According to the Insolvency Service, one in every 200 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency in the 12 months to August 2026. Few of those failures came out of nowhere. The warning signs were there, just not in the documents lenders read.
Filed accounts arrive months after the year they describe. By the time pressure on a business reaches its credit file, it has often been building for a year or more. For lenders making transition finance decisions, that lag means backing plans with yesterday’s picture of the borrower.
Why Energy Data Matters to Lenders
Energy is where transition risk and credit risk meet. A business that relies heavily on gas, runs ageing equipment or uses far more energy than its peers is more exposed to price shocks and to the cost of meeting tighter standards. That exposure builds quietly, long before it reaches the accounts.
For a lender, a client’s energy profile can show:
- How energy-intensive the business is compared with sector peers
- How exposed it is to future energy price rises
- Where efficiency upgrades or on-site generation could cut costs and emissions
- Which clients are ready for transition finance, and which need support first
None of this replaces credit analysis. It adds a layer of evidence that arrives months earlier.
The Data Gap in the SME Loan Book
The problem is that most banks cannot see it. SMEs hold this information, but it is fragmented across bills, supplier portals and spreadsheets rather than structured anywhere a lender can use. Annual reviews and onboarding surveys capture a snapshot that dates almost as soon as it is filed.
Regulators are narrowing the room for that blind spot. The PRA’s SS5/25 expects banks to embed climate-related risks into credit risk management, and that is hard to do without client-level energy data.
What Lenders Actually Need
The answer isn’t another annual survey. Lenders need structured, client-level energy evidence rather than sector-average estimates, and they need it kept current.
With that evidence, relationship managers can see which clients are energy-intensive and which are already acting. Credit and sustainability-linked lending teams can shape transition finance decisions around what each business actually uses, not what a sector average assumes.
Engagement is what keeps it current. Clients who get practical next steps in return have a reason to keep their data up to date, turning a one-off survey into an ongoing view of the loan book.
What This Means for Lenders
Energy data is a practical starting point for transition finance. It shows where a client stands today, where the risk sits and where finance could make the biggest difference, well before the next set of accounts lands.
About the Climate Action Platform
The Climate Action platform, developed and deployed by NatWest and National Australia Bank, collects energy information on a bank’s SME clients. Businesses build their own data profile, starting with their energy use, and receive relevant actions to improve it.
Banks receive structured, client-owned evidence to support transition finance decisions, client conversations and regulatory reporting.
Get in Touch
Click Contact Us to see how the Climate Action platform could bring client energy data into your transition finance decisions.
