“Even the best businesses can do more on energy efficiency”

Monitoring data is key for businesses starting their sustainability journey.

This is what John Hyde, Centrica’s Head of Sales told us.

He said: ‘I think for people at the start of their sustainability journey, they should look at their data. Monitor it, identify the hotspots and the emissions and then look at what kind of new technologies would have the most impact.

‘After that, it's about getting the right balance for the strategy. There's some quick wins like energy efficiency.

‘There are fabric upgrades, green supply contracts and they can unlock cost savings and you can reinvest them into bigger capex projects like heat pumps, upgrading a CHP system to run on hydrogen or solar.

‘And then finally, what I'd really urge people to do is to not wait around for government or regulations to force you.

‘[Legislation is] constantly changing but sustainable practises help business, it's good for business and it can be a differentiator for your customers too. So don't wait, just put these things into practise.’

He emphasised on the importance of using all available climate technologies to reach our net zero goals.

He said: ‘You've got different technology arms competing for the prize, where actually there's no silver bullet. All these different technologies will work together for a future better system.’

John told us that it’s important businesses embrace sustainable technology.

He said: ‘Things like heat pumps, solar, they're known quantities but people were previously hesitant to deploy them. [But] generating your own onsite energy protects you, protects against the volatility that we've seen in the market.’

But businesses are struggling to fund net zero projects, so what can be done?

‘We do a lot of research and over half of businesses we see are finding it difficult now to access funding to invest in these ways.

‘So we put our money where our mouth is. We support that kind of Opex financing and it's our own cash we're using, so there's no third parties, no banks, so people are getting a very good deal there.

‘But it's harder to quantify the cost of inaction, the opportunity cost, the people who are hesitant and sitting on the fence. But we're helping in that way with funding.’