New survey reveals UK companies still struggling with energy bills

23rd February 2024

Yes, we know what you’re thinking – the soaring costs of energy bills aren’t exactly a new revelation for us as a country (nor, for that matter, to the rest of the world). Indeed, it’s been a major challenge that British businesses have been grappling with for quite some time now. However, a new report from PwC has provided some interesting insight into exactly how companies are still being affected by the ongoing energy crisis, and why so many are considering incorporating commercial solar panels into their operations.

Conducted between November and December 2023, the survey encompasses 750 businesses from both the private and public sectors. Here’s a quick look at some of the key findings!

How are businesses coping with their energy bills

We’ll start off with one particularly sobering statistic – 77% of the survey’s respondents indicated that they’d had to raise their prices of their products or services over the last two years, because of energy-related expenditures. What’s more, 81% of them expect to have to raise prices again within the next two years, again to keep up with ballooning costs.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that 72% predict negative repercussions on their profits, which likely ties into worries about reduced international competitiveness (71%).

Now, in fairness to the government, it’s not been entirely idle on the issue – as part of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, it’s provided more than £7bn in funding to help companies with exactly these costs. Around a quarter of the survey’s respondents specifically said that government’s financial support was vital. Even with that though, it’s not been enough to completely alleviate their concerns.

What solutions are being explored?

Now, the companies surveyed have highlighted various solutions they’re trying out to relieve some of the pressure. Over a quarter of them (27%) are focused on reducing their energy consumption as far as they can, and the same proportion (27%) are focusing on lowering their carbon emissions. By the same token, 37% are actively reviewing their energy procurement strategies.

That’s promoted a renewed focus on new energy solutions, like commercial solar panels – which have a great track record for helping businesses to lower their energy bills. Energy security was explicitly named by 61% of businesses as another key motivation for decarbonisation efforts, and 58% also mentioned regulatory compliance as another push along that road.

Considered together, it all makes a fairly strong case for green technologies like commercial solar panels – and that’s exactly where we can help here at Low Carbon Energy. We have over 60 years of combined experience in commercial solar, having helped SMEs and large corporations across a wide variety of sectors transform their business’ energy supply.

Each of our installations is bespoke, tailoring your solution on your specific energy profile, helping us to maximise carbon reductions and saving you thousands in energy bills. Feel free to look at our case studies for just a few examples of businesses which have reaped huge rewards from solar, such as Boeing and Irish Water. To find out how we can help you, feel free to give us a call today on 01282 421 489!

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