Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) should be doing all that they can to reduce energy use and cut carbon emissions, according to the Carbon Trust.
A spokesman for the group, who invested £75 million in working with SMEs in 2005-06, said that many companies can make a big difference very cheaply.
Hugh Jones, solutions project director at the Carbon Trust, said that often reducing a company footprint can be done quickly and at little or no cost.
"Action does not need to be time-consuming or costly and the benefits can be almost immediate, in fact most companies can save up to 20 per cent through no cost and low cost measures," he said.
He added that thousands of SMEs were taking advantage of the company's dedicated advice line and publications and said that the Carbon Trust was keen to invest in smaller enterprise.
"We have also committed £18 million of interest-free Energy Efficiency Loans for small businesses," he concluded.
Recent figures from the company revealed that SMEs represented 70 per cent of the customers the Carbon Trust was involved with.
