Some 80 per cent of firms recycle, 77 per cent encourage greener behaviour from employees, and 64 per cent would consider introducing volunteering days for green causes
Britain's small businesses have a healthy appetite for promoting low-carbon behaviour, according to a new survey of 900 small and medium sized businesses in the UK and Ireland.
Conducted by merchant banking group Close Brothers Asset Finance in November 2018 and released yesterday, the survey uncovers high levels of enthusiasm for a range of actions designed to encourage greener behaviour amongst employees.
The vast majority of polled firms - 81 per cent - separate waste for recycling, the survey found, and in the engineering sector this figure rises to 92 per cent. Meanwhile, some 77 per cent of business owners said they actively encourage employees to be more environmentally responsible, such as by cycling to work or saving energy by switching off their computer at the end of the day.
Almost two thirds said they would even consider giving employees a day off to volunteer for environmental causes, according to the survey.
But despite the enthusiasm for behaviour change actions, the survey also uncovered resistance to more radical strategies. More than three quarters - 76 per cent - of business owners said cost is more important than environmental impact when it comes to procuring products - an attitude that could limit SMEs' ability to drive environmental improvements further down the supply chain.
Meanwhile employers were wary of allowing employees to work from home to cut a company's carbon impact, with only 45 per cent of those questioned supportive of the practice and 48 per cent rejecting the idea outright.
"These results clearly demonstrate the decisions business owners are faced with every day," said Neil Davies, CEO of Close Brothers Asset Finance. "On the one hand they really want to be ethical in the purchasing choices they make, but on the other they need to protect their profits."
But Davies said the broader enthusiasm for the green agenda suggests these attitudes could well change, especially as the price premium associated with many green products and services is eroded. "What is encouraging is that the will is obviously there; as less environmentally damaging products become available and, importantly, affordable, they will be considered by those making the purchasing decisions," he said.