Going green causing entrepeneurs to go red!

According to entrepreneur think tank, the Tenon Forum, the costs of ‘going green’ is dampening North West businesses appetite for tackling ‘the inconvenient truth.’ Research, implemented by Tenon, shows that 48 per cent of SMEs surveyed have failed to implement any environmental measures to date, and 25 per cent have no plans to do so in the future.

It appears that recycling and improving energy-efficiency is not worthwhile for the region’s SMEs, as nearly a third (30 per cent) believe the cost of adopting environmentally friendly measures outweighs the benefits for the business. This gloomy outlook follows the release of government estimates, suggesting that ‘going green’ has cost UK entrepreneurs £3.1billion over the past year.

And following last month’s so-called ‘green Budget’, Tenon Forum research suggests cynicism is rife amongst North West SMEs, as 62 per cent of owner-managers believe efforts to drive green business behaviour is motivated by the desire to win votes, rather than genuine concern for the environment.

However, 39 per cent of owner-managers agree that the UK tax regime should be used to encourage green practices among businesses, but 41 per cent agree this revenue should be ring-fenced to fund environmental initiatives.

Martin Kirby, Regional Managing Director at Tenon North West, comments: “It’s clear that UK entrepreneurs feel strongly about green issues and rightly so. Many small businesses are keen to exercise their green credentials and to reduce their carbon footprint, but this Government is simply making it too difficult and too expensive for them.

“Thousands of pounds worth of green taxes are stretching SMEs to their limit and, with the Government advocating green business practice so vehemently, it’s crucial they find ways of making this easier and suggest viable ways to do so. While most support implementing policies that reduce their environmental impact, they cannot do so alone. Entrepreneurs need the Government to motivate and reward best environmental practices so that green behaviour also makes a genuine difference to their bottom line.”