The economic downturn may still be putting pressure on enterprise, but a quarter (26%) of small businesses are nevertheless giving a higher priority to environmental considerations this year, according to a report released by Abbey and Alliance & Leicester Business Banking.

16% of small businesses were found to have downgraded environmental issues this year in order to keep their firms afloat, with nearly half of them blaming the cost. In addition, 42% reported that they are held back from improving their environmental practices.

Around one in six (17%) have not been able to make their companies more environmentally sound, as desired improvements are prohibitively expensive. One in ten (9%) are hindered because of restrictions placed on the business or the premises, while 4% say they don’t understand the changes that could be made.

Despite this, nearly all (98%) small business owners claim to have taken some measures to improve their environmental impact, up from 80% in 20082, spending a total of £1.5 billion, or around £1,000 per company, in the process. The measures taken, range from ensuring that all electrical equipment is turned off when not in use, through to the installation of renewable energy sources.

Paula Ickinger, Head of Business Banking Marketing at Abbey and Alliance & Leicester said:

“There are one and a half million small businesses in the UK, so it is very encouraging to find that so many of them have taken steps to reduce the environmental impact of their operations, in some cases at great expense. While some of these changes are relatively minor, the cumulative impact will have been huge.”

“It is particularly interesting that so many companies have actually made environmental considerations a higher priority since the economic downturn. Many green initiatives incur a significant up front cost, which can be off-putting but in the longer term they can help to reduce overheads as well as carbon emissions.”

“Businesses could help cover the cost of being more environmentally sound by saving money in other ways, such as reviewing regular costs like utilities and bank charges. By researching the deals available and switching to a more competitive offer, businesses can save thousands of pounds each year, which can then be put to better use.”