A recent survey of 500 business owners conducted by Yü Energy has revealed that introducing new energy efficiency measures (38 per cent), cutting back on marketing (38 per cent) and reducing staff (30 per cent) are the most common money-saving factors that retail businesses have put in place since the beginning of the pandemic.
This comes despite energy being the second-highest cost to businesses after tax. Yü Energy’s survey findings reveal that retail business owners are not quite energy-savvy, with one in 10 (12 per cent) admitting they don’t know what type of energy tariff they are currently on or when their current plan is up for renewal (14 per cent).
Yü Energy’s figures show that retail businesses could be overspending on their electricity bill by an average of 44 per cent and gas bill by 65 per cent if they are on a deemed tariff. A business in the retail sector with the average floor area of 1,000sqm could be overspending as much as £14,031 if its energy tariff is out of contract. Yet two thirds (37 per cent) of business owners admit the last time they changed energy provider was three years ago, with end of contract fees (44 per cent) and current energy accounts being in debt (23 per cent) and worries of poor customer service being the main blockers for retail businesses to save energy and reduce the cost of their energy bills.
During the height of the pandemic, nearly two fifths (38 per cent) of retail businesses introduced energy efficiency measures to help reduce their business costs as eight in 10 (83 per cent) retailers think they pay too much for their energy tariff. Despite the new measures, the survey findings reveal that many businesses within retail aren’t paying attention to their energy usage. More than a quarter (26 per cent) admit they don’t know their businesses daily energy usage and nearly half (45 per cent) admit to not knowing their business’ energy profile.
Many retail businesses do admit to having energy monitoring methods in place. Almost half state they use energy-efficient appliances (47per cent), energy-efficient lighting (46 per cent) and switch unused devices off (46 per cent). One third (32 per cent) of business owners admit to not knowing their businesses EPC rating and almost a fifth (17 per cent) admit they don’t monitor their daily usage which is leading to excess waste in energy and higher energy bills.
Businesses with a better EPC rating of (A to C) will typically save 25 per cent more on their electricity bills and 46 per cent on their gas compared to the average business in their sector. Highlighting the monetary benefits that energy-efficient measures can bring.
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