An opinion piece from Chris Powell, Head of Sales at Novuna Business Finance
UK small businesses are finding practical ways to cut costs, reduce waste, build stronger relationships with suppliers and customers and stand out in a crowded market. A new insight report from Novuna Business Finance, reflects on interviews with small business owners across sectors including manufacturing, construction, engineering, and technology.
Chris Powell, Head of Sales at Novuna Business Finance shares his thoughts from some of the small business success stories featured in Novuna’s new report on sustainability.
“At the start of the year, our nationwide research of more than 1,000 small businesses revealed that more than eight in 10 businesses owners (88%) said there were areas of sustainability that are more important to them today, than was the case in 2024. Despite the huge geo-political shifts of the last year – and a seemingly less intense focus on Net Zero from some governments and major companies – for UK small businesses, sustainability still remains core to business planning, to innovation and also the road to business growth.
“Our January 2025 research also indicated that many small businesses were seeing the financial advantages of being more sustainable. From our poll, many business leaders were keen to review their water and electrical usage to consider how they could make greater use of renewable energy. Other enterprises were keen to switch to greener forms of transportation, investing in new equipment, as well as in a more sustainable infrastructure and supply chain. All these moves were seen to be important to their sustainable strategies along with making financial sense to the bottom line enabling these businesses to free up working capital.
“From this national data, our team has gone a step further and conducted detailed one-to-one interviews with small business owners around the UK. From Wales to Blackburn, Oxford to the South Coast – and spanning industry sectors from construction to farming – we have taken time to listen to individual small business stories and to learn from them. We have gained insight on how they see the value of sustainability to their business vision, how they have overcome barriers to innovate – and how access to tailored finance and funding is key to support their overall growth plans.
“In our new September report, available on our website, we will be sharing 10 insights we have gathered from these interviews with small business owners, and we hope their stories inspire other businesses to learn and share best practices with one another. Ahead of this report, I would like to share a few personal take-outs from three of the small business interviews featured in our new report and the accompanying podcast series. I would also like to take a moment to thank all the small business owners that have generously given their time to share their sustainable business stories with us.
“From our interview with Libra Utility Services, I was really impressed with the vision the business had in terms of investing money in sustainable equipment, which can be daunting from the outset but is, nonetheless, a big investment in supporting long-term growth. On a daily basis, we work with customers that are buying or updating equipment to make them both more sustainable and financially efficient. Access to funding can often be essential and it’s an area we specialise in at Novuna Business Finance. Our ability to tailor our products to suit a small business’s longer-term financial needs is core to what we do and, with an asset portfolio of more than £1.9bn, Novuna Business Finance has a strong track record in helping small businesses across multiple sectors – from transport and agriculture to construction and manufacturing.
“For example, we have recently launched a green growth guarantee scheme in partnership with the British Business Bank, which is all about increasing the supply of affordable finance for businesses investing in green assets. This gives small businesses more flexibility, frees up working capital and allows our customers to make those investments in the assets and equipment that can power their business forward.
“From our interview with Libra Utility Services, we have a great example of a UK small business that is being bold and entrepreneurial. Like many enterprises, they have a clear vision, sustainability is built into the heart of their business planning.
“Another business owner that Novuna Business Finance interviewed was Richard Morgan, who is the founder of Electric Classic Cars. In many ways, Richard is the epitome of innovation which UK SMEs are known for, converting old classic cars into electric cars – transforming cars in a sustainable way. There’s obviously a passion here, which feeds into Richard’s business – and centred around it is a focus on the lifecycle of an asset.
“Potentially, some of these older classic cars could be scrapped, but Richard’s business presents a great story of taking an asset, modernising it and potentially giving the asset a new lifecycle of 20 years. And Richard’s business is, in its core essence, fully sustainable; replacing old petrol or diesel engines with electric ones. The products still have the prestige of being classic cars, but they are sustainable, kinder to the planet and more economic to run. A win for the pocket and a win for the planet – and all from a business that is forward-looking and highly innovative.
“These are the kind of growth stories from established businesses that we, at Novuna Business Finance, want to back.
“Another small business that spoke with us – Cambridge Building Supplies – is a great example of how a small business can adapt to market changes quickly and innovate, by crafting bespoke home offices. The home-working habits that endured after the succession of Covid lockdowns is something that Chris at Cambridge Business Supplies reacted to with his business. He saw an opportunity, and he was brave and bold enough to seize a growth opportunity.
“From this small business story, it’s also about re-purposing and re-imagining old buildings, which is efficient but also sustainable. Rather than knock down an old building and build something new, Chris and his team take the initial frame and give it a new lease of life – similar to the car story from Richard Morgan – taking something, refurbing and upgrading it, making it more efficient and breathing new life into an asset.
“From all these small business stories, we have learned a lot. For us at Novuna Business Finance, it’s all about listening to our customers; understanding their requirements, their needs and helping their enterprises to fulfil their true potential. From understanding a small business owner’s vision and plan, we look at what we can do to help and we do this in the most tailored way. We have a broad range of products and tools to help business owners through seamless transactions based on mutual understanding and investing in building a long-term relationship. We pride ourselves on working with small businesses, we too are a people business, and we structure our products around what our customers need and where they want to be tomorrow.
“Novuna Business Finance provides business finance to SMEs and bigger corporations across the UK. This includes asset finance, stocking, block discounting and sustainable project finance provided through brokers, vendor organisations, manufacturers and direct to the business community.”