Commercial Energy Management
How to Reduce UK Business Energy Costs With an Energy Audit
Understand where your business is using energy, identify opportunities for savings, and take practical steps to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
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How to Reduce UK Business Energy Costs
If your business, like many others in today’s market, has been impacted by rising energy costs, you are not alone. With various geopolitical and economic factors at play, costs surrounding energy consumption are a significant portion of a business’s running costs.
When looking to reduce UK business energy costs, businesses often look at their energy contract as first priority. However, the price paid per unit is only part of the equation.
Businesses need to understand why, when, and where their energy is being consumed before deciding what needs to be changed. A commercial energy audit provides this starting point, offering practical, prioritised actions for reduction.
What Is a Commercial Energy Audit?
A commercial energy audit is a structured review of how your business uses and pays for energy. It is designed to look deeper into all aspects of your energy, including consumption, equipment, operating patterns and costs to identify where energy may be wasted and where improvements can be made.
An energy audit allows your business to:
- Measure your current standing
- Identify areas for improvement
- Prioritise what is commercially viable
- Implement certain changes based on your findings
- Monitor consumption for future improvements
An audit can examine:
- Electricity and gas consumption
- Energy bills and costs
- Operating hours
- Heating and cooling
- Lighting
- Machinery and equipment
- Building performance
- Metering and energy data
- Existing onsite generation
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Steps to Completing an Energy Audit
When working with a reputable energy consultancy like Advantage Utilities, conducting an energy audit is a seamless process. The energy consultancy will liaise with you on what information is needed, and from there, they will take care of the entire process.
The steps include:
- Appointing an Assessor
- Reporting on all energy use including electricity, gas, fleet
- Conducting an energy assessment to identify opportunities to increase efficiency
- Presenting findings to and achieve sign-off by a director listed on Companies House
- Submitting a notification of compliance to the Environment Agency
It’s important to note that energy audits must be carried out by accredited professionals with proven expertise in commercial energy efficiency and management.
With over 20 years of experience in commercial energy management, Advantage Utilities is uniquely placed to offer expert advice and bespoke solutions for your business.
How Does an Energy Audit Help Reduce Costs?
1. Understanding Where Your Energy Is Being Used
An audit undertaken by an energy consultancy gives you a comprehensive understanding of where your energy is going. By establishing your current position, you can identify where you are able to improve, using both low-hanging fruit and longer-term solutions to your business’s energy cost reduction strategy.
As Energy Consultancy of the Year, Advantage Utilities puts it, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.
To put it simply, an audit determines:
- How much energy is being consumed
- When it is being used
- Which buildings, processes or sites consume the most
- Any unnecessary out-of-hours usage
- Unexpected changes or patterns
For multi-site businesses, this can also involve comparing similar sites to identify unusually high consumption.
2. Identifying Energy Waste and Opportunities for Savings
Using the information from the audit, an energy consultancy can identify some realistic areas for improvement, for example:
- Heating and cooling
- Lighting
- Machinery and equipment
- Out-of-hours consumption
- Building controls
- Inefficient equipment
- Onsite generation opportunities
Overall, an energy audit will uncover opportunities for energy consumption reduction, lowering your carbon footprint, and ensuring compliance. It may also suggest renewable energy solutions and long-term strategies to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability.
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Energy Audit Requirements for Large Businesses
For large businesses, current regulations mandate energy audits for companies with 250 or more employees or those with an annual turnover exceeding £44 million and a balance sheet total over £38 million.
However, these criteria may evolve, so staying ahead by conducting comprehensive energy audits can save your business time and ensure long-term compliance.
Reduce Your Business Energy Costs With an Energy Audit
An energy audit is one of the quickest and most effective ways to ensure your business meets regulatory requirements while identifying opportunities for savings and efficiency.
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What Our Clients Say About Us
"Advantage not only offered a fully encompassing solution but took over and executed this perfectly. The board have been extremely pleased with the prices Advantage have gained for us and the company has managed to reduce its energy costs by 28% in the first year."
The Group Finance Director
The Caro Group
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Patrick Flynn, Senior Manager
The Urang Group
"Not only has my account manager allowed me to streamline my utilities, he has made my life so much easier. We achieved an overall 30-40% saving on our bills which made my bosses happy. It's people like him that give companies good names and will keep customers coming back."
Frankie Williamson
EQTR
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Melissa Maini, Director
Commercial & Co.
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