Businesses can save pounds while reducing their impact on the environment by taking advantage of a new green business support service launched today by the London Development Agency and Atkins.
The London Environmental Support Service (LESS) website provides a one-stop-shop for businesses to access a network of environmental support providers in London, while also offering an online platform for providers and businesses to share knowledge, skills and experiences.
Charles Secrett, London Development Agency (LDA) board member, said: "LESS, the new LDA support service, is geared to help small and medium sized enterprises. All too often SMEs worry that the costs of change will outweigh the benefits. In fact, going green makes good economic sense. Saving energy, recycling wasted resources and reducing pollution can cut operating costs and improve competitiveness for small and big companies alike.
"It may seem a daunting proposition to change work practices, but the reality is far simpler provided the support is there. LESS will not only help London work towards a sustainable economy, but also improve the bottom-line for SMEs."
LESS will raise awareness amongst London's business community of the number of ways they can minimise waste at every stage of the business process and manage resources more efficiently - improving profits while reducing their impact on the environment. It will also build up a pool of quality-assured providers for businesses to use.
From next year, the LDA's Business Link support provider Business Link for London will be referring requests from businesses for the environmental assistance. In the meantime, there will be a link from its website to the LESS website.
Atkins has developed and will run the new business support service for the LDA. They were selected for the contract based on their expertise in environmental management and management consultancy.
Project Manager, Niraj Saraf from Atkins states: "Today marks a big step forward in improving the accessibility of environmental support to businesses in London. The challenges for us now are to ensure that LESS represents the full range of quality services available and then to deliver those services, and be seen to deliver them."
New member of the LESS service, Sarah Hamilton from Seltrans states: "Seltrans offers businesses and organisations free travel plan advice and support including incentives such as up to £5,000 match funding. We can see the service being very effective in ensuring companies get environmental advice from all services from transport to waste. It will benefit us by making more companies/organisations aware of the service we offer and therefore result in more sustainable travel plans across the region."
