As practically all people are aware, there has been a significant increase in energy prices this year. With a price increase of 54% in April and more increases expected in October this sudden jump in costs has hit everyone hard both personally and professionally. As a result; many businesses are scrambling to find ways to streamline and reduce their overheads in order to try and cover the impact of both the energy cap rise and inflation. With that in mind here are our top tips to help your office survive these tumultuous times.
Tip 1: Know How Much You Use And How Much You Waste
Every year businesses in the UK waste over £60 million in energy usage. With utilities equating to one of the greatest overheads a business will face, combined with the growing climate crisis and spike in energy prices, business need to address their usage and know where their money is being spent. One of the most important things a business must do is to know exactly where their money is going!
As many people can attest, the introduction of smart metres where we can see exactly how much energy we are using can be a great tool for curbing your energy usage. With that said, the combination of high energy prices and a smart metre can become an obsession. We recommend going round your office making a simple list of what items use energy and how essential they are. By doing this you can get a clearer idea of what you are using and where you might be wasting energy.
It is important to empower your employees and include them in the discussions and steps towards a more sustainable and affordable office. Encouraging staff to be more aware of their personal energy usage and utilise schemes such as carpooling; little individual changes can add up to make a significant difference.
Tip 2: Make Smart Swaps and Clever Choices
Although many of these suggestions may seem common sense it's easy for things to fall in between the cracks when juggling managing a business. Some smart swaps you can make to reduce your office energy usage include:
- Consider insulation and green energy alternatives
- Maximise the usage of natural light and airflow instead of artificial light and air con.
- Utilise the hibernation feature on devices and switch off appliances when not in use, that trickle charge all adds up!.
- Consider upgrading equipment and devices to more efficient alternatives
- Go paperless
- Review in office perks like bottled water and individual tea and coffee runs for more sustainable alternatives such as filtered tap water and pots of tea or coffee where the kettle only needs to be boiled once.
- Get an energy audit of your office done.
Tip 3: Share The Love
One of the best and probably most efficient ways to streamline your company's overheads can actually be through office sharing. We all have those desks tucked away in our office which have become a dumping ground for equipment or used for the odd temp or intern but what many business owners don't realise is that these areas can be so much more than just wasted space. In fact, these spare spaces are not only a source of extra revenue but also go a long way towards helping you to reduce your company's overheads. One of the hardest balances a business or office owner must strike at this time is how to streamline their costs without compromising their business and their values.
However, one of the most commonly overlooked resources which a business has is their office space. By sharing your office space with other companies it can become a much needed source of revenue as well as a fantastic opportunity to grow your network, share skills and collaborate with other businesses in the same or complimentary industry to you. So whether you are trying to accommodate more staff working remotely, streamline your overheads or simply harness your businesses full potential, shared office space could really help you achieve your goals!
