Green Grants 4 White Goods: Supporting businesses to upgrade appliances

Station to Station BID used funding from UKSPF to help local businesses in Tulse Hill and West Norwood upgrade their white goods, such as fridges, freezers, and dishwashers.

These upgrades saved the businesses' energy use and carbon emissions and reinvested money into staff costs. 

The Challenge

In August 2024, Station to Station received a £30,000 grant from Lambeth Council, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) (opens in a new window). They allocated this money to establish their Green Grants 4 White Goods scheme, to help local businesses upgrade energy-inefficient appliances such as commercial fridges, freezers, cooking equipment, lighting, and boilers.

They offered up to £1,500 to eligible levy-paying businesses and organisations in the Tulse Hill and West Norwood areas. 

The opportunity was promoted to businesses as a chance to make energy cost savings and reduce their carbon footprint. The caveat is that the savings will be used to retain staff by employing a part-time worker or increasing the hours of an existing employee.

The limited number of grants was awarded based on the eligibility and grant criteria below:

• Existing equipment must have an energy rating of C or below, or be more than 8 years old
• Proof of at least a 20% energy use saving per year (see how to calculate this below, and more information here (opens in a new window))
• Agreement that savings made in energy costs go towards retaining staff
• Agreement to ‘before and after’ photographs & taking part in a case study
• Applicant is a Station to Station levy payer

Action Taken

Eighteen grants were awarded to local businesses to replace energy inefficient ‘white goods’. Below are summaries of the action taken by some of the businesses: 

The Rathbone Society: The Old Library

The Rathbone Society is a local charity that works with young people to provide youth services and support for individuals with extra needs in the area. They run their youth services from the Old Library on Knights Hill and also have supported accommodation in Chatsworth Way.

They rely on food donations from local businesses to provide food and refreshments for their service users. Due to small and inefficient refrigeration units, they sometimes face issues with rotating their fresh food supplies. With the grant, they replaced two small fridges (one of which had a broken door) with a larger fridge freezer, enabling better management of stock and donations, and helping to prevent food waste. The grant also supplied a new dishwasher, allowing them to spend less time washing dishes and more time with the clients they serve. They expect to save 20% on electricity bills.

The Tulse Hill Café 

The Tulse Hill Cafe is a local spot, very popular with ‘bikers’, often seen visiting on a Sunday morning before heading out on the open road. This small business has a modest turnover, and Nevin was extremely grateful to receive the grant as it allowed her to make upgrades she otherwise could not have afforded. Station to Station BID bought three new microwaves, a new panini maker, and a new freezer unit to replace their 20-year-old one. The BID gathered information on the costs and energy ratings of the replacement equipment and managed to replace more than one item from the list using the grant.  

Portico Gallery

Portico is an event space and office located on Knights Hill. Its small catering kitchen required upgrades to outdated equipment. The grant was used to replace a three-door display fridge, a mini bar fridge, an upright freezer, and a chest freezer. These items were frequently used for events at the venue and by staff for lunch.

Centre 70

Centre 70 supports adults facing social, mental, financial, or other personal difficulties through a holistic programme of free and affordable services at their centre in West Norwood and outreach locations in Lambeth and across London.

Upon visiting the centre, the BID discovered they do not have a mains gas supply and rely on heating the building with various plug-in electric fan heaters, oil radiators, and very old wall-mounted storage heaters. The storage heaters caused efficiency issues, as they are designed to use an overnight energy supply to heat them; once heated, they cannot be controlled or turned off. Station to Station awarded the centre a grant of £1675.00 to help start replacing the existing heating systems with infrared wall-mounted heaters, which are much more energy-efficient and easier to control, allowing them to manage energy use and costs more effectively.  

The Results

Station to Station BID’s reflections

“This has been a really positive project to work on as it has helped us engage with a number of businesses who don’t always use our BID services. We’ve initiated discussions on carbon footprint, energy costs, better contracts, renewable energy, and reducing consumption. We ensured all new purchases used at least 20% less energy, verifying each item's efficiency based on varying measurement methods.

In the current climate of the ‘cost of doing business’ crisis, this has been an excellent project to help our small and independent businesses, who often feel they are just left to struggle on without much support or recognition.”

The BID are currently looking for participants to participate in 1-2-1 calls or an online workshop with Re-London to help them rethink the things they buy, use and throw away to benefit their food and drink businesses. Participating businesses will then be eligible to apply for a £5k grant to support them in making changes that will ultimately reduce waste and costs.

They are eager to meet with new businesses to help them explore ways to reduce their costs and energy consumption. We encourage them to contact us for a chat and to direct them to any available support.

Read the full report with case studies from all the businesses.  (opens in a new window)