By Daniel Cope, Director of Green Lark Environmental Solutions

Daniel Cope
Daniel Cope Director of Green Lark Environmental Solutions

If you run a business in Milton Keynes, there’s a good chance a customer, a tender or your bank has asked about your carbon emissions this year. How you answer is fast becoming a factor in who wins the work. The good news is that there has rarely been more funded help available to answer well.

The commercial pressure is real. The UK Business Climate Hub’s 2025 census of more than 2,000 firms found that over half of large organisations had been asked for emissions data, along with one in five small businesses. Those requests travel down supply chains, and credible figures put suppliers in a stronger position.

Through its Green Business Fund, Milton Keynes City Council has backed five programmes this year to help local firms cut costs, strengthen their credentials and compete for work. So which one is right for your business, and where should you start?

Why the Council Is Investing in Local Business

Milton Keynes City Council is directly responsible for around 4% of the city’s emissions. The rest sits with homes, organisations and businesses, so a resilient, competitive local economy depends on firms being ready for what customers now expect. Funding practical business support while council budgets are under pressure deserves credit. As Councillor Jenny Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Planning & Sustainability, put it in June, these projects will help companies “cut emissions, reduce costs and build a more sustainable local economy”.

From Plan to Action

In my experience, the businesses that gain most start by understanding where their emissions and costs sit, then act on a clear plan. Sustainable Business: Milton Keynes, the programme I lead at Green Lark, is built to be that starting point. Each business receives a full carbon footprint across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, one-to-one consultancy, a written reduction plan, Carbon Literacy training and the Green Lark Carbon Verified badge, giving credible evidence to put in front of customers and tender panels. In our first phase, almost 84% of the emissions we measured across more than 50 local businesses sat in purchasing, waste and travel, areas where cost and carbon savings often go hand in hand.

Where customers or tenders ask for certified environmental management, the Green Business Sustainability and ISO Support Programme from Milton Keynes Green Businesses Network is guiding ten businesses towards implementing ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems standard and ISO 14064-1 GHG accounting and reporting. The ISO implementation support will take place through seven workshops and a one-to-one internal audit, with a £200 reimbursement towards certification – a certification many larger customers and buyers look for their suppliers to have in place.

MK Carbon Ready from TrackZero offers free access to its carbon software, up to 50 fully funded licences for its full Sustainability Suite, and monthly webinars. It’s a practical way to keep figures current and ready for the next supplier questionnaire, from a trusted company within this space.

If you own your building or land, and use a lot of electricity during the day, Milton Keynes Community Energy can fund, install and maintain a community-owned solar array at no capital cost or operational risk to you. You buy the electricity you use at a price capped below grid rates, giving lower bills and greater certainty over energy costs. As a not-for-profit, MKCE also reinvests surplus into local projects that cut household energy bills, giving your business a social value story as well as a carbon one.

Finally, the Industrial Symbiosis project from International Synergies helps turn waste into value. Its free SYNERGie Direct platform matches one business’s surplus materials or waste with another that can use them, cutting disposal charges and raw material costs on both sides while reducing emissions in the process.

The Bottom Line for Milton Keynes Businesses

Start with an honest picture of where your emissions and costs sit, then choose the support that matches your biggest opportunities. Several programmes have limited places, so it pays to register early.

Customers, lenders and tender panels are asking sharper questions every year, and businesses with clear answers will be better placed to win the work. It’s encouraging to see the Council and a group of specialist providers pulling in the same direction, and I look forward to working with many of you over the coming months.

Businesses within Milton Keynes are currently eligible for fully funded support through the following Green Business Fund programmes: