The government hopes to work with these companies to ensure the move from testing into a managed launch in October works seamlessly and provides good customer experience from the outset.
Climate change minister Greg Barker said: 鈥淭he signing of this agreement between government and business pioneers represents a watershed moment in the development of the Green Deal. The commitment shown today highlights the opportunity organisations see in the Green Deal from community groups, SMEs to big business which only bodes well for the scheme鈥檚 future success.
鈥淲e will be working with these organisations to ensure they can fulfil the potential they have demonstrated today and become the first to offer Green Deals.鈥�
The聽22 organisations, in alphabetical order, who have signed the agreement are:
- Ampere GDP
- Anglian Home Improvements
- BritishEco
- British Gas
- CarbonLow Group
- Carillion
- Empower Community
- Enact
- E.ON
- Gentoo Group
- Grafton Group
- Insta Group
- Keepmoat
- Kingfisher
- Mark Group
- ReEnergise Finance
- SIG plc
- SSE
- Stroma
- Toriga Energy
- Willmott Dixon Energy Services
- Yorkshire Energy Services
Brendan Ashford, managing director, Ampere GDP said: 鈥淚 believe the Green Deal is an exciting opportunity for both the customer and construction industry; it opens the door to many more home owners, tenants and businesses who may of deemed it too expensive and concerned about tying up cash on a new boiler, windows or renewable energy products before. As a nation we have a vast amount of housing and commercial stock that wastes energy just heating up the atmosphere. At Ampere GDP we will be offering energy efficiency surveys and installing the measures to all sectors across the UK by a network of local qualified energy assessors and installers to the customer.鈥�
Steve Pollard, managing director, Anglian Building Products, said: 鈥淲e recognise the energy inefficiencies with the current status of the UK housing stock and as one of the leading home improvement companies in the country we believe we have an important role to play in delivering the Green Deal. The concept of upgrading homes with energy efficiency measures at no upfront cost to the consumer is an initiative that we fully endorse鈥�
Gearoid Lane, managing director, British Gas New Markets said: 鈥淲e know that household budgets are stretched at the moment but higher energy prices don鈥檛 have to mean higher bills. Britain鈥檚 housing stock is some of the most inefficient in the developed world with 拢1 in every 拢4 spent on heating our homes wasted because of poor insulation. The Green Deal is an innovative way to help households cut their bills whilst improving their home. British Gas is proud to be one of the first green deal providers in the country.鈥�
Paul Sellars, chairman, BritishEco said: 鈥淏ritishEco is an established renewable energy installer covering a wide range of technologies to domestic, commercial and public sector properties. We wholeheartedly support the aims of the Green Deal and wish to use our practical skills and experience in the renewables sector to contribute to the development phase of the Green Deal through our signing the MoU. We wish to be involved with the Green Deal from the start. We feel that the Green Deal is an essential part of the development of secure, affordable and low carbon energy in the UK. The Green Deal will make renewable and more efficient energy available to all homes, businesses, public sector and community properties. Everybody can in some way benefit. It is a very exciting proposal where all who use the Green Deal will benefit from lower energy costs. There are real long term gains.鈥�
Peter Walden, director, CarbonLow Group said: 鈥淐arbonLow are delighted to be working with DECC in pioneering the Green Deal. With a background in energy performance in buildings, CarbonLow can see the potential in the Green Deal in encouraging both landlords and tenants of commercial property to make their buildings more energy efficient and cheaper to run without considerable upfront costs.鈥�
Siobonne Brewster, director, Carillion Energy Services said: 鈥淲e are delighted to be among the early signatories to this MoU and to help ensure that the systems and processes are all in place to make Green Deal a great experience for the customer. Green Deal is a pioneering initiative which is set to transform the take-up of insulation, other energy efficiency measures and renewable technologies and to make the benefits of low carbon living and reduced energy costs affordable and accessible to millions of households and businesses across the UK.鈥�
Paul Yiannouzis, partner, Empower Community said: 鈥淎 high proportion of green house gas emissions originate from inefficient building stock. Empower Community believes that the Green Deal will facilitate implementation of energy efficient measure in the domestic and commercial building stock. Empower Community is looking forward to work with the Government and other providers to assist in setting up, implementing and delivering Green Deal measures.鈥�
John Egan, CEO, Enact Energy Renewables Ltd said: 鈥淓nact Energy is pleased to be a part of the Pioneer Green Deal Provider Group. The Green Deal promises to move the renewable and energy saving market on from the consideration of individual technologies and measures to a genuine 鈥榳hole house鈥� approach to improving the energy performance of UK homes. The role of Green Deal Provider very closely matches the role that Enact currently plays in its own name, and on behalf of Marks & Spencer and Tesco.鈥�
Phil Gilbert, head of energy innovation, E.ON said: 鈥淕reen Deal has the potential to help millions of customers to improve their homes, cut their fuel bills and their carbon emissions, without needing to find the upfront investment. This is a green revolution in home improvements and it鈥檚 vital that customers have confidence in the improvements and in the companies delivering them. This agreement brings together Government and many other players to ensure a full, joined up solution for the launch in October. We believe that by working together under this framework, we can better deliver excellent customer service for those customers and help them get the maximum benefit from the very beginning.鈥�
