Owners/ Managers Of UK Businesses Lack Support From Government On Being More Environmentally Friendly
Small businesses want tax benefits and better information and advice
Newcastle, 20 November 2007: The annual Sage Heartbeat survey conducted amongst its customers has found that whilst nearly 80 per cent of owners/ managers of UK businesses surveyed feel that it is important to be environmentally friendly, only 12 per cent feel that the Government is doing enough to ensure that UK businesses are as environment-friendly as possible. A question on the same topic was asked in 2006 and achieved a similar level of agreement with 14 per cent of respondents stating the Government does enough to ensure that UK businesses are as environment-friendly as possible, implying that despite the current high profile nature of the topic, businesses still feel that little has been done to help them.
The findings are part of the 2007 Sage Heartbeat Survey of owners/ managers of UK businesses,. Conducted by YouGov Plc, the survey of 2,017 owners/ managers examines the current trends and issues of business life in the UK and gathers opinions on attitudes towards the environment, levels of government support for small businesses and the status of women in business.
Respondents were asked what they would like the government to do more of to encourage businesses to be as environmentally friendly as possible. They put the following three changes at the top of their wish-list:
• 78 per cent said they would like more tax benefits
• 75 per cent said more easy-to-implement measures
• 55 per cent would like the government to do more to raise awareness of the benefits of being environmentally friendly
Jo Ray, Managing Director of Sage’s Small Business Division comments, “Our survey showed that whilst the majority of owners/ managers feel that it is important to be environmentally friendly, very few think that there are financial advantages in being so. Despite this, and the fact that environmental issues dominate the news agenda, it is clear that the Government is still not doing enough to support British business in their plight to adopt practices that are not only more environmentally friendly, but also cost-effective. The good news is that many businesses still want to make a difference and want to make environmental initiatives work.”
The survey suggests that whilst people regard the environment as important to their business, there is still work to be done in terms of making it not only financially viable, but also a priority in the workplace. Owners/ managers of businesses without a policy surveyed stated their main reasons for not having one is a result of more important priorities for their business (36 per cent), not having enough resources (26 per cent) and not having enough time (25 per cent).
Anne Stringer, Managing Director of RSVP, a dating website based in Northampton, comments, “It’s actually very difficult for businesses to be more environmentally friendly in the current climate. There are numerous initiatives around for helping individuals to recycle, but when you’re a company everything comes with a cost and there are no incentives that I know of for companies. It’s really frustrating.”
The study also revealed that not much has changed when it comes to businesses having their own environmental policies. When asked if they currently have a policy 40 per cent of owners/ managers surveyed responded positively. A question on the same topic was asked in 2006 and achieved a similar level of response with 43% stating their company had an environmental policy. This year, almost a quarter (24 per cent) said that they would implement a policy within the year.
