Member Article

Energy leaders are significantly more likely to outperform competitors

• Firms with an energy strategy are more than twice as likely to be ahead in their market

• One in three organisations are now looking towards energy to support their business growth, deepen efficiencies and reduce risk

• However, half of businesses (48%) are still missing out on financial savings as they have done little about energy efficiency

Energy leaders – defined as businesses which have a sophisticated attitude to energy, invest in advanced energy solutions, and measure and control energy efficiency – are twice as likely to outperform competitors on customer-centricity and brand leadership, and almost seven times on business sustainability.

Research by Centrica Business Solutions of more than 1,000 companies found that those which have invested in advanced energy solutions are reporting a wide range of benefits. 41% have seen significantly reduced energy costs, whilst 35% report greater control and visibility. Organisations have also experienced improvements to their company reputation (24%) and realised additional revenue (23%).

Tim Wynn-Jones, UK Head of Distributed Energy Solutions Sales at Centrica Business Solutions, said: “Businesses are increasingly moving away from a commoditised attitude to energy. Instead, they’re looking at how investing in energy delivers benefits beyond cost savings alone. They know their relationship with energy can have a far-reaching impact that helps power performance and drive their business forward.

“For these reasons, companies are starting on what we call an energy journey – the move towards energy leadership, where the role of energy is considered an integral part of business objectives and boardroom strategies.

“Progress towards different aspects of energy leadership varies from business to business, but, importantly, each company on an energy journey combines vision and execution. This means they’re in a strong position to improve their competitiveness.”

Over half (52%) of businesses surveyed adopted an energy strategy to give them a competitive advantage. The availability of new energy technologies has provided the opportunity for 50% of companies to have an energy strategy. 41% of respondents reported that energy is a business priority, which led to them adopting an energy strategy.

Although companies are becoming more forward-thinking about energy, the research also showed that 48% of companies have still done nothing about energy efficiency. They are yet to fully adopt basic energy efficiency solutions such as low energy lighting, heating and ventilation optimisation and improvements to building fabrics that reduce heat loss.

Tim Wynn-Jones added: “Many of the basic energy efficiency measures are often low cost and quick to implement and can provide immediate financial returns. It’s surprising that such a high number of businesses are missing out on simple savings that could benefit their bottom lines.

“Demonstrating immediate financial savings through basic energy efficiency can build the case for the importance of energy and help fund further investments in mature energy strategies, to include initiatives such as onsite generation, demand side response and wholesale trading of flexible power.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Centrica Business Solutions .