James Caan on saving your business money

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Businesses are spending up to £1 in every £2 of their electricity bills on powering their business when staff have left for the day, according to the latest figures from British Gas.

Data from over 6,000 smart meter readings show that 46 per cent of business electricity use happens outside of the traditional business hours of 8am-6pm.

Common examples of unnecessary electricity that businesses aren’t aware they even use include; lighting car parks at the weekend when no one is at work; pubs keeping fruit machines switched on 24 hours a day every day of the year; retail units in shopping centres keeping display lights on when the centre is closed; and vending machines left switched on in offices overnight and at weekends.

The first step for businesses to cut their energy use is to understand when and why they use electricity. Simply switching off car parking lights at the weekend when they aren’t needed could save a British Gas customer £1,200 on their annual electricity bill.

To help put businesses in control of their energy use and therefore costs, British Gas is today launching an industry first service – Business Energy Insight to show businesses how, when and where they are using electricity and proactively help them to save money through energy efficiency measures.