Pump-primed for energy savings
You could say every member of staff has a hand in manufacturing the pumps made by Albany Engineering – this Gloucestershire company is entirely employee-owned. Originally established in 1902, when their factory was destroyed in the Blitz they moved to their current two-acre site at Lydney.
Albany’s products are sold to almost every industry sector, throughout the UK and worldwide. Around 50 staff are based on site which comprises a large workshop and offices, and operates from 6.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday plus Saturday mornings. As energy costs and the company’s interest in sustainability began to increase, Albany got in touch with Severn Wye to see if the EU-funded Target 2030 scheme could help them secure a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly future.
Before they discovered funding was available the company hadn’t felt able to invest in energy efficiency improvements. ‘Without the grants we wouldn’t have been able to make all the changes we did,’ explains Financial Controller Dave Treherne.
Once Severn Wye’s business energy specialist had been out to survey the site, they recommended a number of potential improvements. Initially, Albany opted to improve the building fabric and lighting, using grants totalling £7,140 to install double-glazed windows and doors, and upgrade to LED lights. But they weren’t going to stop there. Their next step was a substantial £54,545 investment, supplemented with a grant of more than £23,000 to install a 100kWp solar PV array.
‘When we applied for the initial grant, one thing led to another,’ says Director Colin Allen. ‘We hadn’t known money was available to do these things.’
Additional funding has enabled the installation of insulated roller doors, and the original solar PV has been supplemented with a further 12kWp array. Staff can enjoy monitoring real-time and historic solar generation data. ‘We’ve saved 1,071 trees so far,’ enthuses Treherne, consulting their solar app.
With the company owned by its employees, staff approval for the investments was important. ‘It’s definitely a talking point across the business,’ says Allen. ‘Staff are happy to be more environmentally friendly and of course, the less we spend on energy the more there is for pay. Comfort levels have definitely improved throughout the office and workshops too.’
Albany’s far-sighted investments soon reached the ears of local journalists and in early 2023, BBC West Country News team paid them a visit and highlighted their energy efficiency improvements in a TV segment.
Energy use is well-monitored by the management team and they expect to see a return on their investment of around seven years for the solar PV, and just four for the LED lighting. And as well as generating energy they’re also selling their surplus to the grid. Even without export payments, their total £91,200 investments will return savings of more than £342,500 over the lifetime of the new installations.
Now Albany is looking forward to a sunny future. ‘Even though prices have gone up we can see that we’re saving money,’ enthuses Treherne. ‘We saw a £3,000 reduction in our energy bill this April and by summer that can only improve.’
