Leicester’s local businesses: now powered by sunshine

Local Energy:

We’re working together with Leicester’s awesome local businesses to power the city with solar energy… sourced just down the road!

We’re so excited to say that Leicester, the stomping ground for 60+ Octopus Energy staff, is once again breaking new business ground. We’ve launched a brand new tariff supplying Leicester businesses with affordable, 100% renewable electricity from a solar farm just a few miles from the city centre. Dubbed Leicester Business Power, this new tariff will support the local economy as well as helping these businesses minimise their environmental impact.

We totally love Leicester. Just six months ago, we branched out from our office in London’s Soho and cut the ribbon on our second home, a brand new office in Leicester’s Town Square (now inhabited by a hefty 60-strong team!) Since then, we’ve been so happy watching the city’s entrepreneurialism thrive, benefiting from the wealth of talent that the area attracts thanks to the nearby universities, as well as the collaborative efforts of the council and local business community towards realising ambitious business plans.

This hyper-local energy supply venture is another step in the extensive regeneration story of Leicester and the surrounding area.

And more and more businesses are following suit. Each will be given tailored information about the amount of carbon that has been offset as a result of their decision to go green.

That decision will be celebrated beyond the environment, because for every business that signs up, Octopus Energy will donate £25 to Charity Link. This money, in turn, will be more than matched by other charities and funds, unlocking an additional £125 in support for local people in need. The local charity helps vulnerable Leicestershire people - including children, the elderly and those with serious health issues - by making sure their basic human needs are met by supplying them with food, shelter and warmth.

The trial in Leicester illustrates the great potential Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have to help smash the UK’s climate change targets. For starters, there’s absolutely shedloads of these SMEs – defined as fewer than 250 employees, 99% of UK businesses are classified as such. Given how quick and painless going green is these days, it’s clear that local businesses can create real environmental change in the UK through making just a few simple choices.

We reckon a key step towards encouraging businesses to make these environmentally-conscious decisions will be providing a way to actually see the tangible impact they’ve had. By signing up to Leicester Business Power, companies not only find out precisely how much carbon they’ve saved, but bolster their own economy – supporting a local supplier to provide locally-generated energy, which will lead to our little office growing and growing – as well as actively providing much-needed aid to worthy causes within the community. Which means that when the sun shines on Leicester, local businesses know exactly what that sunshine is going towards.