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Businesses save on average more than £10,000 on energy bills and cut CO2e by 26 tonnes when they work with MaCaW. And with match funding of up to £15,000 for bringing low carbon technology to your business, there’s never been a better time to get on board.   Spring flowers. Chances are you passed some beautiful ones on your way into work this morning. Perhaps they’re in full bloom in your garden right now. Of course, they didn’t just materialise. They’re the result of the work put in late last year, because spring bulbs take a little while [...]

If 2030 is your carbon reduction deadline, MaCaW can help you meet it. 2030 feels significant. In 2018 it was the “line in the sand” the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chose for limiting the effects of climate change. Since then, we’ve seen more and more organisations take 2030 as their deadline for zero carbon operations. Amazon, AstraZeneca, Microsoft and Sky are just some of the high profile organisations committing to being carbon neutral by the turn of the next decade. Of course, it’s not just the responsibility of global megabrands to decarbonise. It’s everyone’s responsibility and [...]

The Making Carbon Work (MaCaW) ERDF project was awarded to the University of Central Lancashire in 2017. MaCaW helps SMEs in Lancashire to reduce their carbon footprint, save money on energy costs and provide grant funding to purchase low carbon technology. The MaCaW Project has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund alongside the University of Central Lancashire as part of a drive to reduce the planet’s carbon footprint and is completely FREE of charge to Lancashire SMEs. The project has an in-house team but needs to supplement this with freelance ad hoc support in several areas for a limited [...]

MaCaW’s Professor Karl Williams shares how Lancashire SMEs can futureproof their businesses for a low carbon future. The business sector in the UK accounts for at least 18% of natural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to BEIS. To support a low carbon future the Government has now announced its commitment to a netzero GHG target by 2050 in a bid to tackle the climate emergency. It has fallen on industry to find responses and action plans to achieve the revised target which has now moved from 80% to 100%. Businesses will no longer be able to ignore such [...]

You know your profit, your turnover, your margins. You probably see your overheads in your sleep. So is it time more businesses knew the numbers regarding their carbon footprint? Management guru Peter Drucker’s quote “What gets measured, gets managed”  remains applicable to a surprisingly large range of circumstances, including energy consumption and carbon footprint. Want to cut the per unit cost of an item you produce? Or increase profit? Or widen margins? You’ll need to measure production time, output and cost and volume of raw materials before you can understand which ‘levers to pull’. The same is unquestionably [...]

Carbon efficiency: make it part of your tendering. It’s not just the environment that stands to benefit. Sustainability is often seen as an internal process. It’s something a business focuses on to reduce costs, cut emissions and improve processes. For many, it’s not something to shout about. Yet increasingly, sustainability isn’t merely an internal matter. Moving to a low carbon way of working can make a positive difference to the outcome of your tenders in a number of ways. Here’s why: It’s expected For some time, public sector tenders have contained a CSR / environmental element. As what [...]

Think MaCaW is too good to be true? It could add thousands to your bottom line. It could cut your carbon emissions by up to 69%. The whole process could be done in just a couple of weeks. Oh, and it really is FREE. Think MaCaW is too good to be true? Take a look at our mythbusters. Tell anyone that the service you provide is free but that you have to act now before time runs out and, well, we’ve all put the phone down on calls like that. But just occasionally, something that seems too good [...]

Helping Lancashire businesses cut energy costs and carbon emissions - for free. We’ve yet to meet a business that didn’t want to do more to make its processes leaner and greener. Cutting carbon means cutting energy, and the more energy you cut the more money you save. It’s a virtuous circle, and one Lancashire businesses can now access more easily thanks to MaCaW. MaCaW helps Lancashire SMEs to reduce their carbon footprint and save on energy costs by producing a comprehensive energy report that offers energy saving recommendations. Then we can provide matched grant funding of up to [...]

6 behavioural changes you can make Cut your carbon footprint to benefit your bottom line There are lots of things you can do to save money and cut your carbon emissions. Upgrading to energy efficient appliances, switching to smart metering, investing in renewable energy sources and installing insulation can all make a big difference. But sometimes, making changes doesn’t require a major investment – it just needs everyone to think about their actions and modify their behaviour. Here are six ways that a change of behaviour could benefit your energy efficiency: 1. Turn off the lights Natural light [...]

Make the most of support available for Lancashire SMEs Mark Nelson, Business Engagement Officer, MaCaW Project, University of Central Lancashire According to the Carbon Trust, 67 per cent of consumers support the demand for “green” products and there is a wealth of free support available to SMEs across the county. As businesses grow and enter new supply chains, it is becoming a common requirement to demonstrate the commitment to reducing carbon footprints. For many businesses, this is a daunting task. However, there are plenty of simple ways that businesses can address this, with additional benefits including significant cost [...]