Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bolton are being urged to apply for a new grant to make energy efficiency improvement projects.

The grant of up to £5,000 is on offer from Green Economy, which has been commissioned by Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver business support programmes.

The programmes will be funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Levelling Up project to support the ambition to be a net zero city region by 2038.

BOC Car Centre in Bolton manages and leases a number of car showroom forecourts to independent car sales firms across the North West.

The firm has received support from the sustainability and net zero team to identify opportunities to increase efficiency, cut costs and reduce carbon emissions.

After an onsite review, an advisor recommended upgrading the existing heating and lighting systems.

The business was awarded a grant to replace the existing gas warm air blower with electric Infra-Red heaters and the fluorescent lighting with LED light fittings, reducing the firm's gas and electricity consumption, equating to 65.2 CO2e tonnes and creating cost savings of £18,183 each year.

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Manager of BOC Car Centre, Jawed Patel, said: “Receiving this grant was integral to delivering our energy saving project as we didn’t have the necessary capital due to other business critical expenses taking priority.

“The grant bridged the gap in our finances and brought the project to the forefront of our attention. It was great to work with a local installer to deliver the project for us.”

The energy efficiency grant is available to small and medium enterprises based in Bolton, providing 50 per cent of the cost to deliver projects worth up to £5,000.

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Technical lead at Green Economy, Alasdair Dalzel-Job, said: “We have seen time and again that the key barrier to net zero for businesses is accessing cashflow and capital investment to take those ‘nice to do projects’ to the top of their to do list.

"This grant presents a real opportunity for businesses in Bolton to prioritise energy efficiency improvements in 2024.

“We have delivered a number of grants for businesses over the years, awarding over £1m since 2018, which has helped businesses to save £2.3m in overheads, with annual carbon savings of 5,773.63 carbon tonnes.”

Eligible projects include heating equipment upgrades, replacement motors, process efficiency investments, and lighting efficiency.

To qualify for the grant, projects must specify the scale of CO2e savings expected from the project.