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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 [...]

Cut energy bills and emissions by plugging into low-carbon project The MaCaW Team produced an article for Lancashire Business View in April 2019 to showcase the superb offer available to Lancashire SMEs. Below is the article and we again thank the LBV team for producing this for us! Lancashire SMEs can improve their bottom line by adopting low energy practices and processes while helping shrink the county’s carbon footprint. The University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan’s) Making Carbon Work (MaCaW) project enables firms to exploit opportunities to improve energy performance as well as identifying areas where carbon-reducing technology can [...]

Engineering a low-carbon solution Lancashire engineering business Electropak is benefiting from a greener, lower-cost future thanks to our work through the Making Carbon Work (MaCaW) project. Preston-based Electropak worked with MaCaW’s expert advisers to identify ways to shrink its carbon footprint as well as its energy bills. The company is now applying for grant funding for 50 per cent of the cost of carbon-saving measures installed as a result of the scheme. Assessing Electropak’s business and energy needs Established April 1986, Electropak turns over £2.5m and employs nearly 30 staff to manufacture complete engineering projects. Its services include [...]