Small businesses that implement a number of energy saving measures stand to cut more costs than those companies which employ less or none at all, claim environmental experts.

Envirowise suggests that businesses which ’embed sustainability into their business plan’ will see more savings than those that only focus on individual areas.

Martin Gibson, programme director at Envirowise, says there are many low or zero cost environmentally-friendly options SMEs can take.

‘Just think of printing double sided. That one small step alone saved a training consultancy £40,000,’ she says.

If SMEs employ a strategy to tackling environmental issues and appoint certain employees to champion the cause, then ‘anything is possible,’ adds Hill.

According to Envirowise, there is a high level of environmental awareness among SMEs.

Research carried out between May and June 2007 showed that 79 per cent of SMEs regard energy efficiency as important, while 48 per cent are more active than they were a year ago in making savings.