Green Deal Experts QMSA Conduct Pre-Launch Survey To Find Out Exactly What Businesses Think About The Green Deal Scheme

In December 2012 Green Deal Experts, QMSA, conducted a survey to understand how Green Deal is viewed by businesses of all sizes across the industry in the run up to the Green Deal launch.

(PRWEB UK) 11 January 2013

The Green Deal survey, which was conducted by QMSA and written in conjunction with VOICE, was open for the month of December and comprised of 9 questions based around the Green Deal scheme. Over 200 businesses responded to the survey and provided both expected and unexpected results to the Green Deal suppliers.

The results of the green deal survey proved that many small businesses and sole traders perceive the Green Deal scheme as costly and complex, finding it difficult to follow – mainly due to the lack of information available to them – but many also showed interest in the scheme itself and the potential for work.

However one of the key issues highlighted in the survey was the lack of public awareness; without the public having full knowledge of the scheme it is difficult to see how it will be received. Many small businesses stated that they would not advertise the scheme, as this would be time consuming and add to company costs, leaving it to the government to launch the scheme and promote accordingly.

When QMSA asked businesses in the survey if they intended to register as a Green Deal installer 42% of businesses said that they were undecided on this, whilst 17% said they intended to wait until the scheme matures before committing time and resource to becoming approved. More positively, 23% of the businesses questioned said that intended to register as soon as possible, and 19% said that Green Deal did not appeal to them or their customer profile. This has shown positive results for the scheme, with 40% of the businesses who took part in the survey intending to register as soon as possible or following the launch; it shows that the interest is there.

The survey also showed that 60% of businesses surveyed said they felt the scheme would be another Government failure, which was an eye opener to the Green Deal companies, maybe this echoes a general lack of confidence in Government initiatives, or maybe this is because a similar amount of respondents stated they couldn’t find enough clear information on the Green Deal itself. The results of the survey have shown that with just 42% of businesses undecided on Green Deal participation, it seems there is a way to go to educate the industry and make sure businesses can make an informed decision on whether to participate or not.

QMSA also asked if there were any perceived barriers that may be preventing installer uptake and the results showed 80% of businesses felt that confusion and uncertainty was the main barrier with 60% also citing the cost of becoming approved. Another point covered in the survey was the availability of clear information regarding Green Deal and a huge 68% said they felt there was not enough clear information, with the respondents stating that there are many sources of information about the scheme, mainly on websites, but it has been claimed that most of the available information is not transparent and only raises more confusion.

Alongside Energy Savings Trust and Trade Magazines, QMSA received positive comments about it’s Green Deal Accredited website, with some respondents stating that the guides from this website have been the only source they could find which held useful information.

Andy Flook from QMSA stated “We have spoken directly to many businesses via our forums and seminars and it does seem like there’s a lot of bad information out there. We’re not surprised installers are struggling to get to grips with the Green Deal at the moment, which is why we wrote the guides on greendealaccredited.com, those that do though are positive and seem to want to get involved. It may not be for everybody, but businesses need to be able to make an informed decision now”

In conclusion, the QMSA survey has shown that despite all of the recurring issues regarding the lack of information about the scheme, the sign up process and the uncertainty about the involvement of big businesses, it seems that there is growing interest in the scheme. Installers are signing up and businesses are intending to sign up following the launch of the scheme; QMSA stated that they believe the only way a scheme like this will succeed is with the support of the smaller to medium businesses which make up 90% of the industry.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebgreendealsurvey/qmsa/prweb10306271.htm