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Net Zero Support

There is a range of support available locally in Oxfordshire to help you and your business on your journey. Fully funded support for small businesses available now includes:

  • Energy assessments for Cherwell businesses, delivered by Energy Solutions Oxfordshire. Full details.
  • Cherwell businesses are encouraged to fill in an interest form to find out about upcoming workshops and for advice on actionable strategies for sustainability. Full details.
  • Oxford businesses wanting to support smaller organisations in Oxford with net zero action and smaller organisations looking for support with measures are encouraged to look at the Low Carbon Oxford pilot (LCOP). Events are being held for funders (10th Mar) and project developers (12th Mar) as a chance to find out more. Full details.
  • Places on green skills training courses for businesses in Oxford City, West Oxfordshire, South & Vale and Cherwell Districts. Full details (or here for Oxford City).
  • Free energy app and saving advice for residents (including staff) in Oxfordshire, and opportunity to be part of a trial to have energy saving appliances installed for a low monthly fee. Full details.

Scroll down for further details on how your business can access and benefit from this support.

Support within Oxfordshire:

Cherwell business decarbonisation support –  energy assessments worth a minimum of £1,500 consultancy advice are available at no cost for organisations based in Cherwell, delivered by Energy Solutions Oxfordshire (ESOx). SME businesses that sign up will get a site-specific building decarbonise plan and pointers to funding to action the recommendations. Deadline to apply is 14th March. See the ESOx website for full details. Cherwell businesses are encouraged to fill in an interest form to find out about upcoming workshops and for advice on actionable strategies for sustainability. Find out more.

 

West Oxfordshire District Council ran a programme of net zero webinar support in 2024 funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF) and has made available the presentations and resources on their carbon zero webpage for all businesses to access. The webinars which are in three sessions cover carbon literacy, carbon accounting and foot-printing, and how to develop a carbon reduction plan.

 

Energy Solutions Oxfordshire (ESOx) – helps businesses stop wasting energy. Their Energy Efficiency Assessment identifies where you can be saving energy, cutting carbon emissions and saving on energy bills. The team guides you through the whole process and support you in finding funding to implement their recommended energy-saving measures. Organisations typically save 19% on energy bills when implementing their recommendations. They also have a free Energy Efficiency Checklist with lots of quick-win, energy-saving actions to help get you started.

 

OxLEP Business – fully funded 1:1 advice to help you understand net zero for your business, for your processes, supply chains and customers, as well as the benefits that action can bring. Complete the Business Support Tool as the first step to arrange to meet with an advisor.

 

Low Carbon Hub – provides businesses with the opportunity to host a community-owned solar PV array on their roof, at no cost to the business. Hosts get access to cleaner, cheaper electricity, cut their carbon emissions and help give back to the community as all of Low Carbon Hub’s surplus from the project goes toward funding more community-led climate action. Low Carbon Hub look after the installation, operation and maintenance of the project. Find out more.

 

Abingdon & Witney College Net Zero Skills Hub – offer a wide range of courses covering topics such as renewable energy systems, domestic retrofit, electric/hybrid vehicle maintenance and repairs and carbon and climate awareness, to help you gain new skills, or to upskill your staff. If you are an adult (19+) living or working in West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse or Cherwell, you may be eligible for one of 80 fully funded place on a range of green skills courses, aimed at upskilling local residents and businesses. Find out more. If you live or work in Oxford City, you may be eligible for one of 60 fully funded places, available through local training providers, including Abingdon & Witney College, Oxford Energy Academy and Activate Learning Find out more.

Oxfordshire Greentech – is a business network dedicated to supporting the growth of the low carbon sector in Oxfordshire. They bring together businesses and organisations to encourage innovation, collaboration and knowledge transfer, to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable, low carbon future, including through events, practical support, funding updates and networking opportunities.

