DCC Renewable Energy Business Support Completion report March 2011

Transcription

1 Main Form DCC Renewable Energy Business Support Completion report March 2011 This form is being used to outline the activities of Regen SW and partner organisations on the Devon County Council (DCC) Renewable Energy Business Support project, up to 31 st March Partner Organisation Regen SW Contract Signed 26 th October 2010 Section One: Project Summary Activity on this project since work commenced in early November has focused initially on undertaking the bulk of the businesses visits to assess any demand signal for further actions. By the end of March 2011, 50 businesses engaged in renewable energy markets have been visited under the project. The response from industry has been in support of the project and initial feedback regarding the intervention of DCC and Regen SW has been positive. The project has raised the profile of DCC amongst Devon based businesses and has provided practical assistance or advice to 65 organisations in the 4 ½ months it has been active. Contract Targets Outputs Recorded - 31/03/11 48 businesses assisted 5 businesses committed for 1 st week in Apr Support 70 renewable energy installers 53 in total receiving 1-to-1 support increase their productivity and create a total 12 receiving other Regen SW support (65 in total) of 10 new job opportunities by March 2011 Improve the quality and image of the sector through achieving 5 new accredited installers under MCS Facilitate peer to peer support through setting up an installer network, including a virtual network via the RE4D website forum and with a minimum of 1 networking meeting held. Encourage the sector to innovate through the development of 3 technology growth plans Increase spend into the local economy by 250,000 by March 2011 through the development of new local supply chains and collaboration with other sectors Deliver 45 training places, identify 5 sector champions, develop an apprenticeship scheme 1 new accredited 2 currently undergoing certification 27th January 2011 event delivered TGPs currently in progress by CEE, to be delivered in June (See App. 3) (To follow in CEE evaluation) 31 training places completed or committed 3 sector champion achieved Apprenticeship scheme discussed and developed with South Devon College and North Devon College. Given timescales to develop such a scheme this is unlikely to be fully developed for a further year. However, both FE colleges are now keen to pursue and deliver.

2 Development of the initial RE4D contact List The starting point for identifying businesses eligible for support in Devon was the RE4D contact list as issued to Regen SW in October This list contained 104 business names of which 16 were duplicates or businesses not based in Devon. This left an initial resource of 88 eligible business names. To this list, Regen SW added information from other sources to populate a final contact list of 144 business names. Update Meetings Weekly progress meetings were continued to be attended by Regen SW staff active on the project as per the process outlined in the project interim report dated Section Two: Final Outputs and Deliverables Businesses assisted (2 hr inception visit) Devon businesses receiving 2hrs of other Regen SW support (knowledge transfer & supply chain development Other stakeholder organisations receiving Regen SW support under DCC project 53 (complete or committed) Identified in interim report (15 th Dec 2010): Go Green Engineering (x1 FTE) Pico Energy (x1 FTE) New Generation Energy (x1 FTE) RES (Devon) (x2 FTE) Eco-Exmoor (x1 FTE) Sungift Solar (x1 FTE) Identified since interim report: Number of job opportunities expected in 2011 Enlighten Systems (x1 grad. intern FTE) Warm partnership (x1 FTE) Energy on the House (x1 FTE) 4 Seasons AC (x1 FTE) Rainbow Renewables (x5 FTE) Total x16 FTE by March 2011 In addition to these specific opportunities around 15 of the businesses visited were looking to grow their workforce with FTEs in 2011 Sector Champions identified % of businesses to be assisted completed Training places delivered Sun & Solar PV Sungift Solar Fusion Sky Shades 85% as of % as of project end 24 as part of the January Strategic Market Planning Event 7 as brokered Asbestos Awareness Training 31 as of project end

