The event covered subjects like funding opportunities for businesses looking to reduce carbon and save energy, vehicle options, electric car and Green Wave App.
The event was organised by Coventry City Council through the Coventry & Warwickshire Green Business Programme. It took place on 29/06/2018 at the Coventry Transport Museum and 35 organisations participated.
It started with a message about the council’s vision for sustainable energy, describing grants and support available for local businesses employing less than 250 people that are looking to reduce carbon and save energy.
It followed M. Woollacott from Greenwatt with an informative overview on the vehicle options available to businesses in terms of Battery Electric Vehicle, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen power.
D. Hayes from CheckedSafe introduced Green Wave, a specially-designed App that delivers real-time traffic light data to city centre drivers. The aim is to transform fleet driver behaviour by helping to reduce highway maintenance fleet emissions and improve fuel efficiency in the process. A. Leech from Fleet Evolution highlighted that cost comparisons are needed to prove that the greener the car, the bigger the saving; while J. McKemey from Pod Point, the UK's leading provider of electric vehicle charging, showed how they are helping people adopt clean transport in their everyday lives by building a network of intelligent charging stations.
At the end of the event the guests had the chance to travel on the new 4D Land Speed Record Simulator and touring the Coventry Transport Museum which hosts the world's largest collection of British road transport.
Resources needed
The Green Business Programme, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, has a dedicated Marketing and Events Coordinator.
A budget of £800 is allocated per event.
Evidence of success
After the event, a questionnaire was sent to each attendee to collate feedback and had a satisfaction rate of 96%.
Moreover, about a month later, all the small and medium local organisations who received grants or free energy audits through the Programme, were surveyed. The results showed that all organisations reduced their carbon footprint through new energy efficient measures, while more than 58% of the businesses have seen a reduction in their energy costs.
Difficulties encountered
Building a network of interested organisations takes time. Eighteen months ago, the Green Business Network had 40 organisations but through marketing, a strong presence at relevant events and word of mouth from delivery partners the network now consists of over 860 organisations.
Potential for learning or transfer
High for those interested in engaging with local business to make them aware of the Green Business Programme and encourage them to partake in an energy and environmental audit within their business processes.
Social media and newsletters offer low cost energy saving measures for participants to implement in their organisations with the aim to save money and carbon.
Similar programmes run outside of the region.
Tags: Funding, Green, Sustainable, Transport
