Lloyds Bank, Triodos Bank, Xero and a host of other businesses have joined Perseus, a national programme working to automate sustainability reporting for every SME in the UK to unlock green finance and reduce emissions faster.

The firms will work together to design the rules and processes that make automated emissions reporting possible. In turn, these rules will enable other products and services, like emissions calculators, databases and reporting software.

Research from the British Business Bank shows that SME businesses account for around half (43-53%) of UK business greenhouse gas emissions, but just 3% have both measured their carbon footprint and set targets for reduction.

Other new members include Ordnance Survey, FDATA, Smarter Contracts, VoltView, OnGen and tilt, forming a 40-strong group of members.

Less hassle for smaller businesses, better risk management for banks

For SMEs, Perseus will revolutionise emissions reporting, allowing them to choose to automatically share their electricity data with the platforms they use to calculate their emissions with one click. It will ease the challenge they face in finding and sharing data for sustainability reports, while allowing them to stay in control of how it can be used.

Terri Gunn, quality and sustainability officer at Ulrick & Short, a Pontefract-based food manufacturer, told The Times that the first time she calculated her business’s electricity use “it took hours and hours”. She said Perseus could be “massive” for smaller companies. “It would save a lot of man hours and manpower’s the one thing that SME businesses don’t have.”

For accounting platforms, Perseus will enable an improved offering for their SME customers, who will be able to more easily produce sustainability reports and be incentivised to do so. Platforms will also be able to offer personalised recommendations based on higher quality emissions data.

And for banks, Perseus enables access to assurable data to help them manage risk and offer better products and services to their SME customers. In turn, banks could offer incentives for SMEs to report and reduce their emissions.

Just 11% of SMEs have accessed external finance to support net zero actions, but 22% say they are prepared to do so – showing a growing need for green finance for smaller businesses.

The first phase of Perseus will cover electricity data. Future phases aim to include gas, water and beyond.

A growing group of forward-thinking organisations

Perseus is a collaborative programme driven by commercial partners from key sectors, is supported by government, and was included in the 2023 Green Finance Strategy.

It is overseen by over a dozen trade associations, including the British Business Bank, UK Finance, the Institute of Directors, ICAEW, Innovate Finance, the Federation of Small Businesses, and Energy UK. Its implementation is being led by Icebreaker One and it is governed by an independent Delivery Oversight Committee.

Speeding up our journey to net zero

Gavin Starks, CEO and Founder of Icebreaker One, said: “A host of new members for Perseus accelerates our journey to automated and assurable emissions reporting for every UK SME. As the financial sector increases its demands on the real economy for trusted smart data, Perseus will help derisk investment, save time and money on the race to zero.”

Elyn Corfield, CEO, Business & Commercial Banking, Lloyds Bank said: “We’re delighted to partner with Perseus to help support the UK’s nearly 6 million SMEs with one of their biggest opportunities and challenges – the transition to net zero emissions. Every day we talk to small, growing businesses across all sectors throughout the country and it’s clear that simplified and standardised emissions measuring and reporting is a critical step on their transition journey.

“Greater collaboration between the private and public sector to share more accurate data could also help businesses make more informed investment decisions when looking to decarbonise, and that can help them to reduce costs.”

Amy Robinson, Corporate Projects Manager at Triodos Bank UK, said: “It is essential for finance institutions and businesses to measure and manage their carbon emissions. Whether for the banks, or the individual SMEs, the scale of the challenge to capture accurate data is huge. Project Perseus has the potential to not only provide high quality data that facilitates more effective interventions, but also to free up time and resources – creating capacity to focus on the practical challenges of reducing emissions.”

Tamara Somers, GM, Sustainability & Impact at Xero, said: “Xero is delighted to support Project Perseus’ goal of simplifying and democratising ESG reporting for small and medium businesses, which are the engine of the global economy. We’re all about making life better for small businesses and their advisors and this is a step in the right direction“

Join Perseus to be part of the constellation working together to automate sustainability reporting.