A completely free scheme that enables small businesses to reduce costs at the same time as becoming more environmentally sustainable may sound too good to be true, but it’s not.
Available through the national network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), Green for Micro is a free programme that gives small businesses access to a green consultant who shows them the small changes that can have a big impact on the bottom line as well as on the environment.
“Everyone is talking about climate change, sustainability, and the energy crisis,” says Padraic McElwee, chair of the national network of Local Enterprise Offices. “Small businesses are quite rightly asking what they can do about it and if there is a benefit to doing it. Green for Micro is about answering those questions. Business owners are so busy working in the business that they find it hard to stand back and get an overview of the external issues affecting it. Green for Micro gives them an external pair of eyes to help with that.”
The Kildare Brewing Company was among the more than 300 small businesses to benefit from the programme last year. Established in 2016 by Barry Flanagan, the company has its roots in the Lock 13 gastropub located next door in the village of Sallins, Co Kildare, which is also owned by the Flanagan family.
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“My father bought the Flanagan’s Mill pub in the village back in 1996 and leased it out for many years,” Flanagan explained. “My wife Ola and I took the opportunity to take over the running of the pub ourselves in 2010 and we needed something to differentiate it. We turned the lounge into a gastropub and took out almost all the mainstream beers and replaced them with craft beers. We matched the dishes on the menu with the flavours of the beers.”
“The Green for Micro consultant showed us where the money was going and where the waste was at a very opportune time when costs were starting to rise”
The success of that new model led to the establishment of the Kildare Brewing craft beer business. “We owned some premises next to the pub and we set up the brewery there in 2016,” he recalls. “It was a long arduous process to get planning and so on, but it was worthwhile. Having our own brewery differentiated the business further. People can sit down and have a meal in Lock 13 and enjoy a pint of beer brewed within a few metres of where they are sitting. They can see the beer being brewed and they can look out onto the Grand Canal which was the main highway for the country’s brewing and distilling industries for many years.”
In late 2019, Kildare Brewing added the organic kombucha fermented tea drink to its range of craft beers and successfully won a contract to supply Aldi. “We have been in Aldi stores for two years now and we are moving kombucha production out of the Sallins brewery to a nearby site in Ladytown Business Park between Naas and Newbridge for capacity reasons,” Flanagan adds.
He describes the Green for Micro scheme as an eye-opener for him as a business owner. “I was pretty much oblivious to the energy costs in the business until the consultant came in,” he says. “He showed us where the money was going and where the waste was at a very opportune time when costs were starting to rise. We had four sessions with the consultant, two of them online due to Covid restrictions.”
The results are immediate. “The consultant can come in and saved us money straight away by identifying things we were doing and pointing out how to do them more efficiently without spending any money on it,” Flanagan explains.
“He asked for a detailed list of what we were paying for energy – gas and electricity; waste – what was being taken away and the bin charges; and water.
Luckily enough, we had all of that on file. He produced a graph which gave us a 2019 baseline and we have been able to compare that with 2022 (2020 and 2021 didn’t stand comparison due to Covid).”
“It helps you understand the information you have, understand the bills, and then use that to reduce costs. It’s about working smarter not harder”
That was followed by an analysis of the equipment on site and its energy consumption. “The consultant visited the site and looked at how we were operating. It’s like a lean consultancy, it’s about working smarter not harder. It helps you understand the information you have, understand the bills, and then use that to reduce costs. He also gave us other insights. If you are purchasing a machine for €10,000 which is a 3Kw model, you might think about getting a lower consumption model for €15,000 and look at the payback time. We are now happy to buy a more expensive A-rated machine because we take a long-term view of our business.”
The consultant also came up with a very useful cost reducing suggestion for the new kombucha brewery. “He came up with the idea of using two smaller kettles instead of one large one, 4,000 litres in size. This has helped us become more energy efficient and further recommendations in the heating and cooling processes will lead to a 30 per cent reduction in our annul electricity bills.”
He says he would absolutely recommend the Green for Micro scheme to other companies. “Small business owners are so busy they don’t have time to look at these things and understand them. You can have all the turnover you want but your profit can be eroded if you don’t control your costs. The Green for Micro consultant can save you money straight away.”
For businesses who have undertaken Green for Micro and want to continue their sustainable journey, they can apply for Enterprise Ireland’s GreenStart, which is also open to businesses employing more than 10 people. For more see enterprise-ireland.com
Investment in the Green For Micro scheme is still growing, according to McElwee. “We are getting a very good level of engagement from businesses around the country,” he says. “They might not be able to do a lot about the rising cost of energy, but Green for Micro can help them make savings elsewhere in the business to offset those increases. We are hoping to assist 550 businesses through the scheme this year, up from around 300 last year.”
Businesses with up to 10 employees can apply for Green for Micro at localenterprise.ie