Loan opportunity for small firms

SMALL and medium businesses in the East of England are being advised by the British Chambers of Commerce to take advantage of improved access to more than £100million in interest-free and unsecured loans from the Carbon Trust.

The move is intended to help more businesses survive the recession by cutting both their energy costs and their carbon footprints.

Thousands of small businesses have already slashed their annual energy bills, some by as much as 75%, by installing new energy-saving equipment paid for by Government-funded Carbon Trust loans.

Among them is Hadleigh Castings Ltd, based in Hadleigh, which updated its largest compressor with a more efficient alternative using an interest-free loan from the Carbon Trust of £30,000.

Installed at the end of 2008, the new compressor is on target to save the company 78.92 tonnes of CO2 a year, reducing its energy bill by £11,330 based on today's prices.

Neville Warnes, managing director at Hadleigh Castings, said: “The Carbon Trust was very easy and helpful to work with. The loan is zero-interest, so you don't need to worry about rates increasing before you've paid it back. And you get the feeling they genuinely want you to receive the loan and get the work done.”

The Carbon Trust has now extended eligibility for the newly-expanded loan fund. The minimum loan amount has been lowered to just £3,000, putting the loans within reach of micro-businesses, while the upper limit has been doubled from £200,000 to £400,000 to meet the needs of small and medium businesses with high energy spends, such as manufacturing companies.

Many businesses taking a Carbon Trust loan to update their equipment find the savings they make on energy bills exceed the cost of the loan repayments. This means they benefit from brand new equipment, increased efficiency and reduced running costs, all at no expense to themselves, as well as helping to drive the UK's move to a low carbon economy.

David Frost, director general of British Chambers of Commerce, said: “In the current downturn cash is king and one of the first places struggling businesses should look to redeem cash is in their business premises where it's possible to eliminate energy wastage.

“The Carbon Trust loans scheme offers a practical solution for business survival through energy efficiency and we'd encourage businesses across the UK to take advantage of the funding available.”