A Scottish company is reporting a significant surge in work following a decision to restructure its business to target the Government's Green Deal campaign.
Firstcall Home Assist says it has booked more than 500 Green Deal assessments since February's launch of the scheme that allows homes or businesses to pay for energy-saving improvements, such as loft or cavity wall insulation, heating, draughtproofing, double glazing and renewable energy technologies, through savings on their fuel bills.
The spike in activity could boost turnover by up to £3 million this year and is already prompting an expansion into larger premises and immediate recruitment of 25 new staff, to take the total to 60, which will allow the Edinburgh-based company to service customers across Scotland.
Paul Greaves, managing director, said they spotted early an opportunity existed to grow the business rapidly by seizing on the changing profile of the energy efficiency market in the UK.
"We set out on a clear strategy a year ago to be at the forefront of the Green Deal revolution in Scotland," he said.
"We have invested more than £200,000 in training our existing surveyors and installers and we are currently recruiting additional staff to help with the demand."
He added: "We have also done considerable work to research and secure the best possible range of energy efficient appliances and materials, as well as finance options, to ensure the property owner or tenant is getting the optimum advice and access to measures."
Edward Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has said he believes the Green Deal will empower SMEs to enter the growing energy efficiency market, providing key innovation and the creation of new jobs at local and national level.
Under the scheme, homeowners and businesses can obtain access to 45 potential energy efficiency measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions and saving energy.
There are no upfront costs and the scheme is not means-tested.
The Edinburgh company offers advice on Government grants and a range of payment options including a bespoke Barclays personal loan.
Firstcall Home Assist was initially set up to offer competitive home emergency assistance policies to homeowners.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article