3 Business Inception visits 4 Seasons AC 24/03/2011 Exmouth Alpha-Vae Electrical Contractors 29/10/2010 Exeter Atass Energy Ltd 05/04/2011 Exeter Barum Solarheat 08/12/2010 Barnstaple Bramshaw Heating and plumbing 09/11/2010 Exeter Chris Rudge Renewable Power 05/04/2011 Seaton Cooks Plumbing and Heating Ltd 09/11/2010 Newton Abbot DB Heating Ltd 09/11/2010 Tavistock Devon Fires 1 st week Apr Exeter Earth Elements 12/11/2010 Barnstaple Eco-Green Energy 03/11/2010 Yarcombe Eco-Exmoor Ltd 06/12/2010 Barnstaple Ekland Ltd 06/01/2011 Exeter Empecon 04/02/2011 Willand Energy My Way 09/11/2010 Totnes Energy on The House Ltd 23/03/2011 Modbury Enlighten Systems 03/01/2011 Exeter Fair Energy 1 st week Apr Exmouth Ford & Sons Ltd 17/03/2011 sidmouth Gary Millar 09/11/2010 Newton Abbot GEIS Plumbing and Heating 03/11/2010 Exmouth Go Green Engineering 10/12/2010 Exeter Greencat Renewables 17/03/2011 Exeter Greenthinking 03/02/2011 Cullompton Handcrafted Homes Ltd, Devon And Somerset Solar 03/11/2010 Tiverton Havmain Ltd 03/12/2010 Paignton Intelligent Energy South West Ltd 18/02/2011 Cullompton Jaspi UK (originally listed as Scanheat Ltd) 02/11/2010 Exeter Natural Watt 1 st week Apr Exeter New Generation Energy 07/12/2010 Tavistock NuVision Energy 09/11/2010 Exeter Optimum Heating Ltd 08/12/2010 Barnstaple Pico Energy 09/12/2010 Cullompton PW Services 01/11/2010 Colyton Rainbow Renewables 23/02/2011 Ilfracombe RES (Devon) Ltd 12/11/2010 Barnstaple S K Plumbing & solar Services Ltd 01/12/2010 Chudleigh Knighton Sky Shades 22/02/2011 Yarcombe Solar Tech Systems 04/11/2010 Totnes Solar Eco (UK) Ltd 17/11/2010 Exmouth Solar Homes UK Ltd T/A Solar Homes 04/02/2011 Exmouth Solar Save SW 13/01/2011 Ivybridge Solman Davis Ltd 12/11/2010 Barnstaple Source Renewable Ltd 12/11/2010 Barnstaple Sun Solar and PV Ltd 16/11/2010 Torquay Sundial Solar Solutions ltd 07/01/2011 Okehampton Sungift Solar 08/11/2010 Exeter Sunraker Ltd 07/01/2011 Okehampton The Good Heat Company 05/01/2011 Totnes The Works M&B Ltd 23/02/2011 Barnstaple Up Energy Consultants 24/01/2011 Exeter Treco 1 st week Apr Tiverton Warm Partnership 31/01/2011 Plymouth Western Renewable Energy 05/01/2011 Ashburton Total of businesses with inception meetings completed by 31/03/11 48 Total of businesses with inception meetings to be completed by 31/03/11 53

4 Strategic market planning and raising your profile to customers event 27 th January 2011 Chris Verney Tony Jackson Rachel Mildon Nick Backhouse Alex Farnell Martin McGawley Karen Cleveland Richard Cleveland Cat Slatcher Will Slatcher Julie Walters Max May Ashley Nicholls Neil Townsend Paddy McNevin Derrick McCormick Hannah Carleton Ellen Rodger Guy Gilmore David Lewis Simon Uden Alistair Pilcher Cathy Debenham Ben Newell Barum Solar Heat CGP-SW Devon County Council Eco-Exmoor Ekland Ekland Enlighten Energy Systems Enlighten Energy Systems Go Green Engineering Go Green Engineering PW Services Solar PV Tech Solar Tech Systems Solar Tech Systems South Devon College Sundial Solar Sundial Solar Sungift Solar The Good Heat Company Treco Up Energy Up Energy Yougen Devon County Council Total attendees 24 General Level 2 Asbestos Awareness Training event 28 th March 2011 Christopher Maunder Sam Trembath Stuart Houghton Paul Gaskell Luke Bridle Mark Evan Evan Stuber Total learners enrolled to date New Generation Energy New Generation Energy Abacus Renewable Energy Devon Fires Devon Fires Energy on the House Energy on the House 7

5 Devon businesses receiving 2hrs of other Regen SW support (knowledge transfer & supply chain development Fuad Al-Tawil Graham Davis Chris Rudge Gail Farrin Robinson Emma Frewin David Griffith Kate Hathwey David Bee Nick Moorhouse Paul Walters Karen Cleveland Chris Elliot Haccombe Renewable Energy CIC Ford & Sons (Sidmouth) Ltd Chris Rudge Renewable Power Devon BioNutrients and Energies Ltd YouGen Devon Home Inspections Devon Green Homes Langage Solar Park Ltd Nick Moorhouse Architect P W Services Devon Fires Ltd Western Renewable Energy Businesses represented: 12 Other stakeholders receiving Regen SW support under DCC project James Aven John Fiske Tony Garrett Kate Harris Stuart Hodgkiss April Waterman Sharon Youssefi Maggie Austin Ben Diwell Melanie Duffin Chris Fry Leo McLeman Glen Newson John Yates Darren Lyth Greg Paull Dartmoor National Park Authority Dartington Hall Torbay Council Exmoor Hill Farm Project Devon Wildlife Trust East Devon District Council Teignbridge District Council Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust North Devon District Council Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Bridgwater College Exeter University Devon & Cornwall Constabulary Transition Town Exeter Met Office South Devon College Businesses represented: 16

6 Businesses registered as MCS installers New MCS businesses October March 2011 for Devon, Dorset and Cornwall Devon Dorset Cornwall 0 The graph illustrated above shows the trend of MCS business registrations for businesses which achieve their first technology. Clearly, Devon has a higher proportion of the MCS registered businesses out of the three SW peninsula counties and has grown by the largest amount in the time period. In addition to the one firm which attained MCS accreditation during the project, Sun & solar PV Ltd, two more are currently undergoing MCS certification having received intensive support from Regen SW staff: Havills Ltd and PW Services. Although it is difficult to directly attribute the increased levels of Devon MCS accreditations to the DCC project work completed by Regen SW, it is clear that there has been a marked effect on numbers of accreditations due to the presence of the project and its associated activities. Section Three: Project action plans The action plans formed the basis for undertaking activities by Regen SW in delivering the outputs as required by DCC. They constituted the meaningful tasks which could be developed for each business and a means of measuring success. In general, 2-4 action plan points were agreed in the inception meetings and were in reality often similar for a number of businesses. Details of each action plan developed can be found in Appendix 1. Below is a summary of the most common action activities arising from inception meetings: Checking/adding business details to the Regen SW online directories Provision of practical, local and cost effective training in a number of areas, notably; working at heights, asbestos awareness, PV software training, business management Information of relevant grants and finance available for both business and customers Up to date information on current and future economic/government focus: in particular the Feed in Tariff (FIT) review and Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Information on internships, knowledge transfer partnerships and general recruitment Provide marketing and strategic planning advice MCS accreditation

