Grants of up to £25,000 help Nottingham go greener 

Workplace Travel Grant provides cash to local businesses and voluntary organisations for green transport schemes. 

Paid for through the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, Nottingham City Council has already distributed half a million pounds in grants to support more environmentally friendly travel. This obviously helps to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality – and can save staff and customers money, too.

Photo by Andrew Roberts

Work covered by the grant can include adding charging points for electric vehicles (EVs), or the provision of e-bikes and other infrastructure to support more people in cycling. 

Businesses of any size, public sector organisations and charity or voluntary organisations and groups can apply for funding so long as they are based within the Nottingham City boundary. The first step is to submit an expression of interest through the Transport Nottingham website. The council will then provide information on how to apply. Awards are granted by a panel that meets each month and decisions are made within six weeks.  

If successful, businesses received 75% of costs and contribute 25% themselves; public sector, voluntary and charitable groups will receive 100%. 

The application deadline December 31, 2023 – and Nottingham City Council urges people to apply now so as not to miss their chance. 

Cllr Angela Kandola, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and Planning at Nottingham City Council, says: ‘Calling local businesses, public-sector organisations, voluntary or faith groups, we can help you to future-proof your workplace by adding electric vehicle charging points and facilities to make cycling to work easier.  

‘We really want local groups and businesses to take advantage of this scheme before it ends so we can help as many people as possible. It’s all done for you from end to end – all you have to do is fill in a simple application form with around seven questions and our helpful team are there to support you.’  

The scheme has already proved very successful – and popular with those who’ve taken part.  

For example, Palmyra Estates received a grant of £25,000. Managing Director Natalie Shaw says: ‘The Workplace Travel Grant process is such a fabulous scheme from the council to support greener workplace travel and reduce the travel-to-work carbon footprint, and I strongly recommend all local landlords and businesses to look into the options available. Nottingham is certainly leading the way in this space.’ 

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust received nearly £24,000 from the scheme. Istvan Sereg, Senior Energy and Environment Manager, says: ‘The Trust has worked with NCC Workplace Travel Service over a number of years and taken advantage of the electric van trial scheme with different teams at the Trust. There have also been a number of successful applications for grants for the installation of electric vehicle chargers across the Trust which have built a sizeable network of charging infrastructure for fleet and staff usage. This has allowed an increased number of fleet vehicles to be procured and significantly increased the proportion of staff owning and leasing electric vehicles.’ 

LAC Conveyer Systems received a grant of £5,000. Lauren Cassidy, Head of Business Support there, says: ‘The Workplace Travel Service team helped LAC Conveyor Systems discover available options and provided expert advice that proved invaluable in our decision to foster a greener, more responsible business model.  

 ‘Thanks to the grant, we were able to install several EV chargers at our workplace, which has enabled us to take another step towards sustainability. We are charging the way to a greener future, one charge at a time.’