Carbon Trust slashes free advisory services

The Carbon Trust has stopped providing free carbon-cutting advice services to larger firms with immediate effect, in a bid to save money and prepare itself for looming government funding cuts.

The government-backed company today confirmed it is lowering the threshold for firms that qualify for its free advisory service from those that spend £3m a year on energy to those with energy bills of less than £500,000.

Larger companies using the Carbon Trust's advisory services will also no longer be able to make use of a co-funding deal that previously saw the organisation cover 30 per cent of the cost of advisory work.

Companies based in England with a yearly group energy bill of £500,000 or less will continue to receive free advisory services and carbon surveys, and the changes will not affect firms in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland because devolved governments will continue to make funding available for larger companies keen to work with the Carbon Trust.

Firms now expected to pay for services could include FTSE 350 and mid-cap companies, or medium-sized manufacturing firms. New clients would be asked to pay anything between £1,000 for a few days of consultancy advice, to tens of thousands of pounds for months of advice designed to develop a green strategy.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Carbon Trust director of solutions Hugh Jones said the Carbon Trust expects to make "a modest saving" as a result of the changes to the thresholds.

He explained that the shift was prompted by the government's austerity drive and said he hoped to reposition the organisation so it would be able to continue providing services even if its funding was axed by the government.

"The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company, and any direct revenue goes back into more services for businesses," he said. "We're always looking at avenues of funding and forward revenue so we can expand our services."

He also said the Carbon Trust was working on new offerings from customers in a bid to lead the emerging market for carbon consultations. "We want to be in a position where we are leading the market and pushing the market forward," he said.

The move follows recommendations from the government-appointed Green Investment Bank Commission that organisations such as the Carbon Trust should be "rationalised" in order to help fund plans to establish a green investment bank (GIB).

The decision to expand the number of services for which the Carbon Trust charges appears to be designed to strengthen the organisation's position should its budget be cut or part of its operations be folded into the GIB.

Jones insisted that most of the Carbon Trust's existing and prospective clients will not be affected by the changes as the "vast majority" have energy bills of less than £500,000.

He added that he expects the move to be welcomed by firms, many of which are already advanced in lowering their carbon footprint.

He also insisted the scheme had the backing of business trade associations, including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

However, while a spokesman from the FSB said it welcomed the Carbon Trust's decision to refocus its free services on smaller businesses, he expressed concern that its wider cost-cutting exercise would mean there will be less money available to support small and medium-sized businesses.