A survey of over 500 small to medium enterprises in the UK has found that 61 per cent believe that net-zero and a move to a greener economy post-COVID-19 will present positive business opportunities.

According to Edie, the survey, which was conducted by Opinium and the behalf of think tank Entrepreneurs Network and the Enterprise Trust, polled more than 500 UK businesses in retail, consultancy, and marketing sectors.

There was also representation from start-ups and scale-ups working specifically on green R&D in fields like electric vehicle batteries and agri-tech.

On the question of whether the transition to a green economy would be beneficial for their business finances, 61 per cent were optimistic, and only 8 per cent said the overall impact would likely be negative.

Respondents thought the drivers of the transition included net-zero legislation, the ongoing ‘war on plastics’ and climate activism movements and the green recovery movement.

54 per cent of respondents said their businesses had already taken steps to become more environmentally friendly within the past 18 months, mostly citing an increase in expectations from consumers, staff, and job applicants.

The survey also revealed that a lack of policy support is a barrier to making the transition and transforming processes and business models in the name of the environment.

68 per cent of respondents said that the government support for SMEs who are looking to align or go beyond the requirements of green policy is either average or poor.

30 per cent thought the government was doing a good job of helping SMEs deal with issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

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