Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has secured further funding to support businesses in the region to reduce carbon emissions in a bid to tackle the climate emergency.
Working in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the newly launched REBiz programme succeeds the Resource Efficiency Fund and provides advice and funding to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reduce their energy, carbon, water and waste consumption and ultimately save money on their energy bills.
The Combined Authority and the LEP are working with their partners to deliver a programme of activity to help create a net-zero carbon City Region by 2038 with significant progress by 2030.
To support clean growth, through the LEP Growth Service, SMEs can access free efficiency audits, advice and up to 40 per cent funding towards capital investment projects. They can also access support to develop a circular economy business model, helping keep materials in use for as long as possible to get the maximum value from them and reduce waste.
Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of LEP and NP11 said:
“I am delighted that through the Growth Service, we are continuing to prioritise clean growth support for businesses and helping them to become more resource-efficient.
“Our REBiz programme is a brilliant opportunity for businesses to benefit from expert advice and funding to reduce their impact on the environment.
“I’d encourage all businesses to get in touch and apply for a free resource efficiency audit and find out how they can save money on their energy bills.”
Through the Resource Efficiency Fund, the LEP supported over 700 SMEs, provided over 370 free resource efficiency audits and funded 160 projects to save businesses £663,000, 7.7million kWh of energy, and 2,422 tCO2 every year.
Halifax-based business, Azo reduced their gas bills by a third and halved their energy costs with support from Resource Efficiency Fund.
Julian Plant, Managing Director at Azo Ltd said:
“Getting in touch with the LEP and Resource Efficiency Fund is an easy way to save a lot of money very quickly. We’re a company that has been here for 25 years and we want to be here for another 25 years, so this is safeguarding our future.”
REBiz is receiving investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment delivered by the Combined Authority to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
For more information, call the LEP Growth Service on 0113 348 1818 or email [email protected]. Further information can be found at the-lep.com/resource