Small business owners may be concerned about the price of utilities, but more than half (52 per cent) of SMEs – 2.54m businesses – do not know what they spend on electricity, gas and water as a percentage of their overheads, writes Energy Zine.
The study, published by the energy and water consultancy, Utilitywise, shows that only one quarter of small business leaders can easily see how much electricity, gas and water their business is using and less than a third are able to access energy consumption information.
The research highlights two thirds of small business owners delegate utilities purchasing and management to other staff, including their office manager. 17 per cent of respondents reported that they look after utility suppliers themselves, yet, more than one in ten small business leaders admit they do not know who in their business is responsible for this important overhead. This is despite the rising price of utilities remaining the main source of cost inflation for over half of all small businesses.
