In focus
Green Deal 2/4
r that SMEs
It seems cleato provide
will struggleroviders.
finance as pe out by the
This is bornres which
current figu e just 33
show there ar s
er
listed provid
recommendations for energy-saving
improvements. Authorised Green Deal
providers provide finance and arrange
for the installation of the agreed improvements and installers – who again must be
approved – carry out the final work.
It seems clear that SMEs will struggle
to provide finance as "providers". This
is borne out by the current figures which
show there are just 33 listed providers
compared with 78 authorised assessors
and 652 installers, the area that seems
most suited to SMEs.*
However, the Department of Energy
and Climate Change (DECC) says SMEs
are "well-placed to join the new market"
and it is not just big businesses such as
Nationwide and Kingfisher that can play
the role of provider, SMEs can be providers too.Yet the Federation of Master
Only 27% of SME construction firms plan to get involved in the Deal, according to a survey
Builders' (FMB) CEO, Brian Berry, is
more than sceptical of this claim.
"That's not quite true, in theory they
can if they become a Green Deal provider, but the reality is that we don't know
of any SMEs who have become a Green
Deal provider. It is very disingenuous
of the Government to say that, because
in theory they can but in practice they
won't – the requirements in terms of
the financing and the insurance side of
it make it prohibitive for local building
