The Environment Agency are beginning to flex their ESOS enforcement muscles with the announcement this week of the first set of fines for ESOS non-compliance.
Whilst many of us continue to push for change, notably an exemption for small charities and introducing tax incentives for those companies that are carrying out the energy improvements, it is encouraging that the EA are sending such a strong message to companies that participation in ESOS it is not optional.
Out of 7,000 companies in ESOS, 15 companies have now been fined. The full list of these companies who have been asked to sit on the EA Naughty Step is:
- Betting Shop Services Limited
- Harman International Industries Limited
- Gateway Global Communications Limited
- Monex Europe Holdings Limited
- Giant Precision Limited
- Amdocs (UK) Limited
- Intelsat Global Sales and Marketing Limited
- GBT Travel Services UK Limited
- CCA International (UK) Ltd
- Belvedere Midco Limited
- Forever 21 (UK) Limited
- STA Travel Limited
- Spinnaker Bidco Limited
- Ebay (UK) Ltd
- Com Limited
The fines totalled £158,000 with the lowest fine issued to Betting Shop Services Limited who picked up a £1,600 fine and the highest to Amdocs (UK) Limited who managed an eye-watering £45,000 fine. I’ve no idea what Amdocs did wrong although with the size of this fine, I assume it was something reasonably serious.
All of these companies, in addition to being fined, have the additional requirement to complete a full ESOS Assessment in a compliant manner. For some companies, the task of retrospectively gathering the required data from 4 years ago is not going to be easy.
If you think you might be in ESOS but are not sure or you would like to discuss the most cost-effective route for you to get ESOS compliance, please get in touch for a no-obligation initial discussion.
