Agenda item

SME = Small and Medium sized Enterprises.

A presentation from Nick King (Economic Development Manager), Karen Tolley (Principal Economic Development Lead) and Sara Le Roux from Oxford Brookes University.

Introduced by Nick King, Economic Development Manager. Karen Tolley (Principal Economic Development Lead) was also present to support the item. The slides would be provided with the minutes.

Members were updated on decarbonisation projects for small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) and the research carried out on this, before a report was published publicly.

Sara Le Roux from Oxford Brookes Business School presented and provided some results from the research carried out and the findings. She talked about barriers to action, the appetite and priority given to environmental issues by smaller businesses. Grants would be earmarked for environmental sustainability projects.

Economic Development Manager discussed that this was a pilot scheme, as future funding was unknown, and ran through the planned process, and the support and tools that were being planned for businesses who wanted to get involved. A draft grant policy was being circulated for grants up to £10k. Projects would need to demonstrate the value a project would have for sustainability/carbon reduction. There may be up to 20 grants offered in this pilot scheme.

Principal Economic Development Lead added that business engagement events, business breakfasts and a festival had been arranged. She mentioned the need for solutions to issues with business landlords that renting businesses may have, and the need to reach out to landlords.

Members asked questions and made suggestions:

·       A member suggested that the type of customer would differ and react differently to changes in behaviour in a SME. For example, direct individual customers or other companies who may be looking to get their own accreditation. Could add emphasis on keeping up to date on sustainability in order to gain business, as those who do will be selected more often.

·       A member suggested we needed to look at different sectors and how different the roadmap may look per sector. Should focus on the most polluted, for example, construction, and look at interventions. Can we look at micro businesses as well?

·       It was confirmed that five outcomes would be monitored after grant acceptance, the grant recipients would agree to provide the data. Officers hoped to build case studies. It was confirmed that support would be in place to help people to apply, as described there would be events, guides and also the climate team had supported this work.

·       A member suggested that generic accreditation would be preferable to industry-specific accreditation.

·       Do we have a sense on minimum hurdle rates from other areas? Sara Le Roux explained that small businesses she had consulted with wanted a more sustainable product, but there were issues of higher costs. Cost savings were obtained from green energy and energy saving, but those were quick wins, and there was a block towards the next more expensive stage (such as retrofitting). Economic Development Manager added that energy cost was a topic asked about, for support. The aim would be to start people on a sustainable journey, so this could begin with small changes. Therefore it was difficult to quantify at this point and there was not much national data yet.

·       Platforms were discussed, and the variety there were on the market, and varying preferences, measuring tools and the need for dedicated sustainability staff in businesses. There may be market leaders in due course. It could be a longer-term consideration, however the funding available was not sufficient at present to consider a platform.

·       A catalogue of local providers was raised by a member as a useful tool. What can we do as a committee? Officers would like members to communicate and promote the pilot when announced. Officers welcomed any feedback.

·       Data being a carbon issue. A member asked whether some funding could help businesses to make carbon cuts through their data and web services. This was an example of an issue that affects all. It was confirmed that it would be the topic of an upcoming business breakfast.

Officers and guest were thanked for their time.