SMEs 'struggle to adopt sustainable environmental analysis practices'

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to adopt sustainability practices as they do not have enough money to put into environmental analysis.

This the view of professor Ross King, joint programme director at the Centre for Sustainable Environmental Management - Brunel Management Programme, who said SMEs are being held back by their lack of finances.

He stated: "I think that's to do with them not having the scale of funding that would allow them to put the effort into it."

Mr King noted that many small firms are "overwhelmed" with the task of simply keeping their businesses operating, let alone aligning themselves with the "regulatory burden" that is environmental legislation.

His comments come after the Cambridge Network found that more public sector companies are adopting sustainability practices than private firms.

Findings showed that while more public organisations are 'leaders', there are ten times more private sector companies that are classified as 'laggards' than public ones.

Posted by Lauren Steadman