2023 has started in exactly the same manner as 2022 finished – absolutely manic. Demand for heat pumps and our services has never been higher, meaning that as a business we’re undergoing quite the transformation. As we recap on the achievements of last year, we also look ahead to the opportunities that the coming year presents us with.
RECAP OF 2022
Last year proved to be a very busy and challenging year. Whilst sales grew by nearly 50% compared to the previous year, this was achieved against a backdrop of ongoing supply shortages and disruption.
Logistics Improvements
As such, we have transitioned the business by significantly increasing our stockholding. This serves to shield us against supplier shortages, whilst also enabling us to offer a much better service to our customers. As part of this logistics transition and offering better service to our customers, we’ve also brought some delivery capacity in-house.
New Staff
In order to facilitate the growth of the business, we’ve taken on a large number of new staff in 2022, many of whom you may well have had dealings with already:
Ryan, Matt, Scott and Anthony, who have joined our engineer team
Paul and Lee, who have joined our logistics team
Amber, Abi and Eylul, who have joined our project delivery team
Aaron, who joined as our marketing executive
Scott and Thomas, who joined our technical team
As ever, our philosophy is always to look after our people and treat them for what they are – our most important asset. If you find yourselves on the phone with any of our new people (or indeed any of the older people), then feel free to ask them how they’re getting on!
Goodbye RHI – Hello BUS
In March 2022 the Renewable Heat Incentive (“RHI”) came to an end. The scheme acted as a generous support mechanism to encourage the update of heat pumps. From April 2022, the Government’s new Boiler Upgrade Scheme (“BUS”) got up and running.
Homeowners or business receive a grant of £5,000 for installing an air source heat pump, or £6,000 for installing a ground source heat pump. As an MCS accredited installer, Alto Energy will administer the grant with Ofgem on your behalf, and deduct the full grant amount from your quotation. This way, the amount you pay upfront for your heat pump can be much closer to the amount you would pay for a traditional fossil fuel system, making it easier for you to access the significant carbon savings and running cost savings.
You can find out more about the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme on our dedicated webpage.
Strategic Investment By Agility Eco Services
In April 2022, Agility Eco Services, the leading provider of low carbon, energy efficiency and fuel poverty services, acquired a stake in Alto Energy, with an option to increase its shareholding at a later date. This new partnership with Alto Energy will fast-track the delivery of AgilityEco’s heat pump capabilities, bringing opportunities to support our growing network of supply chain partners transition to low carbon heating technologies.
Last year alone, AgilityEco supported over 44,000 low-income and vulnerable households with energy efficiency measures. These generated estimated total lifetime bill savings of over £200 million in 2020/21. The stake in Alto Energy will therefore enable AgilityEco to scale its low-carbon and renewable services quickly and deliver more social impact and bill savings to fuel poor and vulnerable households across the UK.
You can find out more about the investment and the strategic opportunities here.
OUTLOOK FOR 2023
The outlook for the next 12 months is very exciting indeed. We have already welcomed another couple of new staff:
Lauryn, who has joined our sales team
Kerrigan, who has joined our technical team
Ray, who will join our engineering team in March
We expect demand for heat pumps to continue to grow as the UK market heads towards the target of 600,000 units by the end of the year. For us, we have a three-pronged approach:
Continue to support our existing base of customers by continuing to provide our high-standards to service and product availability for new heat pump installations;
Continue to support our existing base of homeowners by providing excellent technical support and engineering services, to ensure their heat pumps continue to run efficiently;
Develop the synergy with Agility Eco Services and its supply chain to identify opportunities for heat pump deployment.
New Extension
To facilitate the growth we anticipate, we’re going to need more space for stock and preparation of shipments. To this end, we are currently commencing work on an extension of our warehouse. We expect this to be finished by the summer, at which point we will enjoy double the warehouse space that we currently do.
More Heat Pump Training
To sell more heat pumps, we need more installers trained up and confident to do the job. As a result, we’re further ramping up the availability of training sessions, delivered both online and at our training centre here in Oxfordshire. Every month we will be offering:
Dedicated training for heating installers at our training centre in Oxford
Dedicated training for Agility Eco Services affiliate installers at our training centre in Oxford
An online course for those who cannot make the journey to see us in person
To find out more about our heat pump training, click below.
Get In Touch
Are you a homeowner considering replacing your fossil fuel heating system with a clean and efficient heat pump?
Are you a heating engineer looking to modernise your business and start offering heat pumps to your customers?
Or perhaps you are a developer, and with the updated Building Regulations heavily favouring heat pumps, you want to speak with a company with a tried and tested reputation?