Sally Hancox, director, Gentoo Group said: 鈥淕entoo has a firm belief in the potential of the Green Deal to enable large scale retrofit programmes across the UK. The principles of the Green Deal are sound and as a group, Gentoo has a strong desire to enable its customers in Sunderland and others across the UK to benefit. The 鈥楶ioneer Providers鈥� group allows us to test the real operational processes and identify any developments prior to large scale roll out. A successful Green Deal will rely on new levels of collaboration between partner organisations and this group is the start of that.鈥�
Paul Roche, director of sustainability and renewables, Grafton Group said: 鈥淎s a builders and plumbers merchant, we have an important role to play, supporting installers and product manufacturers on a daily basis. We take our commitment to sustainability very seriously and are proud to be part of the MoU, and all it stands for. This initiative brings together major players within the industry and demonstrates how we are all working towards that common goal, to reduce carbon emissions.鈥�
David Robson, director, InstaGroup said: 鈥淚nstaGroup is delighted to be involved as a Green Deal pioneer provider. For over a decade Insta鈥檚 Snug Network, 80 independent local businesses, have provided a complete range of energy efficiency improvements in their individual local communities. The Snug Network ensures customers receive the highest standards of workmanship, backed up with industry leading guarantees and warranties, but delivered by small, local businesses. As a Green Deal provider, we will ensure that the SME sector has strong representation without the need to compromise the all important consumer protection that lies at the heart of a successful Green Deal.鈥�
Ian Sutcliffe, CEO, Keepmoat said: 鈥淲e will be one of the first Green Deal providers in the UK and we鈥檙e delighted to be linking with DECC to ensure we offer the best possible service from day one. As a national provider of housing solutions and having already delivered Green Deal fundable works to over 250,000 homes, we鈥檙e well placed to deliver the Green Deal with our partners.鈥�
Toby Gordon, director of finance, Kingfisher Future Homes said: 鈥淲e are pleased to sign this MOU. It offers the chance to test our systems and processes ahead of the scheme鈥檚 launch in October. Whilst we will offer customers a range of financing options, the 鈥楪reen Deal鈥� provides an innovative way to help people enjoy the benefits of energy savings whilst paying for it at no upfront cost.鈥�
Bill Rumble, chief commercial officer, Mark Group said: 鈥淎t Mark Group, we have four decades of experience installing home energy saving measures and are extremely excited about the prospects offered by the Green Deal. By signing the Memorandum of Understanding today we are not only showing our support for the Government鈥檚 plans, but also our commitment to helping every homeowner across the UK to enjoy living in a more comfortable, more energy efficient home.鈥�
Adam Hewson, director, ReEnergise Finance Ltd said: 鈥淲e believe The Green Deal represents an important element in the overall drive to reduce carbon emissions and improve the UK's overall energy efficiency. It is also a natural part of ReEnergise's business model - combining energy advice, project management and finance. Signing this memorandum of understanding is therefore a very sensible reflection of this strategy.鈥�
Richard Burnley, managing director special markets, SIG plc said: 鈥淲ith such a high proportion of our existing housing stock failing to meet efficiency standards, we need a system that encourages homeowners, tenants and landlords to adopt a more holistic, 鈥榳hole house鈥� approach to improving their homes. The Green Deal has the potential to bring this all together under a robust and flexible framework 鈥� and while there is still work to be done, we are very pleased to be signing this agreement and taking the next step on the road to achieving energy efficiency in our homes.鈥�
John Higgins, finance director, Stroma Group said: 鈥淪troma is extremely pleased to be signing the Green Deal MoU today and committing to assist DECC through this final phase as a 鈥榩ioneer鈥� Green Deal Provider. We are delighted to be involved in this process, which will culminate in the introduction of this new and innovative financial framework later in the year. As an organization with energy and carbon reduction already at its core, all too often we see obvious opportunities for energy-efficiency improvement falter due to lack of funding. Green Deal will facilitate funding and avoid the need for consumers to pay upfront costs, allowing the right energy investment choices to be made.鈥�
Gary Bell, director, Toriga Energy said: "We are delighted to be one of the pioneer Providers preparing for the launch of the Green Deal. We have been fortunate to have been involved in much of the policy and process consultation and have been greatly impressed by the determination of DECC and MRASCo to create the structures required to make this scheme work. We are looking forward to helping make the Green Deal a success."
Rob Lambe, managing director, Willmott Dixon Energy Services said: 鈥淚n the UK we have become too used to living in cold uncomfortable homes with increasing numbers living in fuel poverty, under Green Deal, our strong tradition of home improvement will be able to readily combine aesthetics and function with increased warmth whilst protecting against rising fuel bills and climate change 鈥� a great business opportunity鈥�
William Edrich, CEO, Yorkshire Energy Services CIC said: 鈥淚t is an honour to work with DECC be representing the SME鈥檚 within the Green Deal Pilot. We have over 11 years experience delivering innovative and ground breaking energy efficiency schemes like the Green Deal and look forward to demonstrating our expertise in order to shape and model an effective Green Deal process. YES work within the local community and excel in the delivery of community based work. Our ethos as a community interest company is to invest profits made back into schemes to further assist communities and are committed to supporting the local economy.鈥�
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