Businesses urged to shut down properly over Christmas

Careless employees could lose businesses around £500 each and waste energy by leaving office equipment on stand-by over Christmas, it has been claimed.

According to research by the Carbon Trust, businesses already waste approximately £6,000 per year by leaving lights, heating and equipment such as fax machines, photocopiers and computer monitors on over weekends and bank holidays.

Businesses that close their offices for 10 days over the festive period could waste up to £500 each by failing to switch electrical appliances off properly, the Carbon Trust said.

British Gas Business, recently awarded for its efforts as a green energy supplier, added that leaving a photocopier on over the 10-day Christmas period will waste enough energy to power 15,000 A4 copies, whereas a monitor left on standby overnight wastes enough to print 800 pages.

Commenting on the findings, Kanat Emiroglu, director of SME Markets for British Gas Business, said: “By leaving electrical equipment on stand-by over the Christmas period many businesses could be actively pouring money down the drain.”

“While we’re all at home relaxing and enjoying the festivities, make sure your office is not working overtime.”

According to British Gas Business, businesses could collectively save around £2.4bn of ‘achievable’ savings by becoming more energy efficient. However, a recent survey by British Gas found that almost three quarters of small firms felt there was not much more they could be doing to save energy.

Emiroglu added: “Reducing the amount of energy consumed is one way [small firms] can start to help themselves, by reducing their energy bill.

“However, too few see the benefits that can be gained from reducing the energy their businesses consume.”

© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007