Friday 12 June 2015

J Tomlinson installs latest energy efficiency measures at Eggleston Steel in Derby

Eggleston Steel, one of Derby’s oldest companies, has invested in some of the very latest energy efficiency technology as part of an ongoing investment of almost £2.5 million. 
The company has recently completed the installation of energy generating solar panels on the roof of its premises. At the same time, it has fitted energy saving LED lighting across its administration block and two factories. 
Integrated building solutions contractor J Tomlinson has just completed installation of the two projects, which are designed to make the company more energy efficient and save on energy costs. 
Eggleston Steel managing director Richard Hewitt said: “We have quite a high energy usage and decided that now was the time to become more environmentally friendly. The installation of the solar panels and the LED lighting by J Tomlinson aims to ease our impact on the environment. At the same time, it should reduce our energy bills considerably.” 
The company replaced 90 light units with LED fittings and has installed 288 solar panels in a £156,000 investment at its site at Centurion Way Business Park, Alfreton Road, Derby. The project involved removing existing fluorescent lighting, which has high energy consumption, in the two-storey office, and high bay lighting to the two warehouses, creating a brighter environment, as well as adding PV (photovoltaic) panels to the roof. 
Project managed and fitted by Beeston-based J Tomlinson, the measures should save the firm around £500,000 in electricity bills over the next 20 years, as well as achieving a carbon saving of about 40 tonnes over the same period. The alterations to the lighting alone are expected to halve energy bills and carbon production. At the same time, the solar panels will produce an additional income stream for the next 20 years via receipt of a feed-in-tariff for the electricity generated. 
David Adams, chairman of J Tomlinson, said: “As an established East Midlands company, J Tomlinson felt privileged to work with another long-standing firm from the area and to support them in their investment in 21st Century energy efficient technologies. 
“An increasing number of companies and organisations are recognising the environmental and cost-saving benefits of installing items like LED lighting and solar panels, and we were delighted to have been appointed by Eggleston Steel to carry out this work, which should benefit the firm significantly in the future. 
“The new LED fittings are so much more efficient with their energy consumption and, as a result of the way they produce the light, it meant our team was able to reduce energy costs further by installing fewer fittings than were removed. To aid the energy savings even more, we installed LED fittings that have daylight dimming and presence detection. This means that should areas of the warehouse become well lit by natural light or have not been in use for 30 minutes, they will dim themselves down or turn off accordingly.” 
Eggleston Steel, which was founded in 1809, starting life as part of Joseph E Hunt’s Ironmongers. The latest measures are part of a package of investments and follow last year’s £620,000 investment in the most advanced laser profiling machine in the UK. The total of £850,000 included two new bandsaw machines and were ordered with the guidance of Lloyds Asset Finance and the Regional Growth Fund, which chipped in with £120,000. The firm expects to shortly add another laser machine to its range by the end of August. It also plans to extend its factory within the next ten months in a further significant investment. 
This has contributed to Eggleston Steel creating 12 new jobs over the past year, bringing its workforce to 54 staff. 
The company, which stocks, processes and supplies a wide range of mild steels and non-ferrous metals, operates mainly within a 45-mile radius of Derby, supplying a range of customers from engineers and fabricators to DIYers. The energy efficiency measures were a key part of planning the future for the company and should help the firm to achieve ISO 14001 for its environmental credentials, said Richard Hewitt. 
“Our warehouse is open 22 of 24 hours a day and the lights are on almost continually, apart from in the summer months. We realised there were efficiencies to be made, as well as reductions to our carbon footprint,” said Richard. “The team at J Tomlinson project managed the whole scheme, were helpful and knowledgeable, and I would certainly recommend them to other companies that are looking to do something similar.” 
The project is the latest installation of its kind carried out by energy efficiency experts at J Tomlinson, which is based at Beeston, near Nottingham. The privately owned company founded in the 1950s has considerable expertise in the field of PV panels, having fitted more than 40,000 panels over the past four years on a range of buildings including schools, offices, social housing, sheltered housing and private homes.  
Recently J Tomlinson was named in Deloitte’s Businesses Leading Britain 2014 report, which provides insights into the UK’s 1,000 fastest-growing businesses with annual revenues between £30 million and £1 billion. 

The firm has a substantial heritage and wealth of experience in delivering integrated building solutions tailored to both public and private sector clients.
Pictured left to right, David Adams, J Tomlinson, executive chairman, and Richard Hewitt, managing director of Eggleston Steel.

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk