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Buildings and energy

Through our partners we can offer independent, specialist advice on the energy performance of your buildings. With energy costs being a critical issue for many businesses, these services are in increasingly high demand.

We include general advice on buildings and energy as part of our environmental management systems package. Where more in-depth advice is then needed, we can arrange:

  • ‘Greening’ assessments. These assess the current state of your buildings and explore the options for insulation energy reduction and low or zero carbon alternatives for provision of heat, hot water and power. We then use commercial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Display Energy Certificate (DEC) software (iSBEM & ORCalc) to model various scenarios and provide estimates of the degree of improvement delivered by these measures. We provide indicative costs and cost savings so that you can clearly understand the most cost-effective approaches.
  • Independent feasibility assessments for renewable energy. These will set out your options for different renewable technologies, taking account of technical feasibility, energy/cost savings and income generation. They include cost information, income and payback calculations, estimated CO2 savings. We can cover solar, wind, biomass, heat pumps, anaerobic digestion, batteries, electric cars.

And much more.

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

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Environmental management and carbon consultancy for business

Together we bring decades of experience of supporting businesses just like yours to better manage their environmental impacts and reap the benefits of going green.

  • Do you want to engage your staff in the delivering your environmental and carbon objectives?
  • Do you need advice about a specific aspect of your business? Your packaging? Your procurement? Your supply chains?
  • Do you need help completing the environmental section of the BIA for a B Corp application?
  • Do you need help with your own carbon footprinting exercise?
  • Do you need help understanding how to approach carbon offsetting, carbon neutrality or net zero?
  • Do you need help to respond to tendering, funding or supply chain requirements relating to environmental and carbon management?
  • Do you need a Carbon Reduction Plan to meet the requirements of PPN 06/21?

Whatever your requirements, we would be happy to chat about a bespoke consultancy package for your business.

Book a call to discuss your requirements

“We’re at the start of our Carbon reduction journey and Tim has helped to guide us through our first footprint measurement. We now have a much better understanding of the process and the data we need to include in our footprint, he has also helped us to identify improvements we can make to get better data for future measurements.”

“Tim has given us the focus, structure and coordination that we needed to understand what net-zero is, how we are going to get there, and what our plan is. We hope to continue to work with him into the future.”

Sykes Holiday Cottages

Sykes Holiday Cottages
Langdale Estate

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

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Training on environment and carbon

We can build your knowledge and understanding of carbon and environmental management in business.

We run nationally accredited training courses for business owners, managers and employees. They can be accessed online or in-person.

Level 2 course

Perhaps you’re a business owner or manager with a need to build your knowledge and understanding of how to implement better environmental management and carbon management activities within your business?

Our Level 2 course, accredited by eta, will:

  • Introduce you to the importance of environmental responsibility
  • Build your understanding of how to design and implement an environmental management system that works for your business
  • Better equip you to drive improved environmental performance within your business
  • Outline the impacts of climate change on business and the importance of being prepared
  • Explain all of the key terms relating to carbon management and net zero
  • Guide you through the practicalities of estimating the carbon footprint of your business
  • Outline the key principles for developing a strategy for achieving net zero

Level 1 course

Or perhaps you’re looking for training to upskill team members and to help ensure effective implementation of your environmental ambitions as a business?

Our Level 1 course, accredited by eta, will:

  • Build understanding of the scope of environmental impacts generated by businesses
  • Explain climate change, its impacts and the urgency of the response needed
  • Provide a guide to business approaches environmental and carbon management
  • Build understanding of the roles that all team members can play in improving environmental and carbon performance in the workplace.

Delivery of the courses can be in a format that suits you, face-to-face or online.

Contact us to discuss your requirements.

Feedback on our Level 1 course:

“I’m now much more aware of how I can contribute to making my business more carbon friendly”

“I’ve identified specific steps we can take to reduce waste and energy use”

“We’ve identified more ways of reducing our carbon footprint”

“I’m now much more aware of the importance of conserving energy and reducing waste”

“We’ve learned valuable tips on how we can keep the environmental impacts of our practice at the forefront of our thinking”

“We’ve learned valuable tips on how we can keep the environmental impacts of our practice at the forefront of our thinking”

“I’m much more aware of what can be done in the workplace to improve environmental management”

“I will be encouraging the rest of my team to go through this training”

“I absolutely loved it and I do not feel there is anything I would change”

Feedback on our Level 2 course:

“I have learnt so much that I can take back to my business to help with our net zero objective. I also know that our team have all learnt and been inspired by this training”

“Really helpful information and guidance, with lots of signposting to further information throughout. Very motivating”

