Three in four small businesses polled say they can do little to save more energy but British Gas says firms' commitment to energy reduction will boost profitability.
British Gas' survey of 300 small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK has revealed that although 79% believe energy efficiency would save money, 71% think there is little they can do to cut energy costs further.
More than half of managers responsible for buying energy for their business admitted they were more energy conscious at home than at work.
The findings come in spite of the fact that energy accounts for 10% of the average SME's annual overheads. Government figures also show 12bn pounds worth of energy is wasted in the UK every year.
The poll commisioned by British Gas was carried out by the UK's leading research company Ipsos MORI who telephoned 300 people responsible for paying the energy bills for their businesses (less than 1,000 employees).
In total 56% said they need help to make their business more energy efficient and 47% said they needed help from their energy supplier to become more energy efficient.
The poll's findings have prompted British Gas to call on firms to have an energy efficiency policy, look at the amount of energy consumed, take control of energy costs and take steps to reduce energy consumption. British Gas has compiled an energy efficiency booklet available free from its website.
'By adopting straight-forward, low-cost and no-cost measures to reduce energy usage, small businesses could slash up to 20% from the average annual energy bill', said Simon Stenning, head of marketing at British Gas Business . 'As an example, if your business has a 10% margin, this means that for every £100 a year you save on electricity, you are effectively increasing your turnover by £1,000'.