Climate change support for East Ayrshire businesses gains top COSLA award
East Ayrshire Council’s “Net Zero Accelerator” programme has scooped a top award at the 2025 COSLA Excellence Awards.
David McDowall, East Ayrshire Council’s Head of Economic Growth, was presented with the award by singer and broadcaster Michelle McManus at COSLA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in St Andrews.
As winner of Category 5: Building Towards a Just Transition, the Council’s Net Zero Accelerator aims to help small and medium sized businesses to analyse, plan and make the necessary changes to cut carbon emissions, save energy and move output closer to low carbon targets.
Councillor Shona Morrison, COSLA President, said: "Firstly, I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our winners!
“The Excellence Awards are not only a fantastic chance for some well-deserved recognition and celebration of the wonderful people who make up our councils. They also remind us that councils are here for our communities every day, supporting us through ever-changing and often extremely challenging circumstances.
“As always, it has been an absolute pleasure to be part of the Excellence Awards this year, and to hear from all 15 nominated teams. For me, the innovation, passion and commitment shown by our local government workforce is nothing short of inspirational. I hope all the nominees and winners are feeling extremely proud of their achievements and the vital work they are doing every day to support their communities.”
Welcoming the award, Councillor Graham Barton, Cabinet member for Planning, Property and Environment said: “ At the time of COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021 we launched our Clean Green East Ayrshire Climate Change Strategy, to take a whole Council and whole area approach to tackling climate change.
“We recognised early on in our journey towards Net Zero that it’s not enough for the Council to look at cutting carbon in our own services. We knew there was enthusiasm throughout our communities to try and improve the environment, but at the same time change can be difficult and costly, and for many businesses already struggling with the effects of Brexit and austerity, just asking them to make changes to their production processes without guidance and financial support was a step too far.
“We questioned businesses to ask what were the barriers to making the transition to Net Zero, and how we could help. We then came up with a wrap around offer, supporting the delivery of up to seven hours of free expert analysis and advice for small and medium sized enterprises through the University of Strathclyde Low Carbon Challenge Fund (LCCF). This gives businesses a chance to look at all aspects of their operations and identify achievable projects which will help them lower their Carbon Footprint and save energy costs.
“This is combined with a non-repayable grant to cover 50% of the cost of the project giving small and medium sized businesses a real opportunity to benefit from innovations which in turn contribute to a better future for people and environment.
“This award is a great recognition of the dedication of both our own team, who have driven the innovations, and all the businesses who have worked with us to explore and implement vital change. As a Council we pride ourselves on partnership working to improve environment and prosperity for our landscape and our people and this award recognises a great “green” success.”
Notes to editors
Notes to editors
The East Ayrshire Net Zero Grant is a non-repayable grant which should cover 50% of the approved project expenditure, up to a maximum of £3,000.
This is intended to help small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to implement energy and resource efficiency improvements.
It can be used for:
- the purchase of equipment that would contribute to energy saving
- green skills training
- renewable energy installations (for example, solar, ground or air source heat pumps)
- waste management or recycling
- lighting systems
- roof and building insulation
- low energy heating
Eligibility criteria for the Net Zero Support Grant
The grant is available to small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) based in East Ayrshire.
To be eligible, a business must:
- have been trading for at least 12 months
- employ between 3 and 49 people
- be working with Business Energy Scotland or the University of Strathclyde
- have completed a business energy efficiency audit and created a carbon reduction plan
We contributed to a Low Carbon Challenge Fund (LCCF) programme run by the University of Strathclyde. This programme helps small and medium-sized businesses by offering up to seven hours of free support to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, which provides a carbon reduction plan.
This service also allows small and medium sized enterprises businesses to access up to seven hours of free support around carbon reduction and energy efficiency which provides a carbon reduction plan for the business.