Business Climate Challenge 2022
In 2023 Bankside took part in the Mayor of London’s Business Climate Challenge which provided free, comprehensive expert support to London SMEs, challenging them to reduce their energy consumption by 10% over the year. More than 200 businesses across London took part, including 37 from Bankside.
SMEs are a vibrant and vital part of our economy, representing 99% of the business population and accounting for 40% of the UK’s non-domestic emissions. While small businesses are concerned about climate change, barriers such as limited skills, time, funding, and knowledge have often made it difficult to take action—especially in the face of challenges like COVID recovery, Brexit, and the cost of living crisis.
Better Bankside participated in a pilot of the Business Climate Challenge in 2019, where 19 businesses reduced their energy consumption by an average of 16%, resulting in cost savings of £8,300. Collectively, the cohort cut carbon emissions by 213 tonnes CO2e. The programme was then expanded to include over 200 businesses across London in 2023.
By the end of 2023 12 outstanding Bankside businesses reached the 10% energy savings target, including King’s College London, OpenCredo, Boro Bistro, PensionBee, Flying Fantastic, Brands2Life, Makower Architects, Lumiere London, MI Media, The Team, Glaziers Hall and KBH ON-Train Media.
We were particularly proud of our Bankside businesses, which received technical support before March 2023, whose energy consumption was reduced by an impressive average of 20.6%, compared to a London-wide average of 4.3%.
Participating businesses will continue monitoring their energy savings through the io-gen dashboard, which provides a real-time visualisation of energy use and progress toward the 10% savings goal. We will keep celebrating businesses that meet their targets and continue supporting them in their energy-saving journey.
What’s next?
Off the success of this project, we launched the Southwark Climate Collective. Better Bankside was awarded £650,000 through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to continue and expand the Business Climate Challenge for SMEs across Southwark, focusing on energy, waste, freight, and supply chains.
With free, tailored, end-to-end support through the Southwark Climate Collective, we are assisting 160 SMEs on their sustainability journey throughout 2024.
To learn more, visit the project’s website or contact Sadie Hodgson, Sustainability Manager, at sh@betterbankside.co.uk.
