ESOS
ESOS Phase 3: We are ESOS Lead Assessors and operate throughout the UK.
This government legislation is called the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme and was introduced to encourage large UK based organisations to implement energy savings measures. Organisations that are required to comply must have energy audits carried out every four years to measure the energy they use in their buildings, transport and processes. The audits will be accompanied by cost effective recommendations which can help businesses reduce the amount of energy they use, improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon emissions. The scheme is mandatory for those organisations classified as large undertakings and is expected to affect up to 10,000 UK businesses.
ESOS applies to your business if it meets either or both of the following criteria:
• You have more than 250 employees.
• You have an annual turnover of more than £44m+ and a balance sheet £38m+ as of 31st December 2022.
Only one of the businesses in the corporate group umbrella needs to meet the criteria in order for you to qualify although there are rules to allow parts of the group to disaggregate from or aggregate with others in the group in order to meet compliance. There also rules regarding joint ventures, franchises, trusts, private equity firms, private finance initiatives, overseas companies with UK based undertakings and whether or not Public Bodies or Higher Education Institutions qualify under the scheme.
Organisations which are very close to the qualification criteria or have recently grown or shrunk, may need to look back over several accounting periods to confirm whether or not they need to comply with Phase 3. Examples of organisations that may need to comply include:
• Limited companies.
• Public companies.
• Trusts.
• Not-for-profit bodies (please note that most larger charities will be a corporate body and as such are considered to be an undertaking).
• Universities which get more than half their funding from private sources.
• Partnerships.
• Private equity companies or limited liability partnerships.
• Unincorporated associations.
• Care homes that do not qualify as public bodies.
