Business support
Support and advice available to local businesses to help them reduce their carbon footprint.
Action Surrey – Business Energy Support
Action Surrey is an impartial energy advice service set up by local councils across Surrey and Surrey County Council. If you're a small to medium sized business, Action Surrey can help you reduce your energy costs and your carbon footprint. Managing the energy consumption of a commerical enterprise can be a complex process but Action Surrey provides impartial energy efficiency advice to identify ways to help your business reduce energy costs.
For more information, contact Action Surrey on 0800 783 2503 or email [email protected].
EMphasis3 CO2 Reductions Project
EMphasis3 CO2 Reductions (EMphasis3) is an ERDF funded SME support project combining the expertise and experience of the University of Portsmouth, the University of Winchester and the cleantech cluster, Greentech South.
Supporting the shift towards a low carbon economy in the Enterprise M3 LEP region, the EMphasis3 project is delivering a 2,000 tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.
Offering a free energy efficiency audit – delivered by GEP environmental – the assessment allows businesses who may be reluctant to an install energy saving kit due to the cost and confusing array of ways to target areas of considerable carbon emissions.
Enterprise M3 net zero support service
You can access support to help your business grow through the Enterprise M3 Growth Hub. Through its dedicated Growth Champions, the Growth Hub is able to offer businesses across the EM3 LEP area tailored advice from experts in areas such as sustainability, achieving net zero, calculating your carbon footprint and more.
Click to book a free sustainability appointment with the EM3 Growth Hub's Net Zero Support Service.
Net Zero 360 – your full service net zero accelerator
Just like the digital revolution in the 2000s, net zero is transforming business at a pace. Get left behind and you risk becoming irrelevant in the eyes of consumers, investors and funders. Net Zero 360 helps you figure out where to start, what's right for you and how to deal with complex issues such as supply chains and product lifecycles.
Net Zero 360 can take you from the first steps on your net zero journey to becoming a bona fide sustainability pioneer through its programme of workshops, a carbon calculator, action-planning support, access to university innovation expertise and facilities, plus support with funding your net zero mission.
WEAct
WEAct is a voluntary group of individuals taking action locally on issues relating to climate change and sustainability. The Woking Environment Action (WEAct) partnership with Woking Borough Council began when Woking Local Agenda 21 was set up in 1994.
WEAct has a number of different projects and roles available to get involved with, whatever your interest in sustainability may look like.
Green Skills Training
The Innovation South Virtual Campus have developed a series of free online green skills courses to help to encourage local businesses and organisations to develop their ‘green skills’
The courses are designed to be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or prior knowledge, and include these topics:
- Carbon Literacy and Climate Change
- Introduction to Domestic Retrofitting
- Introduction to Retrofit Technologies
- Introduction to Sustainable Resource Management
- Rainwater and Greywater Harvesting
- Tree Planting and Climate Change
Climate Fit
Climate Fit is a free online training course to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to reduce their carbon emissions and join the collective race to net zero.
Who is it for?
Climate Fit has been specifically designed for SMEs.
We understand that when it comes to addressing climate change it can be hard to know where to start. The sheer scale of the challenges ahead, coupled with a lack of information and limited resources to initiate change, leaves many unsure how to take action.
Wherever you are in the world, and whether you are a team of two or have a squad 100 strong, this course aims to help small and medium businesses navigate the path to net zero.
How it works:
- Free and open to all SMEs, access the course online, wherever you are in the world.
- Seven modules breaking the tasks down into achievable steps.
- 20-30 minutes per module, this self-paced course is designed so you can set the pace.
- Highly interactive, featuring videos, activities, and quizzes to assist your learning journey.
- Learn from your peers, with case studies on other businesses who are leading the way on climate action.
- Set concrete actions, that you can take back to your business to effectively implement change.
- Language options – Spanish translation coming soon.
- Guided by our eco-athletes, motivating you every step of the way.
EM3 Future Fund
The Future Fund has been set up by Enterprise M3 LEP to support innovative capital projects in the EM3 area, which covers north and central Hampshire and west Surrey, to help deliver on their vision for a low carbon, high growth economy.
Enterprise M3 LEP are now seeking high quality project proposals from organisations in the EM3 area that will focus on the following themes:
- Innovation
- Achieving Net Zero by 2050
- Digital connectivity
- Green skills and/or Digital skills
Up to £10 million of capital funding is available. Funding will take the form of an interest repayable loan or a grant award. In order to maintain the ‘revolving’ nature of the Future Fund, loans are the preferred funding option. Grants will only be considered where there is a clear rationale put forward by the project applicant and this is supported by evidence of the high economic value the project could generate.
The types of Future Fund projects being sought range from demonstrators and pilots, to requests for seed funding as well as larger capital projects. Enterprise M3 will be looking to support a small number of high-quality projects that will support growing businesses, help to drive economic growth more widely, create new or safeguard jobs in the area, provide CO2 savings, promote inward investment into the region, and/or enable new learning and leaning space.
Eligibility
To apply, you must be an organisation registered and based in the EM3 area, which you can view here.
Organisations who could apply include:
- Businesses
- Business support organisations
- Colleges
- Universities
- Public sector organisations, including local authorities
- Third sector organisations, such as registered charities, community groups and social enterprises
Application process
The application process and indicative timelines are set out below:
| Milestones | Date |
|---|---|
|
Submission of draft Business Cases on 15 September 2023 |
12.00 noon |
|
Review of draft Business Cases and shortlisting (All applicants notified of outcome and feedback provided) |
Mid-to-late September |
|
Due diligence of shortlisted Business Cases |
October |
|
Presentations to EM3 by shortlisted applicants - feedback provided |
October |
|
Submission of Final Business Cases by shortlisted applicants |
Early November |
|
Review of final Business Cases |
November |
|
Funding agreements signed |
By no later than end of March 2024 |
Submissions to the Future Fund are via a Business Case (a short application form outlining your project, aims and costs) and applicants can download the template here. Once completed, please email your form to [email protected]
The closing date for submission of your Business Case is 12.00 noon on 15 September 2023 - no late applications will be considered.
EM3 LEP will allocate funding as available and, therefore, the opportunity to apply to the Future Fund may be paused or withdrawn at any time.
Please note that funding will be through an agreement with Hampshire County Council (the Accountable Body for EM3 LEP) and all agreements will need to be signed before 31 March 2024.
Further Information
Please click on the links below for further information and guidance
If you have any questions about The Future Fund, please email: [email protected]
