With a clear ethos that supports a well established zeitgeist for 'greening' up our homes, James Alcock – a founder of one such website, thegreenage.co.uk – explains the thought behind this new venture.
"Our number one aim is to help people save energy. The only cost effective way to keep the lights on here in the UK will be massive energy saving schemes and we want to help lead those in the years to come! I personally think this is incredibly important and more action needs to be taken by governments concerning this," explains James, who founded the site with business partner Nick Miles.
The pair previously worked together at IBM where they dealt with a number of energy clients. It became apparent to them that energy efficiency and energy saving was going to be absolutely key to the UK moving forward as energy capacity drops. This led them to launch their own energy saving hub.
He continues: "The energy saving sector in the UK is far bigger than any one company could tackle on their own, so we are all working towards a common aim that will improve the quality of life for everybody; it's about the bigger picture."
Growing green consciousness
As regards a typical customer profile, James believes that times are changing: "It's no longer the archetypal eco-warrior character who wants to improve the environmental efficiency of their home. We get all sorts of customers from all sorts of background such as those who are looking for a quick and simple thing to help with a certain problem area, such as chimney balloons, or folks looking to retrofit their home with a complete intelligent heating system.”
As for the future, James is positive and upbeat: "I think the UK is becoming greener. I know there is opposition but we are seeing more and more renewables being installed. Over half a million homes have solar PV installed on the roof and it was announced recently that wind power provided more electricity to the UK over a 24 hour period than our nuclear power plants, which is some feat when you think about it!
"People are becoming far more aware of the cost of energy so they are taking the necessary steps to limit the impact on themselves, be that through insulation, new heating systems or low energy lighting.
"The majority of things we talk about and sell through our site are very easy to implement and will make genuine energy savings. Coming from a financial background, we feel the energy saving part is very important to people, but obviously in doing this we are also lowering carbon footprints along the way which is a really nice by product for any business!"
