The founder of Sustainable Business Services has toldd how new funding could fuel growth. James Staniforth launched Sustainable Business Services two and a half years ago, offering firms help with reducing their environmental impact and making cost-effective use of resources. The consultancy now operates Newcastle and York bases and counts companies such as AV Dawson, Cleardata and Katmex among its customers.
Now £10,000 of funding from the North East Small Loan Fund, administered by NEL Fund Managers, aims to support hiring of new consultants in the hope of winning new clients across the country.
Mr Staniforth said: "A commitment to sustainable business practices has become a mainstream part of the public and private sectors’ ways of working in recent years, to the point that many large businesses won’t allow supply chain companies to bid for work from them without knowing what they’re doing to mitigate their environmental impact. It’s easy to generate lots of data around this important issue, but without human insight into what it means on a practical basis and how it can be utilised to make positive changes to an organisation’s ways of working, it can essentially be meaningless.
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North East white goods repair specialist Pacifica Group snapped up Kent-based business Autowash Ltd.
Sittingbourne-based Autowash Ltd, which provides domestic appliance repairs, sales and servicing and employs 20 people, has become part of the £61m-turnover County Durham operation following an undisclosed deal. The move is part of Pacifica's strategy to create a network of regional repairers and follows the 2022 acquisitions of Service 87 in Guildford, Highland Appliance Services in Inverness and JK Domestics in Liverpool.
Autowash employs a team of 11 engineers working in the Kent area and supports insurance companies with policy covered repairs and has contracts with local councils, letting agents, housing associations and schools as well as supporting local charities.
Scott Pallister, chief operating officer at Pacifica said: "Autowash is an ideal addition to Pacifica, both in terms of its geographic coverage and the expertise and experience of its long-standing team. It shares our focus on quality customer service and the benefits of repairing over replacing appliances, which is far better for the environment.
"Adopting sustainable business practices can go hand-in-hand with commercial growth and we’ve seen lots of client securing cost and revenue benefits alongside the environmental improvements that we’re helping to deliver. With the climate emergency becoming more of a priority for everyone, we’re seeing interest in our services growing from businesses and organisations of all sizes and we’re building our resources to ensure we can provide the support and advice they need to achieve their objectives."
Aerospace firm Lockheed Martin joined forces with Northumbria University to research space-based solar power.
The US-based contractor has invested £150,000 into the partnership that aims to "harvest" the sun's energy and beam electricity wirelessly down to Earth. The process will use specialised solar panels that will collect and convert laser power into power for future space and lunar vehicles.
Lockheed says the technology could provide a new source of zero carbon power for homes and businesses, and would be operational at all times of the day, whatever the weather. The work builds on the firm's prior experimentation with laser-based systems and is an extension of an existing partnership with Northumbria University.
Paul Livingston, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK, said: "Our collaboration with Northumbria University will advance the use of space-based solar power for satellites, space vehicles and potentially useable power back on earth. We are delighted to be helping grow the North East’s space economy and the overall industrial capacity and resilience of the UK’s space and manufacturing sectors."
The North East’s position as a leader in the wind energy sector has been boosted by a major player in the industry setting up a base at the Port of Tyne.
Dutch firm Van Oord, which already has a presence at Port of Blyth, will use the Tyne Clean Energy Park as a storage and marshalling base for the foundations of the 100-turbine Sofia Offshore Wind Farm currently being built in the North Sea.
The contract will see the River Tyne welcome the tallest offshore vessel in the Port’s history, Van Oord’s Aeolus, with the base likely to be operational from the start of next year. Van Oord’s new base will benefit from direct access to a deep-water quay, with enabling work starting soon to upgrade the quay strength.
Van Oord is handing the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the wind turbine foundations and inter-array cables for the Sofia Wind Farm, which is now under construction. It is hoped the wind farm will open by 2026 and provide enough power for around 1.2m homes.
Matt Beeton, chief executive at Port of Tyne said: “We are delighted to partner with Van Oord in delivering another exciting step as we look to accelerate the region’s path towards a clean energy future. The Tyne Clean Energy Park continues to be the closest major offshore wind development platform for developers operating in the North Sea, as we look to accelerate the country’s green energy revolution to triple the rate of wind turbine installation to hit the national 2030 target, creating jobs for the future and a skilled workforce for generations to come.”
French firm Lhyfe, which has opened an office in Newcastle, has signed a deal with energy giant Centrica that could accelerate its plans.
The firm opened the Tyneside base ahead of plans to produec hydrogen at a site in the region. Now it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Centrica that will explore combining the two firm’s expertise on a pilot green hydrogen production site in the North Sea.
The project aims to combine Lhyfe’s expertise on green hydrogen production and Centrica’s experience of gas storage and infrastructure to ensure that the hydrogen produced can be safely stored and utilised in the UK. If successful, the end result would be proof that an end-to-end hydrogen production, storage and distribution system is possible here. The two firms will also examine an additional partnership to deploy the technology at commercial scale alongside offshore wind electricity production.
Colin Brown, UK and Ireland country manager of Lhyfe, said: “Offshore electrolysis coupled with hydrogen storage will maximise the huge potential of offshore wind around the UK. The UK can become a global leader in the production of renewable green hydrogen, moving away from our reliance on fossil fuels and improving our homegrown energy security, while delivering net zero and boosting local economies.”
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