Project summary
Damian Cronin founded the construction company in 1984 operating from a small joinery workshop in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear.
While the company has grown and kept pace with change over the years it has remained privately owned and is now one of the leading construction and interior fit-out contractors in the North East.
The company now operates from one of the region’s largest in-house specialist joinery manufacturing facilities.
The highly qualified craftsmen are experts in developing, making and fitting to ensure the finished product is always of the highest standard.
They received an energy audit and decarbonisation plan to help identify energy saving opportunities. BEST also provided technical support as part of the grant application process, helping to review proposed works and provide advice. The business successfully applied for a grant towards Solar PV for their premises.
We spoke to Accounts Manager Wendy Cronin to hear about their experience. She said: “We were coming out of 5 year fixed contract for our electricity and I knew it would double in price so I started to look into what we could do to save money in the long term. I knew it would need some investment from us so wanted to see what other help we could get.”
Speaking about the support BEST provided she said:
“We had an assessment to see where we could make savings and be more efficient. Solar panels was one of the options that could work for us so they helped us put a spec together of what we needed. We provided just over 50% of the funding and the BEST grant provided the rest. It was really helpful to have support with tendering for the solar panel installation. The team helped me to do that to make sure I found the right supplier.”
The installation was completed in March and the business saw savings in their electricity costs straight away in April.
The Solar panels generate over 113,000 kWh of electricity each year, helping to lower energy bills by an estimated £20,000 over the next 12 months, and reduce carbon emissions by 29 tonnes.
Speaking about the key benefits to the business Wendy said:
“The cost savings are the main benefit but also we recently completed a tender to the National Theatre for some joinery work and they wanted to know what our policies were for sustainability. We told them we had invested in solar panels. We won the work, which was helped by proving the sustainability of our company”
Wendy’s advice for other businesses considering applying is:
“To do it. There was no pressure to go ahead if it didn’t work out for us and there was no pressure to spend money but where you are prepared to put in towards the work and they support you through the process.
I would advise any eligible business to get the advice and then make your decision about whether to go ahead.
The team were really good to work with, everyone went out there way to help us. The process can be a bit confusing, but we were helped and supported from start to finish.
The advice the team give is professional, it’s not a sales pitch and there’s no hidden agenda. They have been there to help when we’ve had questions since the end of the project and the team are still happy for you to contact them for advice.”