A PROJECT offering advice and grant support has helped 161 businesses across Worcestershire become more energy efficient.

Worcestershire County Council, in partnership with Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, was awarded £726,000 of European Regional Development Funding for the Resource Efficient Worcestershire project. This began in July 2012 and was originally scheduled to close in June 2015. However a successful bid for additional funding meant the County Council and the Chamber of Commerce were able to extend the scheme until September 2015.

The aim of the project was educate and enable small and medium enterprises to improve their energy and water efficiency, waste reduction and profitability, while also reducing CO2 emissions. During its three year operation, 161 businesses across Worcestershire were provided with free resource efficiency assessment reviews to identify potential improvements. A grant programme was then made available to help businesses introduce recommendations and 90 per cent of businesses acting on the report recommendations reduced their overall energy consumption, despite the majority seeing increases in production and turnover. Overall CO2 emissions of those taking part have been reduced by over 1500 tonnes.

Cllr Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council cabinet member for the environment and chairman of the Resource Efficient Worcestershire Project Board, said: "It's great to see the project has been such a success and that so many local businesses have benefitted from becoming more resource efficient. As well as reducing their environmental impact, we have clear evidence that participating businesses can achieve increased profits and a better competitive advantage.

"To build on our success and to assist more businesses, we have applied for further ERDF funding and hope to launch a new three year project in early 2016. Businesses who would like to register their interest can do so online now."