Back in May 2021 before anyone could have predicted the enormous increase in costs of utilities witnessed this year, Focus SB MD Gary Stevens engaged with Centreco Ltd to look at a proposal for the installation of solar panels at the company's main factory site in St Leonards on Sea.
Following several surveys and a full installation and commissioning complete, the switch over to solar power was completed on the 16th May, almost 12 months on from the initial enquiry and marking another major step to reduce Focus SB's carbon footprint.
Pledging significant ‘green energy’ investment plans, Focus SB is the first business in the local area to install solar power, incentivised by Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Super Tax policy to encourage manufacturers to invest in capital equipment, digital and green technologies.
This latest investment will enable the company to manufacture using electricity generated by the sun, and is another step in leading the way to a greener manufacturing future in its industry.
Mr Stevens says: “Reducing overheads at the same time as improving our environmental credentials is a win/win for any business and at the time we embarked upon this project, we were thinking of the green credentials more than the cost saving, but the unprecedented increase in costs of utilities makes it even more significant. When we are less than a week into utilising solar power and the dashboard shows that we have saved the equivalent of planting 10 trees and have reduced our CO2 emissions by 3.7 tonnes, it really makes it tangible.
He continues: “In addition to the obvious benefits outlined above, it has already got our operations management thinking about production processes and out-of-hours machine time to take full advantage of the electricity we are generating outside of normal working hours.
“This latest initiative goes hand-in-hand with our policy of changing our company car policy to embrace hybrid, or full electric cars and on-site charging stations that are now being fed by the solar panel installation.”
Focus SB's management team recognises to ensure the future of sustainable manufacturing it’s vital to embrace investment opportunities to reduce carbon emissions.
The company's membership of the UK trade association for its industry BEAMA enables the Focus SB to be front of centre of policy-making and decision-making for the future of electrical industry standards, influencing UK and international government decisions, giving the British manufacturer a voice alongside its peers.
Focus SB holds long standing membership of Made in Britain which provides valuable support and a collective voice for UK companies stepping up to the sustainability challenge and a greener manufacturing future.
Find out more about Focus SB on their member profile page here
Member-created content 2 years ago | From members