Small Changes. Big Impact!

As a business owner, you’ll understand the growing importance of sustainability, both in business and in the world around us. What you may not understand are the significant benefits that it can have for your company, on everything from efficiencies to cost savings.

Green for Business is a FREE programme that helps small businesses take the first step towards becoming more sustainable, giving you access to a green consultant who’ll show you the small changes that can have a big impact on your company - and the world around you.

The aim of the Green for Business programme is to help you examine and identify cost savings and market opportunities within your business. This is achieved by looking at your business from an environmental perspective. Improving environmental performance through greater resource efficiency, can help your business achieve competitive advantage.

Developing a ‘greener’ policy can offer many benefits to your business, including:

• Increased cost savings
• Improved resource efficiency (for example: using less energy, water, and materials)
• Reduced environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emissions
• Opportunities for higher and additional value on products and services
• Increased access to customers, improved corporate image and reputation.
• Increased resilience to climate change impacts

Eligibility

• The programme is open to all enterprises with 1-50 employees except those involved in activities that the Local Enterprise Offices consider as ineligible for example primary agricultural businesses - farms or as involving an unacceptable reputational risk: gambling including ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956), adult entertainment, tobacco products and cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines)
• The enterprise must be established, registered and operate within the geographic location of the Local Enterprise Office
• The enterprise must operate in the commercial sphere
• Turnover is in excess of €30,000 annually.
• The business is trading in excess of 6 months.
• Companies forming part of a holding group, franchise, linked companies etc. are only permitted to make one application. Multiple applications will not be considered.

Note * A small enterprise according to the EU SME definition is a business that has an annual turnover or balance sheet total of €10 million or less. It’s important for applicants to consider the linked companies rule when determining if they qualify as a small enterprise. This rule requires applicants to include the data from any partner or linked enterprises when calculating their employee numbers and financial thresholds. This means that if a business is part of a larger group, it must account for the employees and financial figures of the entire group, not just the individual entity. Here’s a simple breakdown:

Autonomous Enterprise: If your business is totally independent or has one or more minority partnerships (each less than 25%), you use the figures solely from your business.

Partner Enterprise: If your business holds at least 25%, but no more than 50%, of another enterprise, or another enterprise holds at least 25%, but no more than 50%, of your business, you must add a proportion of the other enterprise’s figures to your own.

Linked Enterprise: If your business holds more than 50% of another enterprise or another enterprise holds more than 50% of your business, you must add 100% of the other enterprise’s figures to your own.

The intention of this EU regulation is to ensure that the SME status reflects the economic power of the entire group of linked enterprises, preventing larger businesses from gaining undue advantage from SME support programs. It’s a key part of maintaining fair competition and ensuring that support is directed towards genuinely small enterprises.

You might be eligible for the Energy Efficiency Grant.

The Energy Efficiency Grant supports the investment in technologies and equipment identified in a Green for Business Report, GreenStart Report or a SEAI Energy Audit with 75% of eligible costs up to a maximum grant of €10,000. The aim of the scheme is to reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment thereby increasing the agility and resilience of these businesses.

For further information, please contact us at Localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie or 045 980 838 to discuss your application. If you wish to apply for this scheme, the link is below.

Link to the application form is here: https://leokildare.submit.com/show/670

***At this point we have paused grant approval on the Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme due to budgetary constraints.

We have paused our processing of this scheme, but not closed it, and we are actively seeking additional budget.

Business owners who have completed Green for Business can still submit an application to the Energy Efficiency Grant.

Applications cannot be processed until a future date if/when budget is in place.

Applications will be processed on a first come and complete status basis.

All grant approvals are back-dated to the date of submission of a full and complete application.

However, at this point there is no guarantee of funding.***

Please contact localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie if you have any queries