 

Energy Saver App – a free mobile app from Oxfordshire County Council to help you reduce your household energy bills and emissions, and therefore your carbon footprint if working from home, and that of your staff. Users could be amongst the 400 offered the opportunity to be a part of a trial to have solar panels and batteries and 200 for heat pumps installed for a low monthly fee. The app is available to all Oxfordshire residents with a smart meter and uses clever technology to analyse your home energy use, to provide you with personalised insights that your smart meter can’t. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play or find out more here.

 

Retrofitting your home – an Oxfordshire County Council webpage, with information and funding opportunities on energy efficiency and low carbon measures for your home. Their find a retrofit installer page offers advice and guidance on how to find a certified retrofit installer, including relevant industry standards, applicable for both domestic and business premises.

 

Bioregional’s One Planet Living framework – guidance and toolkits to help you create, implement, monitor and report on a One Planet Living® Action Plan as a sustainability route map for your business.

 

Wild Oxfordshire – charity supporting businesses to get nature positive and choose the best options for nature when making decisions about what to buy, how to manage land, or how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

 

Oxford Wood Recycling – a social enterprise, offering commercial and domestic wood waste collections around Oxfordshire, maximising recycling and reclaiming wood for reuse.

 

Climate Action Oxfordshire – small changes add up to big action. Find ideas of actions that you, your community and your business can take.

 

The district councils and county council also all have a climate action page on their websites:

Meet with like-minded businesses:

People Planet Pint meetup groups – Small99’s regular, informal meetup groups take place across Oxfordshire for business owners, professionals and for everyone. Pop down to find out more about what’s going on locally with sustainability and how you can get involved.

 

Oxfordshire Networking Groups – OxLEP page listing business networks across the county, not specific to net zero, but may host net zero speakers, or be able to help connect you with other low carbon businesses locally.

 

Community Action Groups (CAG) Oxfordshire – a network of community action groups working to make Oxfordshire more sustainable.

 

Co-operate – a networking group in Oxford for professional women anywhere who are climate aware.

Initiatives locally that you can get involved with:

Community Action Plan for Zero-Carbon Energy (CAPZero) – a pilot project based in the Eynsham area of West Oxfordshire, that aims to demonstrate how at a Primary Substation Area level a zero-carbon energy system can be achieved before 2050. CAPZero will be the first local energy plan in the UK developed at a community level, by bringing together the whole community, including businesses, households, public and community buildings.

 

Low Carbon Oxford Project (LCOP) – a pilot project between Oxford City Council and the Low Carbon Hub which is looking to support local organisations and groups around Oxford to deliver vital energy efficiency works, by matching organisations who require funding with businesses who are keep to support decarbonisation projects in the city. 

 

Taming the Carbon Monster – a short sustainability programme of 6 sessions held at Oxford Brookes University focused on helping Oxfordshire SMEs make progress towards net zero. Places for Oxford City-based organisations are subsidised by Oxford City Council. Register to receive details of the next course once released.

Additional support nationally:

Federation for Small Businesses (FSB) Small Business Sustainability Hub – resources, tools and information to help your business go green and become more sustainable.

 

British Business Bank – has a wealth of resources and tools on how to become more sustainable, including an introduction to net zero, what net zero means for businesses, the benefits, how to measure your carbon footprint, and a Green Decoder to help you decipher sustainable terms.

 

Carbon Trust – has a very helpful introductory guide for SMEs on to the journey to net zero, plus lots of other news, guides, tools and resources.

Net zero is only one of the journeys your business could take to becoming more sustainable.

Other options include:

B Corp – a certification and approach that measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact. Measuring emissions can form a part of the environmental assessment.

 

B Climate Tools Base – The B Corp Climate Collective (a group of Certified B Corporations) has partnered with Oxford University to curate the B Climate Tools Base, a set of tools to guide you on the path toward achieving net zero emissions by 2030 while taking a human-centric, climate justice-oriented approach.

 

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – 17 goals towards a more sustainable world, addressing global challenges, which businesses can choose to engage and align with and pursue.