Large UK businesses waste an annual amount of energy costing at least £1.6 billion, The Carbon Trust said on Monday.

A report published on Monday by The Carbon Trust Advisory said the £1.6 billion total was due to large businesses neglecting energy efficiency measures.

The government-run Carbon Trust Advisory released the statement after analysing 1000 firms’ energy efficiency investments over the course of 3 years.

The report stated that a large firm can save an average of 15 percent on its annual energy bill through investment in heating and lighting upgrades, and training staff.

It also revealed that the finance directors for larger firms significantly underestimated the return of investing in energy efficiency, by almost 30 percent.

The report partly blames the landlord-tenant divide, whereby a landlord does not have much incentive to insulate or invest in making a building more energy efficient, as it is the tenant that will reap the benefit of lower energy bills.

Mostly, however the report warns that energy efficiency still remains a low priority to many businesses, when it can be beneficial.

If you are interested in exploring how being energy efficient could help your business, view our energy efficiency page.

Subscribe to our RSS Feed to get the latest UK energy news.