Twenty-five years ago, if you showed an interest in sustainability you’d get more than a few odd looks; today you’re more likely to kick off a debate about the wisdom of the government’s net zero ambitions. A lot has changed since then, including Severn Wye Energy Agency, which celebrates its quarter century this August.
Communications manager Adele Walker takes up the story.
From a handful of colleagues in a small office in Mitcheldean, which was anything but energy efficient, Severn Wye now employs more nearly 100 people and recently moved to an accessible office in one of the old warehouses at the heart of Gloucester Quays.
Over the last quarter century, the organisation has won multiple awards for supporting vulnerable clients and for the work of its in-house team of retrofit experts, who can advise on the energy efficiency potential of everything from a manufacturing plant to a suburban home to a 14th-century church.
But how did it all begin?
SAVEd by the EU
In 1998, at a time when energy planning was not well established in the UK, an EU programme called SAVE funded groups to the tune of €150,000 for their first three years, to explore the potential for energy efficiency programmes in their regions. With matching support from the Forest of Dean District Council in the shape of staff and facilities, the foundations for what became Severn Wye were laid.
The EU funding was about innovation rather than delivery.
In 1998, at a time when energy planning was not well established in the UK, an EU programme called SAVE funded groups to the tune of €150,000 for their first three years, to explore the potential for energy efficiency programmes in their regions. With matching support from the Forest of Dean District Council in the shape of staff and facilities, the foundations for what became Severn Wye were laid.
Above: Diana Organ MP, Sandi McDonagh, Chair of Forest of Dean Council, and energy adviser Kim Carpenter, at the official opening of the Forest Energy Centre, 25 January 1999.
Someone who was there at the start is Simon Burgess, a founding director and former trustee.
‘Renewable energy and energy efficiency was seen as tree hugging at the time,’ reflects Burgess. ‘The idea of actually planning for it wasn’t taking shape in the UK. So the EU funding was about innovation rather than delivery.’
Growing ambitions
When the funding ended, the regional groups took different routes; Severn Wye Energy Agency was incorporated as a limited company and charity, its name reflecting an ambition to grow beyond the Forest of Dean’s boundaries.
Fast track to 2024, and under the steer of chief executive Sandy Ruthven, it now operates across Wales, the English border counties and into the south west, with an annual turnover of just under £7 million. It’s one of the few original regional agencies still going.
‘Severn Wye’s strategy was to make sure no-one was left behind,’ says Ruthven, ‘focusing on fuel poverty and climate change always through the lens of the energy system.’
A new millennium
As Severn Wye found its feet in the early 2000s, energy efficiency was starting to feature on the national policy agenda. The newly established Energy Saving Trust (EST) began funding regional advicelines; a service which became a central part of Severn Wye’s operations. It was advice and nothing more, however; there was as yet no means of providing practical help.
When EST withdrew from adviceline support Severn Wye set up its own. Their growing expertise led to them winning a pilot scheme to provide domestic energy reports for Stroud Council which, in 2008, expanded into a five-year county-wide programme. They were also involved in the pilot and delivery of the Green Deal in Wiltshire. Since then the number and range of projects Severn Wye runs has continued to grow, from the Warm and Well adviceline for Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, now in its 16th year, to social housing decarbonisation schemes that embrace whole streets of homes, to multi-millon-pound retrofit programmes for SMEs.
The level of detail the company puts into helping people has grown enormously – and we’re trusted because we’re not selling anything.
Severn Wye has never had core funding; its expansion and continuing existence relies on winning contracts for energy efficiency schemes funded by utilities, local authorities, or central government – all of which have their own goals and eligibility criteria. It’s an income stream particularly vulnerable to changes in political will. For a time in the 2010s the project pipeline looked like it was drying up and the organisation had to make some efficiencies of its own to survive.
International expansion
Mid Wales Energy Agency, sadly, was not so fortunate in those lean times. But when it ceased operating, one of its founders and subsequent Severn Wye employee and trustee, Andy Bull, approached then CEO Catrin Maby, to see if some of its work at least could continue. ‘They took the plunge,’ recalls Bull, ‘and I looked around for opportunities for an office and work.’
Director for Wales Dave Gittins recalls that first Welsh office, in Builth Wells. ‘It was in a turret at the entrance to the Royal Welsh Show Ground – every time there was a show on everyone had to vacate for a couple of weeks.’
The policy focus of the Welsh government took the Wales team in a slightly different direction at first, towards small-scale biofuel projects and community engagement. Despite the initial divergence, the experience has paid dividends and laid the groundwork for Severn Wye’s innovative approaches to community support and clean energy production. A new five-year project will help communities in Wales and England realise local energy-efficiency ambitions; and a multi-million-pound carbon-capture plant currently under construction in Warrington aims to be the UK’s first to deliver clean energy to nearby buildings. Meanwhile, direct community support continues, including through The Hive, Severn Wye’s current base in Llandrindod Wells, which provides both a physical home and a sense of stability for a range of community projects.
Making a difference
Paul Sheridan joined Severn Wye twenty years ago. Already highly experienced in energy efficiency at a time when such a passion might be seen as slightly mad, Paul remains at the vanguard of developments in the energy system, and he’s clear about what makes Severn Wye special:
‘The personal, bespoke service we offer. We don’t just write a report and move on; it’s the follow-up we provide that sets us apart, whether clients need to alleviate fuel debt or install renewables. The level of detail the company puts into helping people has grown enormously – and we’re trusted because we’re not selling anything.’
Simon Burgess – now leading the Warrington carbon-capture project – agrees: ‘After a quarter century of hands-on experience, our strength is a profound understanding of the sector, and of people. Being able not just to advise but to help people make change happen is an important strength. Given all the constraints we work under, we have genuine credibility in the market.’
Aiming for prevention as well as cure, could bring the organisation closer to its vision of a stable climate with energy for all.
Looking ahead
Where will the next 25 years take Severn Wye? CEO Sandy Ruthven is growing the company’s commercial services to make it more resilient to the external shocks of changing government priorities. He is also heavily involved in policy discussions with government advisers and the financial sector, seeking ways to incentivise energy-efficiency retrofit, for example through stamp duty rebates or favourable mortgage rates. Using its experience to influence systemic change, aiming for prevention as well as cure, could bring the organisation closer to realising its vision of a stable climate with energy for all.
In the meantime Severn Wye’s expert teams continue to do what they do best: helping people in fuel crisis and pushing for the effective retrofit of Britain’s domestic and commercial premises. It’s work that means once-freezing kids can play at home after school, not have to go straight to bed; work that keeps older people out of hospital because they can stay healthy and warm at home over the winter.
By themselves stories like these won’t change the country’s energy policy, but, as Ruthven knows, ‘Sometimes making the smallest change for someone can make the world of difference.’
Top image: Warm Homes Week activities, 2002