“I now feel more confident to develop an environmental management system and to calculate the carbon footprint for our business. It will definitely help us to take action”

“Great course, really informative, practical and engaging”

“This is really going to help us plan and prioritise the implementation of our environmental management strategy”

“Being part of the sustainability team, I can effectively use a lot of the information to improve our current work on sustainability”

“We are about to start the process of measuring the carbon footprint of our business so this was invaluable in giving us a foundation of knowledge and helped to clarify the issues that we had”

“I feel like I now have the knowledge and ability to measure and manage our emissions better, and inspire others to do the same”

“Helpful information”

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

Book a call

Get in touch

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Carbon footprinting

Want to be a net zero business? Unsure how to go about it or even what it means?

Need a Carbon Reduction Plan to meet tendering requirements?

‘Carbon footprinting’, ‘carbon neutral’, ‘climate positive’, ‘net zero’ – the list of buzzwords gets ever longer. Our net zero business support is designed to help you understand and apply them to your business.

We can produce a carbon footprint for your business and help you develop a clear net zero commitment.

Our approach to carbon footprinting:

  • follows international standards and protocols
  • emphasises the need to keep it manageable
  • determinedly avoids all ‘greenwash’

Our package of support includes this 3-step process:

1. You complete our online carbon scoping assessment, so that we know what needs to be included in your carbon footprint

2. We develop a bespoke data collection spreadsheet for your business and in a video call, talk you through all of the data that needs to be gathered

3. We will calculate your carbon footprint using the business data you have gathered and upload it to the Green Small Business portal, a single platform for tracking your carbon and environmental performance. We’ll also provide a plain-English briefing paper, which explains how we have calculated your footprint and provides recommendations for next steps and links to all of the resources you need.

And we’ll be available for any queries or problems that arise along the way.

Wondering how this relates to our environmental plan and certification package? Carbon footprinting works brilliantly alongside this package. It allows businesses to track the carbon benefits of taking the improvement actions identified in your environmental action plan.

“As an environmental business, measuring our carbon footprint was essential. We can now use our Environmental Action Plan to work towards reducing our footprint across all areas of the business. Tim is highly knowledgeable and great at tailoring the process to meet your business’ requirements.”

“Having a baseline number for the carbon footprint of our business allows us to measure changes that we make to reduce this. Without an actual figure, it is easy to think that what we are doing is lessening our environmental impact, when it may not be having the kind of impact we hoped. Being certified will show that we are serious in reducing the environmental impact of the business – not just ‘greenwashing’.”

“We’re at the start of our Carbon reduction journey and Tim has helped to guide us through our first footprint measurement. We now have a much better understanding of the process and the data we need to include in our footprint, he has also helped us to identify improvements we can make to get better data for future measurements.”

“Being Green Small Business certified means that when we approach funders we can demonstrate our commitment to the environment. This is something that most funders and grant-making organisations require now. If we couldn’t demonstrate this it’s highly likely we would lose funding opportunities to competitors.”

“Being a Certified Green Small Business is the perfect way for us to communicate our environmental commitment and credibility to clients, employees, and other stakeholders.”

“The carbon footprinting service provided some really useful and interesting results. The emissions we now target were not those we expected to see so it’s been a really useful benchmarking exercise.”

Reuseabox

Reuseabox
Rachel Bailey Garden Design Ltd
Sykes Holiday Cottages
Contact
UK for Good
Ramco

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

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Purchase footprinting package

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Environmental certification

Green Small Business certification can be achieved from only £199+tax per year.

It’s a trusted, small business-friendly alternative to ISO 14001 certification. Use it to demonstrate your environmental credentials, meet tendering or funding requirements or increase your BCorp impact assessment score.

We can do the work for you:

To gain certification, you will need to put an environmental policy and action plan in place for your business, and then demonstrate ongoing improvement in the management of your environmental impacts. You can prepare these documents yourself or let us take the strain.

If you purchase our environmental management system package we will do the necessary work for you and certification in the first year is included in the price.

Green Small Business certificate

Or you can develop the policy and action plan yourself:

  • The Green Small Business Handbook, is our free step-by-step guide, containing all the guidance you need to successfully create your own environmental management system. The handbook takes you step-by-step through the process of preparing your Environmental Policy and Environmental Action Plan.
  • You can also purchase our ‘Making it Easy’ pack, containing templates and examples of environmental policies and plans which can be used and adapted to suit your business.
  • When you’re ready, click here to order certification for your Green Small Business.
  • We will review your documents, help improve them where we can and issue your certification.

Requirements for certification

Every business is unique, and every environmental management system should be too.

