Salford-headquartered TalkTalk has launched its “Future Fibre Fund” to help small businesses across Greater Manchester become more sustainable.
The ‘Future Fibre Fund’ offers “donations” of up to £6,000 to support businesses across Greater Manchester with the adoption of energy monitoring technology, and recycling facilities and to work towards environmental certifications. The fund can also contribute to larger projects including the installation of Solar PV.
Successful applicants will also benefit from a coaching session with TalkTalk’s Head of Sustainability, Will Ennett. In these sessions, Will Ennett will help the businesses discover the steps they can take to help reduce their carbon emissions using the MEAD framework, which consists of four actionable steps for businesses.
As the only large-scale connectivity provider based in the North West, TalkTalk is passionate about helping the local community. The fund is open to small businesses based in Greater Manchester and applicants must submit their application forms by January 12th.
According to TalkTalk, small businesses account for 44% of national non-household emissions. Therefore, the business believes that taking steps to help SMEs reduce their carbon footprint will have a positive impact on the environment and will be crucial in helping the UK to meet net-zero targets.
Nine out of 10 of the businesses TalkTalk surveyed said they face barriers to taking climate action, with financial constraints found to be one of the most common.
The provider itself has been able to lower its operational carbon footprint by 80% over the past 5-years. TalkTalk is also helping customers to reduce their lifetime carbon emissions by encouraging the switch from standard broadband to full-fibre, which is a more environmentally friendly technology.
Will Ennett, Head of Sustainability at TalkTalk, said: “We are delighted to open our Future Fibre Fund to small businesses in Greater Manchester to support their sustainability efforts. At TalkTalk, we have been taking on several measures to become more sustainable and we hope this initiative will enable small businesses around our local area to do the same.”
The fund is open to small businesses based in Greater Manchester and applicants must submit their application forms by Thursday 12 January. Successful applicants will then be contacted from 6th February 2023.
