A Defra research project has found that more than a third of firms studied experienced an increase in sales after implementing an Environmental Management System, with a further third confirming they expected to do so in the near future.  The study looked at firms who had certified their EMS to either ISO 14001 or BS 8555/Acorn, and shows the majority were able to reduce costs.  Key findings of the report include:

  • SMEs investing more on establishing their EMS achieve average costs savings of £4,875
  • Defra estimates payback on establishing their system was achieved in just three months
  • For firms experiencing an upturn in business, payback time reduced to just one month
  • Organisations quoted additional sales of almost £15,000 per million pounds of turnover
  • 28 of the 31 participants were able to reduce carbon emissions by 39 tonnes per million pounds of turnover

Environment minister Richard Benyon said:

All businesses should be planning green and growth together – strategic thinking about environmental management leads to more sales, bigger profits and a more attractive business to clients and investors.

The report is available from the Defra website at:  http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=FINALEV0440report.pdf