Staff switch-off: Frustrated bosses left to power down after hours

By AndrewBarrow

• Half of SME bosses left to turn off lights and machines when not in use


• Energy waste main worry, but third of small firms do not track consumption

Britain's workers are leaving the majority of small business bosses fuming and frustrated by leaving lights, equipment and machinery powered up at the end of the working day, a new survey by E.ON¹ has revealed.

Energy waste is one of the top irritations for seven out of ten small business bosses, creating tension in the workplace as two-fifths (38%) say they are the ones left to take sole charge of monitoring and managing their company's energy consumption.

Whilst minimising costs is the main motivation for SME leaders wanting to see greater workplace efficiency (69%), four out of ten said that a poor reputation for sustainability could lead customers viewing their business in a negative light. As a result, controlling energy waste is seen as the most important thing for maintaining business efficiency, behind accurate budgeting and collecting debt.

Older generations of business leaders appear to be more motivated, with 70% of bosses aged 35 to 54 tracking energy consumption, compared to half (50%) of respondents aged 18 to 34. The focus also varies across sectors, with catering and hospitality revealed as most proactive (72%) and professional services shown to monitor the least (63%).

Anthony Ainsworth, Sales and Marketing Director at E.ON, said: "It's positive to see many small business owners and managers proactively monitoring energy performance but it is understandably frustrating if you feel you're fighting that battle alone. Senior staff might not always have time to keep track of consumption, and businesses that are able to embed a culture of monitoring throughout the workplace will have a greater chance of improving overall business efficiency.

"To achieve this it's important all employees have greater visibility of their company's energy habits as well as understanding the implications of waste. At E.ON, we want to help customers address both of these needs, providing the tools and advice they need to gain better insight of their energy performance, and how to use no more than they need, but delivered in a way that helps them get on with the business of running a business."

The research of 1,000 small business decision-makers also provided insights on some of the measures small business leaders are taking to encourage a more positive attitude to workplace energy performance. Nearly half (43%) set improvement targets and a quarter align staff bonuses with overall business efficiency.

Other measures businesses said would help encourage staff to monitor energy consumption more closely include real time information showing use/waste (39%) and a breakdown of consumption across heating, lighting, machinery and equipment (36%).

E.ON's Energy Toolkit is a package of energy saving help and advice for small business customers, designed to give greater visibility on where and when energy is used, help detect waste and identify areas where changes can be made.

The service includes:

• A wireless electricity monitor with a real-time display showing when consumption is highest, allowing businesses to measure use by cost, kilowatt-hours and CO2 emissions


• A dedicated energy saving advice line and online hub with detailed information relevant to customers' specific industries


• A range of downloadable posters and staff engagement advice for customers to use within their business to encourage colleagues to take greater responsibility for saving energy.

Fig 1. Sectors monitoring energy consumption

SECTOR

Catering (72%)

Light industrial / Manufacturing (71%)

Construction (70%)

Retail (66%)

Agriculture / Farming (64%)

Professional services (63%)

Fig 2. Most commonly tracked utility uses

UTILITIES

Overall electricity consumption (85%)

Telephone / Broadband (79%)

Heating (68%)

Lighting (66%)

Overall gas consumption (58%)

Water (46%)

Machinery performance (29%)

Air Conditioning (14)

Ends

¹ Independent research carried out amongst 1,000 decision makers at UK small-to-medium sized enterprises, in November 2013

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating electricity, retailing power and gas, developing gas storage and undertaking gas and oil exploration and production. It is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. E.ON employs around 12,000 people in the UK and more than 72,000 worldwide;


• In the UK, E.ON supplies power and gas to around five million domestic, small and medium-sized enterprise and industrial customers. E.ON also offers innovative energy services and technologies tailored to meet its customers' needs, and is helping customers become energy efficient by encouraging them to insulate their homes, moderate their energy usage and even generate their own power;


• E.ON has been voted Britain's best energy supplier for the second year running in the uSwitch.com Customer Satisfaction Awards. The independent report and awards are published annually and are based on a YouGov poll of over 5,000 energy customers;


• E.ON discusses changes with its customers through its 28,000-strong YourSay panel and its 1,000-strong MySay employee panel, and also through conversations with consumer advocacy groups. Improvements made to date include new tools to help customers use no more energy than they need, simpler products, transparent profits, fair prices, easier contact, and the confidence to complain;


• E.ON's generation portfolio includes world-class gas-, coal- and biomass-fired power stations. E.ON is a market leader in combined heat and power (CHP), and is one of the UK's leading green generators;


• One of the many ways E.ON leads the energy industry is through its commitment to market liquidity and transparency as evidenced by its actions on the day-ahead UK power markets including the N2EX auction. E.ON was the first company to sign a gross-bidding agreement with N2EX.