7 Future Aspirations The inception meeting pro-forma worked well in structuring the business visits, and provided a good framework for the business representative to consider what growth and subsequent issues they may experience over the next 12 months. Below is a summary of the general expectations of many SMEs active in the low carbon sector in Devon have for 2011: Turnover Recruitment Market position Increase in line with previous years trending. (A significant proportion of businesses reported a doubling of turnover over the last 12 months) Around a third of the businesses visited were expecting to hire full time staff in 2011 The majority of businesses visited were active in PV installation. Around 20% were actively looking to develop larger scale non-domestic deployments Of the microgeneration installation firms, over 50% were seeking to gain an additional MCS technology accreditation during 2011 Despite recent changes to the FIT and RHI proposals which are both crucial drivers in encouraging microgeneration system deployment, there is still a large degree of optimism about business growth in the sector. In response to recent uncertainties, more of the businesses visited are looking to diversify their offering to clients and grow operations Operational reach Of businesses which need to travel to gather work, there appears to be 70/30 split of businesses which are happy to travel 2 hrs+ and those which are focusing on immediate markets Barriers to growth The action points generally stemmed directly from asking businesses what they felt would be key barriers to growth in 2011, whilst managing their expectations of what delivery under this project could achieve. In many respects, the inception meeting itself proved to be of use to some businesses as it gave them a brief period of time to consider the longer term business outlook with an independent mentor with knowledge of the industry. There was a clear split of organisations (mainly those 100% within PV markets) which had significant cash flow and VAT payment difficulties and those who would like access to better value finance, but didn t see it a barrier. As far as any new cash-flow product was concerned, around half the businesses suggested they would be interested if this product offered a greater incentive than standard commercial loans. By far the largest barrier to growth was access to properly qualified and motivated personnel, focused mainly on obtaining suitable staff to develop internal management processes. Around 15 businesses were introduced to the concept of internships and knowledge transfers (KTPs) which provide cost effective resource at undergraduate or graduate level for a limited time. At the time of writing, one firm (Enlighten Systems), has engaged with Plymouth University via this project and is currently developing a job description for a business administration sandwich year student. Access to training was initially a high priority for businesses visited in late 2010 particularly regarding PV installer courses and other MCS related training. The response under this project was to issue the businesses with details of local trainers who could provide relevant training. As the project progressed, so more PV installer courses came on stream in local FECs and access to training seemed to become less of a priority than previously indicated.

8 Section Four: Events As part of delivering this business support project, a number of events were planned as a method of reaching many businesses in one effort and adding some value in the form of one-to-many training or informing. As described in the interim report, a key business demand experienced early on during the inception meetings was for support with strategic market planning, marketing and, to a certain extent, advertising. In-line with sustained growth, a significant proportion of those businesses visited requested some support with marketing, advertising and understanding the accumulation of leads. In response to this, the event Strategic market planning and raising your profile to customers was held in Exeter providing expert speakers experienced in marketing and the renewables sector to over 25 delegates. Of particular note were the candid discussions during the networking lunch of businesses sharing experiences of finding finance and developing a market brand. A number of the attending businesses found this sort of knowledge sharing useful and were surprised at the level of cooperation that was prevalent during the event. An additional barrier to growth, visible particularly early on in the business visit schedule, was access to market. A handful of the visited businesses were eager to target social housing companies, local authorities and the agriculture sector. In response to this business demand, the Regen SW event Renewable Energy Marketplace was targeted specifically at these sectors and businesses engaged with the DCC renewable energy business support were entitled to a discount on exhibition space. 4 businesses already engaged with the DCC project exhibited at this event and 12 others attended training seminars on renewable energy topics. This constitutes a 2 hour business engagement and also contributes to the networking requirements for Devon industry. The event contained a number of initiatives which either fully or partially met action points outstanding for Devon businesses including: Dissemination of up to the minute technical and strategic insight into the renewables industry Interaction with the Environmental inet Interaction with supply chain businesses Provision of a route to market The REM event also allowed wider stakeholders to be made aware of the renewables industry capacity in the South West, but in particular with that of Devon. Regen SW have been fully engaged with the scope of the DCC renewable energy business support project and as such were able to publicise to stakeholders and the general public the role and benefits of the project within the industry. As previously mentioned in the interim report, provision of practical training such as working at heights, manual handling and asbestos awareness was seen as a key element of the RE4D initiative and one that businesses engaged with this project were keen to maintain. As part of the training places outcome for this project, there was a target of 45 training places to deliver. Ideally, this would have been achieved via DCC training resources already available. However, it became apparent early on that the training courses brokered by DCC were not commensurate with the discerned business demand. In order to meet the training targets, it was necessary to implement training courses independently of DCC for supported businesses. Asbestos awareness was selected as the most viable training to provide as it is not generally provided on a standalone basis and has a high cost price unless courses can be filled. Businesses were extremely supportive of this initiative and were keen to enrol learners. However, when arrangements had been finalised a significant proportion of the businesses which had expressed interest were committed elsewhere and unable to enrol learners. This has left to date 5 learners from Devon businesses participating in the course and numbers being made up from outside the county to cover costs. It is worth noting that three businesses have enquired further about additional dates for this and similar courses being developed.

