SMEs with competitive business energy prices for business gas, business electricity and water. Switch and save with D-ENERGi, get your free quote today.

Running a small business, whether you have your own cafe, boutique clothing store, repair shop, or florist, is not always easy. There’s lots to consider and plan for, and with a small team this can create a number of jobs for one or two people to juggle. One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is managing finances and keeping on top of this.  When it comes to managing business expenses like water, electricity, and gas, it is important to plan and prepare for increases and unexpected bills. Not only will this allow you to budget and avoid nasty surprises, you will be preventing these unexpected expenses from creating any damaging holes in the company wallet.   Why might you incur an unexpected expense?  Unexpected expenses can come from just about anything and anyone. Business expenses are guaranteed and are required to be paid in order to keep your business running. Although expenses like rent and business insurance are important, in this blog we are focusing on business utilities, which includes bills like energy and water.  Despite paying monthly for your business energy, it is not uncommon for business energy bills to rise and fall. The same can also be said for water bills. When your demand and usage for electricity, gas, and water increases, so too do your bills.  During uncertain times, such as a cost of living crisis or the global energy crisis that occurred between 2021-2023, energy costs can and will quickly change. Your business energy rates are therefore subject to change unexpectedly. Although business energy suppliers will give you some notice, market changes can happen overnight and may require a big increase to your monthly payments. Having some awareness of the risks that the market can pose on your expenses is important for ensuring you have some money put aside in case of such events.   Monitoring your small business energy charges  Monitoring your small business energy charges is important for a number of reasons: It can help you to identify areas where you can reduce your energy consumption, which can save you money on your bills. It can help you to identify any unusual spikes in your energy usage, which could be indicative of a problem with your equipment or infrastructure. It can help you to track your energy consumption over time, which can help you to set realistic energy efficiency targets. There are a number of ways to monitor your small business energy charges. One simple way is to keep track of your energy bills over time. This will give you a good idea of how much energy you are using and how much it is costing you. Another way to monitor your energy usage is to install a smart meter. Smart meters are devices that track your energy consumption in real time. They can be installed on your electricity and gas meters, and will provide you with a detailed breakdown of your energy usage by appliance or area of your business. This information can be particularly useful in helping you identify specific areas of your business where you may be able to cut down on energy usage and lower your energy costs overall.    Government support for small businesses While there are options for small businesses to help tackle unexpected costs, the UK government also offer a number of services and schemes to support small businesses. For example, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme which is currently running until April 2024. We have provided further information about applying for the scheme and the support offered on our blog.