Helping Herefordshire businesses prepare for the future
Climate change adaptation is about taking practical steps now to make businesses, communities and infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate.
For businesses, that could mean considering how flooding might affect premises, how extreme heat could affect staff and customers, or how storms and water scarcity could disrupt operations. This programme is designed to help businesses understand their risks and identify practical actions that can help them continue to thrive.
Herefordshire Council is inviting five independent, non-agricultural businesses with up to 50 employees to take part in a new business climate adaptation programme.
The programme will help participating businesses understand how climate change could affect their organisation and identify practical steps they can take to become more resilient. Each participating business will receive a climate change adaptation audit and a personalised adaptation action plan, produced by climate change adaptation specialists Sustainability West Midlands.
The action plan will identify the key actions your business should consider to prepare for risks such as flooding, extreme heat, storms and water scarcity.
What your business could gain
Preparing for the impacts of climate change can help businesses:
- Reduce disruption caused by extreme weather
- Protect opening hours and income
- Improve the resilience of buildings, land and business operations
- Prepare for changing conditions and volatile markets
- Support staff wellbeing and productivity
- Identify practical actions that can be taken over time.
The action plan will be tailored to your business and will include:
The top five adaptation actions your organisation should consider:
- A wider list of potential actions, including priorities, resource requirements and timescales
- Identification of organisations and partners that could help you deliver the recommended actions
- Information and mapping relating to flood risk where relevant.
- You do not need to have already taken action on climate change adaptation to apply.
If your business has already experienced flooding, extreme heat, storms or other weather-related impacts, or has already taken steps to improve its resilience, this information can be included in your application.
Applications
The programme is aimed at:
- Independent, non-agricultural businesses
- With up to 50 employees
- Based in Herefordshire
Businesses must also be able to:
- Appoint a nominated project lead
- Engage with Sustainability West Midlands and meet them on site to support the audit
- Own the relevant buildings or have permission to carry out any potential physical works identified through the action plan.
Selection process
Five businesses will be selected to take part. If more than five eligible businesses apply, the Council will consider factors including:
- The extent to which the business has previously been affected by extreme weather
- The location of the business, with the aim of supporting businesses from across Herefordshire
- You do not need to have a pre-existing climate adaptation plan or specific ideas about what action you should take
How to apply
If you are interested in taking part, please read the business adaptation support programme guidance before applying.
If you meet the eligibility criteria, complete the expression of interest form by 5pm on Thursday 24 September 2026.
We will contact applicants with further information during the week beginning 28 September 2026.
If you need help completing the form, please contact BCAP@herefordshire.gov.uk. An editable word version of the form can also be provided on request.
Guidance notes
In response to increasing awareness of the impacts of climate change, Herefordshire Council declared a climate emergency on 8 March 2019.
Following this in September 2019, we agreed to accelerate a reduction of emissions and aspire to become carbon neutral by 2030/31.
Adapting to climate change means that measures are put in place to increase resilience to the projected impacts of climate change. In doing so, communities, wildlife, and infrastructure, will be better prepared for the extremes that climate change is, and will continue to, cause. It is different from climate change mitigation, as measures don’t necessarily have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Herefordshire Council produced a climate change risk and impact assessment and adaptation plan in 2023, that included the following actions:
- Run an engagement programme with SMEs (excluding agriculturally based industries) to encourage them to prepare for a future with more flooding, water scarcity, and overheating
- Provide advice and guidance to businesses on how to operate in heatwave conditions
Some examples of local climate change adaptation include:
- Planting trees in areas prone to flooding to increase water absorption
- Installing canopies for shade in outdoor areas, enabling continued outdoor access in periods of extreme heat
- Assessing the condition of buildings to ensure they are in good condition, reducing the likelihood of damage during storms
To increase climate change adaptation across the county, Herefordshire Council is launching the business adaptation support programme. This programme will see five small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with up to 50 employees from across the county be invited to engage in a climate change adaptation audit process. This will result in each organisation being provided with a personalised climate adaptation action plan, identifying what their adaptation priorities should be.
Objectives of this programme
The key objectives of this programme are:
- To increase climate change adaptation across businesses in Herefordshire
- To increase awareness of the need for climate change adaptation across the county
Benefits for your business
Adapting to climate change can deliver the following benefits to businesses:
- Increasing preparedness to volatile markets, for example energy, can increase long term economic sustainability
- Increasing preparedness for extreme weather can minimise disruption to opening hours, decreasing the risk of a loss of earning
- Decreasing the impacts of extreme weather can increase staff productivity
This programme is intended to enable your business to reap the benefits of climate change adaptation, even if this is an area you have not fully explored before. By providing you with a personalised action plan, produced by experts in climate change adaptation, you will receive an indication as to what action you need to carry out, to ensure that your organisation continues to thrive as the impacts of climate change worsen.
Adaptation action plan contents
The contents of the action plan will be different for each business. However, each action plan will include the following:
- The top five adaptation actions your organisation should consider
- A detailed list of actions that you could consider delivering, with an indication of priority, resource requirements, and timescales
- The identification of partner organisations who can help you to deliver the actions identified in the action plan
- Maps showing flood risk to your premises if you are a business
Parameters of this programme
Only independent SMEs with employees up to 50 people will be considered for participation in this programme.
The Council has chosen Sustainability West Midlands (SWM) as its delivery partner for this programme. They will carry out an adaptation audit for your organisation and compile an adaptation action plan providing you with actions your organisation can take to increase resilience to climate change.
Organisations must be based within Herefordshire .
It is possible that the output of the Action Plan will include recommendations to make material alterations to a building. Please ensure that you either own or can gain explicit permission to enable these works.
Submitting an expression of interest, and how organisations will be selected
If you can meet the parameters of this programme, you are eligible to submit an expression of interest.
To submit an expression of interest, you need to fill out the expression of interest form for the programme. This is found on the webpage you downloaded this document from. The expression of interest form will ask questions about your organisation, including the historic impacts of extreme weather, and what buildings and land fall within your ownership. Please ensure you are as thorough as possible when completing this form.
If demand for this programme exceeds five organisations, the Council will select the organisations that will be selected for participation. The following factors will be considered when selecting organisations for participation:
The historic impacts of extreme weather on an organisation. This is because an organisation that has previously been severely affected by extreme weather is likely to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in the future.
The location of your organisation. Organisations from across Herefordshire will be selected to participate in this programme.
You do not need to have a pre-formed idea for how you will deliver climate change adaptation to submit an expression of interest. However, if you have already delivered some climate change adaptation, you should provide details of actions you have already undertaken.
If you need any assistance to complete the expression of interest form, please email BCAP@herefordshire.gov.uk with your query by 17 September, and an officer will respond.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm on the 24 September.
Project progress evidence
It is an aim of this programme to increase awareness of the need to adapt to climate change. Therefore businesses selected may be called upon to partake in future adaptation events organised by the Council. This could include the production of a case study for publication on the Council’s website or engaging in a showcase event. This event will aim to increase awareness of how adaptation can be delivered across similar organisations.
Following completion of the project, applicants will be asked to complete an evaluation form of the scheme.