According to research conducted by E.ON, the UK’s small businesses could save £7.7 billion a year if they were as energy efficient as possible in the workplace. Figures reveal that out of the 4.8 million small businesses in the UK, almost four million are not benefiting from the potential energy savings.

E.ON is concentrating on encouraging businesses in the UK to become energy efficient, especially as the research shows that only 21 percent of companies have equipment that is energy saving in the work environment. The worst offenders when it comes to implementation of energy saving devices and equipment are the professional services and financial sectors. Surprisingly, 97 percent of the companies in the financial sector didn’t realise that they could potentially save £2000 every year by implementing energy efficiency.

Small businesses aren’t installing energy saving devices or taking other measures to save money and reduce energy consumption. Just under 90 percent of businesses don’t have motion sensors or timing devices on lights in the work environment. The windows are being left open while the heating or air conditioning is on by 13 percent.

Energy efficiency can cause friction in the workplace, as 87 percent consider their colleagues to be irresponsible in the approach to saving energy. The research also revealed that a company’s attitude towards being energy efficient had a huge impact on the happiness of employees. The head of business sales at E.ON, Iain Walker said:

“With energy saving playing a key role in employees’ happiness in the workplace, taking a more efficient approach makes sense. It’s a win, win, win situation- saving your business money, helping protect the environment and improving the happiness of employees.”

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