To achieve Green Small Business certification, we won’t give you a list of standards or criteria to meet. Because your business is unique, we will simply look for two things:

  1. Do you have a stated commitment to improving the management of all of the significant environmental impacts of your business?
  2. Do you have a policy and action plan in place to deliver that commitment?

Each year, to renew your certification you will need to demonstrate ongoing improvement in the management of your environmental impacts.

It’s as simple as that. It means we welcome businesses of all types and all levels of environmental ambition.

woman viewing certificate

The ISO 14001 alternative for small business

ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems. Traditional environmental management systems like ISO 14001 can work really well for bigger businesses. In theory, they are also suitable for small businesses.

In practice, they require levels of time and money that are beyond what most small businesses can sustain. The evidence suggests that, when it comes to businesses at the smaller end of the scale, standard environmental management systems are often not fit for purpose.

That’s where Green Small Business comes in. We can work with you to develop a policy and action plan, following similar principles to ISO 14001 but allowing you to gain independent environmental certification in a way that is proportionate to the size and environmental impacts of your business.

Certification can be valuable for marketing purposes, meeting tendering requirements, increasing your BCorp score or just demonstrating your environmental credentials.

“As an environmental business, measuring our carbon footprint was essential. We can now use our Environmental Action Plan to work towards reducing our footprint across all areas of the business. Tim is highly knowledgeable and great at tailoring the process to meet your business’ requirements.”

The meeting we had with Tim really got us forward thinking in many areas we hadn’t previously considered. He really helped us focus & think of new ideas for the Business to lower our carbon footprint as much as possible. We had started involving carbon information for our staff & learners – now we feel we can move this forward to a higher more informative level. Thanks for all your help!”

“Having a baseline number for the carbon footprint of our business allows us to measure changes that we make to reduce this. Without an actual figure, it is easy to think that what we are doing is lessening our environmental impact, when it may not be having the kind of impact we hoped. Being certified will show that we are serious in reducing the environmental impact of the business – not just ‘greenwashing’.”

“Green Small Business certification will help decrease both the company’s and supply chain’s carbon footprint and it provides the credentials to support and develop our environmental policy.”

“We’re at the start of our Carbon reduction journey and Tim has helped to guide us through our first footprint measurement. We now have a much better understanding of the process and the data we need to include in our footprint, he has also helped us to identify improvements we can make to get better data for future measurements.”

“Being Green Small Business certified means that when we approach funders we can demonstrate our commitment to the environment. This is something that most funders and grant-making organisations require now. If we couldn’t demonstrate this it’s highly likely we would lose funding opportunities to competitors.”

“Being a Certified Green Small Business is the perfect way for us to communicate our environmental commitment and credibility to clients, employees, and other stakeholders.”

“The Green Small Business process has been practical and helpful. The certification allows us to shout more loudly about all our efforts on sustainability.”

“We want to help our clients improve their own social footprint simply by using us as their catering partner. Being a certified Green Small Business supports our own credentials, and has helped us focus on certain aspects that we hadn’t considered previously.”

“The whole process was really smooth and simple and we are delighted with the results.”

“The Green Small Business approach gives us a structure to work with and aim for, rather than feeling the task of being green feeling too big to achieve and beyond our finances.”

“It was great to get some affirmation for our efforts up to this point. What we found useful was the extra research that Green Small Business did for us and pointing us in the right direction.”

“We decided to do it because it’s a good thing for the business and help save on costs. The process is really simple, straightforward and convenient”

Reuseabox

Reuseabox
PHX Training
Rachel Bailey Garden Design Ltd
Designworks
Sykes Holiday Cottages
Contact
UK for Good
We hae meat
Fika Catering
Land and Sky Media
St Marks Stays
Shed 1 Gin
Ginger Bakers

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

Book a call

Get in touch

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Environmental management systems

Our streamlined approach to environmental management systems is ideally suited to SMEs and many bigger businesses too.

A Green Small Business environmental management system will help you understand the environmental impacts of your business and put a clear framework in place to help manage them more effectively. It will be specific to your business. We do not believe in off-the-shelf approaches – every business is unique.

And it is all managed within our user-friendly portal, allowing you to update and track your progress in one place. It’s also packed with useful guidance and links to further resources to help you improve your environmental performance.

You can also use the portal to store data on other key metrics, such as your carbon footprint. And we will store all of your key documents here too – policy templates, Green Small Business certificate and anything else that we think you might find useful.

Access to the portal is free for all Green Small Business certified businesses.