9 Section Five: Project Delivery and Lessons Learnt Although the initial target of 70 businesses visited by the end of March 2011 has not been achieved, had the project run a full course of 6 months then at the present rate of visits, 70 would have been met with the knock on effect of provided more learners for events organised under the DCC / Regen SW banner. The processes put in place to deliver the project have proved successful with a number of businesses making positive feedback about the support they have received and a significant proportion of the businesses active in renewable energy in Devon receiving exposure to the project. At all visits, there was an opportunity to promote DCC as an authority supporting business and growth, in addition to preparing the ground for future work. Assessing the benefit to the economy through delivery of the project is difficult but will be tackled during the CEE evaluation. As has already been mentioned, the vast majority of businesses visited were experiencing rapid growth and had plans to take on staff or expand their use of subcontractors within the next 12 months. In many cases, turnover had doubled over the past year and projections were for strong growth through 2011 and into Because of this, many businesses had keen interest in activity at government level with changes to FIT and RHI legislation. In this regard, Regen SW was able to offer insight as part of the actions and satisfy business demand. From a delivery perspective, the process of one-to-one visits in a county as large as Devon occupied a large amount of the available time but can be seen as its strongest asset. Many businesses appreciated the effort of making a personal visit, combined with any knowledge transfer or insight that occurred. Previous interventions, by other support bodies such as Business Link often ended up with little or no benefit being seen by the business. This project has managed expectations with regards to action points taken away from inception meetings, and has aimed to deliver quality information and resources on those points agreed. As has been stated before, the majority of businesses saw benefit in the inception meetings themselves, and were pleased with any added value obtained from delivery of action points in addition to being interested in resulting events such as the strategic market planning and Renewable Energy Marketplace. Developing a sense of community and promoting the transfer of best practise has been an ongoing theme through giving the businesses visited the opportunity to discuss with each other mutual areas of frustration and barriers to growth. Businesses were interested in the numbers and activity of other renewable energy businesses in the sector and were keen to share contacts and leads with appropriate organisations. For example, Rainbow Renewables were interested to find a firm local to them offering high quality heat pump installations. Through involvement with this project, a link with North Devon firm The Works M&B was provided.

10 Section Seven: Feedback As stated in section one, the majority of feedback regarding the delivery and aims of this project have been positively received by industry. Appendix one contains some of the responses sent by participating firms. The businesses visited were generous with their time and seemed to find benefit in the process of discussing business strategy, market conditions and their unique selling point. As has been pointed out previously in this report, the two hours utilised under this project to reflect on how their business has developed and future plans provided an excellent platform to develop further support. In general, a small amount of completed actions resulted in positive responses in writing, but follow up calls and discussions highlighted business appreciation of the intervention.

11 Appendix 1: Responses from visited businesses Received by 08/03/2011 Hi Tim I do remember our meeting very well. I would like you to thank you for all you have done to improve our business. The points you have raised for our development are excellent and hopefully we can move forward with these. I will keep an eye on your site, with reference to the search by MCS. Many thanks again. Regards Chris Macrae The Works M & B ltd Received by 02/12/2010 Hi Tim, Thanks very much for your help so far and the details sent are really useful. Apologies for not getting the form back to you, I will try and get it done soon. Regards Chris Cooks Plumbing and Heating Received by 28/01/2011 Hi Felicity I just wanted to say thanks to you and Lee (and Tim and Gareth and James!) for organising this event with Devon County Council. My colleague and I found it to be one of the most inspiring events we had been to in a long time. All speakers delivered concise and positive insights into the industry as well as engaging with the delegates and allowing them to open up to each other about their relevant practices. The location had genuine character, and the lunch was delicious, locally sourced, and kept delegates going back for seconds and therefore talking longer! I look forward to the next event of this kind. Kind regards Simon Up Energy

