Savings of more than £3,000 a year could be hidden in the nation’s independent retailers, according to energy supplier npower.

These savings have been released as part of npower’s ongoing work to help small businesses turn the spotlight on how much money they could save by finding simple ways to use less energy. The findings are from a programme of energy saving audits at real businesses including a convenience store in Birmingham. 

The energy saving audit used the business’ average annual expenditure on energy to reveal approximate energy savings including:

-       £1,152  from implementing voltage optimisation

-       £1,000 from increasing staff awareness of energy consumption and implementing real-time energy monitoring

-       £600 from air conditioning maintenance and changes to temperature set points

-       £184 from lighting improvements

-       £150 from lighting occupancy control

-       £62 from fitting blinds to open fronted fridges and chillers.

A series of infographics has been released to bring the results of the audits to life and demonstrate the opportunity to make tangible bottom line reductions through energy saving.

Phil Scholes, SME Sales & Marketing Director for npower, commented: “We know many retailers are busy with the day-to-day operation of their stores, so we work in partnership with them to help identify where energy savings can easily be made.  Our energy saving audits show just how many hidden savings there are within businesses and how these can add up to significant sums of money. 

“We’d encourage any retailers looking for help on how they can save to contact us for advice.”

 For more information on finding the hidden savings in a business, visit www.npower.com/businessenergysaving