The short answer
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) is the law that makes large companies publish their energy use and emissions in their annual report. "Large" has a specific meaning here. An unquoted company or LLP is caught if it meets at least two of these three tests:
| Test | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Average number of employees | 250 or more |
| Turnover | £36 million or more |
| Balance sheet total | £18 million or more |
Quoted companies report whatever their size. Sole traders and partnerships other than LLPs are not covered. A business with 30 staff and a £4 million turnover is nowhere near the line, and nor are most businesses with 100. If you want to be certain, our SECR checker gives you an answer in under a minute, without asking for your name or email.
A trap: the 2025 size changes
The Companies Act size thresholds went up for financial years starting on or after 6 April 2025, and that changed which companies count as small, medium or large for accounts purposes. It did not change SECR. SECR still uses the earlier thresholds above. So if your accountant tells you that you are now "medium" for your accounts, don't assume that settles SECR either way; check against the three tests.
If you are close to the line
A growing business can cross two of the tests sooner than expected, especially the balance sheet test after an acquisition or a property purchase. If you meet two of three, SECR applies, and the disclosure goes in the directors' report of your annual accounts. There is one exemption worth knowing: a company that is large but used 40,000 kWh or less of energy in the UK in the year only needs to state that it is a low energy user. Our SECR guide covers what a full report includes, with a worked example.
Who asks small companies anyway
Being outside SECR doesn't mean nobody will ask about your carbon. For most small businesses the questions come from buyers, not the law:
| Who asks | What they usually want |
|---|---|
| Central government buyers | A PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan on contracts above £5 million a year |
| The NHS | A Net Zero Commitment or Carbon Reduction Plan, depending on contract size; Evergreen Level 1 for NHS Supply Chain tenders |
| Councils, housing associations, universities | Often a PPN 006-style plan, even on small contracts |
| Large customers | Your Scope 1 and 2 figures, targets, and sometimes your share of emissions for their account, through a supplier questionnaire |
| Investors and lenders | Questions about emissions and plans, particularly in sectors such as property |
The underlying numbers are the same ones SECR asks for: energy use in kWh and the emissions from it, worked out with the UK government conversion factors. The difference is that buyers usually want more than SECR does, particularly some Scope 3: a Carbon Reduction Plan covers five Scope 3 categories, while SECR's Scope 3 is limited to some business travel fuel.
What a small company should do instead
- Measure Scope 1 and 2 first. A year of gas and electricity bills and vehicle fuel records is enough. Our kWh to CO2e calculator turns them into emissions with the 2026 factors.
- Add the five Scope 3 categories buyers ask for: deliveries in and out, waste, business travel and commuting. See the five Scope 3 categories PPN 006 asks for.
- Publish a Carbon Reduction Plan if you bid for public sector or NHS work, so you can answer with a link. Our free template follows the government format.
- Use the same figures for every request, so two customers never get different numbers for the same year.
How Carbon Recycling helps
Carbon Recycling works out your footprint from your bills and records with the government factors for each year, then produces a Carbon Reduction Plan or, if you grow into it, an SECR report from the same data. Every plan includes unlimited SECR reports and Carbon Reduction Plans, so you don't pay more when the requirements change.