1 in 2 Irish businesses have no environmental policy

One in two (50%) Irish businesses do not have any environmental policy in place according to a recent survey by RED C Research on behalf of Bord Gáis Energy.

• 50% of Irish businesses surveyed do not have any environmental agenda.
• Only 40% of Irish businesses encourage employees to be energy efficient in the workplace
• 55% would consider reducing energy usage in order to save money, in favour of other cost saving measures including; supply chain savings
• (22%), reducing marketing spend (10%), outsourcing staff (9%) and cutting CSR programmes (4%)
• In 2017, less than a quarter (24%) of businesses reduced energy usage to save money
• Bord Gáis Energy has launched Centrica Business Solutions to the Irish market to help businesses significantly reduce energy consumption and bills.

The research found that despite 55% of businesses admitting they would consider reducing energy usage in order to make important business savings, only one in four (24%) have actually taken measures to lower energy usage in the last year. Furthermore, just 40% of businesses are actively encouraging employees to be energy efficient in the workplace.

The research, conducted among 200 key decision makers in businesses across Ireland, coincides with the recent launch of Centrica Business Solutions into the Irish market. Centrica Business Solutions aims to help Irish businesses cut day to day costs, be more energy efficient and gain competitive advantage.

Of the 34% of businesses that do include energy efficiency in their environmental agenda, monitoring and reducing energy usage is a priority for them.

Centrica Business Solutions

Centrica Business Solutions, provided by Bord Gáis Energy offers Irish businesses an unrivalled range of innovative solutions to help businesses deliver improvements in operational performance, strengthen resilience, create opportunities for growth and reduce energy spend.

Solutions include Panoramic Power - an energy insight product that provides users with real-time visibility of their energy usage, from overall site level down to device level – and Combined Heat & Power (CHP) - a highly efficient source of onsite energy generation. Bord Gáis Energy’s team of experienced Key Account Managers also work in partnership with business customers and offer tailored advice on energy optimisation, which in turn can lead to smarter procurement strategies.

Panoramic Power at Glanbia

Bord Gáís Energy has used its unique understanding of Glanbia’s energy usage and consumption trends to advise on the installation of Panoramic Power sensors at its Kilkenny facility. The sensors were installed following a detailed site survey facilitated by Bord Gáis Energy and which highlighted the site’s main energy users.

Commenting on the introduction of Panoramic Power to Glanbia, Paul Grant, Glanbia’s procurement manager said,"Bord Gáis Energy worked with us to install Panoramic Power at one of our Kilkenny sites in March of this year, and already we have identified areas around the site where we can take action to reduce our energy usage. The live reporting and alerts available from the system, allows greater insight into our business energy usage."

Speaking about the new research Deirdre Threadgold, I/C and Energy Services Category Manager at Bord Gáis Energy said,"At Bord Gáis Energy we’re committed to providing solutions that empower our business customers to take control of their energy usage. The research has provided interesting insights into how businesses view energy usage and energy bills. Irish businesses need to be aware of the importance of implementing energy efficiency practices in the workplace both from a commercial and environmental perspective. Bord Gáís Energy can advise on the best solutions to reduce energy consumption and bills."

"We brought Centrica Business Solutions to the Irish market earlier this year and are really excited to see how it is going to help businesses. Bord Gáis Energy can now offer an unrivalled suite of end to end energy management solutions that will help businesses to remain in control of their energy and turn their energy footprint into a source of competitive advantage. The feedback from those currently using the solutions, including Glanbia, has been extremely positive with reports of improvements in energy consumption and significant cost reductions."

For further information please contact:

Ann-Marie Lowry, Teneo PSG – annmarie.lowry@teneopsg.com/
087 4111228
Naomi Steen, Bord Gáis Energy – nsteen@bordgais.ie
086 7015226

About Centrica

Centrica plc is an international energy and services company. Everything we do is focused on satisfying the changing needs of our customers. Established in 2015, Centrica Business Solutions is the brand name for our global Distributed Energy & Power business and has operations across over 5,000 customer sites in 35 countries. Centrica plans to invest £700 million into Distributed Energy & Power by 2020.

About Bord Gáis Energy

Established in 1976, Bord Gáis Energy is an energy supply and services company which, in 2014, became part of the global Centrica plc Group. Bord Gáis Energy supplies energy and services to over 730,000 residential and business customers and, through its HomeCare brand, offers a range of boiler maintenance and repair services and innovative home automation products, including Hive Active Heating. Now, with the formation of Centrica Business Solutions, Bord Gáis Energy can offer an unrivalled portfolio of commodity supply and distributed energy solutions that improve operational efficiency, increase resilience and inspire growth. For further information on Centrica Business Solutions, visit https://www.centricabusinesssolutions.ie/

About the RED C research

RED C Research & Marketing Ltd undertook research, on behalf of Bord Gáis Energy, to understand the attitudes and behaviours towards energy and energy efficiency among businesses in Ireland. Interviews were carried out by the RED C Research team between 6th and 18th June 2018. RED C conducted 200 interviews via telephone with company decision makers for energy services. These interviews were conducted across a wide range of sectors (from agribusiness to manufacturing to retail and more), with decision makers in companies of 20+ employees across Ireland.