Opus Energy - Small businesses to carve bartering and biking spend

Graph to appearance baby business cutbacksStore this angel in big sizeNearly 40% of Britain’s baby businesses are planning to cut their budgets for bartering and business biking (37%) in adjustment to acclimate the recession, a new analysis has found.

The YouGov survey, commissioned by absolute electricity supplier Opus Energy, polled over 500 baby business owners and managers to ascertain area they would be acid aback during the accepted bread-and-butter downturn. Business biking and bartering absorb were top of the account for account cuts in about one in 5 baby businesses (19 and 18% respectively).

The analysis aswell begin that the beyond the company, the added acceptable it is that agents will face cuts to their bonuses. Indeed, a third (33%) of the better companies surveyed (employing up to 50 people) said that agent bonuses would be the aboriginal across they would rein in.

Interestingly, if asked which areas cutbacks were the atomic acceptable during recession, a division of baby businesses (25%) were bent they would not abate spending on IT. Employees can aswell blow assured that day to day agents allowances were the additional atomic acceptable across to face cutbacks during difficult times. 16% of managers vowed not to abate spending on account for advisers such as biscuits, tea and coffee and entertainment, which can advice advance basic agents assurance decidedly in a black bread-and-butter climate.

Andy Nash, Operations Director at Opus Energy said, “While some amount can be had from accent balance spending on business biking and bartering budgets, it is hasty that a analysis of account bills does not appear college up the list. Only 3% of baby businesses said they would analysis their gas or electricity tariffs in adjustment to accomplish business savings. This broadly disregarded across can accommodate basic accumulation for companies and accomplish added of an appulse on their basal band than added areas. Indeed, Carbon Trust analysis shows that artlessly ecology activity ability in the abode could advice companies save over 12% on their bills."

Notes to Editors

All figures, unless contrarily stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample admeasurement was 536 adults who are clandestine area workers in companies of beneath than 50 advisers who are chief administration akin or above, with above accommodation authoritative ascribe in at atomic one of the afterward areas: Advertising/ Direct Marketing / PR, Business Development/ Sales, Company credit/ allegation cards, Company adaptable phones, Company Pension Scheme, Finance/ Accounting, HR/ Personnel, IT/ Telecoms, Line of Production/ Operations, Procurement/ purchasing, Recruitment, Training & Development. Fieldwork was undertaken amid 3rd - 8th December 2008. The analysis was agitated out online

Carbon Trust, Smart metering

The Carbon Trust afresh undertook acute metering trials and the results
showed that acute metering, if accumulated with burning abstracts and
energy-saving advice, could accord abeyant boilerplate accumulation of 12%. www.carbontrust.co.uk/technology/technologyaccelerator/ad...

About Opus Energy

Opus Energy is a arch absolute supplier of electricity alms custom-built solutions for the UK SME and accumulated markets. Its market-leading innovations are apprenticed by chump needs and the aggregation is committed to allowance businesses become added environmentally amenable through accretion of activity from cleaner sources.

Opus Energy has over 40,000 barter above all sectors. Large barter include: Yell Group, Thorntons, Farmfoods, Cumbria County Council and Deloitte & Touche.

Over the endure two years (between April 2006 and March 2008), 62% of the activity supplied by Opus Energy to its barter came from cleaner, low-carbon sources – 54% from renewable generators and 8% from cleaner Combined Heat and Power (CHP) produced by CHP generators. These CHP generators accept been awarded accreditation by the regulator, Ofgem, for bearing cleaner, added environmentally affable power.

Opus Energy’s administration aggregation has a 50 percent pale in the business, while International Power Plc (LSE:IPR.L) holds 30 percent and Telecom Plus Plc (LSE: TEP.L ) has 20 percent. With offices in Northampton and Oxford, it employs 200 people.

For added information, amuse see www.opusenergy.com

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OX2 7JF

Opus Energy Press Office

Georgina Ruttle / Susie Patterson
T. 0207 269 7255 / 7233
E. georgina.ruttle@fd.com / susie.patterson@fd.com