An overview of the Green Small Business Portal

You have two options for preparing your environmental management system:

1. Let us do the work for you

  • If you choose this option, we will set up a voice or video call with you to conduct a light-touch but systematic review of the environmental impacts of your business.
  • We can also facilitate a staff workshop to gather ideas, build awareness and generate buy-in.
  • We will use the information gathered on the call to prepare a draft environmental policy and action plan for your business.
  • Our action plans are hosted on our interactive online platform, making it super-easy to keep on track and monitor your progress.
  • Once you are happy with it, we’ll provide you with 12 months Green Small Business certification (included in the price).
  • Click here to place your order and we will contact you straight away.

2. Do it yourself

  • The Green Small Business Handbook, is our free step-by-step guide, containing all the guidance you need to successfully create your own environmental management system. The handbook guides you through the process of preparing your Environmental Policy and Environmental Action Plan.
  • You can also purchase our ‘Making it Easy’ pack, containing templates and examples of environmental policies and plans for you to use and adapt to suit your business.
  • When you’re ready, we can also provide independent certification for your Green Small Business environmental management system.
person viewing the Green Small Business portal

Environmental management – why bother?

For many, the most important reason for thinking about the environmental impacts of their business is simply because it’s the right thing to do. However, clients and customers are increasingly demanding environmentally-friendly practices. Surveys suggest that staff also look for good practice on environmental issues when looking for an employer.

Grant funding bodies often require some form of environmental management as part of their criteria for awarding funding to businesses. And if you are going for B Corp status, you can increase your score by having an externally certified environmental management system in place.

Your business can save money by understanding and managing better how you use and dispose of energy, water, and other resources. A UK Government study found that certified environmental management systems delivered cost savings for the majority of small businesses.

If you run a small business, or other type of small organisation, your time is precious. Simply doing the basics can be a big enough challenge from day-to-day. Thinking about managing your environmental impacts may feel like a tall order, which is why Green Small Business provides a clear, simple framework and all of the resources you need.

“As an environmental business, measuring our carbon footprint was essential. We can now use our Environmental Action Plan to work towards reducing our footprint across all areas of the business. Tim is highly knowledgeable and great at tailoring the process to meet your business’ requirements.”

The meeting we had with Tim really got us forward thinking in many areas we hadn’t previously considered. He really helped us focus & think of new ideas for the Business to lower our carbon footprint as much as possible. We had started involving carbon information for our staff & learners – now we feel we can move this forward to a higher more informative level. Thanks for all your help!”

“Having a baseline number for the carbon footprint of our business allows us to measure changes that we make to reduce this. Without an actual figure, it is easy to think that what we are doing is lessening our environmental impact, when it may not be having the kind of impact we hoped. Being certified will show that we are serious in reducing the environmental impact of the business – not just ‘greenwashing’.”

“Green Small Business certification will help decrease both the company’s and supply chain’s carbon footprint and it provides the credentials to support and develop our environmental policy.”

“We’re at the start of our Carbon reduction journey and Tim has helped to guide us through our first footprint measurement. We now have a much better understanding of the process and the data we need to include in our footprint, he has also helped us to identify improvements we can make to get better data for future measurements.”

“Being Green Small Business certified means that when we approach funders we can demonstrate our commitment to the environment. This is something that most funders and grant-making organisations require now. If we couldn’t demonstrate this it’s highly likely we would lose funding opportunities to competitors.”

“Being a Certified Green Small Business is the perfect way for us to communicate our environmental commitment and credibility to clients, employees, and other stakeholders.”

“The Green Small Business process has been practical and helpful. The certification allows us to shout more loudly about all our efforts on sustainability.”

“We want to help our clients improve their own social footprint simply by using us as their catering partner. Being a certified Green Small Business supports our own credentials, and has helped us focus on certain aspects that we hadn’t considered previously.”

“The whole process was really smooth and simple and we are delighted with the results.”

“The Green Small Business approach gives us a structure to work with and aim for, rather than feeling the task of being green feeling too big to achieve and beyond our finances.”

“It was great to get some affirmation for our efforts up to this point. What we found useful was the extra research that Green Small Business did for us and pointing us in the right direction.”

“We decided to do it because it’s a good thing for the business and help save on costs. The process is really simple, straightforward and convenient”

Reuseabox

Reuseabox
PHX Training
Rachel Bailey Garden Design Ltd
Designworks
Sykes Holiday Cottages
Contact
UK for Good
We hae meat
Fika Catering
Land and Sky Media
St Marks Stays
Shed 1 Gin
Ginger Bakers

Book a call or purchase

We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about Green Small Business or about managing the environmental impacts of your business, book a call with Tim or send us a message using the contact form.

Book a call
Purchase your EMS package

Get in touch

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