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What can our Get Switched On! campaign partner Hospitable Climates do for you?
Often when someone urges you to sign on the dotted line there's a catch. But there's no catch for signing up with our Get Switched On! campaign partner Hospitable Climates (HC).
The energy efficiency advisory programme, managed by the Hotel & Catering International Management Association on behalf of the government-funded Carbon Trust, is free and it will save you money. Fact. Having been proven to reduce energy consumption in hospitality businesses by as much as 40 per cent, you'd need a jolly good reason NOT to sign up to it.
Get with the facts
At the heart of the initiative are a series of fact files designed to take licensees from the first step of appointing an energy champion to all the areas of potential waste and savings. Once you have signed up to HC, you will be sent the fact files at quarterly intervals as you progress through the programme.
The advice from HC is that all the simple energy-saving measures should be put in place around the pub before any decisions are made about purchasing major pieces of energy-efficient equipment.
And those energy-saving measures are all explained in the fact files - they cost nothing, or very little, to implement.
Fact file topics include Getting Started, Energy Efficient Lighting Solutions and Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning.
Three new titles are being introduced later this month: Renewable Energy, Heat Recovery and Making the Most of Your Hospitable Climates Membership.
Once the full set of 12 has been delivered to you, you can request fact files on specific issues - such as selecting the most appropriate boiler technology for your pub - as required.
Online for action
The organisation's website is a great starting point for anyone wanting to know more about HC, or simply saving more energy in your business. The latest addition is a discussion forum which gives pubs and other hospitality firms the opportunity to network and discuss energy issues with other businesses across the country and across the globe.
The forum is ideal for hospitality industry operators who have an energy question they want answered, have information they would like to share about successful energy efficiency practices they have undertaken, or require advice on energy efficiency equipment they are considering introducing.
To join in the discussion visit www.hospitableclimates.org.uk and click on the discussion forum button.
The website also contains free training materials and a comprehensive list of links to other advice, as well as general news and updates on events and a list of energy champions who have signed up to the initiative.
Ask the experts
The key thing offered by HC is support and impartial advice - it is not a commercial enterprise, and you can be confident that any suggestions coming from the organisation are not aimed at creaming off advantages for itself.
Advice about new development and refurbishment projects is available via a free help and advice line.
Help is at hand to aid small businesses in applying for enhanced capital allowances (ECAs) and interest-free energy loans to help them invest in modern technologies such as combined heat and power, modern boilers or energy-efficient lighting without tying up their own capital. ECAs allow purchasers of energy-efficient technology to claim 100 per cent of the costs against their profits in the first year - keep reading The Publican for more details about this scheme.
Above all, linking up with HC is about improving your bottom line. Given the current rapid increases in energy prices how many pubs can afford not to take the advice?
- To sign up to Hospitable Climates contact Linda Martin on 020 8661 4916 or email yvaqnz@upvzn.pb.hx
Reduce your costs
A Buyer's Guide to Reducing Utility Costs in the Hospitality Sector has recently been made available free to download from the Hospitable Climates website. Among other advice the document can help pubs to:
- Understand how to get the best deal for energy and waste
- Understand the different ways in which you can purchase energy
- Manage waste disposal cost-effectively
- Use costly resources more efficiently by reducing wastage
- Find out about technology which offers tax incentives to your pub.
