More than half of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that undertook an Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) audit made financial savings as a result.

New research conducted by the UK Government about the initiative, says two-thirds saved in excess of £200 in the last year.

ESOS aims to help organisations across the country improve their energy efficiency by recording and reporting energy data and identifying the best opportunities to make savings.

In total, only 9% of SMEs said they had ever conducted one, compared with 69% of larger companies. It also found just 4% of SMEs that had never conducted an audit, had thought about doing so.

Of the SMEs that had conducted an energy audit, four in five took action as a result, with two-thirds implementing an energy efficiency measure.

More efficient lighting (58%) was the most commonly implemented measure, followed by more efficient heating (50%) and building insulation improvements (46%).