Bespoke low carbon and sustainability consultancy for SMEs from Nottingham Business School

The Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) programme aims to drive sustainable growth in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a focus on four key areas of business performance: people, products, processes, and premises.

The objective of this project is to achieve low-carbon growth through improving the overall sustainability of the local economy.

Why is this relevant to SMEs?

The UK Government 2050 Net Zero and Nottingham City Council Carbon Neutral 2028 have set ambitious carbon emissions reduction targets and businesses need to respond to reduce risk, save costs and maintain competitiveness.

The UK Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and ‘levelling up’ agenda present opportunities for SMEs to Build Back Better during the Covid-19 recovery.

How can sustainability consultancy from Nottingham Business School (NBS) support SMEs?

The Nottingham Business School (NBS) strand of the Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) programme supports SMEs through bespoke sustainability and carbon management consultancy delivered by a team of Student Consultants studying in third/final year undergraduate courses. Students from a broad range of courses such as Accountancy and Finance, Economics, Marketing and Management will work in teams supported by academics with expertise in sustainability and carbon management.

This consultancy support will help SMEs to:

• Mitigate the risks to business from current or future carbon management/ sustainability policy or legislation.
• Help meet clients' expectations and carbon reduction targets.
• Save costs and protect the environment by reducing the consumption of resources.

Key members of the project and the academic team are:

NBS SiE Project Strand Lead: Dr Muhammad Mazhar

SiE Project Module Leader: Dr Justin Udie

Supported by:

NBS Sustainability Consultancy Projects Coordinator: Helen Taylor

What does the support involve?

The team will undertake the following to produce a carbon impact assessment for your business:

• Business needs assessment/ project brief
• SME desk research including review of current environmental policy and strategy
• Identification of risks and opportunities associated with sustainability and carbon management
• Setting the operational boundary (the area of the business to be audited)
• Audit of resource consumption data for carbon footprinting, for example, energy (electricity, gas), fuel consumption, water, waste etc.
• Assessment of carbon footprint and associated costs of consumption

The end product will be a comprehensive carbon impact assessment complete with recommendations to reduce carbon emissions, carbon reduction targets and the associated cost savings. The project findings will be presented to the business by means of a poster presentation.

Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Business School's mission is to deliver education and research that combines excellence with a positive impact on people, business, and society. Therefore, NBS continually develops its responsible business and management provision to prepare future transformational leaders whilst equipping them with the required knowledge, skills, and competencies to deliver transformative change.

NBS holds PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Champion status which is given to business schools having contributed to thought and action leadership on responsible management education in the context of the United Nations (UN) sustainable development agenda.

This project provides an important opportunity for students to practically apply their sustainability and low carbon knowledge and skills that are critical in helping businesses approach the challenges posed by climate change. This experiential learning project is key in enriching the student experience and embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in teaching and learning whilst boosting students’ employability.

Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) programme eligibility criteria

Support available through the Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

ERDF helps local areas to stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations

Support is only available to SMEs based in the Greater Nottingham (SUDS) area.

SMEs are defined as:

• less than 250 employees
• annual turnover under EUR 50 million OR
• an annual balance sheet less than EUR 43 million

For more information on this programme or to make an enquiry, please contact sie@ntu.ac.uk