12 Appendix 3: Technology Growth Plan Proposal Technology GP 1: MCS Accreditation Guidance: - To provide a high level step by step process or tool kit for companies about to or currently about to go through MCS accreditation including the following elements: o What is the MCS? o Why is the MCS important? o A usable and fit for purpose tool kit highlighting the common requirements of MCS across all technologies (with technology specific requirements highlighted and signposted - CEE to produce an initial hard copy of the tool kit which will look to provide a starting point for businesses in developing their internal processes to meet MCS accreditation. This can then be followed on at a future date with an online version. - The tool kit will not be a full template on how to fill out an MCS document, but will highlight the stages to consider and what type of documentation and process is needed in a structured way to provide businesses with an initial starting point from which to complete their accreditation paperwork. Administrative process to include the following: - Hard copies of MCS toolkit to be held at DCC offices - Raising awareness of the toolkit will be made through DCC marketing and via Regen SW website (this will include an outline of what the toolkit can offer and who it is targeted for) - Applications for a hard copy of the toolkit would be made directly to DCC (exact contact to be nominated), who will deal with any requests for the toolkit. - Applications from businesses based within Devon will receive the toolkit for free. - Applications from businesses based outside of Devon will be charged a fee for a copy of the toolkit (to be confirmed, but would suggest a range between ) Next steps to include: - CEE to investigate commonality within the MCS framework between technology types - CEE to brainstorm with GW the key elements that will need to be present in the tool kit - Initial drafts to be tested with existing MCS installers to assess its usefulness - Gemserve to be informed at an early stage in order to gain buy in to the plan (GW to assess best contact) Other - 10 days of CEE resources to be allocated to the tool kit - Work to start immediately Technology GP 2: Mapping of mid scale (25-50kW) PV opportunities for growing Devon Installers - Initial mapping of scale of opportunity and number of barriers to development of mid scale PV systems within Devon - CEE to facilitate a workshop which will look to bring: o Devon District Planning Officers o Devon based installers who are at a sufficient scale or growth stage and are looking to develop larger non-domestic schemes o Existing developers (e.g. Solarsense) who have already installed similar scaled systems o Potential clients Schools, hospitals etc o DNO s and/or Western Power. - The facilitate session will look to pull together opinion on: o Level of demand for mid scaled systems

13 o o Opportunities and barriers to delivery Requirements needed within the Devon installer base to meet the barriers to delivery (e.g. training, financing, available resource, grid connection etc) Next Steps - Regen SW to organise the event (date TBC) - CEE to help in facilitating speakers - CEE to write up outcomes of the event in report format which can be used as base work for further development by DCC/Regen SW - Timescales for delivery are for early part of Resources - 5 days of CEE resources to be allocated Technology GP 3: Capability mapping of marine and offshore wind supply chain companies in Devon. To produce a short report on a high level capability assessment of companies in Devon that have the potential to supply products and services into the burgeoning offshore wind, wave and tidal stream markets. The capability assessment will map companies from our database already identified as potentially feeding into the supply chain, onto a structure which will allow for identification of where Devon companies are well represented, gaps exist and there is opportunity for growth. Using the projected timelines from developers, it is possible to assess the likelihood of when in the future the biggest opportunities will occur, indicating the timescales, i.e short, medium and long term, available for required actions to support the supply chain. The report will be split into three sections: An outline of the offshore supply chain for offshore renewables, based on a supply chain model previously designed at Regen SW based on work done for The Crown Estate. Identification of key areas of market opportunities within Devon based on inherent strengths with examples of existing companies that are successfully serving the offshore renewables market in the form of case studies. Identification of gaps in the supply chain and opportunities for inward investment. Next Steps - Regen SW to begin assessment of the Devon supply chain (immediate) - Regen SW analysis and interpretation of the mapping assessment - Writing and delivery of short report (circa April 2011) Resources: o 3 days of Regen SW resource